Do Not Buy - Visual Cues

shelby27604

shelby27604

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Location
Efland NC
Been vehicle shopping lately (aren't we all constantly looking for the next time suck?).

Jumped in the Jeep yesterday and drove 2 hours each way to look at a turd....I broke my rule and ignored some obvious visual cues. I wanted to see what you all look at to determine how big a POS the rig you are going to look at is.....I am not saying I haven't purchased vehicles that have the below issues.....I just need to confirm how much I should have lowered my expectations.

In no particular order:

Stick on Chrome <--- sure fire bet the vehicle has not been maintained
Random under hood wires (most, if not all are RED)
Dash cut up or destroyed to install an aftermarket radio
Subs (especially if they are just floating around in the back in a walmart brand sub box)
Clearly everything under the vehicle that could be reached with a rattle can has been painted black
Vehicle has trash in it in the pictures
Vehicle has at least 3 different brands of tires on it
No pictures that clearly show the entire drivers seat

The truck I checked out was clearly listed as a rebuilt title.....guy told me it just needed a front bumper and headlights. He ran a body shop and dealership, so I figured "no middleman pricing", when I got there, the front bumper had been installed on still damaged mounts (not even close to aligned), the paint was already coming off the new bumper, the inside of the truck was obviously "moist", the whole side of the bed had been very poorly repainted (by the same shop) and the test drive made it obvious the front end took a BIG hit, I am betting bent axle or frame.....the price was right though, I imagine it will be sold before the day is done.
 
My primary walkaway triggers are VIN/Title issues. If all the VIN's that should match, don't...it's a parts vehicle. If it's a rebuilt title or lost title...it's a parts vehicle. Otherwise, it's been a good long time since I've looked at a private party, used vehicle as a form of reliable transportation...so I primarily just make sure the bones are good and buildable. I guess you could add bondo/rust and attempts to hide them to my list of walkaways...and that's primarily because I hate prep work, but paying someone else to do the body work and prep for paint is so damn expensive (oh, and I'm a shitty welder).
 
Rust
Bent frame
 
Rust is a given.....I guess I was asking what other people look for in the supplied pictures for a given vehicle.

Bottles of fluid in the trunk, I love when they snap a picture and it has 2 empty bottles of coolant in the trunk, and a case of half opened oil bottles.
 
different tires and wheel than described.
Pics are easy now, if the tires have been changed and thye dont have new pics then they are hiding something or its an older photo

Same goes really for any mod "I added lift" or changed a bumper...or removed a winch.

Anytime the pic is older and doesnt match description I assume thats the best photo ever and hides any flaw.
 
Ron said:
different tires and wheel than described.
Pics are easy now, if the tires have been changed and thye dont have new pics then they are hiding something or its an older photo

Same goes really for any mod "I added lift" or changed a bumper...or removed a winch.

Anytime the pic is older and doesnt match description I assume thats the best photo ever and hides any flaw.
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See that a lot on Facebook. Clearly using the pictures from when they bought it a year ago. You're telling me you can't go take 5 pictures of this $8k vehicle sitting outside?
 
Trash in the vehicle in the pictures.

Not your usual garbage, but the 'looks like some homeless people have been sexing in it' sort of garbage.

images


People who live in filth rarely care for their car/home/etc.
 
For trucks I pay attention the the condition of the bed. GN or rails and I wonder how hard it has towed. If it is dented up I wonder how much crap has just been tossed in it and if that’s the mentality how do the treat the rest of the truck.
To me, if someone says they just dumped $XXX into it it makes me wonder why they didn’t just do regular maintenance instead of letting it pile up??
 
skyhighZJ said:
For trucks I pay attention the the condition of the bed. GN or rails and I wonder how hard it has towed. If it is dented up I wonder how much crap has just been tossed in it and if that’s the mentality how do the treat the rest of the truck.
To me, if someone says they just dumped $XXX into it it makes me wonder why they didn’t just do regular maintenance instead of letting it pile up??
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You would never buy a truck from me then :D
All my maintenance is impeccable, but the bed...well its a truck.
And I also wont hesitate to get one marked up by tree limbs etc. If it cant go through the woods and haul shit it aint worth having.

