Classic car selling companies

[jscott]

In the past I was always leery of the classic car sales companies like Streetside, Gateway, ETC. When I was selling my AMX I went to Streetside but did not like how they stored the cars, did the creative writing to describe them and so forth so I sold it myself. Anywho, I was at a car show held at the Gateway Classic cars parking lot in ATL yesterday. Looking inside at the cars I focused on a red '65. It was one of the worst cars there IMO. Rust popping out all over, paint looked like a 10 year old did it, etc. etc. And as you know classic cars are like icebergs, you only see 10%, the rest is hiding underneath. When I finished walking around this poor thing I saw the price, $34K!! So when I got home I wanted to check the web site to see how they described it. Not a word about paint, etc. All pics are taken carefully as not to show the dozens of problems the naked eye saw. I cannot imagine anyone buying this from the site, having it shipped they seeing it come off the trailer would feel. https://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/vehicle/atl/2148/1965-ford-mustang

 

[Stanglover]

Beautiful pictures!! The oversize rear tires sticking out of the wheel arches and well as traction bars, would be a definite red flag to me.
Creative Marketing is what I would call it, If it was a bad as you say, that is SHAMEFUL!

 

[Hemikiller]

This says a lot....

 

[73inNH]

I will never buy a used car from a dealer. I always buy private party.

No disrespect to the few good ones (and I mean few), but the faaar majority of dealers selling used cars are dirtbags.

Name brand dealerships fare a bit better, but pretty much in the same boat.

 

[Sheriff41]

This says a lot....


View attachment 73557

Why would they even post that picture? Are they impressed with that mess?

 

[Hemikiller]

Once it became possible to finance a classic car as easily as any new or used vehicle, dealers smelled blood in the water. Most states have little or no protections for the purchaser after a vehicle is of a certain age. No warranty, no guarantees, no inspection or fitness requirements. Gateway says as much in their disclaimer statement and throws it all back onto the owner. Since they consign, it seems that it insulates them from any responsibility.


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Gateway Classic Cars and its affiliates ("Gateway Classic Cars") sells by consignment classic cars which have surpassed their original life expectancy. The vehicles sold at Gateway Classic Cars are not new; they can be expected to require greater upkeep and repair. Gateway Classic Cars has not inspected the vehicles for sale (*1). Gateway Classic Cars disclaims any and all warranties. All vehicles are sold AS-IS, WHERE-IS, with no warranties, expressed, written or implied (*2). Any descriptions or representations are for identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type.

Gateway Classic Cars is not responsible for any representations as to the condition and/or the value of any vehicle. Gateway Classic Cars relies on the owner(s) for information about the vehicles. Gateway Classic Cars cannot be, and is not, responsible for omissions, errors, or inaccurate representations based upon information provided to it by owner(s). By way of example only, if a vehicle is marked as numbers matching, original mileage, or complete restoration, that information has been provided to Gateway Classic Cars by the owner(s) and has not been verified by Gateway Classic Cars. Any potential buyer is encouraged to verify this information on their own prior to purchase.

Gateway Classic Cars shall and will make reasonable efforts to disclose any known defects associated with each vehicle prior to the close of a sale at the buyer's request.

Each potential purchaser understands it is his/her/their responsibility personally or through a third-party (not Gateway Classic Cars) to inspect any vehicle for potential purchase, and is relying solely on his/her/their own inspection, knowledge and judgment about any vehicle purchased.

Gateway Classic Cars assumes no responsibility for any repair regardless of any oral statements about the vehicle. No allowance or set-aside will be made on account of any omission, error, inaccurate representation, imperfection, defect or damage to any vehicle (*3).

All finalized transactions will have additional charges if applicable which may include the following: sales tax, title fees, license & registration fees, and other additional government or licensing agency charges to register the vehicle. The purchaser is responsible for these charges.

The advertised price includes a documentary fee of $397.63.

All credit cards will be charged a 3% convenience fee.

Typographical errors happen. Gateway Classic Cars is not responsible for any such error in the description or price listed for any vehicle.

(*1) Except in the State of Wisconsin.

(*2) Except in the State of Kansas where certain warranties implied by law are not disclaimed.

(*3) Except in the State of Kansas where remedies for certain implied warranties cannot be disclaimed.

 

[72MustangSprint]

Cars that were 5-15K are now 20-30K. Restored cars are now 75-100K. Crazy time to be car guy. I used to buy decent muscle cars in the 80’s for 1-2K.

 

[MikeGriese]

I guess I don't understand the animosity towards classic car dealers. This is pretty much the way any preowned merchandise is sold, particularly on consignment. The dealer probably doesn't even set the price. Hemmings, BAT, Mecum, et. al. all work this way. Heck - even the guy down the street won't tell you everything about their car because they probably don't know everything about their car. Obviously, there are exceptions.

Everybody has a price floor where if the deal doesn't work out, it doesn't matter. It's their version of pocket change. If the price of something of interest is above your floor price, have someone you trust inspect it. Otherwise walk away.

 

[73inNH]

I guess I don't understand the animosity towards classic car dealers.

Because more than any industry I've had experience with, car dealers lie and cheat at-will. Low ethics, low morals do /say anything to make the sale.

This exists in other industries, but not to this degree.

