Anyone Ever Had a Car Sold Out From Under You?

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scustalow

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Having a deal to buy a car then the seller says sorry sold it to someone else with out even telling you until after the fact..There is so much to this story that I want to take many deep breaths and write later..


I guess a Man's Word isn't what it used to be..
 
Having a deal to buy a car then the seller says sorry sold it to someone else with out even telling you until after the fact..There is so much to this story that I want to take many deep breaths and write later..


I guess a Man's Word isn't what it used to be..

Now a days you have to but every thing down on paper with signatures.
 
earlier this year, I was looking at a nice yellow '71 340 Duster (very nice shape, sharktooth grille, built 340, etc.). I called the guy and he said someone was coming to look at it the next day (he'd had 26 calls, but was being very selective over who he'd sell his baby to). After we talked Dusters for a while, he said I could look at it it if the first guy didn't buy it.
Well, he did.

Not really sold out from under me (you snooze, you lose) but it felt the same.
 
did you have a deposit on the car? i only hold stuff if the buyer gives me a non-refundable deposit. too many people over the years said they were going to buy what i was selling only for me to pass up other sure sales and the guy that said he was going to buy back out... money talks bull **** walks these days for me..
 
Sorry for your disappointment...I agree from a seller's point of view, money talks, too many people nowadays say they want to buy then flake out on the deal. In this case, just keep in mind there's likely another deal out there for you that's even better, missing this one could be a blessing in disguise.
 
Never for a car, but for a car trailer. I told the owner I was on the way with cash, but needed to stop at the bank first. Headed straight to the bank, called him 20 minutes later to let him know I had money in hand and was back on the road. He says he has someone else looking at it now and will let me know if it doesn't sell. I pulled over another 5 miles down the road and told him I wasn't going to waste my gas money driving another 20 miles if he was going to sell it out from under me before I got there. He then told me it sold.

I sold a pontoon a couple months ago. The fella was coming from 3 hours away to get it and asked if I would hold it till he got here. I received many calls in the mean time, but told them all to call back after the other fella had a chance to get here. 3 hours later the fella showed up and bought it.
 
Ohh yeah it happened to me. At the time my boss was wanting to sell his Mustang GT, we agreed on a price (handshake) and week for me to come up with $. I sold my Big Block Duster quickly for cheaper than I wanted to get for it, but I needed something more reliable and highway friendly. I hand him the $ first thing in the morning and he hands it back and says "No I can't sell my Mustang, I don't feel like buying another car..." If he wasn't my boss I would have dropped him right there...After a few hours of doing everything I could to get him to honor his end of the deal, I lit him up & told him what a POS he was and he's lucky we're at work...I'm still pissed off about it and its been 10 years. I hate people that do not honor their word.

I did always find it funny that when he quit he called in and mailed his keys back.
 
did you have a deposit on the car? i only hold stuff if the buyer gives me a non-refundable deposit. too many people over the years said they were going to buy what i was selling only for me to pass up other sure sales and the guy that said he was going to buy back out... money talks bull **** walks these days for me..

exactly!

Sorry to hear this happend to you. if you gave a deposit, then you have every right to be upset.

if you didnt give a deposit, then unfortunatly the seller can do whatever he wants.

you cant trust peoples word, give a deposit and get a receipt saying deposit amount, amount still owing, date amount is due, and if deposit is refundable or not ( I dont refund deposits) then get name address and sig of both seller and buyer.

he cant sell it out from under you if you do that.

I have had soo many people call me about a car or something i have for sale on CL. and they ask me to hold it over the phone....First one with the cash gets it. I ussually dont even take deposits anymore either...too much BS. I dont know why people are so undependable. my word is my word. I dont know what so hard about living that way.

Phil
 
Back in '82 I fell in love with a sweet little red 1972 350 Rally Sport Camaro l saw on a used car lot. I put down a hefty deposit and told the salesman I'd be back the next day with the rest of the cash. Came back to the lot for the pay off...gone!

If I hadn't left when I did, there would've been a homicide at that place.
 