Then again I wouldnt buy from me either I typically dont sell until the goodie is out of it.
 
Ron said:
You would never buy a truck from me then :D
All my maintenance is impeccable, but the bed...well its a truck.
And I also wont hesitate to get one marked up by tree limbs etc. If it cant go through the woods and haul shit it aint worth having.

Then again I wouldnt buy from me either I typically dont sell until the goodie is out of it.
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So I guess it’s hard to explain but I have different classes of vehicle. I’ve absolutely bought total shot box piles that I ignore all common sense and through my $$ into an inferno but I also pay attention if I’m “investing” in something I plan to rely on for any amount of given time. I’m a mess, what can I say?!! Hahaha
 
skyhighZJ said:
So I guess it’s hard to explain but I have different classes of vehicle. I’ve absolutely bought total shot box piles that I ignore all common sense and through my $$ into an inferno but I also pay attention if I’m “investing” in something I plan to rely on for any amount of given time. I’m a mess, what can I say?!! Hahaha
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No I totally get it.
Im just different. When I bought my Tundra the day after I brought it home new we had a calf breached the tractor is too slow to get there...3 day old truck - 4wd and through the woods we went.
Earned a few pinstripes at day 3.

But yet the Tcase, diffs and transmissions are all serviced every 60k miles and with the expensive toyota fluid too. Heck even the cabin air filter is changed monthly.
But Ill drop a load of rock in the bed like its no ones business.

I dont expect others to agree its just my mindset. Its not function over form , its function without regard to form.
 
Ron said:
No I totally get it.
Im just different. When I bought my Tundra the day after I brought it home new we had a calf breached the tractor is too slow to get there...3 day old truck - 4wd and through the woods we went.
Earned a few pinstripes at day 3.

But yet the Tcase, diffs and transmissions are all serviced every 60k miles and with the expensive toyota fluid too. Heck even the cabin air filter is changed monthly.
But Ill drop a load of rock in the bed like its no ones business.

I dont expect others to agree its just my mindset. Its not function over form , its function without regard to form.
Click to expand...

I would buy a truck from you, but I would probably offer you half of your asking price after it sat for sale for a month or two.......
 
shelby27604 said:
I would buy a truck from you, but I would probably offer you half of your asking price after it sat for sale for a month or two.......
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Nah when I decide to sell one. I price it to move and its usually gone in 48 hours or so...

For example book says my current truck is worth $25k. If I was going to sell it today Id ask $18k.

But I dont sell many as far as my primary daily, Ive had ...3 in the past 16 years. And only sold the last one because work made me.
 
shelby27604 said:
Random under hood wires (most, if not all are RED)
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Oh that describes under the hood of my Jeep pretty fairly now haha, there are some yellow ones too though, all serve a purpose, that only I know......but one thing that turns me away from a private party sell is the grammar of the ad. Mine isn’t perfect, but if there’s a bunch of misspelling and nonsense going on, I tend to move on from it
 
Anything modified
Anything repainted (generally includes paint on the frame also)
Anything currently or previously owned by a teenager
 
shelby27604 said:
Random under hood wires (most, if not all are RED)
Click to expand...
This is a pet peeve of mine & I work with a guy that wired an entire generator site with red wire to all the gates/doors, water separator & clarifier with no labels.

Ron said:
Its not function over form , its function without regard to form.
Click to expand...
Stealing this!
 
I'm hesistant about anything west of Raleigh, east of Craven county, or north of NC. Basically anywhere there might be salt....unless it's super clean.
 
BLM stivker or peace symbol.
You can guarantee no maintenance.
 
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