 

[jscott]

I guess I don't understand the animosity towards classic car dealers. This is pretty much the way any preowned merchandise is sold, particularly on consignment. The dealer probably doesn't even set the price. Hemmings, BAT, Mecum, et. al. all work this way. Heck - even the guy down the street won't tell you everything about their car because they probably don't know everything about their car. Obviously, there are exceptions.

Everybody has a price floor where if the deal doesn't work out, it doesn't matter. It's their version of pocket change. If the price of something of interest is above your floor price, have someone you trust inspect it. Otherwise walk away.

My problem with these sellers is how they describe the cars on the site. Clearly the lack of description on the web site is on purpose, the only thng they talk about is the engine. Why not mention the body has numerous rust spots and lots of bondo?? I would think these items are IMPORTANT to know., many people are shopping and buying off the web site and having the car shipped, sight unseen. The are trusting the sellers (established companies) to represent the cars actual condition, not create a false image which is what many of these writeups do (when I interviewed Streetside years ago about selling my AMX I actually asked if they had a staff of creative writers as I was shocked at some of them compared to the cars I was looking at). I am sure the car owner is the one asking the high price, gateway then tacks on their fees (Streetside charged my friend 13% on his sale).

 

[steves73]

I've found a lot of listings that don't seem to be real. I'm always looking for a 4 speed cougar, so I checked this one, knowing it seemed too good, I found several different versions.

 

[mrgmhale]

In the past I was always leery of the classic car sales companies like Streetside, Gateway, ETC. When I was selling my AMX I went to Streetside but did not like how they stored the cars, did the creative writing to describe them and so forth so I sold it myself. Anywho, I was at a car show held at the Gateway Classic cars parking lot in ATL yesterday. Looking inside at the cars I focused on a red '65. It was one of the worst cars there IMO. Rust popping out all over, paint looked like a 10 year old did it, etc. etc. And as you know classic cars are like icebergs, you only see 10%, the rest is hiding underneath. When I finished walking around this poor thing I saw the price, $34K!! So when I got home I wanted to check the web site to see how they described it. Not a word about paint, etc. All pics are taken carefully as not to show the dozens of problems the naked eye saw. I cannot imagine anyone buying this from the site, having it shipped they seeing it come off the trailer would feel. https://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/vehicle/atl/2148/1965-ford-mustang

Good to know. I do not think I would ever buy a car without looking at it myself, or having an unbiased expert look at it. I retained the consulting services of Chip Davis ([email protected]), and flew him from his shop in Florida to Canada to inspect a 69 Shelby GT500 with factory A/C to validate it being a real numbers matching Shelby, and to report the condition. He took hundreds of photos outside, inside, underside, under hood, all relevant serial numbers, got the history from some solid sources, got the owner's back story and info, measured paint thickness over the entire body's main panels and seams, and came back with a glowing report re: the Shelby being in truly marvelous condition. Not quite perfect, but a solid #2 anyone would be proud to own, show, and drive. I was more interested in driving a really nice vintage, powerful, easily identifiable as special kind of cruising pony car. The GT500 seemed to fit the ticket, plus I had wanted one since seeing my first and only 69 Shelby on Ventura Blvd (SoCal) back in 1973 or so. I lusted for one, if I could find one with factory A/C and in really near perfect condition.

After getting Chip back home Lynda and I drove to Ottawa, Canada (a few hours from our home) after transferring cash to our checking account and advising our bank manager we would be calling for a wire transfer the next day, to see the car for ourselves. Chip was dead on with his report, it was a magnificent Shelby and we agreed to pay the seller's very fair and reasonable (for both of us) asking price, in US $, not Canadian $ <g>. Almost immediately after we shook hands our banker called me and advised she was just called to a meeting, so in the next hour if I needed the wire transfer I was to ask for her assistant who was aware of what was going on. I told her there was no need to call, and asked her to transfer the funds in the agreed upon amount to the target account I had already given her the day before. Done and done. The seller looked at, almost in shock, and said, "Your banker called you to see if the transfer was going to be ordered?!?" "Yep, we all want this to be a smooth process all the way around, to include getting funds wired internationally with no needless delays." I will say this, if all exchanges were as smooth as ours was we would not have any wars or lawsuits. He arranged the shipping in an enclosed carrier, at our expense, and handles all the export paperwork. We had the Shelby a few days later. We could not be happier, and we could not have had a better seller, Paul Cote, to purchase from.

Over the years following the purchase I have been in, through, and out of nearly all areas in the Shelby just to see if there were any areas I could improve on. There was one interior light in the rear that needed its chrome bezel (we knew that in advance), and the distributor vacuum advance diaphragm was ruptured. Both were nearly insignificant, and easily corrected. The temp gauge was reading in the upper range of maximum desired level. I checked the circuit and ended up replacing the sending unit. Perfect now. The plugs were virtually new, luckily (if you have never changes the spark plugs in a 390 or 428 65-70 Mustang or Shelby, you have not lived!

Having a straight up and truly interested seller makes all the difference. We have had nothing but really wonderful experiences with all three of our vintage pony car purchases. The sellers, Bob Klock, John Chrzan, and Paul Cote all deserve badges of honor for being the persons they are. If ever anyone in this forum comes across these gentleman you can be assured of a fair deal being at hand.