Originally Posted by SD 335is
Bingo! Here's what happened:
The last call started with her saying that she "didn't feel comfortable" having someone else besides a BMW dealer look at her car and questioned the need for a PPI at all. I explained why a buyer would want a PPI done by an independent mechanic who has no vested interest in the car. Somehow he interpreted this to mean that not only that you shouldn't trust a BMW dealer, but the dealer was obviously lying to them and they were lying to me (paraphrased: They told us the car was in perfect mechanical condition and we told you that the car is in perfect mechanical condition, why don't you believe them or us?) He got belligerent and argumentative right from the start. (I introduce myself: Hi J, how are you? Him, paraphrased: Well, I've been working like crazy, I'm tired, but what the hell!)
The night we met and went out to look at her car, I asked the club president and BMW mechanic to come out and look at the car with me. That initial conversation and every e-mail since then was about having a PPI on the car. Because the president's dealership was on the opposite end of the county I was trying to make it easier for her to bring the car down from where she lives, 90 miles north of that dealership. I suggested two independents each about 45 miles away from her. She was apparently fine with this until last night. At this point things are starting to unravel and her husband says "You know, her blue BMW looks just fine sitting in the garage next to my red Corvette!". I ignore this as I can't believe that he just said this. Apparently this is now all about his ego.
Up to this point we hadn't discussed a specific price. I knew what she had been offered before and was willing to accept but the buyer backed out so I felt that my beginning price was lower than that. All of our e-mails talked about negotiating the price based on the results of the PPI and coming to an agreed price after that.
Her second bombshell was that the price was now a flat $24,000, the same price as when the previous buyer backed out. I said wait, you're not willing to negotiate and you're now saying that it's $24,000, take it or leave it? And you're refusing to have a PPI done? Now I hear her husband yelling (yes, yelling) in the background "She doesn't need to sell the car!" and "She doesn't need the money!". At this point, my mind is reeling, I can't believe what I'm hearing, and I'm realizing, holy ****, this deal ain't gonna happen.
At this point I'm trying to reason with this completely unreasonable asshole while still trying to remain calm and not blow my top. This is when I realize that she's been having cold feet about selling her car and apparently her husband didn't understand why she was selling her car in the first place. Although he never said it I actually felt like he thought that I was trying to pressure his wife into selling her car. I said something like look, I asked if the car was for sale and I was told yes and I've proceeded in good faith ever since. The fact is, I never stood a chance. Ironic that during our first conversation when I asked her why she was selling the car she said that her husband was a big guy, 6'2", and he "didn't feel comfortable in the car".
I said something like I felt like I was being blindsided and that I wasn't comfortable with how things were going. I told her that I was sorry that everything had ended up like this. I think that she said something about "cooling off" for a few days. I said well, if you ever decide to sell the car please let me know. And that was that. From everything's great to a complete disaster in less than 5 minutes after six days of e-mails. I couldn't believe what just happened.
I don't see this deal ever happening. I have the feeling that for some reason her husband feels like I'm the bad guy and I doubt he'll ever agree to selling the car to me. This is kind of weird but it's almost like we were having an affair, her husband found about it, and then stepped in to end it. It was almost like she was flirting with me, strung me along, and then she just wasn't ready to seal the deal.
I'm completely baffled with their refusal to have a PPI done. Google "how to buy a used car" and every hit that comes up contains the advice "have the car inspected by a mechanic that you trust". This is just Used Car Buying 101. When we were discussing why I wanted a PPI, I told them that I haven't bought a used car since 1969, and after that car ended up being a disaster and a bad experience, I swore that I would buy a used car again. I told them that I went to knowledgeable people that I know in our club and they all recommended having a PPI done at one of our many fine independent shops. I told them I was just following the advice of people who buy and sell used BMWs all the time. Afterwards, I was thinking, would they buy a house without having an inspection? I just don't understand.
Bottom line, I think I inadvertently got involved in some issue between the two of them that somehow became about the car. I never expected this drama.
I wasn't even looking before but if I was looking I was thinking that an E46 M3 or a Z4 M might be a worthy replacement for my S2000. This one fell in my lap so I went for it. My S2000 is in excellent condition and I've said a thousand times that I'll never sell it. I was willing to sell it for this, the right car, the right color, the right options, the right price. My long term plan was, and still is, European Delivery on an M4 in 2015. If I bought this car I would have pushed that out another year or two and may have kept it anyway, just like I'm planning to keep my S2000. It would have been quite the stable.
|