Absurd Ad Claims & Small Details

[Amphicar BUYER]

Drove to Nebraska to look at an Amphicar that he said he has had for years and just decided to sell but had no idea what to ask for it. Made all sorts of claims as to originality etc. Once I got there the 1st thing I noticed was the stack of ads from autotrader, local paper, craigs list and a couple others. Most from 1 month to 3 years old! All clearly had a price in the ad. About $15k over full retail. One "original" repaint (huh?), many ad lib accessories and incorrect and missing parts, 

 

When I went over to him with ads in hand asking why he thought it was OK to lie to me to get me to look at a very overpriced car, he said he thought maybe I would buy it as I knew what they were worth. I said 1st you lied to me about the condition of the car, the fact you have been trying to sell it for 3 years without any offers should tell you you have it over-priced. He got mad and said I didn't know anything about Amphicars and that when I realized my mistake that I would come running back.. Well it's still for sale 5 years later and I have not found my running shoes yet.

[poci1957]

6 minutes ago, padgett said:

I really like FIAT 124 Spyders. They just suit me. Had a 1438 at 10,000 feet and never let me down. May have another some day. Just like DOHC.  Back in the day many clueless has 124s and 850s that would slowly lose oil pressure. Dealer would tell them big bucks. I found more than one that just had a sludged up oil slinger on the end of the crank. Clean that and oil pressure was back.

 

Always have liked Alphas but just never encountered the right one for the right money.

 

I previously had a 1980 Fiat Spider and I really liked it, the Pinninfarina design was brilliant IMO.  Great style with ample interior and trunk room and I like the Fiat wood dash and console better than the Alfa.  The reason I was confident enough to buy the Alfa fixer upper was from my positive experience with the Fiat so I knew the parts situation was not bad and I could handle the work.  Then for a big plus the grassroots Alfa community was absolutely the most supportive ever, I would buy another Alfa or Fiat if I could find a solid one cheap, Todd C

 

[avgwarhawk]

I went to look at a Jeep CJ7.  Owner said it would be fun project if you liked to tig weld. 

[poci1957]

8 minutes ago, avgwarhawk said:

I went to look at a Jeep CJ7.  Owner said it would be fun project if you liked to tig weld. 

 

Hmmm, that is a thought......."Sir, don't say rust bucket, think of it as a home based DIY welding class included at no extra cost......."

[SC38dls]

Went and looked at a Jaguar MK9  in NJ that the owner said ran very well in all 3 gears. Got there and the clutch was shot if you got it moving in first and shifted by engine revs and no clutch it did run well    until the battery ran down as the generator was shot also. Lucky it did die as the temp gauge was red lined but not much was coming out of radiator as it had more leaks than good tubes it it.  I asked the owner why he thought it ran well, his answer was it did when he first bought it twenty years ago! I then asked if he wanted to repay me for a flight and hotel expenses to see a pile of junk and he said no and that I just didn't appreciate a classic when I saw one.  

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

9 hours ago, BillP said:

I saw an ad recently for a car that the owner claimed had an internal supercharger. Maybe it blows the pistons back up on the exhaust stroke.

 

You can put dual airbags in ANY car.  Just let your Wife and Mother-in-Law (or, in more modern terms, 'significant-other'-in-law) ride up front.

You can also put an Infernal Supercharger on any car using nothing more than your Wife's Egg Tongs.  You know, the ones you got her for Xmas a few years back.  (It's even better if they came from the Pampered Chef Catalog.  Don't ask me how I know this!)

Oh, who am I kidding?  You can do it with a $.29 rubber stopper from Ace Hardware.  Simply block off the PCV and w00t!  Look out Miami, here we come...

Edited August 8, 2016 by Grumpy's Auto Shop (see edit history)

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

9 hours ago, Amphicar BUYER said:

Drove to Nebraska to look at an Amphicar that he said he has had for years and just decided to sell but had no idea what to ask for it. Made all sorts of claims as to originality etc. Once I got there the 1st thing I noticed was the stack of ads from autotrader, local paper, craigs list and a couple others. Most from 1 month to 3 years old! All clearly had a price in the ad. About $15k over full retail. One "original" repaint (huh?), many ad lib accessories and incorrect and missing parts, 

 

When I went over to him with ads in hand asking why he thought it was OK to lie to me to get me to look at a very overpriced car, he said he thought maybe I would buy it as I knew what they were worth. I said 1st you lied to me about the condition of the car, the fact you have been trying to sell it for 3 years without any offers should tell you you have it over-priced. He got mad and said I didn't know anything about Amphicars and that when I realized my mistake that I would come running back.. Well it's still for sale 5 years later and I have not found my running shoes yet.

