“Knock… knock… knock knock… knock…..knock knock” someone banged loudly on my front door, clearly going for the “Pop Goes The Weasel” beat. I looked over to find a man I’d never seen before; I motioned to him that I’d be there in a second, as I was on a phone call. A few minutes later, I walked outside and greeted the stranger. “Hey, I’m into classic cars. I might be interested in something,” he said.
I found this a little odd. Sure, I have nine cars outside my house, but given how bad some of the project cars look, I strongly doubt anyone would really mistake me for a dealer. Maybe this random guy was a reader who wanted to see my fleet? This happens fairly often — someone who follows my articles is driving by, sees my cars, and decides to say hello. I usually greet them and give a nice tour of my collection; in some cases, we become besties. It’s pretty great. Miraculously, in zero cases thus far have my organs been harvested and my body haphazardly dumped into the mud pit in my backyard.
Luckily that didn’t happen this time, either, though something about this dude did make me feel a bit uneasy.
(Before I go on, I’ll just mention: I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. This guy could be reading this article, and I’d feel pretty bad if I made him feel upset in any way, but I’m writing this because of how he made me feel, and because I think what he did next is something we’re seeing a lot of in the classic car world. And it’s not okay).
As I began giving a tour of my cars, we got to the backyard and I pointed out my beloved Willys FCs. He showed zero interest. I pointed out my 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle — a real beauty — and my daily-driver 1985 Jeep J10 pickup (also a beauty). He showed no interest there, either. I wasn’t really sure what was going on at this point; if he was a reader, surely he’d dig at least one of these soulful junkers, right?
“So how much?” he asked me, pointing to my brother’s beautiful Candy Apple Red 1966 Ford Mustang. “Haha, that’s not for sale,” I answered.
He got serious. “No seriously, how much?”
“Again, it’s not for sale.”
He began looking under it. “Woh it’s pretty solid. There’s some rust here and there, but it looks good. I want to buy it. How much will you sell it for?”
“It’s…” I began to say before he jumped in. “Look, everything is for sale at the right price, and I can offer you quite a bit. How much will it take for you to sell it to me? I’m in town from California and I’m going back tomorrow. I want to go back with this car.”
“It’s my brother’s,” I told him. “He’s not going to sell it.”
His reply: “Let’s just call your brother right now and see what he’ll sell it for. It’ll be cash.”
I responded, telling him that my brother lives in Hong Kong.
“Well, let’s call him. You don’t think he’ll pick up?”
After telling the guy that it’s 5:30 A.M. in Hong Kong and that my brother is asleep, he asked for my number and told me to get back to him with my brother’s response. Then, after looking at the car for a bit longer, he left.
I’m writing about this because I’ve heard of this kind of thing happening before. Someone’s driving their dream car down the street, and the car catches the eye of a well-to-do person, who offers up a blank check. “I want that car. How much do I have to pay to get it?” they ask someone who’s not really interested in parting ways with their machine. Sometimes that’s totally cool, and the prospective buyer either says “I understand that you don’t want to sell it, but here’s my number” or they end up striking up a deal right there, and everyone’s happy.
But what made my exchange with this random guy feel demeaning was what felt like a lack of empathy. It was his insistence that this car is for sale despite my words communicating otherwise. Here’s a guy looking into the eyes of another man his age, and saying: “I want what you have. Because I have money, I’m going to get it. Now tell me how much.” There was very little compassion and a whole lot of entitlement; never mind that this car represents a strong connection between my older brother — for whom a 1960s Mustang has been a dream since he was 10 years old — and me. Never mind that I put many weeks of blood, sweat, and tears into getting this thing running and driving like an absolute dream.
This red Mustang was something he wanted (presumably so he could post some sick photos to his Instagram), and since he pegged me as someone who has less money than he has, he was convinced that he could influence me to part ways with it.
I want to make clear that the general bones of this situation are totally fine. This kind of thing is happening on Bring a Trailer every day — rich people are buying up the middle class’s dream cars. Do you want a Jeep Grand Wagoneer? Ten years ago you could get one, now you can’t. They’re in the hands of the rich. Do you want a nice manual Jeep Cherokee XJ? Too bad, the people who like those have money, and they’re throwing it around. Are you a middle class-er interested in an air cooled 911? Unless you snagged one up 15 years ago, you can forget it. You’ll be outbid.
There’s nothing wrong with any of this. This is all economics; if car-lovers come into money, that’s great, and if rich people get into cars, that’s awesome, too — I want everyone to be into cars. And I realize that many of you reading this article are in high-income households; I think that’s fantastic. The issue I have is that this particular rich guy (I’m assuming he’s rich based on him so freely throwing money around) didn’t approach this situation with the sensitivity it deserves. He didn’t understand that this Mustang isn’t a washing machine; people see cars differently. They attach emotion to them; so when you try to pressure someone into selling something their heart is invested in, and say things like “Everything is for sale,” not only does it display a sense of entitlement, but it’s a bit presumptuous about the other person’s economic status relative to yours, and most importantly it trivializes the emotional relationship the person has with that car.
