Car buying experiences

[Dennis Kirban]

Everyone one reading this has had a car buying experience. Lets hear from ones that have been unusual, or funny, or turned out better than you expected. Doesn't have to be a Turbo Regal. Can be any used or new vehicle.

I got a bunch of stories as one can imagine with over 300 turbo regals under my belt and other cars as well.

Will start with two stories one on a GNX one that I wrote about under another heading the other on a car I purchased just prior to last Christmas.

Here goes:

The very first GNX I bought to resell took a few months to make the deal. Original owner planned to trade it in on a new Lexus. Turned out the Lexus dealer did not want the GNX. GNX had 179,000 miles on it. All highway miles. So, he did not trade in the GNX. His daughter wanted him to keep it. Which he did but eventually called me about buying it.

A deal was struck so I drove down to Alexandria, Virginia area to pick up the GNX.
This was one of those deals where the car actually was in better shape than the owner described to me. Although the miles was high, only the steering wheel and drivers seat showed any wear issues. Heck even the power antenna still worked.

I pulled up in his housing development and he hands me the keys so I can take a quick test drive. Since this was the first GNX I bought I wanted to make sure all the guages functioned and the trans shifted crisp etc. I took off leaving my info and cell phone in my truck.

His housing development must have had about 200 homes in it and was like a maze. I drove around made some turns without realizing that I lost track of how to get back to his street. Almost an hour later before I found my way back to his house. I quickly apologized and explained that I simply lost in his development!

I bought the GNX. Car sold within 48 hours probably the cheapest all original running GNX that sold back in 2001. I sold it for $13,900. Yes I made good money on the deal. True Story

Second story:

I sell off my personal cars frequently and buy others. About 4 weeks prior to this past Christmas I was seeking a certain car in a certain color. What makes it frustrating is most of the newer cars don't look good with a front license plate bracket and our state does not require front plates. So I won't buy a car for my self if the front bumper has been drilled.

I find a car at a dealer about 50 miles away and even got them to swap out the tires and wheels off another car so I would end up with four good wheels with no curb rash.

I go back a few nites later to complete the deal. It is raining like pouring. As we are doing the deal and I am paying the difference the sales manager mentions did you see the Christmas tree in the showroom with the envelopes on it? I said yes. I said I thought it only referred to buying a new car not a used car. He tells me no I can pick any envelope. The dollar amount in the envelopes range from $50 to $1,000. What I win I can either take off that amount of my check or get a Target gift certificate.

I'm in a hurry so I quickly look over the tree and figure most people probably think the bigger dollar amounts are either out of reach or behind the tree. I take an envelope off the center area of the tree.

My luck? It was for $500. Wow....I don't usually win anything this is great. I go for the Target certificate so my wife can go shopping. They later tell me that only a few exist for $500 or $1,000. Most people win are $50 to $100.

True story

So, lets hear your car buying experience that was funny or unusual. I will post others as time goes by..

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[datant69]

dealership in arlington

me and the wife went in there a few yrs back and these guys took her truck and did an estimate and we were there about 2 hrs. we told them we'd be back and they couldn't or wouldn't find the keys to our truck and it was sitting infront of the showroom. so i as calmly as i can walk into one of the top sales managers office and explain if i don't have my keys in my hand within a few mins i would be the most irrate customer in the place and gave him a stern look. he knew i wasn't f'n around and wouldn't you know it we were off the lot within 3 mins after that. never went back, had a guy i worked with later who told me it was a sales strategy they used to get you to take the car your looking at home and pressure you into buying it.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

me and the wife went in there a few yrs back and these guys took her truck and did an estimate and we were there about 2 hrs. we told them we'd be back and they couldn't or wouldn't find the keys to our truck and it was sitting infront of the showroom. so i as calmly as i can walk into one of the top sales managers office and explain if i don't have my keys in my hand within a few mins i would be the most irrate customer in the place and gave him a stern look. he knew i wasn't f'n around and wouldn't you know it we were off the lot within 3 mins after that. never went back, had a guy i worked with later who told me it was a sales strategy they used to get you to take the car your looking at home and pressure you into buying it.

