Community Forums

srh · 08-03-2015, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Ownby

He has way too many demands. A successful transaction requires a willing buyer and a willing seller. Keep your billfold in your pocket.

Steve Ownby
Full time since '07

Totally Agree!!

mike brez · 08-03-2015, 04:36 PM

Run Forest run

bamaboy473 · 08-03-2015, 04:45 PM

Latest message from seller said he's shocked that this sale is needing an inspection and that he's tired of jumping through hoops about one. I offered him a mutual release; refund my deposit; and pursue those other two buyers that he claimed.

Agreed with all of you guys, something is rotten in Denmark....or Wisconsin.

raytwntrvlr · 08-03-2015, 04:50 PM

Just a guess here but the same shop you want to check out the MH maybe is the one that has already advised him it needs many $Ks of work to be made whole again. His other two buyers?? smoke and mirrors

Good luck with your deposit.

bamaboy473 · 08-03-2015, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raytwntrvlr

Just a guess here but the same shop you want to check out the MH maybe is the one that has already advised him it needs many $Ks of work to be made whole again. His other two buyers?? smoke and mirrors

Good luck with your deposit.

You could be right, and maybe the seller (who owns a manufacturing company and he's in his 70s) is just so full of himself that he expects the rest of us to do what he demands of his employees.

While I don't like getting stung with a lost deposit, it's peanuts compared to what might have happened. I also am a big believer in karma.

IASM · 08-03-2015, 09:46 PM

Sometimes it just personality. I bought my last coach site unseen but did have my wife take a look at it. Shes pretty sharp about machines. I had a mechanic go to the location since the seller didn't want to drive it to the shop. He also didn't want the mechanic to drive it. It turned out the mechanic ,an ex country coach guy who worked at Houston prevos, new the seller and had done some maintenance on the coach. As an odd note the steps quit working also while they were checking it out. He made a repair but that didn't cure the problem because we discovered a broken wire a few months later. I think my seller was getting a little frustrated also. We needed to wire transfer the funds before he would send tittle and was leaving the country for 6 months . I could tell he was about ready to tell me to go take a hike and he was going fishing in south America. We completed the paperwork and he flew out that afternoon. I would explain you don't know much about motorhomes especially a country coach and ask him to help you. We don't know the circumstances as to why he is selling and there could be some stuff as in health going on that has nothing to do with the coach but is more to do with life. Get it inspected on wed. Likely its a great rig.

bamaboy473 · 08-04-2015, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IASM

Sometimes it just personality. I bought my last coach site unseen but did have my wife take a look at it. Shes pretty sharp about machines. I had a mechanic go to the location since the seller didn't want to drive it to the shop. He also didn't want the mechanic to drive it. It turned out the mechanic ,an ex country coach guy who worked at Houston prevos, new the seller and had done some maintenance on the coach. As an odd note the steps quit working also while they were checking it out. He made a repair but that didn't cure the problem because we discovered a broken wire a few months later. I think my seller was getting a little frustrated also. We needed to wire transfer the funds before he would send tittle and was leaving the country for 6 months . I could tell he was about ready to tell me to go take a hike and he was going fishing in south America. We completed the paperwork and he flew out that afternoon. I would explain you don't know much about motorhomes especially a country coach and ask him to help you. We don't know the circumstances as to why he is selling and there could be some stuff as in health going on that has nothing to do with the coach but is more to do with life. Get it inspected on wed. Likely its a great rig.

Agreed on all points. Seller doesn't know a lot about MHs because he bought this just to make one trip. It's been parked since he got home (in the glorious shop he calls his barn). His pre-occupation with getting it sold and getting money seems odd, given his occupation and what he lives in, so....maybe he is just trying to unload burdens in order to better address the future (if health is an issue).

I'm in touch with the mechanics, so we'll know more in a few days.

bamaboy473 · 08-05-2015, 10:16 AM

As several (including myself) have said, it takes a seller and buyer working together in order to make a sale happen. Red flags start popping up when questions aren't answered, or plans aren't followed through on.

It's been a week since I contacted his mechanic to do the PPI. Since then 3 e-mails to the owner specifying what I want them to check. Not a peep.

Seller didn't want them taking his coach so they have to do the PPI on his property. If they're busy, why waste time going to his place; especially when he expressed discomfort about them even test-driving it?

PPI was to be done last Friday, then Monday, then today. Not a word that they'll be there today, or that they got my messages, or how I plan to pay them. It's 75 and clear up there, so weather isn't a factor.

I sent seller a note last night that I was hoping for a good PPI, and didn't expect a perfect coach, just one that is fixable and not terminal. No response.

This might be the best deal on the planet, or not. Trouble is, when things continue to get strange, then problems get amplified; at least to me they do.

Time to cut it loose and ask him to donate my deposit to a kids' charity.

Smitty77 · 08-05-2015, 11:41 AM

Lot's of speculation going on, and who knows if one of the thoughts is correct. And frankly, it really does not matter.

It's business, pure and simple, and should be treated in a business like manner from both Seller and Buyer. Now, that is easy to say, and as the OP has mentioned, it takes two working together to make this a smooth business interaction.

Until it is validated via inspections, and perhaps a combination of documented receipts, the condition of the coach is unknown. Pictures can help, but also can be misleading.

My fingers are crossed for you, but agree with your comment that even the loss of a deposit could be a savings in the long haul. Sure hope the inspection takes place, and the coach is given a good bill of health, or the To Do list is reasonable and reflected in the agreed to price. If the To Do list his higher then you expected and was represented by the seller - then an adjustment on price would be appropriate.

