Am I Being Unreasonable? Original Owner Wants Car Back

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Geez, don't let him get to you. He should consider himself lucky that he found the car. I'm sure I've owned some cars that previous owners wished they'd never sold. Hell, I wish I had my 70 Challenger R/T back.
Yup. Finding the car and knowing it had a good home would make me happy right there.
 
That's an easy one, sell it to him foe more then anyone else would pay for it

Ha..... That's exactly why the OP has to "want" to sell it and "get" what he thinks it worth. Because the next thing you know it's on FB Marketplace. And that's how things go....

JW
 
And that’s what he’s doing. If you don’t want to sell it, just toss out an ’I don’t want to sell it price‘. Someone wants your house/property that assessed at $750k but you don’t want to sell? Ask $1.5M for it. Same thing for a car.
 
I don't know? That backfired on me once. Back in the mid 80's, I had 2 or 3 Challenger parts cars sitting around and advertised them in Hemmings Motor News for sale. A dude from Ohio came to buy them, promtly paid me full asking price for all of them and asked if he could just take what parts he wanted from each and leave the remains. Sure, done deal. I had a 72 Challenger 340 that I had just bought for $700 behind my house that I planned to spruce up and drive. It was black on black, not rusty but had one banged up front fender that I already had a replacement for. The guy kept asking me to sell it, and I kept telling him I didn't want to sell it. This went on for several hours and I finally got tired of it and told him $4500 to shut him up. He shut up when he stopped counting out $100 bills!!! :BangHead:
 
I feel the OP was more than fair even trying to be creative on ways to make it happen. I had this same thing kind of thing happen to me a few years ago but, I was on the attempting buying side.

My 1st car was a 67 Satellite that I had drooled over for years before getting a job at 15 yrs old, saving money and finally, getting a shot to buy it. I jumped at the chance!! Sold it about a year later then, spent 20 plus years trying to replace it.

After years of searching for another (my original one got parted out and I assume was scrapped) I found one. I bought it, built an engine for the car and, was happier than a puppy with 2 peters. I had it for a couple years and in a moment of stupidity I sold it.

The car switched hands several times after I sold it and, I kept up with the car up to a certain point then, it disappeared. I had a couple shots of buying it back but, it was not the right time financially.

Fast forward to 2019, my Mother passed away and had left some money to my brother and I. Making the decision to spend some of this money on a car, I tracked it down and made more then a fair offer (actually way too much) but, couldn't get him to sell. No hard feelings..it his car now...but, I really wanted it back. We keep in touch but, he probably won't sell it.
 
You have been fair. You don't want to sell it. If he was serious about it, he should say name your price. It would be in his driveway now.

Can't expect to buy a car that is not for sale, for a discount.
 
I hate when people bug you to buy your cars. Had this one guy bug me to sell my 69 Sport Satellite convertible. Every show or cruise I saw him at and he would bug me. I finally told him an outrageous price and he said that's way too much. Too bad. I then told him, with my wife standing right there, that after me it goes to my wife, then my oldest son, then my youngest son then my grandson and then my good buddy that I bought it from. I told him he's not even in the equation and my wife agreed. See ya!!!
 
im curious... 84 responses and 4 pages ... can someone tell me why i get the only red X ?........ im the 7th post, did i say something offensive or disrespectful?... again just curious.. Merry Christmas FABO... Rich
 
im curious... 84 responses and 4 pages ... can someone tell me why i get the only red X ?........ im the 7th post, did i say something offensive or disrespectful?... again just curious.. Merry Christmas FABO... Rich
LOL......I'm guessing it's a fat finger red X. Merry Christmas.
 
So, I was lucky enough to find and buy back my Dads GSS Demon in 2018. The owner told be the back story and I completed it by saying who he bought it from and it was my dad's car. He blew off the other 4 potential buyers saying I get first dibs. I paid asking and didn't question it. I found where the #'s block, I offered a different block, machining money, etc. It is in a running car. He is holding it hostage, $5k for a bare block. Some are just assholes. For me, sorry, sentiment means too much. I would make a very reasonable deal and look for your dad's actual car. There is nothing like the actual car. I wish I knew the separation in numbers. I would find a way to get it to him without losing too much. Maybe less drivetrain? Just me.
 
