In the last week, I have sent seven replies to truck-for-sale ads, following up with phone messages when I could. No one has responded. Four of those messages were, “I want to buy your truck, get back to me so I can schedule an inspection.” I guess no one really wants to sell. That or people don’t like the idea of the inspection without meeting me first and are too rude to let me know.
I’m leaving for Calgary tomorrow (!) and my confidence is shaky that I will be able to purchase something quickly since sellers can’t be bothered to respond to to queries about their ads.
Returning from Calgary without a truck is not an option, but I have to remain smart in my decision-making process. More than 250,000KM is out. Rust is out. After comparing bed dimensions, flareside is out (painful since there is a gorgeous 2004 flareside with a topper and almost no mileage at a good price on the market). And spending more than $4,000 is definitely not a smart move. Now that I know so much about the Ford Ranger I’m leery about expanding the search radius to its rival, the GMC Sonoma, but I may not have any choice.
If I don’t find any more decent trucks online tomorrow night, Monday is going to have me starting a tour of all the used vehicle dealerships in the Calgary area. I find that painfully inefficient when an online search tells me that what I want is available except that the sellers are impossible to reach.
Moya is out there somewhere, I know, but she sure is being furtive!
Light bulb!! Part of your problem is likely that you are a “too good to be true” reply who wants in, pay, and out without hassles, and is paying cash.
If you were the seller, what would be your first thought? Answer, they all think you are a scammer. When we were trying to sell a truck on Kijiji, that was the type of “positive responses” we were getting from out of towners.
I’d say take your Ipod with, and give them a re-send email with the contact # being your hotel and room number. Or you could call them using the gmail phone to save expense without looking like a US spammer.
But I took that into consideration and did give a brief explanation and a link to the blog so they can read about me and know that I’m not a scammer.
I’ve been calling from the 450 area code.
Resending with the hotel info would be a good idea. I’ll try that.
(you’re pretty focused on my iPod; I prefer to send email from my iPad 😉 )
Rae, there are professional auto brokers who will find a vehicle for you and charge a commission. Sometimes they will help with the negotiations. I know it is a little late but i just thought of it. there may be one in Calgary.
I don’t know if you have offered a dollar amount in every e-mail you have sent, but in my opinion, offering a low ball before even looking at their truck is a little insulting.
Put yourself in their shoes, it’s their baby, right now, and they think it is worth gold nuggets. So an e-mail from someone low balling them could be a turn off.
Save the negoiating for in person, then it’s much harder to say no to cold hard cash being offered to you.
I know when l was selling my car, l also wouldn’t even respond to the low ballers, thought they were a waste of my time. They were just fishing to see the kind of reaction l would give. I didn’t take them serious. Maybe that’s what’s happening to you.
These folks specifically said OBO and priced their truck right at the maximum amount it’s worth. I made an offer and specified that the amount is the median value for their truck and that it would be adjusted upwards if the inspection revealed the truck is in as good condition as they say. Basically, I’m serious about your truck and willing to pay what it’s worth.
I think offering $2,500 would have been insulting. $3,500 was not unreasonable.