So no, random arrogant guy who dropped by yesterday, the Mustang literally isn’t for sale. Take that little slip of paper onto which you’re about to scribble a number that a cheap bastard like I would find impressive but that you make every time your Christmas bonus check rolls in, crumple it up, and shove it up your ass.
Okay, maybe that was a little too harsh. But you get the idea. I’m keepin’ the ‘stang.
One million dollars
That guy was clearly not a car guy. People who are really into cars are also into the camaraderie that comes with the obsession. We don’t just appreciate the cars, we appreciate others who appreciate cars. Nothing wrong with seeing whether it was for sale or not, but once it was clear that the car meant more to the both of you than the dollars it could sell for, he should have just given it a good long look, told you how cool it is, asked a few questions about it, and been on his way. Like any car guy would have. As was said earlier, the dude is into possessions, not cars.
The guy wasn’t a car guy. He was a possesions guy. This is true of 90%+ of the car community, they want to be known for their possessions and happen to select cars. People who really like cars (or any particular hobby) are more interested in the interesting designs, histories, and stories than holding the title to something.
I have a friend who loves Alfas. He rebuilt an old Gulia Spider himself (he didn’t do the paint) and did the same thing with a ’73 GTV he has owned since 1980. His two adult sons both have project cars (a 2002 and a Miata) which is their excuse to spend time together every week. The local car shows we like are the ones that have a strange mix of cars where the only reason anyone owns them is that they truly love them and not because they want to be seen as the owner of a particular object. I would rather talk to the guy who brings a 300k mile ’66 Bentley with original paint or the Borgward owners club folks than waste a minute looking at a 100K ’32 coupe hot rod or any Corvette ever made. It is the difference between spending time with people that have a true interest in something and people who are very likely to just want to be seen owning a status symbol.
I’ve had passing offers for my 67’ it runs, drives and is road legal but, honestly it’s worth maybe 6k tops with the issues it has (spotty rust and a primered trunk lid.) The last one was from a guy at Halloween walking past it while it was parked in front of the house “how much for the Mustang?” “Sorry bud, not for sale; in this life or the next.”
Even in its current state I like still owning my first car.
A good response would be “$100 more than what you’ll ask from me to buy it back”.
If the guy doesn’t understand that not everything translates to monetary value, he’ll at least get the idea that in your case it translates to a higher one than his.
“I’ll swap you even for your wife.” That should give him the equal opposite feeling.
I know! My first thought was that the perfect retort to “everything has a price” would be to look over at his vehicle and if there was a kid in it to ask “how much for the little girl?”
David,
In addition to my Grand Cherokee (which most customers find impressive) and my F150 (which they do not), and my Explorer (which is a fixture of Ford white over Pueblo Gold….like most of them) I also own a 2002 Ford Mustang GT. It’s Laser Red, I bought it from the original owner, it’s never been modified, raced, hot rodded, driven in snow or salt, and came with every stinking record from DAY ONE.
I literally cannot replace this car. It’s a 2002 time capsule. And I get offers on it left, right, and center.
It IS for sale. But the price is stupidly absurd. Because everything DOES have a price. That price may be something that no one wants to pay, and that’s fine, because if you want me to turn loose of a car that I cannot replace, it’s going to cost you. A LOT.
I had a guy in here not long ago, and saw it sitting on the other side of the shop, and did the trademark Hoovie slap the roof and ask how much.
I told him this exactly.
“The car is for sale, but it really isn’t. Meaning that if you want THIS car, you’re going to pay an absurd amount of money for it, as I cannot simply replace this car. That said, if you simply HAVE to have it, you’ll need to get me $20,000. I’ll part ways with the car for twenty grand.”
He told me, but I can get a super low mile car from Bring a Trailer for that.
Yes, and so can I, LOL. If you want me to part ways with my car, it will be so I can replace it one from Bring a Butler. Choice is yours, buddy!
I’m still happily driving MY 2002 Ford Mustang GT.
The owner of the company I work for used to get buyout/merger offers all the time. Usually the polite response was that the company was not for sale, but one time a fairly aggressive suitor wouldn’t take the hint and said to “name the price”. So, the price was ridiculous and required that each employee also get a $1M buyout. They stopped asking after that.
Here’s one example of what people with money who buy cars like this do with them. A guy I knew in high school was a bit socially inept. A lot inept, actually. For some reason he started fixating on the idea that a cool car would change things.
Somehow he got his parents to buy him a 1964½ Mustang in original condition. So original that it still had a generator rather than an alternator. I told them that needed to be updated immediately but they didn’t listen. It caught on fire and burned down within a month or two of him owning it. Oh, and it didn’t make him the slightest bit more popular before it was destroyed.
So an innocent classic car was sacrificed to the vanity and insecurity of a kid and the ignorance and apathy of parents. All because the money apparently wasn’t enough to matter, “Hey, it’s got full coverage, no big deal”.
