(car engine revving) - You have a car
that's a little rough around the edges, maybe it's junk,
and you just wanna sell it.
Today we're gonna look at the do's and don'ts
of selling a rough car.
And I'll tell you why I made this video
in the first place, might get a little rant-y.
(upbeat music)
Before we get cracking into this week's episode
of Wheelhouse I gotta give a shoutout
to NOS Energy Drink for partnering with the show.
Fun fact about NOS Energy Drink,
it's been around since 2005,
the same year Ford released their 5th gen Mustang.
What do they both have in common?
I'll tell you, they're both sweet, sweet.
Also, that was the same year Donkey Konga 2
came out on Game Cube, sweet.
And Tom Cruise jumped all over Oprah's couch, sweet.
2005 was great.
I was 12 years old.
Thanks NOS Energy Drink for sponsoring Wheelhouse.
Sweet. (beeping)
I've been helping my girlfriend
look for an old truck that can be dailied.
So what do the ads say?
Well, not a whole lot and that should have been
my first clue that something was up.
The listing said the truck was an automatic
and had a mileage of 4,000 miles,
which I knew couldn't be accurate.
The ad only included two pictures, bad ones, mind you,
and on top of that neither of them were of the interior.
Overall there wasn't a lot to go off of
but the price was right so I reached out.
The owner said that it was her Grandpa's truck,
which got my mouth watering.
I figured Gramps took care of his baby
and was passing it down to a relative
who didn't quite know what they had.
The owner also said they lost the keys
so I would have to install a new ignition lock
to get the truck to run.
Luckily, on 69C10s that's not a big deal.
So I was okay with that.
The owner also sent a bad picture of the interior
but it was enough to get me optimistic.
So I enlisted the help of my dude Zack Jobe
and we made the two-hour drive
to Bakersfield the next day.
When we pull up to the truck I was feeling good.
I'm a good boyfriend. (upbeat chiming)
Then I got closer, and closer and closer.
Until all hope was gone.
The listing was pretty much completely wrong.
First off, the truck was a manual not an automatic.
That wouldn't be a big deal for me
but my girl, she wants an automatic, so that was a problem.
Second, the interior was absolutely trash.
Which was another problem because this thing
needs to be comfortable enough to daily.
Both of these things weren't complete deal-breakers
but what made me say no was the rust.
This thing was approaching junk status fast.
To top it all off the truck bed was full of junk.
I'm not talking one or two bags
of fertilizer and a beer can.
I'm talking bed springs, green waste,
a tub full of god knows what and at least 20 beer cans.
Even if I was able to look past all the flaws I mentioned,
do you expect me to clean that crap out of there?
Like seriously, what was the plan here?
At least the truck had the best bumper sticker of all time.
Okay, so, I'm gonna take
a little responsibility for this wasted day.
I really should've known better from the clues
but my imagination got the better of me.
The story I made up about the C10
being Gramp's coveted truck wasn't true.
The reality was that Grandpa bought the truck a year ago,
drove it back to the house, parked it there,
then my naive ass came along.
I thought the only reason no one had snapped this C10 up yet
was the ignition lock situation.
So what could the owner have done to avoid this situation
and not waste both of our time?
In this case, I would've taken pictures
of the torn-up interior, the odometer,
and all of the rusty spots in the cab.
I would have definitely mentioned the non-op status,
as registering the car adds an extra step
to getting it on the road.
Mentioning how many owners the truck had
would've been nice too as it would've prevented me
from making up the story about Grandpa
hanging on to his trusty old truck.
I would have also definitely mentioned
that the truck didn't have a key.
That's kind of a big thing to leave out.
I would've tried my best to find out
what engine was under the hood,
because that wasn't in the ad either.
And it turned out that the truck had a Chevy 350,
which is a huge plus, those are great motors.
I think some sellers are afraid
to tell the truth about their cars.
Not because they're bad people
but because they don't know how to upsell a piece of junk.
But there's an easy way to be honest
about a car's crappiness
and make it appealing at the same time.
I'm sure you've all seen this before.
You might do it yourself.
You call it, a project car.
So let's say I want a project truck
and not a daily driver for my lady.
All of the issues the truck had
were ones that I could live with.
The bad interior, that's okay.
Didn't make the truck undriveable.
The rust, I've repaired rust before.
It's not the end of the world.
Heck, I probably would've driven with it.
It would've crumpled like a Post-It note
with me inside it if I crashed but don't crash, I guess.
My point is that selling your car
when you haven't been upfront about big issues is hard.
If a buyer is not expecting big problems
and they see them in person they're gonna second guess
everything else even if it's true.
Like if the owner did list the 350 motor
I'm gonna assume that it has a lot of problems too
because the rest of the truck sucked.
What being honest about a junk car does
is give a prospective buyer, me,
time to talk myself into thinking it's a good idea.
And this isn't deceptive.
If I see a car I really want
and a list of what needs to be done to it
chances are I'm gonna research
how to do those things and how much they cost
and see if the investment is worth it to me.
In the C10's case most repairs
would've been relatively easy.
Heck, a totally honest ad might make the idea
of a project build sound fun.
So here's what to do if you have a rough car
that you're having a hard time selling.
(soft music)
First, be open and honest about the car.
List the flaws in your ad.
For example, I would mention the baconed-out fenders
(slapping) and the bad ignition timing.
You don't have to go super into detail
but having a tidy list goes a long way
and makes it easier for a buyer to Google problems
they're unsure about in another browser tab.
And remember to mention that your rough car
would be a good project, it will turn some people away
but those people wouldn't have bought the car
if they saw it in person anyway.
It's fine.
Second, take a lot of pictures.
The C10 ad had two photos.
That's pathetic.
Everyone has a good camera on their phone nowadays,
there's no excuse for having one or two pictures
on your listing in 2019.
Come on people, we can do this.
At a bare minimum snap the front, both sides and the rear.
Bonus points for a three-quarter shot, front and rear.
(dinging)
If a car has dings, dents and scratches get those too
and if the car has rust definitely mention that it does
and get pictures of it.
It might be scary
but it can be repaired by the right person.
Also, for the love of God, if you're selling a truck
don't keep a bunch of bull (beep) in the back.
Like what the (beep).
So let's look at an ad that does a good job.
This car isn't junk by any means but it's a good listing.
This is a BMW 540i that my buddy Dave was selling.
In his Craigslist ad he lists the number
of owners the car has had, what's been fixed,
what new parts the car has, like tires.
He mentions a positive aspect
like the superstring drivetrain and brakes.
Then lists what needs to be fixed
like the A/C fan switch and the crummy radio.
I did a quick Google search and both those
can be done for less than 500 bucks.
Along with that, Dave lists what will likely
need to be fixed in the future
and he's up front about the fact that the car
looks better in his pictures,
which primes you to have realistic expectations
of what the car will look like in person.
Also your ad doesn't need to be as wordy,
Dave used to write for Sport Compact Magazine
and he's just a really good writer.
Also he included 18 pictures.
(dinging) Dave rules.
If you're looking at buying a crummy car
I have one big tip and that's not to make up
stories about the car in your head
'cause you'll always be let down.
And never think of it as your car
until it's in your driveway.
I hope my rant helped you out in some way
whether you're selling a rough car or looking to buy one.
Now get out there and sell that piece of junk!
I'm gonna go back on Craigslist.
(buzzing) Hello.
Welcome to my desk.
There's lots of stuff on it.
I don't know why.
I think people come here in the middle of the night
and leave things that I don't need on it.
This jar of honey.
Don't know why I have this.
Kidding of course, I'm a slob.
Be nice, see you next time.