Recently I sold the engine out of a legendary machine known as “The Greep.” It was an engine I dragged all the way from Michigan to California, and that I planned on using someday. But eventually you have to stop ignoring cold, hard truths, and now that I’m a dad, I’m seeing lots of those around here. And one of them is that I’m never using that motor, and that if I don’t sell it, it’s going to rust out.
As a bit of a recap, this engine came from the famous original “Holy Grail” Jeep Grand Cherokee, which I wrote about in October of 2019.
This was my gateway drug into the world of stickshift ZJs:
This article led someone to send me a link to another Holy Grail, which I flew across the country to buy. I then sold that, bought a mint-condition one, which I sold because I had been given both the rusty Greep and a red rust-free ZJ without a drivetrain, and I felt obligated to turn the two into one so as to at least save one Grail from the scrapyard in the sky.
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Anyway, Greep’s (so named because of the letter above) transmission went into the red rust-free ZJ, but because the red ZJ still had an engine, Greep’s engine just sat, and ultimately came with me to California:
The thing just sat in the Galpin parking lot for years, and was rained into multiple times, as the cylinder head was missing. For the most part, though, the cylinders looked good, and I was able to sell the thing for $50 to a Chrysler technician:
When I told my friend Dustin, original owner of The Greep, that I’d sold it, he asked who had bought it.
When I told him that it was a tech with an absolutely mint 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee — one equipped with the unstoppable AW4 automatic — Dustin replied: “I’m so glad that it lives on!”
Humberto, whose Jeep is shown above, plans on having the engine completely rebuilt for his gorgeous machine. The Greep will indeed live on.
This came after a chat I had with my friend Fred Williams, who had just sold the crusty (by California standards) CJ-5 you see above to a high school farm kid. Was it cheap, at $3500-ish for a nicely running, driving early CJ? Absolutely. But Fred was thrilled, because it went to someone who will appreciate it and learn from it. And, especially since it was a kid, he believes the sale had value to the whole four-wheeling hobby at large.
But some people don’t care about any of that. Some people just care about the cold, hard cash. Me personally? I once sold my Postal Jeep to a snooty guy for the money, and he immediately crashed it. I regret that sale, because I knew as soon as I sold it he wouldn’t value it like I did, and I was right. Now I’m debating selling my Jeep J10, and I had an interested buyer, but based on the questions he asked me, I lost interest in selling it to him, as it was clear he didn’t really care about it.
Top Image: Fred Williams
Once I decide to sell a car, I lose my emotional attachment to it. It’s like a switch I’m able to flip, I guess I’m lucky.
What takes a long time is finding a buyer I simply want to deal with. FBM in particular is a cancer of unserious time-wasters.
My rules for the “right” buyer:
– Did they fail to read the ad?
– Do they try to negotiate right out of the gate?
– Do they complain about everything wrong with the car?
– Do they take more than 48 hours to respond to a message?
– Is their feed full of street racing videos?
– Do they ask if I want to trade for some junk they’re hoarding?
– Are they unwilling to connect on the phone?
– Are they located somewhere distant (when selling on a local platform)
– Are they unable to show up with cash in hand?
I really don’t care what a buyer does with the car, but any “yes” to the above and I immediately move on.
The right buyer to me is the one who shows up with an acceptable amount of cash. Usually it is just the junkyard…
I would proffer the following:
If you value 1 greater than 2, then you take into account Mind over Matter:
If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
In all seriousness, I can’t carry all that worry around. Be like Elsa.
The ideal buyer for me starts with how they make first contact. Any message that starts with “What’s the lowest you’ll take” just gets blocked.
When I sold the TJ I went through a few potential buyers, the first one was a decent distance away so I took lots of extra pictures for them so they knew what they’d be in for if they spent the time to come see it. They passed on it, and I was glad I didn’t wast their time. I had two other potential buyers come drive the thing, the second tried the “Well I only brought this much” game. I Told him he’d need this much more to take it home, he went and “Talked to the wife” for like 10 minutes before forking over the cash and taking it away.
The answer to, “what’s the lowest you’ll take?” is always, “for you, twice my asking.”
Show up, show interest, and then we’ll talk $.
Yep, I don’t even dignify them with a response anymore. Best way to discourge shitty behavior is to not engage with shitty behavior.
I simply reply to “what’s the lowest you’ll take” with my asking price. Listed for $1500? What’s the lowest I’ll take? $1500, my friend.
The only reasonable way to prove your buyer is worthy is to ask if they watched the 23rd series of Top Gear.
In the case of my SVT Contour, I went through the Contour.org forums. I needed that one to go to someone who knew what it was, and would love it.
Aside from that, it’s whoever is willing to buy it, as long as they aren’t a jerk.
It depends on the car. I have never turned down the best offer for a lower offer from a worse buyer, but with cars that I like I am more likely to try to establish rapport with them before even talking price. I have kept in touch with folks who have bought a couple of my cars, and they have always been good relationships, but if it’s a car that I don’t care about, it’s 100% about whoever brings the most money.
I’m a staunch lover of the Miata in all forms, I’m also 6′ tall, the ideal buyer is someone 5’9″
Once I’ve decided to get rid of something I really don’t care who gets it. If I’m selling it the buyer with the most cash is the one for me. If I’m leaving it at the curb it is whoever grabs it first. Maybe its a scrap guy, maybe its a garbage picker, maybe its the garbage men. Conceptually I guess I want someone to enjoy it and not destroy it but money talks.
