Step 5: Vehicle Delivery

The broker and I finally get in touch with each other on Sunday afternoon while I’m on the way back to Georgia.  He assures me I can get my car on the Monday shipment, it will be leaving out of Florida in the afternoon.  We will take care of the particulars on Monday morning, sounds like I may have my car by Tuesday afternoon.  Now I’m excited.

Monday morning rolls around I call the broker at 9am, no answer, so I leave a message.  I call back at 10am, finally get a hold of the broker, he’s still not in the office, but he tells me he will give me a call back in a half hour.  10:30 comes and goes, no call, I’m busy at work so it isn’t until after 11am that I make another call to the broker.  We finally get the ball rolling on the contract.  He sends me an email with the particulars, I read it over…  the price has increased $50, super…  I’m a bit upset to say the least, but if I have my car by Tuesday, then it will be worth it.  I sign the contract, send it back and get the details, the car is set to be picked up around 7pm.  Sounds good to me.  I contact the sellers and let them know the plan, everything is good to go, right?  Not so much…

I was told by the broker to expect an email with the drivers information prior to the pick up.  By 4pm, I’ve got nothing, so I make another call to the broker to make sure everything is still good to go.  The broker tells me the driver ran into some mechanical issues and will not be making his run until the morning, nice of them to contact me with the information, but I read the reviews and expected a few issues throughout the process so this is not a big deal, just one more day. 

Tuesday morning, 9am and no word from the transport company, so I call them and the driver is still set up, but now the pick up wont be until later in the afternoon…  great, more waiting, but wait, there’s more…  The broker I’ve been dealing with hands me off to a different broker that has another option for me to consider.  There is another driver with a smaller trailer that will be heading through the area on Thursday morning after he drops of a load of vehicles, should be able to make the pickup by 10am.  The only problem is it will be an additional $50.  Different driver, smaller load, less economical and all…  I tell the broker that the new option sounds good, but not for the extra cost.  They’ll have to split the difference with me.  They eat $25 and I pay $25 extra, they agree and everything is set up for Thursday morning.  I let the sellers in Florida know the new plan and we’re all set.

Wednesday comes and goes, I make a call later in the day to make sure we are still good to go for the morning, yup, all set. 

Now its Thursday morning, about 9am and no word from the driver, or the broker.  With the history of this whole transaction, I was a little concerned to say the least.  I call the sellers to find out if maybe the driver contacted them, nada, super.  I leave the broker a message on voicemail and email.  I call again at 10am and find out the pick up will not happen till after 2pm.  No problem, I let the sellers know what’s happening so they can plan their day and run some errands. 

Thursday afternoon I get a call from the sellers in Florida, the cars been loaded up and the driver took good care getting it on the trailer, so all is well.  I still didn’t have the drivers info, so I asked the sellers if they had his number, they did, so now I can contact him directly… about time.  I give the driver a call after 5pm and he is planning to drop the car off in the morning about 10am, sounds good to me.  I’ve got a flight to catch in the afternoon, so that should work out nicely.  I’m getting excited, I’ll have my car in the morning, its going to be a good day…

I feel like its Christmas Eve and I’m 10 years old just waiting to see what kind of loot I’m going to get in the morning.  I wake up early, get to work and get some stuff done.  I get a call from the cable guy around 10am telling me he is on his way over to the rental house to repair our internet connection.  We’ve been without internet for the past 3 days at the rental house, so that’s it’s a good thing the repairman is on the way, but I can’t get there till around 11am.  I let the cable guy know, and he has another stop he can make before the our house, so 11am will work out…  Now if I can get a hold of the truck driver, I can get my car and get my cable fixed before I have to head out to the airport. 

I finally get a hold of the driver around 11am and he is anticipating heading my way by 11:30am.  That means he’ll make the drop off by noon.  I get a call at 11:30am, the driver is heading my way, so we make arrangements to meet down by the entrance to the subdivision.  I’m getting very excited now, I’m going to have my car! 

Noon comes and goes, cable guy is still at the rental house, but he’s about finished up, so I call the driver, no answer.  I leave a message.  12:30pm, no word, no car.  I call again, leave another message.  I’m a bit concerned now because I need to leave for the airport at 2pm.  I finally get a hold of the driver at 1pm and he’s still 20 minutes away!  WTF?  I jump in the shower, pack the car and wait to hear from the driver.  Driver shows up at 1:30, I walk down to the entrance of the subdivision to meet him.  There’s  my new project car, sitting on the back of the trailer.  I am a happy man. 