I feel like there is a better tactic. “Ok, you insist everything is for sale. Here a piece of paper. Write the absolute highest price you’d pay for this car and your phone number on it” Refuse to negotiate any other way. When he hands you the paper, crumple it up and burn it with a lighter without ever looking at it. Then say “I’ll get back to you at the number provided if we have a deal”
I love how this rich prick just started the “Entitlement” tag on this site 🙂
But seriously, lock this car up somewhere safe. It is attracting attention of people that feel entitled to other people’s things.
Ok, this is the article that finally prompted me to join (although already profoundly LOVING Autopian!).
This happened to me at a party for my wedding back in 2000! My soon to be wife and I had driven in my 1956 Chrysler Windsor Wagon to a party thrown in our honor. A lovely car still – unrestored southwestern car – turquoise with a white top. A show stopper.
We get out of the car and have been talking to our best friends who are hosting for about 30 seconds when a version of the very same guy stops in the road, jumps out, and asks me about the car. Initially I very politely told him about the car, its local history, condition, etc. After trying to excuse myself, explaining that I am walking into a party for my wedding, he starts giving me the same speech. “How much? I’ll give you a good price! Yadda yadda yadda.” Clearly thought I was a 30 something year old idiot (which I was) who did not understand the value of his car (which I did) and was not deeply attached to it (which I still am). Almost had to beat the guy off with a stick.
Beyond the Gordon Gekko “everything has a price” crap, it was the lack of respect for the time I had already given him, and the lack of respect for a polite “no thank you.” Ahh, the sweet, sweet stench of entitlement….
Reading David’s post just peeled the scab right off, but getting to post starts the healing! THANKS DAVID, TORCH, and the rest of the Autopians!
Demand a ridiculous price.Buy another mustang and make it look identical.
Pocket the rest????
Ok,this is obviously a joke, but in theory do you think you could you pull it off?
I can totally understand driving down the street, seeing a car you like, and making an offer just in case the owner is thinking about selling. As you said, it happens all the time. I can even see continuing to pursue a purchase after the first “it’s not for sale.” But common courtesy dictates dropping the issue after the second refusal, especially when you’re told the car belongs to someone else. That’s just being rude.
No one would ever want to buy my beloved hunks of junk, nor would I part with them (too many memories and too much of myself invested in them). However, I have had someone try to convince me to work for them in a field I have no interested in, after declining previously, by saying, “everyone has a price”. Some things are just worth more than money can buy, like doing what you love, and driving what you love. Glad I’m not the only one who’s sentimental about their machines. Even selling my basketcase of an Allroad was difficult despite the pains that car caused me.
While this person seemed like rude jerk, I get people stopping by to ask if would sell my truck frequently. I don’t mind them stopping and asking. I missed out on three vehicles simply because I didn’t ask or leave a note. I could have had them for free or dirt cheap, and didn’t because I didn’t ask. My truck is odd enough that most folks are just curious about it and I love to talk about it, so I have yet had a jerk ask about it.
I’ve had a few notes left on my Midget, which surprised me, as it isn’t really all that special with it’s rubber bumpers but folks seem to like it. Never any rudeness like this though. I’m loving the site, David. Really enjoy reading about your adventures and looking forward to more.
The oldest kid and I put some time and effort into getting a 1976 Chevy Impala looking and driving pretty OK. I really appreciate the guys who give it the look over and shoot me a nod and a “nice car”, it feels like we’re sharing a mutual appreciation.
The guys who hit me with a “that for sale?” and a quick “how much, really” after a no, well, that’s how you know what kinda guys they are in relation to cars, I guess.
I put a “not for sale” sign in the rear window when it’s in the driveway, it cuts down on the cards and notes. The only ones that really cheese me off are the “buy your clunker” ones. Damn, those ones cut deep.
I’ve had a few guys stop multiple times for my ’79 K5 Jimmy. It must look good from the road? Every body panel is rusted out, and still people want to buy it. It was bought new by my grandpa, and as I be said, I have no intention to sell, even if you bother me multiple times…
Hypothetically David, if you told the guy a really high number and he actually went for it would you take the 66 Mustang back and fix it for example if the water pump fails in the next city?
why not just pick a huge number say 10 million if he bites you got 10 million he most likely would get offended and you would never hear from him again.
If he ever calls back, maybe insist he has to purchase a Jeep first to prove he is invested in the transaction 🙂
Okay but how do I deal with the dealership that asks to buy the car every time its in for factory service. The last time telling them ‘sure if you got something Blue with a Stick’ at least shut them down the rest of the visit, until they called back to try and sell me a automatic gray crossover….
What a tool this guy was! I would have told him: “My dad bought this car on leave before he bit it in Vietnam.” Then I’d turn around and go back in the house.
I was actively trying to sell my BMW 850 for $11k last year. $13K this year with new rear suspension. It scared everyone away. It is by far a better car and much more rare than the Mustang.
But it has a much narrower audience