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My problem with this deal is the COMBINATION of considerations.
Title Problems
Squirrelly Owner
Questionable "Restoration"
Price
Different States have different regulations regarding titles. Maryland is a
very rigid Title State. If you don't have a piece of paper which says
Title, you don't get one. They will recognize other states' title laws, but
only if the vehicle was REGISTERED in that state. You have to ensure that
what you get from the owner will fly in your state to Title or Register the
Vehicle. Pay attention to details on this one, or you will have problems.
Squirrelly owner. Sorry, not everyone out there is kooky, and if they are
kooky, they are for a reason. Cash is fine for a deal like that, but I
recommend that at least a portion of the funds be in some recorded form,
like $10,000 in Cashier's checks, or Federal Express Traveler's checks. If
he wants to avoid uncle, that's his business. But you should not have to be
part and parcel to it. The bank transfer, done in the bank, is the best
suggestion I've heard. Private, third party assisted transaction. Safe,
secure.
And if you really want a safe execution, send him a 10-99 at the end of the
year, after you have purchased the vehicle. The other big issue is the
story- no registration, but it has a tag on. Is he swapping tags with his
Model T's to move it around? Guys who do stuff like that make me very
suspect of their ability to conduct a BASIC BUSINESS TRANSACTION with a
degree of security.
Questionable Restoration- what happened to all the great restoration's I've
seen? The M20, from what I've seen, would not be a difficult restoration to
do. Yes you will have wear from an older restoration, but bondo peeking out
from under paint, cut off dead end lines, etc., does not sound like a
$40,000 restoration. It sounds like one of Jeff's spray-paint overhauls.
Tell you what, Go buy a $10,000 project, pay me $30,000 restoration fee, and
you WILL have a $40,000 restoration with NO BONDO, NO cut off lines, and
PERFECT BRAKES.
Brings me to price- Even though these might "book" at $40,000, that is
high. Dissassembling the whole vehicle, sand blasting, and re-installing
everything is not more than $20,000 in labor and materials. So where is the
other $20,000. A rebuilt engine and transmission, installed, shouldn't run
more than $7000, and I know Hercules JXD's are available for less than that.
We're up to $27,000. What else makes it expensive? Does a 37 mm Gun really
make the vehicle worth another $13,000 (I don't remember, does it have a
live gun or not?)
So Dean, I'd tell you to resolve these problems before you buy it. If you
can't resolve them, you shouldn't buy the vehicle.
1. Price- How does he arrive at the $40,000 price tag? He should be able
to give you some insight into this if you inquire.
2. Restoration- follow the ownership trail and see what was really done to
it. Don't try to guess at what you see, unless you are really experienced
at doing that.
3. Title- you should be able to get a clearer answer out of the guy than
you have gotten
4. Squirrelly owner- you decide if there is any risk of doing business with
this guy. It has to be your call. From what I've heard, he sounds like
people I have stopped doing business with after learning painful and
expensive lessons. I'd do business with them again, but not without a
recording device and signed documents from them at each step (and since they
won't do that, I haven't done business with them).
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Wallace <iwallace@uswest.net>
To: Military Vehicles List <mil-veh@uller.skylee.com>
Date: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] HELP! Reality check on M8 Greyhound Purchase
>*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*
>
>About the title for the M8 - I don't think it would be a big problem. I
>bought my Ferret (never, ever been titled and did not have import papers)
>and did not get a bill of sale immediately. All I needed to do was to
>contact a "title service", and:
>
>1) "Sold" the Ferret to them, and they
>2) Applied for title in New Hampshire in their name (NH does not issue
>titles for vehicles 1988 or older, only a registration)
>3) They "sold" it back to me, and sent me a notarized bill of sale (with
the
>stated cost on it), and a NH registration showing the Ferret as a 1960
>Daimler FV701H.
>
>It took me less than 15 minutes to get my collector's license with this
>paperwork, no questions asked. I had the license plate in two days, and the
>title in a week and a half. All this without a bill of sale from the owner!
>Scarey, but true... Hey, I wonder if I could get my neighbor's Corvette
>titled to me the same way?...
>Anyway, it works well, and little, if any, risk, in my opinion. I was
>impressed with the thoroughness and timely response of the title service.
>
>By the way, I also paid "cash" - cashier's check.
>
>Ian Wallace
>1960 Ferret Mk 2/3
>
>
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>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Apr 04 2000 - 21:57:08 PDT