talk down a seller. i am asking you guys because you probably have done this before. me i have not because it would be my first car. i was looking at a 89 iroc-z. it has 116,000k on it and has t-tops(i don't know if they leak). the price is 2500 or best offer. but when i went on KBB.com and rated the condition, it said it was fair and only worth 1960$. i went out and took a look at the car and had it checked by a mechanic. he said the engine and trans was good, but it needs new rotors. and the body is not so good. the front bumper is cracked so that needs to be replaced. the hood is missing the louvers and the struts. and the hood is dented and the paint is peeling on it so it needs to be replaced. it's missing the fog lights and the iroc-z decals. the weatherstripping is torn on the passenger side window. and the paint is overall dull. and the interior isn't clean at all. it looks like it has been cleaned in a while. and every is pretty faded out in the interior. and seat probably need re-upholstering or some bad *** cleaning. now i was going to use that in my defense to talk him down to 1960.the total repairs to get in excellent condition is around 3000$.help me out please. tell me what i should say. if i can get him down to 1960 then it would great and i would owe you the people of thirdgen.org the world . help please.

 

Point out its flaws. Inquire about damages. Wouldn't hurt to get a carfax report so you have leverage.

edit: My car was priced at $7000 or best offer. I paid $5000 for it. Just keep taking him down and he'll eventually settle.

[This message has been edited by One Eyed Jack (edited July 06, 2001).]

 

Don't get picky pointing out the flaws...whenever someone starts this w/me, I get defensive and get firmer on my asking price.

Talk about the general condition of the car, mention the Bluebook value, and if you like the car, offer 2g's (assuming you're willing to go the $1960.00) and if he says no, leave your number and have him call you if he changes his mind.

With that said, if you really like the car, you may have to pay the $2500.00 to get it.

You may want to scan the classified for interior stuff...I seem to recall good used interiors (minus seats) run in the 200-250 range, a good Z hood with louvers 100-300, depending on whose selling, I bought one locally for $125.00.

Decal sets are around 200-250

Call around in your area for a paint price.

ONce you get an idea of what you'll have into the car when you're done, you may decide to look for a better car (assuming you have access to the additional bucks) or this car may be what you need now, and put some $$ into it over time.

What you're looking at seems to me to be a solid "fixer-upper" and if your mechanic had it on the lift and didn't see any suprises, it'd seem to be a good foundation to start with.

Besides, chicks dig t-tops

 

I would keep looking around, it sounds like you could an IROC in better shape than that for the same price. Check out autotrader.com
that's where I got mine w/ 86k miles and a decent paint job for $1700.

------------------
'86 IROC
T-TOPS, TINTED WINDOWS, BRAKE LIGHT BLACKOUTS
GM GOODWRENCH 350
EDELBROCK TES HEADERS
FLOWMASTER
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KN AIRFILTER
ACCEL HEI DISTRIBUTOR
160* Stat
2:73 GEARS
Rebuilt 700R4, with manual valve body
B&M Megashifter
Soon to be installed
Exhaust Cut-Out and different gears, either 3:73 or 3:42
"There is nothing more addicting than speed"

 

guess what. i did a carfax on the car and it doesn't have a clean title history. it got a salvage title at 51,000k. then got a rebuilt title. this basically means it got in an accident and wasn't road worthy. then got rebuilt or repaired to be road worthy.

 

Take that carfax to him and offer $1500

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IMO, if you have that many questions about whether or not to buy it, don't buy it. Because later all you'll do is ask yourself why you DID buy it. I mean, in your first post, you just told us about 10 reasons why you shouldn't buy it. You will know when you find the car. Try not to get impatient. But then again, don't get too slow and pass up a good car because you feel it's too good to be true. You did do the smart thing and had a mechanic look at it. Keep doing that.

A salvaged title and a rebuilt title are basically the same thing. Just different names in different states. Carfax uses both terms to make sure everyone understands. But neither of them mean the car was repaired the right way.

I used to sell used cars and know a lot of pointers to give any of you, and the one I have for you is "Don't walk away from this car. RUN!!!!!"

And not to argue with GM Tech, but up here in the rust belt, I wouldn't pay more than $1000. If you gotta due (and no, I didn't spell that wrong ) that much work, is it really what you wanna buy? Add up the total of what it's gonna cost you to get it looking/running the way that you want it to. Add that to the amount you paid for the car itself, and I bet for about another $500-$1000 you could buy a mint a$$ IROC. But that's the key, add up the total cost. It may scare you.

Good luck,

AJ

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92 RS w/t-tops 305 TBI Auto.
170K miles and don't burn a drop o'oil
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Rockford 2ch. to 2 MTX 12" subs

[This message has been edited by AJ_92RS (edited July 06, 2001).]

 

Find another car. If you ever want to sell the car in the future, the purchaser may use the same arguemnt (salvage/rebuild) against you and offer you squat.

From the sounds of things, you will end up putting some coin into this car. Buy a better car for the same total cost, and then you won't have the hassle of the salvage title.

The other comments about being "done right" are also valid. Sometimes these "write-offs" are from other provinces/states, because the state/province where they were written off won't meet safety standards. So often the vehicle ends up in a state/province that isn't as picky.

 

thanx to you all that replied. i think i am going to take your advice and stay away from the car. you all make alot of sense in the points you were making. i'll just wait and have patience for that special thirdgen camaro (one of the greatest cars in my opinion)to pop up. thanx a million. and since you all helped me. i'll try to help you. i have the carfax for the next two months. so if you need it let me know. thanx again.