I have heard that before......and can attest to the fact they do play games stall tactics with the hopes you buy it then and now. The standard line usually goes like this "What does it take to put you in this car today?"

The one I mention above with the Christmas tree I looked at on a Saturday they wanted $6000 and my current car. I said I wanted to shell out $3500 and my car. I waited til Tuesday to all them back they then came in at $4500 and I said your getting closer....we settled on $4200 but then again I hit the $500 prize on the Christmas tree and got them to switch the tires & rims from another used car on the lot....

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[monteperformanc]

I looked at about 12 GN's last year before I finally bought my first. One was a craigslist find, very local to me. I could see in the pics (poor quality pics) that it appeared to have GTA wheels, with the outer rim actually painted black, so the whole car was black. I'm pretty sure the miles were very high, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway and take a look. I call the guy and start asking questions. I don't remember all the details, but I remember asking if the paint was original, and he said no. I said do you know when it was repainted and his response was "last week." I thought he was being sarcastic. Especially with his Frank Rizzo/Jerky Boys tone. Then I ask if I could take a look at the car that evening around 7. He says, "7 is no good, I have a meeting at 7. But it will end very abruptly at 7:30, so come by then." At this point I was more curious to meet this guy then to actually see the car. The car turned out to actually have a brand new paint job! I could still smell the paint it was so fresh, but it was not the greatest paint job. Interior was beat so I passed. Actually the biggest disappointment was that the guy was actually very normal in person compared to his phone persona.

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Good story you just never know with people.....will post another one from my past probably later tonite. Surprised not many responses thus far...should be a topic everyone has a story on....

denniskirban@yahoo.com

one tonite will be kinda sad one...

 

[XLR8]

When I bought my '86 GN in May of '86 it took a while to finally locate a dealership that had a GN. I lived in Colorado and found a dealership in Lincoln, NE that had one so we haggled over the phone and settled on $15,500 site unseen by me. I put $2000 down and since it was going to be 2 weeks until I was out of college and could pick it up they kept it in their showroom. When I finally got there to pick it up, the salesman offered me $3000 cash and my $2000 deposit back if he could keep it! I really wanted the car after reading all the magazine articles so I turned him down. He said if I changed my mind to let him know as he had a buyer willing to pay $21,000 for it!

I don't regret the decision and I still own the car.

 

[Junior Samples]

1993...Stopped along a road with a what looked like a nice 70 chevy work truck out in the yard...yes it was green..... my buddy pulled in and we were like wow as i walked around it...looked under it, OD read 18K? hmmm but the frame was mint..ok could be,.... body straight, interior mint with like two rub marks, 350 not bad shape

Young kid comes outside...im thinkin 6K prolly or something stupid.. kid says it wont stay runnin and bearly start at that, he tried and tried but never found the problem.

I looked under the hood.. seen the issue, asked him how much he wanted.. he said $250 bucks... sold on the spot

Had a kinked fuel line on right turn into the Q-jet.
fixed it on the spot and drove it away.

only deal i ever got..... sold couple years later for small profit

 

[Butchman]

In 2005 I traded in a 98 Lincoln Navigator with 70k miles super clean on a 2002 Navigator. I did my reseach, got the blue book price went up on Autotrader online and printed out several in the area same year and mileage. They were fetching around 15-16k. I wanted to get $12k on my trade. So they checkout my trade and offer me 9k. He also brought a report from an auction which showed one with higher miles unknown condition that only sold for 9k. He gave me a lengthy explanation that he would have a very difficult time selling my Nav on the lot blah blah. I put on my coat and started to walk out. Then they wanted to deal. I plead my case with my info and got $11,500 for my trade. I made the deal but still had the 3rd row seat sitting in my garage. This was a Friday night I made arrangements to bring the seat to them on Monday. I get the car home Friday night. Sat morning I get a call from the dealer asking me if I could bring the seat in right away as they sold my trade. Guess it wasn't that hard after all. I had a dealer pull the keys thing once. After 3 times of asking nicely. In the middle of the showroom I said in a loud voice "give me my keys right f-ing now." Needless to say that go their attention and my keys were handed over to me.

