For Sale Ads/No Garage Space

[TAKerry]

It seems the trend I have seen in a lot of sale ads is something to the effect, 'bought my dream car 6 months ago, now I dont have room for it', etc. I dont have a problem with people flipping cars, heck making money is the American dream. BUT, just be honest with the ads, if you just bought a car to flip whats the secret?

[joe_padavano]

How do you know they're not telling the truth. I know a lot of people who impulse buy a project then either figure out they are in over their head or their life situation changes and they can't afford it. Stuff happens. Personally, I'd probably say "lost my storage" rather than "lost my job".

[Terry Bond]

Works better than "forgot to tell wife I bought another car and now can't find anywhere to hide it." I know I've been sworn to secrecy many times by friends in that situation.

Terry

Edited January 5, 2021 by Terry Bond (see edit history)

[padgett]

I've sold cars before because I wanted the space for something else. Have about two too many at the moment.

[edinmass]

1 minute ago, padgett said:

I've sold cars before because I wanted the space for something else. Have about two too many at the moment.

 

 

You need a bigger garage......just saying. 👍

[padgett]

I have a 2,000 sq ft house and 2,000 sq. ft of garage space now. Just I have replaced the two SLKs with two Allantes and one Allante is in the middle & tow car is outside under cover.

Went through a retractable period but am over that now, Allantes both have hardtops and trunk space with the top down. Besides when the SLKs leave I'll be all GM.

[1937hd45]

If it helps the buyer get a better deal I see no problem. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[padgett]

Guess part is have never had cars just to have cars, rather have cars I like to drive and SLKs have always been kinda oddballs though the 320 is quick. Both are on classic car policy so not expensive to keep just would rather pass on. Package deal under $10k.

[GARY F]

I get a kick out of the I lost storage space. He should have thought of that before he bought. I wouldn't buy if my garage was full and not depending on storing it somewhere else.

[TTR]

20 hours ago, TAKerry said:

... just be honest with the ads ...

Vast, vast majority of used car, regardless of make/model/vintage, offered for sale by private or professional entities are and have always been with less than fully clear/honest/wholesome with their descriptions or images, even if unintentionally. Some just disclose (read share truth) less than others. Psychology 101.

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by TTR (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Lost storage does happen.  Think been storing it in a storage unit at 100-200 a month,  Finally it sinks in, you probably aren't using it if it's stored and you or worse yet your wife is doing the math.

Also people store them at neighbors, friends or relatives houses and either those houses get sold or the relationship deteriorates or the person may have even passed and now you are dealing with the family that doesn't want the car there, sometimes not realizing you may have done alot of little things for the person for storage that they didn't see.  Been in all these scenarios before.  Now I have 2 garages of my own (28 by 50 heated and 60 by 72 unheated) on my own property and I don't buy anything I can't put inside ,from cars to eqpt. Sure makes me sleep easier at night not worrying about all those scenarios. 

 

[edinmass]

1 hour ago, padgett said:

I have a 2,000 sq ft house and 2,000 sq. ft of garage space now. Just I have replaced the two SLKs with two Allantes and one Allante is in the middle & tow car is outside under cover.

Went through a retractable period but am over that now, Allantes both have hardtops and trunk space with the top down. Besides when the SLKs leave I'll be all GM.

Ok......now I see the problem. It’s a ratio issue. Basically your house to garage ratio is 1 to 1. Big mistake. My house is 1800sq feet. My total garage and shop space is 11,400sq feet. That works out to 1 to 6.33 Yours house isn’t too big, your garage is too small. If necessary, your wife can call me, and I can explain it to her for you.......after all, cars guys need to stick together! 👍

[Morgansdad]

That's what I've always said.... You can never have too much garage space. Hell, if worse comes to worse, you can always sleep in the garage.

[edinmass]

20 minutes ago, Morgansdad said:

That's what I've always said.... You can never have too much garage space. Hell, if worse comes to worse, you can always sleep in the garage.

Yes.......and just for such emergencies, I have a 1937 Pierce Arrow Travelodge camper in the garage......very comfy and convenient. 🤪

[pkhammer]

  I have enough indoor/under roof storage space for five cars/projects. Guess what? All five spaces have something in it 99% of the time. If I sell a car it's usually because I want to buy something else and I truly "need the room for it".

[zepher]

Ed's house to garage ratio is what we should all strive to achieve.

[1937hd45]

Low garage ceilings are a construction mistake. If they are 10 feet tall there is always room for another storage rack for dead projects. .

 

Bob 

[MochetVelo]

I think sellers try to preemptively answer the question "why are you selling it?" Of course, this question means "what's wrong with it?" 

