Need some advice

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
11/27/2016 at 21:31 • Filed to: None

So I had my 1993 Sentra SE-R up for sale. After a couple of non-starts a guy was serious about it but couldn’t afford it all at once so he gave me $300, we exhanged handwritten receipts, and I held onto the car, title, the lot until he would get the rest of the money by “next week”. He then lost his job and worked on selling some wheels to get me the rest of the money, then dropped off the face of the earth. I have the car, and the title, and it’s costing me insurance each month to have the stupid thing around. Thing is he has a piece of paper signed by me showing he put $300 towards it. My constant attempts to contact him via Facebook Messenger have been unresponded and unread. The hell do I do?

DISCUSSION (34)

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:34

1: take it off the insurance...
2: make note of all of the attempts to contact him. set $300 aside for when/if he comes back for it. throw the car up for sale again

TheHondaBro > bob and john
11/27/2016 at 21:35

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:36

Pull insurance and de-register. Research your states abandoned property laws to determine when his interest in the vehicle expires.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > bob and john
11/27/2016 at 21:37

Probably going to do the second part. Can’t do the first part because my dad won’t let me store it on the property and it will get towed and a decent fine levied if it doesn’t have insurance.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
11/27/2016 at 21:38

It has to be registered and insured since I have to street park it. Good point on abandoned property laws. I’ll look into that.

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:40

cant you store it at a friends/gfs house?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > bob and john
11/27/2016 at 21:43

No, not really. All of my friends are suburban with no extra space and it’d get utterly trashed if left at my girlfriend’s family’s house.

bob and john > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:44

Zephs place/shop? or scared it will grow turbos or something?

Chuckles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:44

Hopefully at this point you’ve dropped the insurance to just the minimum required by law. Liability only (especially if you are getting a multi car discount for insuring other cars) shouldn’t be too bad. I think I pay about $100 a year to have liability only on my second car. As for the prospective buyer, I’d try as hard as possible to give him his money back. Tell him that he can buy the car from you when he has the full amount. Unless he’s a good friend or something, it’s not your responsibility to hold off on selling it until he has enough money. It sounds like it might take a little while to find the right buyer anyway, so it’s not like you are going to sell it tomorrow.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > bob and john
11/27/2016 at 21:47

Stuff at Zeph’s place likes to get hailed on for some reason. Also I don’t want to impose on him after all he’s done for me.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chuckles
11/27/2016 at 21:48

$50 a month for just liability (all I’ve ever had on that). I would give him his money back, but I can’t get ahold of him for even that and I’m also pissed that he’s cost me potential lost sales and insurance keeping the car around. I’d love to tell him “tough shit, should have made an attempt to keep me in the loop” but I feel that could land me in some hurt.

Maxima Speed > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:48

What city you located near? I want it. I’ll take it off your hands. As far as what to do I don’t know but seriously I might be interested in buying it.

XJDano > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:49

Put the $300 in an envelope, realist it. If he doesn’t contact you within a year, your money.

Unless you can fork out $300 later or can keep from spending it. I’d say it fell through and try to give his money back. Put an ad in the paper and on CL, Like they do for divorces in military. At least you tried being honest.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Maxima Speed
11/27/2016 at 21:51

Wichita, KS.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:54

What’d you sell it for? Mildly tempted as I want to do some work on the Si so I’ll need a car.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
11/27/2016 at 21:58

I’ve been asking $1k. I’m probably $500 into it at this point, but I need to pay my dad back for the NB (the stipulation was he’d loan me the money to buy the NB but I had to sell all my other stuff and give him the money then get a personal loan for the remainder)

Chuckles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 21:59

At this point, I’d probably message him one last time and say “hey, I’ve been trying to contact you. Since I didn’t hear from you, I’m posting the car for sale again. I will give you back your $300. I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to hold a car for you when it’s costing me money. If you have enough money to buy the car outright, I will still sell it to you but I cannot do any type of payment plan.”

Just try to remain civil about the whole thing, and hopefully he will understand. As long as you don’t go spending the $300 it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. And I realize this is too late to matter now and you probably already know this, but next time just sell the car outright or don’t sell it at all. You don’t want to get into a situation where a random person on craigslist owes you money. When I tried selling a Civic on craigslist best described as a “mechanic’s special” for $500, I had numerous people telling me they could give me $50 a week for 10 weeks. Nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.