I came home from school one day, and while I was walking the mile and a half up our dirt road to the house a truck and trailer with my Chrysler Windsor was driving out.
I was like WTF???
I got home and asked my dad what was up? and he told me that we needed the money for bills so he sold it.
I was kinda pissed but hey, we needed the money I guess.
 
you cant trust peoples word, give a deposit and get a receipt saying deposit amount, amount still owing, date amount is due, and if deposit is refundable or not ( I dont refund deposits) then get name address and sig of both seller and buyer.

he cant sell it out from under you if you do that.

I have had soo many people call me about a car or something i have for sale on CL. and they ask me to hold it over the phone....First one with the cash gets it. I ussually dont even take deposits anymore either...too much BS. I dont know why people are so undependable. my word is my word. I dont know what so hard about living that way.


amen.. i have a guy all pissed off at me right now over a rear i sold..

this guy calls me i talk with him for 45 minutes or so. agree on a price and say i'll hold it for two weeks as long as i have a $100 deposit. i was being nice. gave him a good deal on the damn thing and it took me a week and emailing him saying i was going to back out of the deal if i didn't get a deposit. so i send him a second pay pal invoice clearly stating that the deposit was non refundable ( didn't trust him not to back out). i get the deposit finally. says he will be by on the following weekend and to send him the invoice for the balance. send the invoice and nothing. says he will be down the foloowing week again. well i'm out of town that week so he says no problem and he will get it when i'm back.. i figure no problem... i get ahold of him the day i got home and he is all excited and is going to set up a time and day to get this thing.. i tell him the days off during the week i have and all is good. well until the next day when he says he can no longer buy the rear and can i send his $100 back.. i told him you dicked me around for a month and a half after me giving you a great price on this rear and now your going to back out and want the deposit back?? i told him to look at the invoice again and read where it says non refundable deposit... boy did he get pissed.. lol. i sold the ***** two days later to a guy that came by with cash and never questioned the price... they should go as smooth as the second guy.. :)
 
I lost out on areally sweet original 396 chevelle. Offsetting owner $3000 for itback in 2000, (the thing was sitting in the yard and had nit moved in 10years) I get told it's not for sale. Over the next 8 years I attempted to buy that car for varying amounts of money. One day I went by and the were not home come back a few days later the car was gone. I asked about it and was told that they sold it for $150. I was pissed. They asked how much I was going to offer and I showed them $1500. It was a yellow car. And every yellow car/truck since I have not been able to buy. What a shame. But that's life
 
You have to be ready with cash and move fast these days. I used to take another mans word that he was going to buy a car when he said he did. In the past two months I've had five people give me their word on a deal and then back out one way or the other. I ask for a deposit now and no one will man up. I feel bad for you if you intended on buying the car but like Joe said above, cash talks, bullshit walks. I won't save anything for anyone at this point unless it's a really close friend of mine.

For the record I've had it happen to me also. I've given my word, agreed on a price and one time was literally heading to get the car when I find out it's been sold. This summer when I found the Mr. Norm's Kawasaki I had a verbal deal with the guy to buy the bike at his asking price. I still felt he might sell it out from under me for another ten bucks so I sent a friend out to pick it up since I was out of town. 4 hours after making the deal I had the bike and hadn't even seen it in person but that's what you have to do sometimes.
 
You have to be ready with cash and move fast these days. I used to take another mans word that he was going to buy a car when he said he did. In the past two months I've had five people give me their word on a deal and then back out one way or the other. I ask for a deposit now and no one will man up. I feel bad for you if you intended on buying the car but like Joe said above, cash talks, bullshit walks. I won't save anything for anyone at this point unless it's a really close friend of mine.

Couldn't have said it any better. I like having cash in hand when looking. The good deals go fast.
 
its funny. the last parts car i bought. (71 dart with disc brakes, 8 3/4,and rim blow) was sold three times before i showed up with cash. it was funny the seller says to me i'm surprised you showed up and when you said you would too.. i'm like what do ya mean? he says it was sold three times already. one guy even gave him some money and never came back. the other two never showed up at all..
 
havent seen the original poster make a comment. i wonder what the whole story is.

couple things people can learn from this post...

