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I'm in the market for a used car. I am doing the traditional search methods but am also interested in possibly trying a not-so-traditional approach. I work in a large office. We have 5 buildings on my block and probably 5,000+ employees. I am looking for a very specific car and see a ton of them in my parking lot.
My idea is to put a short note on an index card saying something like "Any interest in selling your car? I'm in the market for a ________. Feel free to call or text me if you may be interested. 555-555-1212."
Any thoughts on this method? Would you be annoyed if someone left a card on your car? Me personally, I'd probably read it and not be annoyed or anything.
I would reply: "Sure, nearly anything I have can be bought, but you probably won't be willing to pay my price! I will gladly sell my 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser Turbo Convertible for 10 grand, my 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD for 15 grand, and my 2001 motorhome for 45 grand. All prices are firm."
OP, does your workplace have any sort of "want ad" internal web site? I have bought a couple of cars at my workplace, from other employees.
As to putting the card on the windshield, I wouldn't be offended in the least. You could put a sign on your office door as well, saying you are interested in buying that car.
Me, I think that if you strike up a conversation to buy a car that's not overtly for sale, the "monkey is on your back" to offer a price. You might phrase that as "For an excellent condition, original car with less than 50K miles on it, I will offer up to $25,000". These cars may look alike from the 10th floor window, but, some have been smoked in, some hit and repaired, some have been beat, some have more miles than others.
How can you be looking for a very specific car but you see a ton of them in the parking lot?
If they are that abundant why not just go to a dealer with knowledge of the car you want, the average price people have paid and work a deal that is the best for you. Also at a dealer the car would have been cleaned up, checked out and warrantied plus you can buy an extended one and have it financed if you wish.
Chances are if the car you want is newer the current owner will still be paying for it so that will need to be taken care of.
I don't think you will have many people calling you if you go through with your plan and if someone is not happy with their car and agree to sell it to you I would wonder if there was something wrong with it.
How can you be looking for a very specific car but you see a ton of them in the parking lot?
If they are that abundant why not just go to a dealer with knowledge of the car you want, the average price people have paid and work a deal that is the best for you. Also at a dealer the car would have been cleaned up, checked out and warrantied plus you can buy an extended one and have it financed if you wish.
Chances are if the car you want is newer the current owner will still be paying for it so that will need to be taken care of.
I don't think you will have many people calling you if you go through with your plan and if someone is not happy with their car and agree to sell it to you I would wonder if there was something wrong with it.
I'd go the traditional route if I were you.
I don't know, I think it would work. The OP probably has a specific trim level / options package for this particular vehicle, and he sees tons of this vehicle in his parking lot at work, so chances are, one of those cars may check off all of his must haves. If there is a car like this out there and it's fairly new, there is always a chance someone is going to be wanting to get rid of it because they need to downsize on debt or found that they didn't like the car and want something else.
Had someone did this for my car a couple years ago, I would've gladly taken them up on the offer.
Large places usually have some sort of intranet that may work for you. People use those inside networks a lot, and successfully. you don't really want to sell crap to a co-worker and then hide your eyes from him passing in a hall.
That said, "want buy" ads are always destined to be higher priced than simply looking for something.
I'd look for that network. I'd pass on sticky notes, that's tacky. So much passe.
When I say I see a ton of them at work I mean the specific make/model. Not all of them are the color/trim level I want but I think there's at least a few that are. These cars I'm interested in are about 5-6 years old or so.
I'm just trying to make the car buying experience more pleasant than going into a used car lot. I guess if too many people think it's tacky as mentioned above I won't do it.
When I say I see a ton of them at work I mean the specific make/model. Not all of them are the color/trim level I want but I think there's at least a few that are. These cars I'm interested in are about 5-6 years old or so.
I'm just trying to make the car buying experience more pleasant than going into a used car lot. I guess if too many people think it's tacky as mentioned above I won't do it.
The most pleasant experiences I have had buying cars were at a small used car lot. The worst experiences I have had were at the big dealers.
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