I thought the first question about an Amphicar was 'Does it still float?'

[padgett]

I always liked the R&T articles on the Boston Beany Sprout, a supercharger on the driveshaft, and a road test of a San Francisco Cable Car.

 

and then there was the Midget with a V1710 Allison.

 

ps the only Mk IX that had a three speed was a BW.

Edited August 9, 2016 by padgett (see edit history)

[CarlLaFong]

I was interested in a vehicle a few years ago that had a small block Chevy engine. As I read all of the exciting modifications made to the engine, I read this, "It has Hemi cut heads." sensing a BS story, I asked what that meant. He immediately went on the attack and told me that I didn't know what a hemi is and he gave me some vague and mostly incorrect explanation on head design. I told him that I know, full well what a hemi is, that it is a hemispherical combustion chamber. I also informed him that you cannot "hemi cut a Chevy head. Not now, not ever. He replied, "Well, we got an ol' boy down here that does them all the time".

I began to ponder, how often does a total BS story begin with, "We got an ol' boy down here" or, "Mah Deddy tol' me."?

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

1 hour ago, CarlLaFong said:

I was interested in a vehicle a few years ago that had a small block Chevy engine. As I read all of the exciting modifications made to the engine, I read this, "It has Hemi cut heads." sensing a BS story, I asked what that meant. He immediately went on the attack and told me that I didn't know what a hemi is and he gave me some vague and mostly incorrect explanation on head design. I told him that I know, full well what a hemi is, that it is a hemispherical combustion chamber. I also informed him that you cannot "hemi cut a Chevy head. Not now, not ever. He replied, "Well, we got an ol' boy down here that does them all the time".

I began to ponder, how often does a total BS story begin with, "We got an ol' boy down here" or, "Mah Deddy tol' me."?

Good on you for not telling him that Hemi's are not special. 

[61polara]

Sometimes the typo's in the ad are just as bad............67 Buick Electra with climax control......

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

10 minutes ago, 61polara said:

Sometimes the typo's in the ad are just as bad............67 Buick Electra with climax control......

  Hey, man!  If I'm buying a Buick it had better come with a feature I can't get in an Oldsmobile.

In an Olds you have to BYO for that sort of thing.

Edited August 9, 2016 by Grumpy's Auto Shop (see edit history)

[padgett]

Archaic in fact. I prefer a pentroof design with four valves (or two kidney bean shaped valves with two stems - with unleaded gas you do not need rotators)

 

of course if the "ol' boy" had been named Smokey and lived up by Daytona...

[capngrog]

1 hour ago, padgett said:

Archaic in fact. I prefer a pentroof design with four valves (or two kidney bean shaped valves with two stems - with unleaded gas you do not need rotators)

 

of course if the "ol' boy" had been named Smokey and lived up by Daytona...

 

Yep, Smokey Yunick could do just about anything with machinery!  Making a hemi-headed Small Block Chevy would have been difficult, but if anyone could do it, Smokey could.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[padgett]

And Zora could make a hemi head for a garbage truck.

[capngrog]

Zora made Ford flathead V-8s into overhead valve hemis.

 

To get back on subject, I think the most ridiculous claim, although often true, is also the most common:  "Ran When Parked" (RWP).  I think we've all encountered this claim, but however true it may be, RWP doesn't mean much when the car has been "Parked" outside for 20 years with the hood open, the air cleaner off and the carburetor throat open to the elements.   A couple of years ago, I bought a 1948 Chevrolet (stock) that Ran When Parked, but had been parked inside.  It looked pretty good, and the bottom of the gas tank looked almost new.  I fiddled and fiddled with it, trying to get fuel from the tank to the engine.  I finally dropped the tank, and found that the about 30% of the top of the tank had rusted through and fallen into the tank, which was full of some kind of unidentifiable sludge.  Yeah, RWP alright, but however true that may be, RWP is a perishable status and can be as rotten as last month's rutabagas.

 

Just my opinion,

Grog

 

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

When you're looking at on-line ads--Ebay or elsewhere--

have you seen cars whose initial picture was taken head on?

The listing doesn't say the body style, and the picture

tells you little.

 

It's almost always a 4-door sedan,

as if sedans are to be ashamed of!

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

@Grog

'RWP' should immediately lead to 'WWW', meaning, 'When, Where and WHY?'

[Amphicar BUYER]

I always find it odd when they don't post a photo or use a photo taken from the front porch of the car across the street or in a dark garage, under a cover. The others bad ones are they have several pics and not one shows an entire panel let alone the entire car or worse yet, no photos at all. Here is an example (http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5644054519.html) $93k for this Ferrari and not a single photo! I'd bet they had a camera in their hand when they wrote the ad.