 

[jhanson1750]

Here's my purchace of my GN.
My wife (we were dating at the time) had introduce me to her parents. All went well as "dad" is a car guy. Well after a several months of being around them he asks "What would you think about selling an old buick for me down there in Houston? I think you would get a better price than in Brownwood." I tell him no problem. At the time I know he had the 91' Syclone and two 34' Fords that were MINT! So I thought is was somthing similar to the 34's. Well two weeks later they show up at the house and I'm working in the house. They come in and I didn't get in any rush cause I'm not that into "old" cars. Well we visit for about an hour and he asks "You want to come look at this old Buick?" Sure we walk outside and there sits an 86' Gn. The car was and still is super clean. I tell him that if there is ANY way i want to buy the car. Well we go to dinner and talk about it. Ends up we get the "family finance" plan. Pay what you can every month BUT make it the same every month.
Several months go buy and my wife and I get married. I get a single card of congratulations with a small note. "The last payment on the Buick was the LAST payment on the Buick. Welcome to the family." I payed $2850 for the car.

I will post up about the my 91' Syclone later but just know that it was the buy of a lifetime!

Lenoard if you read this, Thanks for eveything and my son will get the same. Jon

 

[87granny]

Here's my purchace of my GN.
My wife (we were dating at the time) had introduce me to her parents. All went well as "dad" is a car guy. Well after a several months of being around them he asks "What would you think about selling an old buick for me down there in Houston? I think you would get a better price than in Brownwood." I tell him no problem. At the time I know he had the 91' Syclone and two 34' Fords that were MINT! So I thought is was somthing similar to the 34's. Well two weeks later they show up at the house and I'm working in the house. They come in and I didn't get in any rush cause I'm not that into "old" cars. Well we visit for about an hour and he asks "You want to come look at this old Buick?" Sure we walk outside and there sits an 86' Gn. The car was and still is super clean. I tell him that if there is ANY way i want to buy the car. Well we go to dinner and talk about it. Ends up we get the "family finance" plan. Pay what you can every month BUT make it the same every month.
Several months go buy and my wife and I get married. I get a single card of congratulations with a small note. "The last payment on the Buick was the LAST payment on the Buick. Welcome to the family." I payed $2850 for the car.

I will post up about the my 91' Syclone later but just know that it was the buy of a lifetime!

Lenoard if you read this, Thanks for eveything and my son will get the same. Jon

Wow what a great story nice car by the way.

 

[bishir]

Nice storys on here...


My favorite story to re-tell is my wife's car buying experience actually. She walked onto a car lot she's never been on before and the salesman asks her what she's interested in. She points to a Jeep Grand Cherokee and says, "I'll take that one." No negotiation, no test drive, no looking around. It had to be the easiest sale of that guys life.

 

[jhanson1750]

real life is some good stuff!

 

[Phoneguy]

The very first GNX I bought to resell took a few months to make the deal. Original owner planned to trade it in on a new Lexus. Turned out the Lexus dealer did not want the GNX. GNX had 179,000 miles on it. All highway miles. So, he did not trade in the GNX. His daughter wanted him to keep it. Which he did but eventually called me about buying it.

A deal was struck so I drove down to Alexandria, Virginia area to pick up the GNX.
This was one of those deals where the car actually was in better shape than the owner described to me. Although the miles was high, only the steering wheel and drivers seat showed any wear issues. Heck even the power antenna still worked.

I pulled up in his housing development and he hands me the keys so I can take a quick test drive. Since this was the first GNX I bought I wanted to make sure all the guages functioned and the trans shifted crisp etc. I took off leaving my info and cell phone in my truck.

His housing development must have had about 200 homes in it and was like a maze. I drove around made some turns without realizing that I lost track of how to get back to his street. Almost an hour later before I found my way back to his house. I quickly apologized and explained that I simply lost in his development!

