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Grim's rants...

Who is the ideal private seller to purchase a sports car from?

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9 Comments
by
GrimJack
, July 9th, 2010 at 04:11 PM (1287 Views)
Many will tell you that it's a Granny. Nobody really knows how Granny ended up with a sports car in the first place, but the key factor is that Granny won't have abused her car, so you will get something with low mileage in great shape.

I beg to differ.

IMO, you should buy your sports cars from someone who uses them the way they were designed. The perfect example? The kid who bought it at 16, drove it like he stole it for three years, and is now selling it for college tuition.

The problem with Granny is that she didn't drive it much, and when she did, she rarely used the pedals. So you're getting a car with a bunch of borderline components that haven't failed simply because she never stressed them - hardened rubber hoses, slipping clutch, tires that stick like bacon to teflon, stuck and rusted nuts and bolts and so on. When I was younger, my mother wore out her clutch - I could tell instantly, because it was slipping in 4th and 5th gears. When I told her that she needed a new clutch, and why, she reprimanded me for going fast enough to use those gears! She kept driving in 2nd and 3rd gear for another *year* before she broke down and replaced the clutch. I was tempted on more than one occasion to remove her accelerator pedal as dead weight.

On the other hand, the young kid has already broken anything that was going to break. As long as he hasn't pulled a stunt like going through the car and removing every washer to save weight... which I've seen happen, believe it or not... you're likely going to get a car with less reliability issues than the one from Granny.

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Comments

  1. te72's Avatar
    You know, I agree with you 100% man. I know I can trust my Mk3 for the most part because I beat on it fairly regularly, and it still runs like a champ. That's not to say that it'll never let me down, but it's done good by me for 9 months of DD service now...
  2. SupaMan's Avatar
    Comatose cars ftl!
  3. emiliorescigno's Avatar
    Buying a car at the end of a 40 year old man's midlife crisis, imho.
  4. trucker's Avatar
    yeah, i think emil is right. the guy who is over mid-life crisis has prolly driven the car vigirously a bid, but hasnt abused it...
  5. emiliorescigno's Avatar
    Not to mention actually being able to afford proper repairs and maintenance.
  6. Canuckrz's Avatar
    I dont know about that, a guy in his midlife crisis might also think that hes a top knotch mechanic but in reality dosent know squat. Or is just a cheapass which is why he bought the mk3 in the first place not knowing how much it would cost to maintain so he half asses everything. It seems this is the way most of our supras are.
  7. dubsupra209's Avatar
    i know a old lady in town with a 92 real sunroof auto black leather..super clean i gave her my number and when shes ready to sell it i would gladly buy it from here...shes taken it to toyota for all her manitance..only owner and her husband bought it for her...he passed away though years back so shes said shes still holding on to it for sentimental value...

    Either way i would gladly sell my 87 t for that beautiful supra...
  8. bioskyline's Avatar
    yeah this happened to me. back when i had my black 82. a older guy in his 60's apparached me and asked if i wanted a turbo motor for my car. he had a 88 thats been sitting for 4 years. he said it was in a front end accident, and car was no good anymore but motor runs good. so sight unseen i buy his car for 1200 bucks. when i finnaly see it, all that was wrong was the door hinge wore out, and the door hit the fender and crushed it in. so after getting the papers, i tow it home, bend the fender out and drive the thing. well as started all the hoses had turned into hockey puck rubber, and hose after hose keep blowing. after replacing all the hoses then auto tranny died, so swapped in a 5 speed. but i spent about 6000 bucks after the 1200 fixing all the hoses and gaskets, and getting the tubo rebuilt.
  9. 1StTurbo's Avatar
    OMG i am the midlife crisis guy!!!
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