Is low-balling OK? - Update

"CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley) 09/30/2020 at 18:57 • Filed to: None

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Update:

I ended up going with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! 's suggestion on just being upfront about my (lack of) budget. I wrote a decently long email advising that I’ve admired the truck for years and that I’d give it a good home.

The owner responded:

Hi (COFL)

Thank you for your e-mail. I really love my Ranger, but I need a larger truck to haul all the toys during summer vacation. That being said, I am having a real problem finding anything that will suit at this point. It seems that decent trucks are a hot commodity, typically sold one or two days after they are posted online . I’d love to see it go to a good home, rather than trading it to a dealer. I will certainly keep your offer in mind and let you know when I find the perfect ride.

So there we go.  If it works out great, if not, whatever, it’s fall/winter anyway. I will re-assess my vehicular situation in the spring.

Original:

I really want this dude’s ranger. He is a local high school teacher, he knows my mother in law who works at the school and he knows I’ve admired the truck and it’s showroom condition for a few years (I used to live beside the school).

He’s owned it from new, it likely doesn’t owe him anything but he’s no dummy. He knows what he has.... I think.

Buuut, knowing what the retail value of the truck ($17K-$18K) is and actually getting that are different things. My budget, realistically is $12K cash. I’d estimate that to be slightly over trade in/wholesale. I’d probably forgo any PPI.

What say Oppo? Dare to dream or am I just too broke.

A near enough representation

MM54 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:04

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Is he looking to sell it / te lling you an asking price or are you coming in out of the blue?

MUSASHI66 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:04

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My approach on something I want and realistically can’t afford - I tell the person “I have this much cash. If that works for you, here’s my number”. 

Just Jeepin' > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:06

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I think spending every d ime you have without getting a PPI is a bad idea. 

i86hotdogs > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:06

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I say low ball it since they never specified, “no low ballers, I know what I’ve got”

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Just Jeepin' 09/29/2020 at 21:10

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Hmmmm. Perhaps, I'd see if he would be open to it.  It's got 50,000 miles and has been well maintained.  $12K isn't all my sheckles, but it's the budget for this little truck.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > MM54 09/29/2020 at 21:11

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He's looking to sell. I told my mother in law that I thought it was an outstanding looking Ranger a year ago and she passed it along. He contacted me via her to say he was selling it.

onlytwowheels > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:13

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Do unto others and all that.......

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > MUSASHI66 09/29/2020 at 21:14

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Thats a good idea. I'll do that

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:22

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Couldn’t you do a loan to cover it and then pay it back aggressively?  My CU does 2.5% for preowned, that’s pretty cheap money if we’re talking about the distance between $3-4k on a car you really, really want. 

BrokenMostWeeks > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:22

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That’s got to be just about the best condition, most tastefully modded Ranger I’ve seen in quite some time... 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:23

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He’d be a fool to sell it to you for that amount.

MM54 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:23

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If there’s no stated asking price, go for it. You’re not low-balling him if he hasn’t established a baseline

jeepoftheseus > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 21:26

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Mileage or not, that’s a lot of coin for a ranger. Is the market that wild there or is this just in the top 1% of examples? Either way, unless you’re going on tight trails you would could buy a lot of full-size with that budget*.

*am completely ignorant of CAD vs USD. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > jeepoftheseus 09/29/2020 at 21:52

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CAD vs USD plays a part, but overlanding is HUGE in the PNW and 4x4 might as well mean it’s made of gold and blessed by the pope. Everything with the slightest off-road capability is $$$

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 09/29/2020 at 21:52

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Yup

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 09/29/2020 at 21:53

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Its possible, but I have 3 other cars so am trying to maintain some sort of budget

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:00

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I get it, but I guess I put a lot of value into holding cash. So if you have $12k, guy wants $15k, and you can finance for $~550 a month over two years ? Keep the $12k in a separate account to make sure it’s not spent, and assemble funds as necessary to pay it off. Once you’re comfortable, say 6-10 months in, then just pay it off. Sorry if that’s a bad influence, again it’s only if you really love that truck. 

wafflesnfalafel > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:06

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I don’t, but that’s just me. I’ll let you know what I want to pay and then walk. I know folks that get hot flashes  over the whole dicker process, I don’t, not worth my time.  

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:09

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If you had an asking price, and you wanted to whack at his knees, I would tell you not to do that.  Since you don’t have an asking price, it can’t hurt to call him up and make him an offer.

sn4cktimes > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:12

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People who severely low-ball what I’m asking get one of two approaches depending how I feel at the time. They get ignored, to see if they change tactics, OR they get a very rude response. 

