Selling a used car in Ca.

[cross thread]

In California it can be difficult to get a car "smogged" if your emission test requires a tail pipe probe . Newer cars , they just plug into the computer and you are usually good to go . Problem with tail pipe test is they keep raising the bar . Supposedly if you are going to sell a used car in Ca. you "should"get it smogged , some Ca.gov websites say "must" get it smogged 90 days before you sell the car . And give the smog cert to the buyer . Can't sell it in 90 days , get it smogged again ? I thought that this was a over reach . I searched around on the computer and I found a Ca. website that stated that if you are going to sell a used car , you can write up a agreement with the buyer that states that the buyer agrees to handle the smog cert . That sounded like cooler heads prevailed , So I made a CL ad .
To make this rant a little interesting let me tell you about the car . It was a 96' Corvette , it belonged to my wife for over 15 years . It was her baby .
I tried to sell it a couple of months ago , (10K) . No takers . This time , I listed it for 6K with said agreement buyer takes care of smog . I got lots of people (7-8) that said they would buy and they never showed . Kind of normal ? Here is where it got weird , I got at least two people get threatening to me , telling me to get the car smogged . Your thoughts ?
Mark .

 

[ddickey]

Threatened you how?

 

[cross thread]

It was a hollow threat because it was through CL . One idiot told me he was going to turn me in .

 

[Nosferatu]

Unfortunately this is the state of our society these days. I've had similar problems when trying to buy and sell items. It's just not worth my time or frustration anymore.

I put up a Jet drill press for sale recently. It's in working condition, but has a few little things that could be fixed if they wish. I listed it for $150 expecting it to go for $100. Lots of flakes, lots of emails asking me questions that were covered in the ad, people saying they'll take it then never following up to schedule a meeting time, and the lowballers who offered me $50, which I finally accepted one, only for them to stop responding when trying to schedule a meeting.

I finally put it on the curb one morning with a free sign and it was gone before I got home from work. I didn't need the money, just needed it gone.

I'm not suggesting you do that with your 'vette (if you do, please give me the address!) but it's such a PITA dealing with people, I'd probably take it to a couple used car lots and just take the highest offer if you mostly just want it gone. Ebay may even be an easier outlet, but I don't use it anymore for various reasons.

 

[great white]

I just ignore and delete the idiotic responses when I’m selling something.

It truly is baffling how many morons are out there and respond to selling ads with moronic offers or idiotic comments.

I’ve even had someone ask how I get my grass so green from one of my car for sale ads! What the serious eff?!?!

I have to believe a vast number of them are underage kids just being arseholes or scumbags looking to “flip” whatever it is for more money.

Also consider that a lot of “want ad” responses these days are just to get you to reply so they can harvest your email (or whatever other personal info they can glean) to resell it in the dark web for spammer sites.

I’ve got better things to do with my time than respond to morons and scammers so if anything at all looks “off”….delete.

Telemarketers get a similar response (assuming I pick up at all) and it goes something like this:

“click”…..pause….dial tone.

 

[pontiac428]

It might be easier to just get the thing smogged. In California, I had a whole ritual involving ablutions in motor oil, replacing of vacuum hose, saying 3 hail marys and pouring a shot of bourbon in the tank before bringing 'er in hot and fully tuned up. If they're taking too long and your motor cools off, put some dang cardboard over the radiator and drive around the block. Bring it in squeaky clean, pressure washed and drip-free, it makes a difference at the subconscious level with the techs. You can make anything pass if it's flushed and clean enough, as long as the motor is hot.

That said, who wouldn't enjoy gutting 500 pounds off that thing and turning it into an autocrosser!

 

[Nesse1]

I sold a car in So. Calif. about a year ago, and I didn't smog it beforehand. It's the buyers responsibility to do so, as required, before registering it. Mind you, if it fails smog, the buyer can come after you, assuming you didn't sell with some stipulation. In my case, the car drove away, and I didn't hear another word.

 

[Winegrower]

I had a '92 Chevy 2500 that failed smog...it was called a "gross polluter". Pretty much not salable I thought, so I gave it to a homeless guy. I ran into him a few months later walking along...asked what happened to the truck? He said "I sold it to a guy in Nevada for $800". Duh.

 

[cross thread]

I was thinking about selling it out of state .

 

[cross thread]

I sold a car in So. Calif. about a year ago, and I didn't smog it beforehand. It's the buyers responsibility to do so, as required, before registering it. Mind you, if it fails smog, the buyer can come after you, assuming you didn't sell with some stipulation. In my case, the car drove away, and I didn't hear another word

What kind of car ? (I was once a car guy). And when did they start this seller must smog ?

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