I once sold a chainsaw to a guy who was clearly out of his element using a chainsaw. But he was an adult and it isn’t my place to babysit an adult with power tools. I gave him a safety/usage rundown (I’m chainsaw forestry certified, wallet card and all) and he promptly ignored it.
Sell? A good friend once commented: “You can never build an “Empire of Junk” by selling stuff. He’s right.
At some point you have to realize that your affection for a vehicle really doesn’t matter once it leaves you. As long as I get close to the price I’m asking I’m fine with whoever wants to buy it. The last 2 cars I sold went to people who were genuinely interested in that particular model so that’s a bonus. But I would have sold either to a complete knucklehead provided they had the money.
Oh come on now, this is too easy. Anyone is the target buyer for a car I love! So many options to choose from, since I love any car equipped with the capable Jatco Xtronic CVT.
“Who Is The Ideal Buyer For A Car You Love?”
Anyone with far more monies and want than brains.
Me, Dave. Me. I want a cherry Jensen Interceptor (which I love) and I will damn well appreciate it. Just let me buy it for like 20k less than it’s worth and I’m GOLDEN.
Or a early-mid 90s architect or college professor for my lovely Saab 900. I love this car, and she is getting way more than she’s worth in my treatment trying to keep this orphan alive. But with your donation of only a dollar a day, I can make sure future auto enthusiasts know of what beauty was borne by some trolls upstream of Volvo.
Also taking donations for an original Citroën DS or 2CV. Because beauty requires an abominable amount of maintenance to appear effortless.
Yourself. Sell it back to you and play like you put up a barnfinds, Ebay, or Hemmings ad with a 100k Buy it now price. Look honey, I tried to sell it, I truly did! Not a single taker. You’ll figure out a way to justify it to your new wife and kid. Suggestions for a peaceful marriage? Why look, dear, this vehicle could pay for our new babies college someday. This old Jeep is destined to be a priceless classic circa 2047! Trust me, it’s one of the only rust free vehicles we possess and will be worth tons of moolah someday! You’ve seen no takers for my ads, I really did try to part with it, just know interest in it ha ha ha ha. One thing I’ve learned is this, cars will outlast marriage with proper maintenance. Both can leave you stranded
A well-funded automotive museum.
Of course, this will probably never be a reality.
Whomever is offering the most cash.
Sure, I loved my car. But at that point I am selling my car for a reason. Might as well maximize return on investment.
My ideal buyer for a car I care about is someone who lives far away so I don’t have to see how they are treating it (for better or worse).
I had the opposite of this. I was tormenting myself over buying a 2009 red BMW 135i manual. When the dealer told me that the only other interested buyer he had was a guy with a yellow Audi S3 (which the dealer didn’t want to have a bar with trying to trade) who didn’t really want a sunroof car. I had to have it, I simply couldn’t let that beautiful little Beemer go to some tasteless yob who bought a yellow car. So I bought it. Not a smart financial move, but I loved that little red beemer so much. (also I have never told my wife that story… she would kill me).
Great tale, and sounds like, in terms of overall value, you actually came out far ahead.
I had to sell it $7k underwater 18 months later when we decided to move back to New Zealand from Australia… horrible financial mistake!
I drove my Tacoma for 11 years and 327K miles. I listed it for sale and some guys buying used cars to take down to Mexico bought it. I haven’t bothered looking up the carfax (does that even work in Mexico) but in my head my poor tired Taco is still living out its golden years on an avocado farm gently hauling in the crops from the fields.
As with all things in life, it depends. In your case, I agree. But, I sold my old Saturn with 200+k miles and didn’t care what they did with it. My Pickup, on the other hand, would probably need to be vetted. It’s funny, I can choose who I sell my truck to, but not who I rent an apartment to.
Glad things are moving forward with the purge. Keep it going, your regrets will be replaced with memories of your family.
I sold my E30 to a BMW tech who had 2 or 3 others, and appreciated getting a running, maintained, complete example of 325is coupe; essentially The One You Want (big engine, 5spd, LSD, sport suspension, fancy seats, spoiler, lip splitter; mine also had the good stereo and a power sunroof) because E30 M3’s are six figure cars now.
It had some body issues (read: rust and front end damage) but it was a *driver* that was sitting and waiting for me to have more time/money/body work skills, none of which came to fruition.
He still sends me pics of it from time to time on FB.
Drivers car is best car.
The ideal buyer for a car I love is someone with cash money.
Beat me to it. If I am selling a car, whether I love it or not, that is the only criteria that matters. It’s not a pet, I don’t need to find it a good home once I am done with it.
I have a simple test when it comes to selling a vehicle.
If you can’t handle seeing the next person smashing it with a sledgehammer, don’t sell it.
Most of my cars were taken from me by rust or bad drivers that I wouldn’t have gotten rid of otherwise, though there were three that I was happy to see gone (260Z—sold, Mazda3—trade-in, Camry SE—sold). One that didn’t fit either pattern needed an engine (Focus ST coolant intrusion issue), but I wasn’t doing it and nobody wanted the job peak pandemic, so I sold it and it seemed like it was going to a good home. While I felt good about where it went, it wasn’t going to be a deal-breaker, either way.
I’ve driven cars to the junkyard because they were so rusty they no longer had a sufficient quorum of sheetmetal to legally be called a car (literally, as in needing many times their finished value of welding just to pass inspection). I’ve never had a car stolen from a test drive but my aunt did, a ’76 Chrysler Town and Country in 1983.
Not a relative.
I’ve given a couple of cars to relatives. Never again. Bought my mother a brand-new KIA Soul, and it not being in any way my problem for five years is absolutely priceless. KIA can deal with her crazy.