The only way is to....


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Posted by Hank [64.119.43.114] on Monday, September 07, 2009 at 22:56:53 :

In Reply to: What is the best non-Ebay way to buy a PW from afar? posted by Steve [173.76.43.63] on Sunday, September 06, 2009 at 18:59:46 :

... "use the Force, Luke".

The Force is talking to the owner and interrogating him about his truck to find out if you are going out to get it. Once you go, you have a substantial commitment, so you need to do this carefuly.

Give 'ya an example:

Once upon a time, I needed a used Ford turbodiesel crewcab truck, used, that is. Well now finding one of these in the year range I wanted, in the condition I wanted, with the milage I wanted was a hard thing. People who knew me used words like "impossible", and "never happen". But what did they know?

I just started calling on any ad I saw that looked good. I asked a lot of questions about use history, prior owners, and maintenance particulars. Now some people didn't want to take time to discuss these things. Other provided lying answers that they figured would sell the truck, but then they got tripped up on cross questions. Many people were honest about the use and mileage "it's go 350,000 miles, but they're highway miles, and these engine will go 500,000 between overhauls, heck, my uncle had one, blah, blah, blah..."

Some people were outright frauds - probably had no transferable ownership in the truck. "well, it's my truck, but my brother in law's boss has the title over in Austin...", or they had unpaid liens they didn't want to discuss "I'll get you the title within a week, no problem, it's in my grandmama's sfae deposit box, you see".

These are all easy problems to spot. The trick is to have very sensitive antenna on the phone - if it seems at all fishy but you can't say exactly why, still back away. There's always another truck.

Then there will be that special phone call: "29,000 miles you say? Bought it at the dealer? They sold you too much truck? I'm sorry about that. Did you tow with it? A U-Haul trailer to your brother's place in Topeka? One way? Once? Ever? Uh, huh. So what do you use it for now? Getting bags of peat moss from Home Depot? Once a season? And you took the mower to be sharpened three weeks ago in it? Right. What do you do anyway? Accountant with the power company? Why are you selling it? Won't fit very well in the company garage when you take it to work? Uh-huh. Listen, I'll be on the next plane..."

And that is how we do that. Cleanest used truck I ever saw, runs great to this day.

Ask a lot of questions. Dig a little, point out that you will be making a long trip for this. Ask for a FAX of the title (no valid reason not to send it). Make them take more pics. Use the telephone in the mix. You can hear deception in people's voices. Don't fall in love until you can point to specific hard cold facts as to why. When you find it, make your move immediately - that means asap - have your transport plan already in place. Finally, if it just isn't right, be ready to waste the trip. See some sights, go out to dinner, then head back.

I hate eBay. I am probably the only person on Earth who won't use it, because it is so hard to use. Auctions, Paypal, hidden reserve, phoney "guarantees" - the heck with it! I prefer a FAX and telephone and some e-mailed pictures.

Happy Hunting!

H



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