The Official 356Talk Forum

I must say I had a very good experience selling my last 356 through our Registry Classifieds, but also am aware that with the internet 'the times, they are a'changing'. My wife and daughters are aware that when I finally check out that she will contact Fantasy Junction to arrange the sale of the car and local friends for the sale or gifting of the car parts.

Sebastian Gaeta wrote:Steve,

Alex would be a great person to consider selling your car for you. As a professional with years and years worth of connections, he may very well net you enough for the car that you are happy with and you would not have to deal with the sales process.

Alex has been a helpful friend over the years. In addition to purchasing the Speedster from him, I would call him for advice on cars I was thinking of buying like the 246 Dino I had coveted several years ago. His response was, "it will cost you $5000 to replace the starter; you have to take half the car apart". OMG. Or the time I casually mentioned that I would like to get a '37 Ford 5-window coupe at some point. He replied, "I have a nice one...and it's for sale." Needless to say, that was an expensive casual comment on my part. I don't make casual remarks to Alex anymore

Recently, I called him to ask what my Speedster was worth and he gave me a figure higher than my asking price and recommended that I hold onto the car and not try to sell it in this turbulent market. Frankly, the only reason why I did advertise it was a business acquaintance offered me a good deal on a house on Martha's Vineyard that would have taken the proceeds from the Speedster (and then some!) to purchase. I had to act quickly so I gave it a shot; as Alex predicted, it hasn't worked out too well.

I'm not going to pull the Registry ad but I'm also not going to advertise the car anywhere else. I think I am done selling (or in this case, not selling) cars for now. When I do decide to get serious about it, I probably will call Alex. Too many things have changed since the last time I sold a car that I think a professional's expertise is a necessity, not a luxury.

Regards,

SM Ross

My approach is similar to a David's -- if I can't take it with me, I'm not going. So far so good. The last Porsche I successfully sold was my '65SC coupe to buy my '65 cab in 1983. I write successfully, in that I sold my '59 sunroof in 1998 but bought in back in 1999 -- can hardly be construed asa successful sale.
thanks
Bill Block
Once and eviews columnist and now unofficial, self-appointed registrar for the register.
Blocks Books www.BLOCKS-BOOKS.COM
7295 Coldspring Ln. West Bloomfield, MI 48322 USA
248/672-2637 blocklab@gmail.com
1953/1952 1500N coupe #11994
1957 Super tractor #133/7622
1959/1958 1600N sunroof coupe #106072
1965/1964 356C Porsche cabriolet #161564
1966/1965 911 coupe #303269
1970 914/6 2.8 modified #9140432388
1998/1998 Silk, aka the fabulous Freda’s Boxter WPOCA2983WS621230

I sold a few Porsches way back before prices escalated; a '55 Continental Coupe, a '62 B cab and a '66 911, all daily-driven rust buckets. All sold via newspaper classifieds. All pleasant experiences, no surprises. Wish I'd kept the '55.

A few decades later I posted a 1966 MGB Roadster in newspaper classifieds and spent days by the phone and waiting for no-shows. People who did show seemed to not understand the concept of "cash only." Some arrived with large families in tow needing toilet facilities and sustenance. Finally sold the MGB to the father of a friend at work.

About fifteen years ago, pre-wifi etc, I posted a 1970 Chevelle SS454 on a classifieds list using a library computer. No photos, just a description and VIN. Drove home and had a message waiting. Buyer in Ohio said he'd wire $14K asking price to me. Yeah, right. Went to my Delaware bank a few hours later and the money was there! I called the buyer and asked, Now what? He said he'd send a transporter, which he did about a week later.

More recently I sold a '97 Impreza to CARMAX. Sooooo easy, but much much less entertaining.

The rule for real estate now applies to our old Porsche’s: Never sell. Always buy. Prices will continue to go up.

John Lindstrom wrote:The rule for real estate now applies to our old Porsche’s: Never sell. Always buy. Prices will continue to go up.

Any Florida members wish to comment on this!!

Think selling a car is frustrating, try selling Real Estate. I get calls at 10:00 p.m. (from other Realtors) who want to show a house of mine, five days later. Really, you had to call at 10:00 pm on Tuesday, for a showing to take place on Saturday????
And buyers, oh my gosh. You put in the MLS, "All appliances remain" first question, "Does the refrigerator stay with the house?" Really???????????????????????????

Gee...……..It does feel good to vent!!!

I sometimes wonder how many people can read. When I was selling my Outlaw with 912 engine I put in the ad that original engine was long gone and that 2 years of looking I had been unable to find it. So what do you think the first question I got was from several parties?

And because i once owned the car (decades ago), they called me to see if I had the original engine.

I told them it left in Bill's race car.

As a regular seller I've seen some definite patterns of behavior from buyers. Many times you get a question about the car that seems stupid, like can you read stupid, but it isn't about the question, it's about your response. People ask a mundane question to
1. See if you will respond.
2. See if you are a nice guy.
Kind of a like a feeler.
It's the same behavior that you get when people ask if they can have your phone number, or if they can come see the car, they almost never actually come see the car and sometimes don't even call you, but they want to see what your answer is.
I always give everyone my phone number and say they are welcome to come see the car, lunch is on me. That is normally enough to let people know I have nothing to hide.
One of my regular ways to weed out scammers is to ask for a phone number, if they guy just had jaw surgery and can't talk on the phone, well it's probably a scam.

Adam, I think you are a little too kind as to why they ask such questions. I think they didn't pay much attention to what they read. I do agree it is better to respond politely regardless. The shoppers usually are not hoping to meet a reading comprehension coach who also sells cars.

Robert Thiemrodt wrote:Think selling a car is frustrating, try selling Real Estate. I get calls at 10:00 p.m. (from other Realtors) who want to show a house of mine, five days later. Really, you had to call at 10:00 pm on Tuesday, for a showing to take place on Saturday????
And buyers, oh my gosh. You put in the MLS, "All appliances remain" first question, "Does the refrigerator stay with the house?" Really???????????????????????????

Gee...……..It does feel good to vent!!!

Must be Californians. For some reason all California housing (both for sale and for rent) is "bring your own 'fridge." Maybe they just couldn't believe they wouldn't need to buy a refrigerator.

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I've had similar experiences selling a Series III Land Rover and a Honda 750F. The last private sale I made, a [Baby] Mercedes 190E, circa 1989 went smoothly, perhaps because it was a relatively common car.

When I bought my 356A (February 2004) I checked the car out and--standing in a parking lot in Las Vegas--I offered about 90% of the asking price. The seller's immediate response was "what do you mean, what kind of payment?"

When I replied that i'd like to go to BofA and get a cashiers check I barely got the words out before the seller said "SOLD!"

Something tells me he'd had more than one creative proposal.

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Not all that long ago, a friend sold his second 2.7 Carrera RS (really) via consignment to European Collectibles. He had a good experience.

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Now I just need to learn how to deal with the people who spot the invisible for sale signs on my cars.

I have sold to and bought from Nick at European Collectibles, fair prices and great cars. Nice guys.

Maybe it's not just us:

One Reason Why It Sucks To Sell Cars On Craigslist: Crazy Text Messages Like These