Adding to the speculation, as that is all that it is, you could be describing a seller that has many things going on - of which this is just a small portion, and the sell may, or may not, be important to him.

My two quick stories while shopping:
1) Spent about $700+ and burned two days of vacation, to visit a coach that was represented as being in outstanding condition, well maintained, with folders of documentation to back it up. I spent less then 2 minutes walking around the outside of the coach, and was doing so before the owner got out his house and out to meet me. When he did get to me, I told him you did not represent this coach properly, and your dishonesty has just cost me money, and wasted my time. I turned around, and went back to my rental car as he started stammering about 'Price is negotiable...'.

2) Our current coach, the one we bought after our search. Was bought as it was coming in on consignment during the down time of the economy. The owner was a 'get in and drive' kind of guy. Owned a business, and just considered this a toy and was not as involved as most of us become in our rigs. It was not that he was ever trying to be dishonest about anything, he just did not know, or care. Luckily, the dealer he bought it from, and done all of the yearly maintenance on the coach. He basically just took into them, and did whatever they felt was needed. Low miles at under 13K, for about a 6 year old coach. The receipts, provided with the owner's permission by the dealer, reflected that the miles while low were consistent each year. (Found out a bit later, that he had bought the coach to drive from San Diego to Fresno for home football games. So each year, several times a year, up to temp and freeway driven.) On attitudes of Seller's, to him, this was just another business transaction. It was a Buyer's market, and the inspections we had done, independent from the dealer selling for him on consignment, provided a small but expensive list of items needing immediate attention. (8 tires, new house batteries, new shocks on front, and some minor other items.) So as the Buyer, I did the math, and said what I'd be willing to pay to absorb the costs of getting these things taken care of. Oddly, it was the salesman that was the holdup. Finally figured out that the Seller/Buyer salesman were to split the commission, and of course the commission was based upon the sales price. So, I did some more math, and cost me just over $900 to suggest that I pay a higher sale price, and then get 'allowances' towards the items that needed repair. They got their commission to split based upon a higher sales price, I did pay a bit more in California Sales Taxes, and DMV fees, factored with he $900 mentioned. I did get a coach that I felt was a good value, and met our needs well, while not one of the many 'killer deals' that others were getting in those days. (One gent I worked with, assumed the payments on a Monaco Signature, so the seller could get out from under... IMO, he got about a $200K coach (adjusted for the lower values of the down years), for about $86K left on the payments. That was a killer deal

!)

OK, enough. The stories were just two examples where sellers had different perspectives on their coaches. One was a liar, the other was just not that involved with his coach.

OP - Best of luck to you on this. If it works out, great. If not, keep on hunting. And if you did not, be sure you have the conditions for refund of any future deposits spelled out and documented and signed for - before exchange of any deposit funds

!

Smitty

bamaboy473 · 08-05-2015, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smitty77

OP - Best of luck to you on this. If it works out, great. If not, keep on hunting. And if you did not, be sure you have the conditions for refund of any future deposits spelled out and documented and signed for - before exchange of any deposit funds

!

Smitty

good write-up, Smitty. I suspect that the seller is a bit of both of your examples....but that's water over the dam by now. I really wanted a tag, and let this go on longer than I should have, so that's my bad.

The binder/sales agreement doesn't specify return of deposit. At the time it was done, seller was an active seller and I was just lazy, I guess. Never thought that an inspection would be a huge sticking point and that the event would not take place during the time-frame of the binder.

I might see the money returned, but have mentally written it off as charity so I can sleep well at night.

I still don't know whether the coach is good, bad or ugly. If anybody is looking for a Country Coach 42' tag, Cheap, and is closer to Wisconsin than I am, PM me and I'll give you the seller's contact information.

ronandsue74 · 08-05-2015, 05:43 PM

I smell a rat in the wall!
Don't do it. Keep looking.
RJ
2005 Inspire #51264

bamaboy473 · 08-05-2015, 06:02 PM

there is an old Mercedes club saying that the most expensive MB you buy is the one you bought cheap. Well, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I thought I was getting the deal of the century, so very frustrated right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronandsue74

I smell a rat in the wall!
Don't do it. Keep looking.
RJ
2005 Inspire #51264

mike brez · 08-06-2015, 02:54 PM

How much of a deposit are we talking about? Maybe there is someone on this forum or at rvnet that could look at it for you. When we were looking I had members at both forums that looked at rvs for me. The one I purchased came with no service records but looked well cared for. We didn't do on fluid checks besides pulling the dip sticks out and doing a look/smell.

bamaboy473 · 08-07-2015, 07:03 AM

Mike, I sent him $500 binder, with the proviso that he'd get $5000 after an inspection (which was to happen within 3 days) When he changed the date with the inspection company, but got belligerent that I was going to hold off sending the balance, that was the beginning of the end.

He hasn't responded to my last two messages, so I doubt that I'll ever see the binder. I hope he donates it to a kids charity like I asked him to.

Why did I stick with it as long as I did? Because it was priced a LOT less than NADA low retail, and was a lot more coach than I'd ever considered. A Big dog for pennies gets my attention...

There are coaches that don't demand inspection, and those that do. This unit had over 100K miles, had only been owned for several months, and was a northern climate coach (IL, instead of what he had said earlier that it was an AZ coach). I'd be nuts to not have something like that professionally looked at.