The driver unloads the car, he’s got to jump it to get it started and it keeps wanting to stall, so I’ll need to keep the jump box attached till I get to the house.  I make it to the house without any problems and I put her away in the garage for the weekend.  No time to play today, I’ve got to get to the airport.  I drop the jump box off to the driver and cut him a check for his services and I’m on my way.         

Step 4: Close the deal

I get up early Saturday morning, grab some coffee and a shower and hit the road, only 8 or 9 hours to go.  I’ve made arrangements to visit the sellers and then drive another hour to stay the night at my Aunt and Uncle’s in Florida.  Can you say free dinner?  But seriously, it will be nice to visit and be able to not stay at a hotel. 

I get to the seller’s house and lay eyes on my new prize.  Looks good from a distance, but as I get closer, I see the front driver’s door window seals and the roof weather stripping…  bad shape to say the least, no biggie though, parts are out there, and I knew I was going to have to do some work on it.  So I continue to look the car over, all in all the body is in good shape, its evident the rear half had been repainted recently, and as the seller’s walk out to meet me, sure enough that is the case.  The seller runs through all the repairs and known issues, I’m not scared yet.  All said and done, the car is an ’87 with 130,000 miles on it.  It needs some work, but it hasn’t been screwed up by the previous or current owner.  This guy is great, He’s got the original seats, tape deck, and various other parts that he has replaced or upgraded, needless to say, I’m a happy camper.

Problem is, I may just want to keep her, this car is all original, or can be after I get done with it.  Just don’t tell my Wife.  Like I said, I always wanted a Corvette anyway… 

We all chat for a while, good people.  I ask how they would prefer to be paid and we decide on PayPal as the quickest way to get the transaction completed.  My goal for today’s trip was to check out the car and leave with title in hand, oh yeah, and to give the sellers some money.  So I make the transfer in PayPal and they sign over the title, we are all happy, yay. 

Now I’m off to my Aunt and Uncle’s.  I check my voicemail and find a message from Friday from a transport broker that tells me he has a transporter running from Florida to Augusta area on Monday, how cool is that?  I could have the car Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.  So I talk to my Wife and she informs me that I goofed up the PayPal and it will take till at least Wednesday for the sellers to get their money.  Not good.  I want my car on that Monday transport.  I get to my Aunt and Uncle’s, we go to dinner, chat for a bit, then bedtime.  Before I crash out, I look up Corvette parts and fill up a wish list.  Then I log into PayPal to see what can be done to fix my boo boo.  I find out the sellers must cancel the transaction, then I can resend as an instant transfer.  I send off an email Saturday night explaining the situation and go to bed.

The next morning, I get an email from the sellers and we figure out how to cancel the transaction, I resend an instant transfer and viola, we are all good again.  Now if only I can get a hold of the transport broker…  



Step 3:The search continues….

So it’s a Thursday night and I figure I’ll check my auction watch list on eBay…  There is one ending in 45 minutes.  That’s great, it’s sitting at a little over 2600 with the reserve not met, so I figure it’ll get bid up over my ceiling, but I’m keeping an eye on it.  The ad barely has any pictures, never a really good sign, but there’s enough to see the interior and the body work, under hood pics are absent, but with so few, and the description listing the new parts, I’m okay with that.  The best part of the ad is the ownership records, 2 owners, and no issues on the vehicle check…  a rarity in this price range.  I’m figuring the car will go for over 4 grand, but I’m going to put a bid in and give it a shot.  But not quite yet, there is still 30 minutes to go, I gotta wait till the last minute.

25 minutes later and the bid has not changed.  I sit and wait patiently for the clock to tick down to 1 minute.  Now the race is on, I punch in my bid, $3166, and…  wait for it….  wait for it…  click submit and…  page loading….  Are you serious, come on you stupid slow computer put in the bid!  It went through, and says I’m the high bidder, then I refresh and viola, I’ve won the auction at $2800, and to top it off, the reserve has been met.  Once again, equal parts excited and terrified.  What have I done?  I just bought a car, a friggin car, sight unseen…  I told you I’m sick in the head, but now it’s official.

