Jeep Guilt
Steve
I went to the 4WD place in Ohio, on the bulliten board is a 89 YJ for
sale for a grand.
Since im in the parts Biz " 3rd Job " I call the guy, ask whats the lowest
he will take. He says 500 and tow it home, bad engine in it.
Well I get her home, and its just a head gasket The interior is close to
mint, Nice Soft Top, <etal half doors The back seat with the word jeep all
over it, body fair, needs 2 fenders, a hood and a grille " Minor front end
impact " , But these I have. So after I install the head, replace the
sheetmetal, and squirt a wee bit O Blue metallic, its a 3500 - 4000 dollar
jeep....with a total investment of maybe a grand,
I was honestly thinking of sending the guy a few more bucks, but then
an hour ago, I saw the typical rust on the frame near the steering box, so
Ill have to weld a patch plate in place, now I dont feel quite as bad......
Anyone else ever feel bad, about getting a good deal? Im serious here
Steve
Ken Knapp
Several years ago a friend had to get this '56 Olds out of his yard so he
gave it to me with the understanding that if I sold it I'd split the money
with him. Well, the car sat several years and in the meantime my friend
died. Thanksgiving day about 2 years later, someone was driving by, saw the
car and made me an offer, which I accepted. I hopped in my car and ran over
to see my friend's father, and I gave him half the money. Was a pleasant
Thanksgiving day surprise for both of us.
Ken
'97 Red TJ "Nellybelle"
"Steve" <stev...@mi-web.com> wrote in message
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Steve
Steve
"Ken Knapp" <sky...@epix.net> wrote in message
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Mike & Shari
Sport (Honda) of a guy I was in school with at the time. I gave him $125 for it.
I spent maybe another 75 to get it running. Not too long afterwards I wen to the
local Honda dealer to get some points, condensors etc. I had parked the bike in
front of the showroom window an was waiting at the parts counter when one of the
mechanics comes running in asking who owned the red 400. I sheepishly raised my
hand expecting some comment about the rough shape it was in when the guys says
"I'll give you $1,200 cash today for it. AS IS!!" At the time this was my only
transportation so I wasn't about to sell it. But I asked why 1200 bucks. Turns
out the damm thing is a collectors item!! Everyone and their dog is looking for
these things. Guilty feeling? Sort of! Have I sold it? Nope. In fact I now have
another one in the garage. I got the second one from a guy at work for $130.
Mike
98 TJ SE (wifes)
02 FLHTCi (mine)
75 CB400F Super Sport (2 of them, being restored)
kiz...@attbi.com
>
> [...]
>
> Anyone else ever feel bad, about getting a good deal? Im serious here
I had a different kind of good deal happen when I sold my '69 Scout
sometime around '84. Specifically, it was a good deal for me, and me
alone. But first, a bit of history on the vehicle...
To say it was in rough shape would be an understatement:
+ The body had rotted off the frame on the driver's side.
+ The passenger's door jamb had rotted completely away, so
it was held shut with a cheapo sliding deadbolt from the
hardware store and a saftey chain that was taken from an
old swing set.
+ The floors were all rotted so badly that you could watch
the highway under your feet.
+ When it rained, twin geysers shot up from the holes over
the rear wheel wells (luckily, there were enough holes in
front of the tailgate that the water ran right back out).
+ The previous owner had swapped engines, but it was the wrong
one for the tranny, so the starter had to be held in place
with a wooden wedge (that was tethered to the firewall with a
piece of rope).
+ The driver's door rotted off its hinges one night, so I had
a friend weld some bars on the inside of the door, and weld
everything to the body (from then on, the only way in/out
was through the passenger's door.
+ The tailgate had a tendency to fly open when I was driving,
so I had that welded shut to keep friends from rolling out
the back
Interestingly, the exterior of the Scout was in excellent shape. The
door rot was confined to the insides of the jambs, and the metallic blue
paint was still bubble & rust free. The only visible giveaway that
there were huge problems was the way the body leaned towards that
driver's side (due to the rotten body mounts).
Sometime during the summer of '84, I found a great deal on a '73 Town &
Country wagon ($50, & in excellent condition), so I decided to get rid
of the Scout.
At the time, I was working at Connecticut College, putting up their
second field house. One of the laborers overheard me talking about
junking the Scout, and walked over to ask if I'd be interested in
selling it.