 

2 things to say. You get what you paid for and something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

It's better to spend more on a car that needs less work than too little on something that costs too much to fix. When I bought my race car I paid too much for it. It was 100% street legal and I could have just drove it. I stripped it down and raced it instead. Why I bought this one instead of one a lot cheaper was that the body was in mint condition. Cosmetic stuff is easy to repair but once the body starts rusting out especially on a unibody car, it becomes a project that will never be finished and if it is, it'll cost more than paying for one in better condition.



------------------
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Could you run this vin for me 1G1FP87S7FL450773 -85 sc Thanks
TIM

 

sorry tim but your sports coupe had the same thing that happened to the camaro i was gonna buy. the sc had a salvage/junk title. but that was it everything else was ok.

 

Got two here, if you don't mind.
1G1FP23E7NL156432

2G1WW12M4S9223139

Thanks for doing that for us. Your a good man.

AJ

 

good news aj both of the cars are perfectly fine. nothing wrong with em.

 

Thanks for runing that i knew it had a savlaged title but i thought there was more to it that just that. and i also have another one for you, its a car i have been lookin at. 1G1FP21E2KL116614
Thanks very nice of you.
Tim
Email timmy7404@hotmail.com

 

Thanks. I assume that you are Elizabeth, as your email address indicates. Our are you just using the address of a mom, sis, or relative. The reason I ask is your log on name. I like it. It reminds me of my buddy's plates on his wife's minivan. INURIS 2. That was the song they danced to at their wedding reception. EVERYONE asks them what it means. They keep telling everyone that it's not In Your Anus or Uranus!!!!!! I was the only one that he's ever come across yet that knew what it meant. And I didn't even know them when they got married, or that that was the song....etc.

Just a little FYI. I guess your member name tripped a memory trigger in my head. I feel better now.

AJ

BTW. Thank again. Those are my cars now. Guess I should've found out before I bought them.

[This message has been edited by AJ_92RS (edited July 07, 2001).]

 

tim the 89 maro that you're lookin at is perfectly fine. nothing wrong with it.

 

no aj that's my mom's sister middle name

 

I say don't get it if he won't come down. I think I got my car for a good price, I paid 2000 for my 89 RS. I is in mint conidition with only 72454 miles. Eninge and everything well maintianed. Repainted by GM with the highest quality. Interior was in the best shape I ever saw. I looked at alot and I'm sure most of you have and I've seen worse ones getting sold for more. KBB.org said mine was worth 3500. So I got an steal. Wanna see pictures?? http://photos.yahoo.com/godzillamk

 

hey Green, you got mail!!!!

------------------

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Carfax prays on people by implying that a car is worthless if it has "any" title problems in the past and they tease you with an implied warning trying to get you to pay them to find out something you can find our yourself just by asking or reading. When you look at the title it will say "salvage" if it is salvage and this is not always a bad thing. Why pay Carfax for something you can find out yourself?

A salvage title means that at one point in time an insurance company owned and resold this car. No title can be marked with anything else but "salvage" if an insurance company is selling it.

Case in point:

My previous 1985 Firebird SE, 100,000+ miles had a salvage title. The car had one owner since new. His car was stolen for a joyride in Phoenix whereas the culprits hit a curb and cracked the transmission case. Other damage was totally minimal.

But when the car was taken to GM for a GM transmission the cost for the new transmission and GM labor exceeded the book value of the car so it was totalled.

The previous owner settled with the insurance company and bought the car back because he knew it's history. With the money the insurance company payed him he rebuilt the engine, put in a rebuilt tranny, new A/C system and radiator (and car alarm).

I was able to buy this car for $1700.00 when his daughter didn't want the car daddy was "fixing up" for her. And it was the best car I have owned in 10 years.

So don't always trust Carfax or the fact that the title says salvage, try to find out more. Too many people get the impression some body shop put back together a twisted mangled wreck and is offering it for resale.

N.A.D.A. values of a car change each month. Based on the 17 digit VIN and the mileage you can get the wholesale, loan, and retail value of any car at any given time. If the title is salvage there is a 25% deduction in all three categories.

 

NADA and a "salvaged" title doesn't tell you how the car was damaged. Carfax can get you more info than just reading the title will. Does the title tell you if it was flood damaged? Or stolen? Or in a fire? Anytime any of these things happen, and it's reported to an insurance company, that insurance company is legally obligated to notify the state that the vehicle is registered in, if the damage was more than 22% of the value of the car. This was a law passed in 1995 to keep future buyers aware of things like this. And of course, 9 outta 10 times, a stolen car will be reported to the police, which Carfax can find also.

Insurance companies don't "total" a vehicle until the cost of repair exceeds 50-75% of the replacement cost of that vehicle. And plus they fix everything as cheaply as possible if the car isn't totaled. For example, do you think that they check/change any gaskets in the engine after the car has been in a fire, or swimming for a few days? NO!!!! They don't care about that. That's a normal wear and tear item to them. You're lucky if they would even cover that in a claim no matter what it was.

I've used Carfax before, just for the simple fact that it's easier to have them get the info for you than it is to hoard insurance companies or the state, to get that info yourself. And your right about NADA values changing every month. But they always go down. Plus, as you said, a 25% loss due to a salvaged title. About the only cars that don't go down are the 94-98 Impala SS and older Corvettes. Do you think anyone wants to buy one of those cars, or even a Camaro RS, after it's been in a fire, or in the bottom of some lake? Hell No!!!

I mean I'm glad to hear that your purchase went well. But as I said before, I used to sell used cars. We always told people "The car was stolen and the insurance company settled with the people, then about 2-3 days later, the police found the car. So the insurance company had to salvage the title. Other than that, the car is fine." We had no idea why the car had a salvaged title!!!!! We just told them what sounded good.

Believe what you want, but why take the chance if you don't have to? The more info you can find out about a used car, the better, no matter how you find that info.

[This message has been edited by AJ_92RS (edited July 07, 2001).]