  1. mans word isnt a mans word.
  2. dont go looking at something to buy without the full value in cash in your pocket cause it can be sold to someone else in the time you go to the bank and back.
I have sold a couple cars to people. one guy gave me $100 deposit and i never saw him again. one guy gave me $200 then backed out.

Its weird when you tell people that the deposit isnt refundable and they start getting cold feet....Are you going to buy the damn thing or what? whats the big deal.

When i went to look at my duster i drove south across the boarder to sumner ( 3 hours away) i liked it, but i couldnt bring it home because you have to give 3 days notice at the US/canada boarder. so i gave a $500 deposite and wrote up a receipt and headed for home.

Well my truck broke down on the way home somewhere by the outlet mall and the casino on I5. I was stranded there for 3 hours till my tow truck came down to get me. $350 tow bill and $300 cell phone bill for roaming charges.

I called the seller the next day and said what happend and that i might have to back out depending on the costs to fix my truck. I told him i understand if he keeps the deposit but it would be nice if i could get it back. I told him i would call him once i found out what was wrong with the truck.

later that night i thought about it and decided to buy the car regardless of what happens with the truck. in the end of the day it didnt matter cause what if the truck broke down two days after buying the duster. i would still have to fix the truck after buying the duster anyways.

sorry about the long story...there are some exceptions to the deposit rule...but even i knew that if i backed out, there was a chance he might keep the deposit even though i had a valid reason.

this reminds me of another story of some fabo member buying a car from a kid on fabo and not getting the regi or other parts or something. then he was complaining on here that he is getting screwed. i called him on it and said why would you buy a car in full when the regi wasnt there? he wasnt happy with me.

Phil
 
i hate these threads cuz it reminds me of when i got shafted out of a 65 coronet 500...

went to look at a car in barn! friend thought it was a mop but not sure...

i get there and there a 65 Coronet 500 sitting there! so i started looking...

383 Hi-po V8
4 speed, console, console tach
buckets
repaint but had white interior
disc brakes up front with drums rear
drag pack with sway bars, sure gripped 8.75 with 3.91's had the tag
REAL magnesium torque thrust wheels...

needed a floor pan and a good tune up...

5K...

i told him i would get the money and be back in a week...

so i call him to tell him i was a coming and he said he sold it... THE DAY AFTER I WAS THERE!

so i need of a motor i started to rebuild the slant in my dart...

and wouldn't you know 2 weeks later he calls and the guys check bounced...
:violent2::mumum::protest::violent1::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::tool:

i still think of that car ofter...
 
Simple, move on, don't get all stressed out over it. People will always be ignorant, no matter where they are.


Deposits can be worthless. They can be argued in court and you can win to keep or you could win to get it back! Been there, done it! You need the b**ls to do it.
 
In the early 90's, went looking at a car with my brother, the guy also had a Vega wagon advertised, had a Buick aluminum v8, with a 4 speed manual, he was asking $100, the heads were off, so I said I was interested, but wanted to make sure parts were available. I called him back the next day and said I would take it, he said it was his sons car and his son decided he didn't want to sell it.
 
see my word is my word, thats why when im selling someone i tell everyone who wants it that the first here with the money is who gets it, even if its just a down payment. went through this over the summer when selling my firebird (miss that car already) got a few calls, two guys never showed, two guys kept calling saying they were trying to get the money together, one from about 20 mins away but he didnt even want to come look at the car til he had the money, the other guy from NJ (eventually he bought it) thought i was retarded and expected me to send him the title in the mail and hed send me a down payment of $100 then when he got the rest of the cash hed come... i said f*(% off and get the money or dont bother.

my point is the seller should be straight up with you, but most sellers will have this same process first come first served. i just have a round about way of getting to the point i guess lol.
 
I told a 'friend' if he ever wanted to sell his Valiant to call me first. We even talked about a price. I bugged him off and on for at least two years. I found out he sold it for about 2/3 of what I offered. I guess he didn't think I was serious, or didn't think I had the money.
 
Yup yup I had sat on a charger for a long time had money to buy it she wouldent come down any at all so I said I would wait she said car was not going anywhere she then calls me a year later and asks If she should sell it to a guy for exactly what I had wanted to buy it for......pshhhhhhhhhh should never have let that charger slip away!
 

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