So now I read through the payment terms, yeah, probably could’ve done that sooner, but too late now.  Terms are good, $1000 deposit due within 48 hours and the remainder before the car is picked up.  Best part, they accept PayPal.  Pretty typical.  So I contact the seller, and ask how they’d like to handle the payments and could I drive the car home this weekend?  Silly boy, You can’t drive a $3000 corvette 9 hours on open highway, unless you have some sort of death wish or like walking to fascinating new places past the single stop light that marks the “main” street…  Do I hear banjos? 

The sellers suggest that I come see the car before any money changes hands, and they will let me back out if the car is not what I thought…  How cool is that, they are a great couple, and if they’re reading this…  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  They were great through this whole deal. 

So I send out a request for shipping quotes and set up a meeting with the sellers for Saturday…

Step Two - Vehicle Search

So now that I'm thinking I might actually do this, I need to figure out what vehicle will work.  My first thought is to buy an older Corvette.  I've always wanted one, they have a fiberglass body, and it's a Corvette, say no more right?  Sort of...  With the help of my better half, I set my budget at $3000. 

With the spending ceiling in place, I set out to find a car.  I start with searching for Corvettes exclusively, but broaden my search for a short time to include older Mustangs, BMW's and even a Camaro or two.  Soon enough though, I'm back to Corvettes.  They seem to fit the objective well.  Parts are available, the few older examples that are in good shape are fairly valuable, and people who are looking to purchase a Corvette may not be thinking completely rationally.  These cars are more of an emotional purchase.  So I'm hoping, at the conclusion of this project, I'll be able to make a little profit off the sale.  Try that with a Mustang or Camaro...  Might be a little tough.  Now that I'm set on a Corvette, I need to find out what I can buy for $3000.  As I search, I find I'll likely not be able to get one in the 90's, and I want to avoid the pre-84's due to the cross-fire injection, or so I hear...  note to self, I should really do some research...  I should, but I don't.  I'm set on the '85 to '90 Corvettes, what more do I need to know?  It can't be that tough right? 

I start out on Ebay and look a little on Craigslist, but mainly use Ebay.  I find what looks like a nice '85 Vette located a couple hours away, so I make arrangements to take a look at it.  From the pictures, it looks decent, just a few mechanical issues to repair, some new tires and a comprehensive detailing and it'll be good to go...  right?  Not so much...  I show up and find the car is in rough shape and it keeps getting better, the current owner has started repairs, but they haven't been completed, and they aren't completed to my standards, so I'd have to basically redo them...  I'm a bit bummed out at that point, but maybe it would work out, if I could get the price down a bit.  I sleep on it and go back and forth, in the meantime, I continue searching.  I find a promising '91 that has some title issues, but it has fresh paint and only needs a little work.  I'll give it a shot, the current bid is over my original price limit, but not enough over to keep me from bidding.  

The auction doesn't end for a couple days, so I add it to my watch list and go about my business.  So now it's Friday, and I'm flying home, I have forgotten about the auction until I get in the air on the first of two flights, that's when I figure I'll get my Wife to help me out.  And Her, being the wonderful and supportive woman that she is, agrees to help me with bidding.  I get on the phone and have Her check the auction, it's still got some time left, so I give Her the bid amount I'm willing to work with and I bid Her farewell and board the next plane.  She performs flawlessly and gets my bid in at the last minute...  Now I'm a little terrified that I might actually own a '91 Corvette, but at the same time, I'm really excited to be able to start this whole crazy project...

I get a text, didn't win it...  I'm equal parts relieved and bummed out, but life goes on.  I'll resume my search next week...  

Breaking the News

So I think I want to fix up a car with the purpose of reselling it at a small profit.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Time will tell, but the first step, as anyone with a spouse knows, is breaking the news to my Wife.  I mean, she already knows I'm a bit irrational when it comes to cars, but this is a whole other level.  I've been able to keep my vehicle projects of late to strictly maintenance and necessary repairs, so she's been lulled into a dream land where Her Husband doesn't stay in the garage all weekend crawling over and under some four wheeled conveyance until the wee hours in the morning.  Here goes....

"Honey I was thinking of buying a car to fix up and resell sorta like the Wheeler Dealers guys..."  So after I duck the first shoe flying through the air on a trajectory towards my face...   or so I thought would be the reaction.  Actually She tells me that it sounds like a good idea, and it will keep me occupied while working out of town.

Step one, done.

Now on to step two, finding the right car.