I explained what all the problems were, and that it really wasn't worth
buying, but he persisted. We actually argued for a couple days about
this until one Friday morning he came in and waved a stack of ten, one
hundred dollar bills in front of me and demanded that I sell it to him.
That settled it. If this idiot wanted to give me a grand for the
thing...so be it.
I had him meet me at my apartment that evening (I wnated to clean out my
tools and trash before lettign him have it). When he showed up, I was
just about to throw out my broken (cable was cut clean in half)
mag-mount CB antenna. He begged me to let him keep it because "it
looked cool."
He handed me the money, and I gave him a bill of sale (clearly listing
all the problems), and made him read it in front of me (just so he
couldn't claim there were any hidden surprises). I smiled with
disbelief as he drove away in his spiffy new Scout.
I started to feel guilty, and was actually planning to give him some
money back when I saw him the following Monday. I felt even worse when
on Monday morning, I saw his girlfriend drop him off at the jobsite.
Figuring that if I offered my concern first, he might not be quite so
angry that I let him rip himself off, I jogged over to him and aksed why
he wasn't driving the Scout.
Much to my relief, he said that the Scout had been running great for
him, and that on Friday night, all his friends told him that it was a
cool set of wheels. Unfortunately for Don - and fortunately for me - he
went out won Saturday night, got completely sh*tfaced at a club, and
plowed the Scout into a telephone pole. It was totaled.
It took everything I had not to burst out laughing (not at his being in
an accident, but at my incredible stroke of luck that he didn't have it
long enough to reallize exactly what a piece of crap it really was).
I still get a good chuckle out of that whole thing...
~Ted
johnEGp
John in Vegas
L.W.(Bill) Hughes III
44s front and rear.
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
mailto:LWHug...@aol.com http://www.billhughes.com/
Steve
Is it gonna take 44's to make my jeeps real?
LAUGHING
Steve
Awesome story about the Scout,
Never know, he may have restored the body A-1 and had a wonderful truck,
Ive always had the gift/curse, of seeing past anything wrong with a vehicle,
to see what it could be, with a little luck, lots of cash, and a lot of
hard work....my 83 Renegade was a rustbucket when I got it, but I have a 87
YJ Body undergoing transformation to be a CJ Tub
Steve
"L.W.(Bill) Hughes III" <billh...@cox.net> wrote in message
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ydoucare
350. then he gave me the cash and I felt better. the jeep was in
excellent cond. but he still payed a little too much. that was his
offer, the jeep was not for sale yet but he heard about it from a
friend.
I have helped him wrench on it a few times and its obvious he loves the
thing so it seems it was worth every penny to him. I feel much
better:)
Roy Jenson
take the risk that that is not all, do the repairs, and make some
on the side over your time and materials.
I've bought some 'basket cases' over the years, done well on
some, ok on others, bought the farm on others. (The nifty
welder/generator I bought is currently doing yoeman duty as a
counter weight)
Cheers.
sweet sub
sweet
"Ken Knapp" <sky...@epix.net> wrote in message
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Cannon
'81 258 CJ7
92 Burb
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http://209.250.129.61/cj7/cjhome.htm
"Steve" <stev...@mi-web.com> wrote in message
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dan
rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys mine and will die if we don't mount a
rescue by Fri, 21 Jun 2002 22:18:49 -0400:
>Anyone else ever feel bad, about getting a good deal? Im serious here
not a Jeep, but I took a 79 ford LTD with a 351 cleveland engine and 4
new tires for $150. The lady was asking $80., the price of one of the
new tires. I gave her $150. because that's what I paid for each of
the two other cars I owned. Drove it for a few years, did a little
work on it and then sold it for $350. Should have kept it for the
engine. Or sold it to a engine shop or something.
--
Dan
Tom Rutledge
> OK I feel guilty
snip
> Anyone else ever feel bad, about getting a good deal? Im serious here
In this case, I wouldn't. The seller set the price, a price he thought was
fair for what he thought he was selling. It'd be different if you were trying
to scam a little old lady who didn't have a clue.
An acquaintence went into a local sports/hardware/household store a few years
back before they got computer inventory and bar coded prices. He wanted a new
rifle and could easily afford it. The rifle and scope retailed for about $700
together. The anti-gun ditz at the checkout counter focused so much on
lecturing him about the evils of his hobby that she forgot to pay attention and
punched up $7.00 instead of $700.00. He thought about it, decided she needed
the lesson, slapped down his plastic walked away with the merchandise.
Tom