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So, I was lucky enough to find and buy back my Dads GSS Demon in 2018. The owner told be the back story and I completed it by saying who he bought it from and it was my dad's car. He blew off the other 4 potential buyers saying I get first dibs. I paid asking and didn't question it. I found where the #'s block, I offered a different block, machining money, etc. It is in a running car. He is holding it hostage, $5k for a bare block. Some are just assholes. For me, sorry, sentiment means too much. I would make a very reasonable deal and look for your dad's actual car. There is nothing like the actual car. I wish I knew the separation in numbers. I would find a way to get it to him without losing too much. Maybe less drivetrain? Just me.
The drivetrain is part of what they worked on together (he was a teenager at the time). Purple cam, x heads, their trans & axle too. It was basically a shell with a breast under the hood, now the rest of the car matches the beast. I tried offering less wheels & tires, but that's only like a grand, which didn't make enough of a dent in the divide between our numbers (of which he has yet to divulge his).
 
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im curious... 84 responses and 4 pages ... can someone tell me why i get the only red X ?........ im the 7th post, did i say something offensive or disrespectful?... again just curious.. Merry Christmas FABO... Rich
I don't see that you said a thing out of line, nor any different than what others have said. The person that hit the red X is not typically someone that throws those out, so I think it may have been a fat finger typo while using a phone. Merry Christmas!
 
Someone may have already suggested this..........Tell buddy to do some research, and make an offer. You know what these things are worth, so if the offer is ridiculous, you can stop thinking about it, and put the issue to bed..........It ain't gonna' happen.
 
Don't forget the old saying, "No good deed goes unpunished." I have been burned more than once trying to be the nice guy. Who's to say they only want it because they know it now has value.

You don't owe them anything and in my opinion you've already gone above and beyond.
 
And apparently the Dad didn't have any regrets selling the car back when he did. Seems it wasn't important enough to any of them back then for the Dad you give or sell it to them at a discount family price. Just seems fishy to me.
 
I have had people ask me when looking at one of my cars I would have for sale , they'd ask " Just how did you arrive at the price?" My answer would be " One, I check out what comparable cars are actually selling for and Two, the real question is WHAT is it worth to ME!" # two is really the important factor unless I just have to sell it.
 
And apparently the Dad didn't have any regrets selling the car back when he did. Seems it wasn't important enough to any of them back then for the Dad you give or sell it to them at a discount family price. Just seems fishy to me.
I think the old adage "You don't appreciate what you have until it's gone".......They weren't memories back then. I have my Dad's 1987 D150 that he bought 6 months before he died. I drove that truck for 15 years as a daily driver. Wasn't sure what I was going to do with it when I bough my new truck so I parked it in '02.......I was going to do a body swap with a Cummins truck but am glad I didn't. When the Demon is done, this ones next........Today, I'd get rid of the Demon before his truck. That's how important this is to me. BTW......If someone else had it, I'd pay whatever they would want.
 
If he lives nearby invite him over when you work on it.
 
Lemme get this straight (and I didn't read any further than the first page)

You did work on a car, and unless it TRULY increased the value of the car (Nicer motor, more correct resto, major repair, etc) you expect to be paid for it?

If you don't have sentimental value to the car, work with the guy. Or at least meet him. He may be OK with not buying him once he sees it.

Remember, the people that will spend huge dollars on these cars are dying off. You're at peak selling price to make money and it's going to be downhill from here (for the most part). It's not special enough to be super collectible.
 
Lemme get this straight (and I didn't read any further than the first page)

You did work on a car, and unless it TRULY increased the value of the car (Nicer motor, more correct resto, major repair, etc) you expect to be paid for it?

If you don't have sentimental value to the car, work with the guy. Or at least meet him. He may be OK with not buying him once he sees it.

Remember, the people that will spend huge dollars on these cars are dying off. You're at peak selling price to make money and it's going to be downhill from here (for the most part). It's not special enough to be super collectible.
If y'all want to disagree with me, that's fine, but please elaborate why, as my reply clearly straddles the fence.
 
If y'all want to disagree with me, that's fine, but please elaborate why, as my reply clearly straddles the fence.
I'm not asking much above actual cash I've spent all in the last 6 months. There's no reason why I should take a loss for something I didn't initiate. If he wants to interrupt my progress, he can assume my accumulated position & do everything possible to keep me on the trajectory I've worked hard & paid actual cash to establish. If I attached a labor rate to all the work I've done, the number would be much higher, I'm positioned at just my cash outlays. Is what you're saying by working with him that I should be willing to dip into my pocket to make this work for him?
 
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