 

The title is often a problem, IE saying only "For Sell" (yea I know it's for "sell" (Grrrr) but what is it? These have a price of $1 most of the time. Too lazy means too lazy to take care of the car = POS. 

 

The worst are anything from a dealer. You open the ad and wow, a lot of text, could it be a concise ad about the car? Nope, it's all extolling the virtues of the dealer and rarely any specifics about the car only saying "call for details" (I will NEVER call if they can't give me some details, feels very shady)

 

The other side of the coin is I always make a very concise ad with all the info about it. I post photos of all sides, dash, seats (F&R), engine, trunk tires etc. I list all the usual stats (mileage, drive train specifics etc) and invariably the emails start pouring in all asking questions CLEARLY answered in the ad or asking for more photos. Most of my ads have 15-20 photos. I am happy to provide a photo of any specific area if requested. The buyers can be just as frustrating as the idiot sellers.

[28 Chrysler]

For Sell needs complete restore firm price 100$ OBO

Jay Leno showed an add  for a Mustang that had damage on the left front fender ( the before photo ). The after the repair photo was of the rear of the car.

[auburnseeker]

Must have the super rare optional 5 speed the factory didn't even know they offered as well as the equally scarce V8. 

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5727857802.html

 

 1936 Oldsmobile - $10500 (Petersburg) hide this posting

1936 1936 Oldsmobile

condition: good
fuel: gas
title status: clean
transmission: manual

• safety tips
• prohibited items
• product recalls
• avoiding scams

 

1936 Oldsmobile 
Flathead v8 w 5 speed transmission standard
Original
77094 miles
10500 or make offer
Runs 
New tires

[60FlatTop]

I would look at that car if it were near. It reminds me of a friend who followed up on a Subaru Tiger in the mid-1980's.

And back when Ebay let you use a * wildcard I always searched for incorrect spelling.

 

But, you know, I have stopped searching "convertable" under cars for sale. As I age I am looking for smarter sellers and dumber buyers.

Bernie

[auburnseeker]

Just saw this ad for a pair of 1957 Mercury Convertibles.

 

There is no price in the ad. 

The phrases used are code words for ridiculously overpriced I think. 

Also code words for we bought it cheap and expect to make a killing on it. 

 

"Two rare 1957 Mercury Monclair Convertibles for sale. One black modified convertible and one original red convertible. The black one has a Ford Big Block with an automatic stick on the floor and about 70K miles on the odometer. The red convertible is pretty much all original, has about 25K miles and is equipped with a continental kit.. The black one runs and drives and is road ready; the red one will be road ready soon after we go through it.

These are very rare cars purchased from an estate and are priced accordingly. Please respond only if you are a collector and understand the value of these cars. "

Edited August 15, 2016 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[poci1957]

15 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

There is no price in the ad. 

The phrases use are code words for ridiculously overpriced I think. 

 

These are very rare cars purchased from an estate and are priced accordingly. Please respond only if you are a collector and understand the value of these cars. "

 

Yup, another gem of an ad aimed at (we are tongue in cheek here) the large group eager to offer top dollar for high-performance 1957 Mercurys.  Also sure to be impressed by the sellers "going through them", I know I would be....

[John_S_in_Penna]

I was reminded of another favorite claim when I saw it today:

"For sale... fast appreciating"

 

Well, if it's "fast appreciating" or a "great investment,"

why doesn't the seller just hold onto it?

 

[auburnseeker]

Found this ad just a few minutes ago.  Now I understand replica in the title but it surely doesn't resemble a Bugatti in any way other than the very crooked headlights. 

http://nwct.craigslist.org/cto/5733912830.html

1930 Bentley Convertible Replica - $8600

[padgett]

I like the Pinto engined versions better.

[capngrog]

Here's one: 

 

I deleted the make and type of car just to protect the guilty; however, this particular write up could be used for almost any vehicle of inflated value.

 

"Multiple celebrity owners & a real Gatsby era vehicle. Resto mod. The Mae West car w/ extensive records/history/titles & Rego’s photos w/ owners/court records/public display moview & related museum items are available. 1st time offered for public sale in over 4 decades. See more in the “Feature Cars” section at www.xxxxxxxxx.com. Only 685 produced, now 2 or 3 may exist. Seen by Randy Ema Duesenberg historian but not documented, moview,/TV specials, Florida Today features, in 2016 National Matrix calendar. Offered under current 2016 agreed value coverages at $395,000 OBO - Trades"

 

"Resto mod"?  Now, how much would that be worth?  I wonder if it's a "numbers matching resto mod"?

 

What's a "moview"?

 

Cheers,

Grog