"Lost my storage" steers the subject away from the wobbly crankshaft. 

 

Phil

[padgett]

Ed is a professional, just ask the IRS. All of my garage space is part of my house.

Nest has been empty for last decade, only cats left. Do not need to ask permission.

Garage has cathedral ceilings. Looks normal from outside but plenty of height inside. Intent was to look like any other house from street.

See no purpose in dead projects. One SLK is Automagic, other has 5 speed manual. Interest is directed at Allantes now (like SLKs, planned on one, other just appeared).

 

[edinmass]

13 minutes ago, padgett said:

Ed is a professional............

Not sure about the professional label..........more money than brains, yup.......guilty. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

Works better than "forgot to tell wife I bought another car and now can't find anywhere to hide it." 

...or less offensive than saying "I just bought it for peanuts from the widow down the street, now I want 20 times what I paid."

Usually the same guy who posts pics of the car sitting on a trailer or tow truck, and offered as "one owner" because he hasn't transfered title into in his name either.

[edinmass]

4 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

Works better than "forgot to tell wife I bought another car and now can't find anywhere to hide it." I know I've been sworn to secrecy many times by friends in that situation.

Terry

In my house it’s more like..........WIFE ASKING:

 

Did you get the milk at the store.........   ME: No, forgot.

Did you get the dog food.....................   ME: No, was busy.

Did you put out the trash.....................    ME: Half the time, nope.

Did you get the mail.............................     ME: Nope.

 

Did you do anything today....................   ME: Yup, bought a car.  HER after asking to see picture....That’s not a car, it’s a pile of sxxt. 

[padgett]

"offered as "one owner" " here "clear Florida title" is much more important.

[8E45E]

4 hours ago, GARY F said:

I get a kick out of the I lost storage space. He should have thought of that before he bought. I wouldn't buy if my garage was full and not depending on storing it somewhere else.

Probably made the purchase before he secured garage space for it. Only after did he shop around for a garage, and found out how expensive the rent is. (Depending where he lives. Renting a garage here is definitely NOT cheap!)

 

Craig

[Studemax]

My Studebaker Wagonaire was cheap to drive, maintain, and own - but the rent on storage led me to sell it to another member. I was having a loads of fun, but keeping it garaged killed my monthly budget.

[TAKerry]

Dont know that theyre not telling the truth!  I understand that a lot of guys have many cars, sell one or two and buy another and the cycle continues. Also, understand that storage space can be lost. I just think it sounds fishy right off the bat when the ad says 'I bought the car of my dreams 6 months ago and now it has to go'. If im buying my "dream car" I will make sure I can store it. 

Yes, the garage to house ratio should be at least 5:1

[TAKerry]

When I buy a car I tell my wife I found a car and will be picking it up today/tomorrow etc. Have been married going on 35 years she does her hobbies and I do mine. When I lost a project car in a fire I told her I would replace it. About a year later I found the replacement. Didnt bother to tell her about, havent in the past why bother now. My neighbor that lived across the street at the time worked from home and as soon as he saw me backing the trailer in the drive, he texted my wife and said he saw I bought a car! She wasnt happy but she got over it. 

[Brass is Best]

If somebody has no idea how big their garage is. Then how can you trust anything they say about the car for sale? Scary!

[auburnseeker]

Also remember there is plenty of room in the garage for your car,  but then winter comes and the wife starts giving you (well shall we say the cold shoulder) because her car sits outside.  To appease wife,  you sell the car.  So yes 6 months ago , in June you had storage now in November and the snow is piling up on your car, and the garage floor is getting mighty cold to sleep on alone,  you suddenly realize yup I just lost my storage.  She might have even agreed to those terms when it was nice and sunny out and she didn't have to chisel the ice off her car. 

Plus how many people impulse buy an old car?  Think of the number that have come here on these forums for advice and you can tell they know little if anything about old cars but they looked like fun and found one reasonable priced near by they just couldn't refuse.  Now reality has sunk in.  The last suspicious thing in an ad is lost storage must sell.  Lots of other things scare me away first. 

As mentioned lost storage also means you might score a good deal if you have storage and money and are into inclement weather season.  Especially if the wife is standing there and her car is the one in the drive being left out because of the old car in the garage. 