I bought the GNX. Car sold within 48 hours probably the cheapest all original running GNX that sold back in 2001. I sold it for $13,900. Yes I made good money on the deal. True Story

Second story:

denniskirban@yahoo.com

Dennis, I remember that GNX. I tried to buy it from you but it was already spoken for. :frown:

Bryan

 

[Dennis Kirban]

When I bought my '86 GN in May of '86 it took a while to finally locate a dealership that had a GN. I lived in Colorado and found a dealership in Lincoln, NE that had one so we haggled over the phone and settled on $15,500 site unseen by me. I put $2000 down and since it was going to be 2 weeks until I was out of college and could pick it up they kept it in their showroom. When I finally got there to pick it up, the salesman offered me $3000 cash and my $2000 deposit back if he could keep it! I really wanted the car after reading all the magazine articles so I turned him down. He said if I changed my mind to let him know as he had a buyer willing to pay $21,000 for it!

I don't regret the decision and I still own the car.

Another good story back then with magazine coverage GNs were sought after especially in areas outside of the northeast as the majority of the GNs sales were based on Regal sales so areas where you bought yours I am guessing supplies where limited especially 1986 since production was not that great.

One of the few examples where values increased on ownership instead of dropped 10% or more soon as you drove off the showroom floor! Smart decision.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[Dennis Kirban]

1993...Stopped along a road with a what looked like a nice 70 chevy work truck out in the yard...yes it was green..... my buddy pulled in and we were like wow as i walked around it...looked under it, OD read 18K? hmmm but the frame was mint..ok could be,.... body straight, interior mint with like two rub marks, 350 not bad shape

Young kid comes outside...im thinkin 6K prolly or something stupid.. kid says it wont stay runnin and bearly start at that, he tried and tried but never found the problem.

I looked under the hood.. seen the issue, asked him how much he wanted.. he said $250 bucks... sold on the spot

Had a kinked fuel line on right turn into the Q-jet.
fixed it on the spot and drove it away.

only deal i ever got..... sold couple years later for small profit

Sharp eye!!!!!

Reminds me of a similar story:

Here goes:

Time frame mid 1970s. I spotted a 1963-64 Volvo 122 for sale in an apartment parking lot for sale that we had a towing contract for. (cars that sat not inspected had to be off the property in 60 days) It was a manual shift car. The owner though the trans was shot along with having badly faded paint. Plus this model was not a popular model. We owned a towing business so moving the car was not an issue. A deal was struck for $35.

I have no mechanical ability so I had it checked out. Turns out these cars have a slave cylinder that operate the clutch. It was bone dry therefore clutch would not engage. (My Vette has I think the same set up). All the car needed was a new slave cylinder for the clutch to work and the trans was fine.

My buddy panted the car and my wife drove it a number of trouble free years. Cost per mile? Virtually nothing.

true story

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Here's my purchace of my GN.
My wife (we were dating at the time) had introduce me to her parents. All went well as "dad" is a car guy. Well after a several months of being around them he asks "What would you think about selling an old buick for me down there in Houston? I think you would get a better price than in Brownwood." I tell him no problem. At the time I know he had the 91' Syclone and two 34' Fords that were MINT! So I thought is was somthing similar to the 34's. Well two weeks later they show up at the house and I'm working in the house. They come in and I didn't get in any rush cause I'm not that into "old" cars. Well we visit for about an hour and he asks "You want to come look at this old Buick?" Sure we walk outside and there sits an 86' Gn. The car was and still is super clean. I tell him that if there is ANY way i want to buy the car. Well we go to dinner and talk about it. Ends up we get the "family finance" plan. Pay what you can every month BUT make it the same every month.
Several months go buy and my wife and I get married. I get a single card of congratulations with a small note. "The last payment on the Buick was the LAST payment on the Buick. Welcome to the family." I payed $2850 for the car.

I will post up about the my 91' Syclone later but just know that it was the buy of a lifetime!

Lenoard if you read this, Thanks for eveything and my son will get the same. Jon

That was a sweet story!

On a side note last I heard our personal Syclone ended up down in Texas think the number of ours was 16 or number 9 as it was one of two GMC used for all their testing etc. You got great in laws.....!

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Here goes another "quick GN" story from my past.....

Its the early 1990s as many of you know we moved alot of 1986-1987 Turbo Regals back in the day.

I made a deal to buy a low mileage original GN (can't member which year) out of the New England area. The owner resided in a huge apartment complex. These apartments had a seperate building that housed garages. Garages where available for those that paid extra each month. This was an older complex.