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:21

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Almost 20k for a ranger?? Haha no.

You can go to cali and get a fully caged and built long travel ranger for that. 

Captain of the Enterprise > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 22:26

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You’ll never know if you don’t try. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 23:20

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Not if he “knows what he has...”

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 09/29/2020 at 23:21

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Especially this year.

Inside of 12 months cash will be king.

DipodomysDeserti > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/29/2020 at 23:51

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I wouldn’t buy any used car right now. Pricing on everything, especially trucks, is just stupid. Double that for anything in the PNW where it’s fashionable for desk jockeys to cosplay as lumberjacks.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > DipodomysDeserti 09/30/2020 at 00:30

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*cough* that's me

mhr555 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 08:05

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Budget...what’s that??? hahaha.
I’m ditching my WRX since I got hired in direct with FoMoCo and feel the need to support the company that feeds my pets and family. My plan was to get a cheap commuter ($10-12k range) and save money but now I’m looking at a $ 30k Focus RS that IMO could be  BAT worthy .

Tripper > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 08:55

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I might be in the minority but when I sell something I at least entertain, ANY offers. lob it out there and see what he says.

Speed > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 10:04

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I need to get my Silverado project done and out the door before I miss this bubble. I was going to keep it, but if someone gives me a ridiculous offer it’s gone Jones.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 19:03

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“ It seems that decent trucks are a hot commodity, typically sold one or two days after they are posted online”

That's the most polite version of I know what I have I've seen today.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 09/30/2020 at 19:10

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Yeah, 100% received the subtext of that line.

Still, maybe it doesn’t owe him anything and he’d like to see it go to a good home and take the no hassle cash.

dieseldub > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 19:16

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Low balling isn’t a problem, at least you’re putting an offer out there. There’s a larger trend in private party used car sales that is incredibly frustrating for sellers.

They list an asking price and add the traditional “O.B.O.” after it. Most of the responses to the ad? People asking questions about the car that were already answered in the ad and also just asking “what’s the lowest you’ll go?”

That’s not how it works! Make an offer! Worst the seller can say is no and then come back with a counter offer. Maybe you can meet in the middle somewhere, or send him a second offer in between where you were and what he just counter offered, then you’ll likely arrive at what is about his bottom dollar because most people generally won’t come down any further than a second lower offer.

People are awkward and afraid of interaction and conflict in weird ways anymore. I just don’t get it. The other weird thing is trying to get the person’s bottom dollar BEFORE they’ve even gone to look at the car... That part in particular makes no sense to me. Go check it out first, see what you like, see if you find an issue that wasn’t disclosed, use it as a bargaining point. Getting people to even just do that much before they try to find out your bottom dollar rarely happens anymore. It’s dumb.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 19:16

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But i s that how * you’d* feel if you were listing your FiST or Dodge? Survey saaaaaaays no

For Sweden > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 09/30/2020 at 19:42

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He’s been reading the Cars & Bids market report

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > DipodomysDeserti 09/30/2020 at 19:49

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Sounds like I need to sell some cars...

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > DipodomysDeserti 09/30/2020 at 19:56

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Confession - live in PNW, have too many flannel shirts (to be fair I don’t wear any of them right now WFHing), and asked for an axe last christmas.

Am an accountant. 

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 20:00

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I have a better idea... keep your current car and do something like this to it:

MUSASHI66 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 20:30

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Good luck with this, you never know, it might just work when he finds a new one, or he might just trade it for $20k with  prices these days. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly 09/30/2020 at 20:31

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I am keeping it! I wanna have fun on and off road

Chariotoflove > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 09/30/2020 at 21:32

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I originally read that as the guy is he self having trouble finding a decent large truck. But maybe he did mean both.

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 22:58

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That is a very reasonable response.

So, you’re saying there’s a chance!

DipodomysDeserti > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 09/30/2020 at 23:30

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I got pretty good money for my Jeep.

flatisflat > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 09/30/2020 at 23:56

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On the update: well done!  Of all the options, I believe the approach you took was the best available.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Chariotoflove 10/01/2020 at 08:05

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Agreed

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 10/03/2020 at 20:06

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You’d be surprised, I would 100% take a reduction if someone was going to love it.  I would have also sold the Forte to a single mom or something for less.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Chariotoflove 10/03/2020 at 20:06

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He did mean both I think