possibly gonna buy a DC1 need opinions.

[UnitD77]

I found a DC1 for sale, with 170k miles for $2500. The only issue i have is that it's far away, so i need to get a ride there, and that the seller is some small time dealership that agreed to $2200, but was very hesitant to even take additional pictures, said only pictures he had were in the ad, and there is ZERO pictures of the front seat. Nothing showing the side, and it looks like rust on the back skirt. I asked for more and the guy was "If i have time" and I'm worried im gonna get screwed and the DC1 is gonna be in bad shape. Thoughts?

[rckstein]

Here's one on CarGurus for $2850, close to 140,000 miles and from the pics, it looks to be in pretty good shape, but no pics of the engine bay, and it's located in Tennessee:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=211128720

[chuzz]

If you don't feel comfortable dealing with the seller, then DON'T go through with the deal. I sure as heck wouldn't if he couldn't be bothered to get the photos of the areas I wanted to see. The gold one in Dickson looks pretty nice. Dickson is about 40 miles west of Nashville. I used to live 35 miles west of Dickson. Very little snow in TN in the last 20 years so if that's a local car, it will have little to no rust on it at all. I actually have a cousin that still lives in Dickson, but don't know if he'd go look at it. I could always ask him if you think you're interested. Worst thing he can say is no.

[rob302]

on the flip side, if it's blocked in by 10 other cars, he's already busy, and it's hot outside, i could see not wanting to deal with getting more pics... or maybe he's a technology inept old fart and has a useless kid in charge of picture taking.

i would politely ask about the seat and the rust if those are your genuine concerns. help him understand you're far away and are genuinely interested in that particular car because it's a dream cruiser and you want a dream cruiser. to him it's likely just a $2200 pt

[soonercruiser]

WALK AWAY..... from any sales person who won't give you pictures of what you want.
I did that myself last spring!

"Don't be like Screwed Steve"!

[the3dgm]

I'd agree with soonercruiser, walk away! Having sold cars in my youth, no salesman would not take pictures of the car for you if it was worth what they wanted.

[funkyfred]

Originally Posted by rob302

on the flip side, if it's blocked in by 10 other cars, he's already busy, and it's hot outside, i could see not wanting to deal with getting more pics... or maybe he's a technology inept old fart and has a useless kid in charge of picture taking.

i would politely ask about the seat and the rust if those are your genuine concerns. help him understand you're far away and are genuinely interested in that particular car because it's a dream cruiser and you want a dream cruiser. to him it's likely just a $2200 pt

I agree here. PT Cruisers don't create much profit because they don't sell for a lot... case in point.. its being sold for $2,200.

Write a polite and short email stating your concerns and that you are out of state and very interested buying the car cash.

[UnitD77]

I saw the one in Tennessee and while I would love to grab that one, I'm not comfortable flying out. I only did that for the DC2 because the seller was 150% cooperative and then some.
I would love to take a friend out and go see it and drive it back, but having just moved to Michigan, I don't have anyone I could trust to come with me. My neighbor's wife has a woody PT, but I doubt he is willing to drive to TN with me to drive a car back for me. If I was back home in Illinois, I got 3 friends who would come no problem, but asking them to drive to me 4 hours, then down to TN, then back, then 4 hours home. They don't wanna be gone that long.

At this point It looks like I'm not gonna be able to get it. Simply due to the lack of hands.

[Sinbad]

I'm torn on this... my own experience with my diesel is that the bloke put two pictures up - both of which were worthless. When I asked, he said no he didn't have any more pics.
Hmm....
I drove 250Km to the garage he had storing the car for him. When I arrived it was sat there unwashed, unloved and with a flat battery, soft tyres.... One of the seats was out. All sorts of sh*t was screaming "Run away!!"... but.... it was a Mk2, black, and while it had no leather heated seats, it was otherwise exactly what I wanted - and because I've spent a lifetime fiddling with cars and bringing bones back to life..... I could sense that over a few months it could be made as perfect as a ten year old car could. I got them to jump it, and one injector was clacking but not too badly - these Merc engines have a weak point - they stop sealing and get whats called "Black death" where the combustion bypasses the injector seal and ends up all over the top of the engine. I took the cover off, and there was minimal Black death around the one piston. It still clacks, it's going to have to come out - it's on the list. The aircon didn't work.
But the important thing was - everything else "felt" good, it had 18 month TuV (road test) and had had a lot of documented stuff done like the front suspension. The car *had* been loved - but the guy who owned it had moved on - and I could see that a day spent properly cleaning and waxing it was going to put a grand on what I paid.
I ended up paying 1500 Euros for it - and so far I've been happy as larry. If I put a new TuV on it and preened it, I'd get 3 Grand for it tomorrow - but of course, that's not what it's about. It's perfect for me - or will be when I source a set of Mk2 leathers and refurb them, painted cream

I spose the moral is... follow your gut. You know these cars well enough not to buy a PoS - so it's just down to the distance, and whether it's too far...

[Sinbad]

Note the red Vert in the background for the same money....