This owner like may of our deals was a customer of ours. He contacted us and in talking to him I could tell selling his car was not an easy decision. He told me his wife dutifully kept it on a charger for him as he could no longer drive his car and was basically home bound inthis small apartment on the second floor.

A deal was struck and I made the trip. His wife simply told me what number garage it was and I could pull it out and load the car up. I went up to their apartment and he was wheel chair bound and had GN photos and books etc inthe house and wanted to know if I wanted them also. I said no you enjoy them.

He could hardly speak and made one last request and that was would I please bring the car around the front of the building so he could see it one last time as it had been over a year since he had seen his car. Of course I said no problem and I was starting to choke up myself realizing how much this car meant to him.

I always felt many cars we bought from customers wanted to see their cars go to someone else who appreciates them rather than getting the biggest dollar from someone local and seeing the car getting hot rodded or destroyed etc. (Not that its always the case)

That was a sad trip as his wife told me she was grateful I did this for him.

I got several stories like this....

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[turbo nasty]

While I was looking for my G35 Finally found one in Birmingham and called. Guy said it was his wifes car and she wouldnt even drink water in it and she drove it from her garage at home to her work DV spot in the parking garage and went on how she loved the car and it was killing her to have to part with it.

Turns out he had lost his job and they could no longer afford the payments.
I asked for pics of the car and was amazed at how clean and as normal the car had a few paint dings in the front facia (commom soft paint on G's) and told him that I really didnt like the dings and wonder if it could be touched up or come off the price some.

The guy says he liked me and wanted me to have the car...weird part..he had no idea about paint and body went out and bought a whole new facia and had it painted and installed instead of getting the original just repainted.

When I finally saw the car face to face (its black on black) it didnt have a single door ding and was straight as a arrow (still original paint) I was floored.
Long story short I got it for 900 bucks under trade in value and he paid for a oil change and new airfilter at the dealership.
Still had the original owners kit with the spare remotes and keys still sealed

Funny thing the guy lost his job but shelled out who knows what for the bumper and paint? Oh yeah his wife said she couldnt stand to see us drive off in it so she stayed at home.

SCORE

 

[Dennis Kirban]

While I was looking for my G35 Finally found one in Birmingham and called. Guy said it was his wifes car and she wouldnt even drink water in it and she drove it from her garage at home to her work DV spot in the parking garage and went on how she loved the car and it was killing her to have to part with it.

Turns out he had lost his job and they could no longer afford the payments.
I asked for pics of the car and was amazed at how clean and as normal the car had a few paint dings in the front facia (commom soft paint on G's) and told him that I really didnt like the dings and wonder if it could be touched up or come off the price some.

The guy says he liked me and wanted me to have the car...weird part..he had no idea about paint and body went out and bought a whole new facia and had it painted and installed instead of getting the original just repainted.

When I finally saw the car face to face (its black on black) it didnt have a single door ding and was straight as a arrow (still original paint) I was floored.
Long story short I got it for 900 bucks under trade in value and he paid for a oil change and new airfilter at the dealership.
Still had the original owners kit with the spare remotes and keys still sealed

Funny thing the guy lost his job but shelled out who knows what for the bumper and paint?

SCORE

Great example of someone having a good heart rather than interested in just making a quick sale! I have had similar experiences always a pleasure dealing with someone like that makes up for the ones that "screw you" that you don't realize until you own the car a few days!

I also had a G35 coupe few years back kinda weird getting used to the power seat buttons being inward towards the console...great engine sound mine was silver with a black gut traded 04 cobra on it...like most of my cars it never saw one year birthday. Jumped to S4 twin turbo Audi after that. My G35 I put the Z wheels on it.

denniskirban@yahoo.com

 

[Dennis Kirban]

Nice storys on here...


My favorite story to re-tell is my wife's car buying experience actually. She walked onto a car lot she's never been on before and the salesman asks her what she's interested in. She points to a Jeep Grand Cherokee and says, "I'll take that one." No negotiation, no test drive, no looking around. It had to be the easiest sale of that guys life.

Definately a salesmans dream sale!

denniskirban@yahoo.com

On a side note based on my experience, the best vehicles used worth buying are those that were woman owned and driven. Wear issues are usually not that bad and vehicles are seldom run hard.