Dollars and Sense
And finally, last but not least, is price. Different
people put different values on a car. A middle-aged
executive will surely have more money to spend on a
car than a starving college student. For some, the
car is a treasured part of the family, and others,
just cheap transportation. Some people want their car
to go to a good home with a loving enthusiast, others
just want to get the rusty beater out of their
driveway. Some cars have been painstakingly restored
to almost-new perfection by fussy experts, with cost
being of little concern, where others just make it
look good from a distance with fresh paint and shiny
chrome and no regard for quality of work.
Making the Deal
Once you know what you're looking for, be ready to
move quickly and have a cash deposit on hand when you
go to look at the car. Make sure the seller has the
title to the car, and find out whether it's a salvage
title or not (this means that one point in it's life
the car was probably wrecked or damaged in some way
that lowered it's value to a point that the insurance
company decided it wasn't worth repairing). If you
like the car, make the deal and GET IT ON PAPER!
Handshakes are terrific and all that, but if someone
insists on making a deal for a car on a handshake
alone, you can be sure there's a reason why they're
reluctant to commit to a legally binding agreement on
paper.
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What is a fair price? A fair price is one that both
the seller and the buyer are happy with. Generally, if
the seller is anxious to sell the car, the price is
liable to be pretty flexible. On the other hand, some
sellers spend a lot more than they can hope to get out
of their cars, and their high price reflects this,
especially if the work that was done was major or they had an expensive shop do the work.
But you say you wonder about the incredible deals some
people get? Usually a case of being in the right
place at the right time, and being able to strike a
deal before someone else makes the deal. This also
has a lot to do with the condition of the car, how
anxious the seller is to get rid of it, and what kind
of work the buyer is willing to after buying the car.
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