[DAVES89]

Having more cars can happen faster then one can imagine. I found a car on Craigslist [3 year old pictures] that was the right color inside and out and the right price as a driver. It was to replace one of my existing cars. After driving 250 miles [one way] I saw it as a "parts" car and was able to talk the guy down to parts car pricing. I still bought it, but as I could no longer sell one of my existing cars to replace with this one, so I now had more cars then storage. My buddy allowed me to store it in one of his sheds, but with the understanding that it wasn't "long term". So about a year later I sold this car, plus the one I was going to replace to another Forum member as I had finally found the car I should have waited for. This "new" car didn't have the right body color, but the interior color was both the right color and a "10" interior.

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by DAVES89 (see edit history)

[John348]

There are many reasons why storage is "lost." As pointed out it in an earlier post, it sounds much more polite then I lost my job, my business, getting divorced, spouse passed away, or even worse bad news medically and they are getting their affairs in order.  It all means the same thing, that the seller is negotiable. We are programed to minimize words on our classified ads, so lost storage sort of sums everything up.  

 

I just placed an ad here on the AACA website because I did run out of room, I never thought I was going to purchase another collector car in my life, I WAS DONE, but a very close, long time friend of mine friend of mine passed away. I was contacted by the Estate Attorney and ended up purchasing the car. My friends car has sentimental attachment to my family and myself, so I had to buy it.  We drove our cars to various VCCA Meets all over the country caravanning in our cars. Something has to go, and I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO PAY $200 a month to store a car. or leave it in the trailer, because the car will not be used. Technically I did not loose storage, i just had one too many cars and had to make room. This was not the first time this happened in my life, and I know I am not the only person on this site who this has happened too.

 

Things happen, people sell cars, people buy cars, people upgrade to better cars, whatever the reason, if the car is for you then why not inquire about it?

 

 

[autoluke]

Kudos for the Terry Bond reply.

 

Had a good laugh.

[Mark Wetherbee]

When I bought my Pierce I reorganized my small 2-car garage and bought a set of skates for the T. This lasted a few months but was far too tight for tearing into the engine on the Pierce when a neighbor offered the garage in a family members vacation homes. Should it get kicked out I would be in some trouble for storage until the Pierce is done (which has taken more than a year longer than first planned and still ongoing). Before you head the word “COVID” we had a plan to move it to an elderly neighbors garage that would give me the excuse to help her out around the house As “rent” and keep an eye out for her... not to mention she grew up in London during the Blitz and is very interesting to have tea with. We all still watch out for her, but from a distance sadly. 
 

Anyway, I recently started looking for an enclosed trailer to use as a garage because it would not wind up being a problem with our HOA even though my truck would just barely be legal to haul it empty... so, 8-10k for a mobile garage to hold a T??? Funny how much easier it would be to sell the T because of storage issues...

[padgett]

Prefer to say "Want the space for something else."

[Paul Dobbin]

16 hours ago, Morgansdad said:

That's what I've always said.... You can never have too much garage space. Hell, if worse comes to worse, you can always sleep in the garage.

  I built my barn/shop with a bedroom and bath an space for our motorhome.

  Lived in the motorhome (In the building) while building the house and had

  the quest room for visitors.  But now the  2200 Sq Ft and 2 carports are full

  and the bedroom is a shop/office, guests stay in the house now.

  I decided I would downsize, but only sold one car, and I'm still crowded.

  Anybody want an old 35' Airstream DP Land Yacht?  No tours for a year

  so why keep it.

[60FlatTop]

14 hours ago, GregLaR said:

"I just bought it for peanuts from the widow down the street, now I want 20 times what I paid."

 

That made me think of the 70 year old hobbyist who wouldn't have walked across the street to look a "that" type of car, until he bought it.

 

We all know him don't we.

[1937hd45]

I'm trying to think back to 1966 when I bought my first car, don't remember any sellers giving a reason why they were selling, and it never mattered to me. Like the car, could afford the car, bought the car. Nobody ever asked me why I was selling a car either.

 

Bob

[kings32]

Not all of us have the income to build or buy what we want !    Kings32

[Flivverking]

I use to see alot of.."Lost interest and "declining heath issues"  or the "no time for it"  for reasons for selling.

Only amature sellers of anything list a reason thinking to get sympathy of some kind .

Personaly I don't care what the reason is. I pay no attention to one ,the only passing thought is of the obvious ,they want money more then the item or car ,thats it!

 

I've sold plenty of cars and almost every first time vintage car buyer will asked "why do I want to sell it" at some point.

My feeling is "None of their dam business!"

I skurt the issuse untill I size them up as a tire kicker or a possible .

I usually give an entertaining answer that works in may favor .Truth of the reason of selling means nothing in a deal.

A Sob story minor or major usually puts the seller in a negative view.😇

 

 

[Brass is Best]

My favorite reason for selling excuse is: Must sell girlfriend is pregnant and the wife found out.