Also, it’s a shame that you weren’t selling this on the east coast because I was actually looking to buy something like this about a month ago. My current Civic got a bit flooded during Hurricane Matthew, and I was going to use the insurance money to buy a replacement vehicle. It turns out that the Civic was fine other than a wet carpet, so I bought it off of the insurance company for a few hundred bucks after getting my payout, ripped out the carpet and now it’s fine.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chuckles
11/27/2016 at 22:02

Yeah I trusted this guy because he was a Nissan enthusiast and friend of a friend who is also a huge Nissan enthusiast. ‘tis a bummer.

Chuckles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:04

That is a bummer. I’ve wanted one of those 2 door Sentras since high school. A friend of mine had one, and he sold it to another friend of mine who ended up abandoning it on the side of the road because he’s an idiot and drugs are bad.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chuckles
11/27/2016 at 22:19

Yeah, these are stupid hard to find. Makes a nice noise too. Pity this one is so beat up

MyJeepGetsStuckInTheSnow > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:23

You’re not a bank. Never take less than the full amount for anything in the future.

Chuckles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:25

So mostly unrelated, but: I’m moving back to PA for a job next month and I’m trying to find a hardtop for my NA. Any recommendations on where to find one? I seem to recall you having one for your NA, but I might be crazy.

Maxima Speed > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:26

Yeesh that’s a little too far for me i was hoping for at least east coast. Sorry good luck.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chuckles
11/27/2016 at 22:34

I had an aftermarket one. It was pretty awful. I sold it for $150 more than I paid for it. There are a couple on the local craigslist for $1000-$1200 or so that are OEM but other than that you can sometimes get lucky on the miata.net or clubroadster “buy/sell” sections.

Xyl0c41n3 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:36

Are you still driving it? If not, take it off your insurance.

Chuckles > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 22:36

Thanks. I’m still looking for places to live, so hopefully I can just find a place with a garage and leave it in there until the spring. I guess if that doesn’t work I can go park it in my parent’s garage and pretend that I lost the key until winter is over.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Xyl0c41n3
11/27/2016 at 22:53

Can’t. It’ll get towed and impounded and I’ll get fined. Because I’m forced to street park it and it must be “drivable”. Stupid city law.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 23:13

Is there anything in the receipts you signed suggesting a payment schedule? If so is he in violation of it?

If he’s a friend of a friend, can you get better contact info from your friend? Is his name on the receipt you have so you could look him up in a phone book?

If he really can’t afford the car he likely can’t afford to go after you in small claims court either to try to get something from you if you sell it to someone else. And even if that were the case, I suspect all you’d end up having to do is give the guy’s deposit back, especially if you can give evidence (emails, etc) showing you attempted to contact him and got no response.

shop-teacher > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 23:13

Sell it to somebody else. Keep $300 around for a while and give it back to him if he turns up.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 23:14

Keep us informed!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 23:42

A partial payment of a vehicle does not entitle him to ownership especially when part of the deal was that he come up with the rest of the dough next week from original deposit.

Sell the car, and have $300 cash on hand for if he ever shows up again. Worst thing he can hope to demand is the money he gave you back. Which is what he deserves, I guess. Then again YOU are the one being impacted financially by holding onto a vehicle that should have been sold by now.

TLDR; it’s not his car, so just sell it, and be ready to give back the $300. And if you do seem him again, make sure you let him know what a flake he is. Sad life stories aside, people need to have some courtesy.

PS9 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/27/2016 at 23:57

After a couple of non-starts a guy was serious about it but couldn’t afford it all...

Right here, you forgot to say, “Oh, well come back when you can.”. Any discussion about payments is to be met with, “I’m not a lending institution. Try a bank if you want a loan.”

slipperysallylikespenguins > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
11/28/2016 at 02:00

Do you have some sort of insurance sticker or something where the city officials know you have insurance? I’ve left uninsured cars parked on the street for months. Unless a police officer asks to see it than nobody knows.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > slipperysallylikespenguins
11/28/2016 at 09:54

No, but cops can check using the vin or tag and I’ve seen them snooping around the car. I think my neighbors keep calling them saying it’s abandoned or some shit.