Every car in a garage has gas in it. How often do you hear about them self-igniting? It's not an EV.
Sold car 5 years ago, buyer just had it picked up today.
- Thread starter atikovi
- Start date
The guy is an idiot. Good for you for making some coin off of it. By the way, the hassles of the RIV program to import cars in Canada are pretty minimal, and include stuff like daytime running lights and an speedometer with km/hr on it. Do you think that Volvo might have already had km/hr in addition to miles per hour?
Ever hear of mice eating wiring and causing short circuits? I have, and it can light a car up pretty fast if the circuits are live.
Do you keep the batteries on a maintainer or ever charge batteries? You know that batteries can give off hydrogen when charging, right, and the potential is there for a really easy explosion.
What about some other latent electrical fault in the car? I've known cars that would drain their batteries overnight-sometimes there's a benign explanation like a bad diode in the alternator, but sometimes it's a tough to find short or high resistance circuit that can sit there and cook things in contact with it.
Do you drive cars in hot? A bad/loose hose or fuel leak that ends up in the right spot such as on top of the cat or somewhere else on the exhaust can cause issues.
Do cars catch on fire often? No, but they do. I've seen it happen. I remember sitting in a restaurant years ago and watching a Pontiac 6000 that had been parked for a half hour or so go up seemingly out of nowhere. There are tales on the MG forums about late model MGs going up because of carburetor issues that would cause the car to run rich and thus make the cat run super hot and then leak gasoline right onto it when stationary.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Did you have to do any type of preventive maintenance for him in that time? I think you made out fine on this deal for sure.
Ugh. I’m getting old…
Just a new battery plus I started every few months and ran it for a minute.
An idiot? Really?
Maybe he’s just busy, or maybe he got sick, or maybe, just maybe, a car like this, and the storage fee, is inconsequential to him.
I suspect it's the latter, but in any case, there are many explanations beyond "idiot".
Maybe he’s just an idiot.
Worst thing you can do to a car or motorcycle being stored. You would need to drive it at least 10 miles to burn off any moisture. It sounds like the guy has more money then brains, and you made money off of him, that’s all that matters.
Again, he may have far more brains than anyone seems to give him credit for, and that amount of money, $6,000, is meaningless to him.
I have a high school friend who buys and sells companies for a living. Ivy League educated, Ivy League MBA. He makes more than that on a daily basis, just consulting. So why should he spend a couple of days picking up a car, and potentially, give up a consulting gig that could lead to other consulting gigs?
He got around to picking up the car when it was convenient for him, you all appear to be gob smacked over 6000 bucks, and I’m here to tell you: to some people it really isn’t very much money.
He may have bought this car, the same way that I have when I bought a pair of hunting boots, then leave them at my buddies house in Colorado, didn’t think about them, until my buddy says “hey, when are we going hunting again? Your boots are still here.” I buy him a couple beers, and we’re even for his “storage fee”.
For most of us, a car is a relatively big investment, and $6000 in storage is a decent amount of money. To this guy it may be nothing. The car may have just been something he bought on a lark, and he’s got integrity, so he pays the storage fee, but it really doesn’t make a dent in his budget.
Just because you don’t understand somebody else’s life, doesn’t make them an idiot.
Last edited:
Nonsense. The amount of moisture formed during a minute of idling every few months is minimal. The oil was changed before the sale and if it couldn't handle that, it would be pretty bad oil. The amount of wear it would cause is infinitesimal.
The benefits of doing this far outweigh the minimal additional moisture formed. Having the fuel pump motor working to keep the brushes clean and prevent it from seizing. Same for the alternator. Keeping gaskets and seals in the engine AND the transmission lubricated so they don't dry out and leak like a sieve after putting the car back in service. Keeping the hydraulic lifters, if equipped, pumped up so they don't experience a dry start from bleeding down completely. And often when a car is stored, it may not have any coolant in it, so you can't run it more than a minute anyway.
Nice looking car.
OK-I will play. How much do you self insure for? I wouldn't dream of self insurance unless I had liquid assets of at least 5 million dollars. Are you in that ballpark?
Many times -the phrase" I'm self insured just means I'm taking chances and I don't have any assets if I run over somebody-and they can't get anything from me anyway." I don't know if the OP is in that income bracket either.
They're "dialed up to Eleven" today!Holy peak BITOG on some of these comments.
