Do people ever ask to buy your car unsolicited?

I always answer with "cash always talks" People don't usually don't offer after that.

I did have some one offer me $$$ for my 924s at a race event. I found a couple guys eyeing it. They just wanted the motor for their 944 race car. I was torn as I wanted to see them complete the race but on the other hand it had a fresh rebuilt motor that I had spent some serious $$$$ and time on that would not be easily replicated. Had it been a stock motor I would have let them have it as long as they replaced it with a comparable one.

When we were racing a 280z we chased down the owner of a similar car in the parking lot and asked about purchasing the motor. The car was absolutely perfect so we were sure they would say no and they did but they had the next best thing. A spare long block in their garage about 15 minutes from the track. We struck a deal and set a couple guys to go get it with a truck while the rest of the crew pulled the motor from the race car. We had it out by the time they got back and had the car back on track in less than an hour from when we got the new motor.

Years ago there was a guy that wanted to trade his standard cab F150 XL for my F150 XLT extended cab w/sport truck flares and running boards. I laughed. Got a lot of "nice car" comments about the RX8 I had and a couple joke offers. Now my Opel GT, I regularly get offers for it. None anywhere close to what I'd take for it though.

In reply to dean1484:

Proof positive of the old adage "Racing makes heroin addiction look like a slight craving for salt." BTDT

I sold my locost to someone who emailed me randomly asking if it was for sale. He'd been trying to buy it from the guy who built it, I beat him to it, so he went off looking at other ones but didn't find any others he liked. So he emailed me about 18 months later, and since I'd sort of lost interest in it by that point we struck a deal.

When I drive my FD around I get a fair number of comments from it, and a surprising number of those people ask me if it's for sale. It's not, so I've never pursued any of those questions to see how serious they are.

Last year I bought my wife a CX-9 as a Christmas present to replace her Odyssey (we'd discussed it beforehand, she'd test-driven it, so it wasn't a complete surprise to her, but she didn't know the timing). I went to the dealer to do the purchase stuff while she and the kids were out of town the weekend before, and I drove over there in the FD. Parked it in their parking lot, went off with the salesman to fetch a CX-9 in the right color combination from their remote storage lot, test-drove it, etc. Got back to the car 90 minutes later, and a different sales guy standing in the parking lot complimented the car, and said he'd had 4 people try to buy it while I was gone. :)

Happened a number of times with my clean stock 1997 240SX. Usually drift kids.

A couple people for my 323 gtx, that's about it.

When I had my 92 Civic VX hatch, I'd get approached a couple times a year. It was in good shape and ran well but I hated driving it.

Unfortunately the offers were always, and I mean always, $500. I'd laugh and drive away.

I'm actually pretty surprised it was never stolen.

Air cooled porsches and bugeye sprites. Yeah, way too often. Gets creapy, actually.

In reply to Ovid_and_Flem:

When I had my Skyline powered 240sx I went to the drag strip. It was painted viper blue pearl. These three guys standing next to the burnout box were heckling me about my "ricer car". People around them laughed. I did a burnout, bouncing the rev limiter the whole time and then shifted to second doing the same thing. All the while grinning at them. The change of expression on their faces was priceless. I then laid down a fine 13.00 1/4 mile. When I came back through the pits there was a small crowd around the car and those three turds offering me offensively low offers, albeit, legitimately interested.

One of my town's trash pickup guys was stalking me and the wife on selling my Trans Am. I repeatedly told him no. He was getting really creepy about it too, and tried cornering my wife while I wasn't home. She told him that I've had it longer than her and it's not going anywhere! Finally, I gave in...

...And helped him locate a 70's Camaro, which he's pretty happy with. He hasn't bothered me since.

I've gotten the question a few times while driving the Mini, but none of them ever presented an actual offer. Realistically it's worth less than I would want to sell it for though, so I doubt I'd ever sell it without trying.

My dad once sold a nice 1275 chrome bumper MG Midget to a friend of his who always said he wanted to buy it. My dad always told him it wasn't for sale. Eventually, the guy said "name your price", so my dad blurted out an unreasonably high price and the guy bought the car. Dad ended up using the money to buy a new midget (rubber bumpers, 1500cc) car to replace it, but never really liked that one as much. We eventually sold that car to my uncle sometime in the 80's after having it for about 10 years.

True story - I stopped by Ovid_ans_Flem's place a couple months ago on my way through town. I was seriously in tears laughing when I pulled in his driveway and saw the 911 on jackstands. I hopped out and told him "You know you're in a swanky neighborhood in Mississippi when you find a Porsche on blocks in the driveway!"

I've tried to buy an old 911 by a friends place around D.C. that never moved parking places and was starting to look ratty.

When I had a Viper I got a lot of comments of "I wish I could afford one of those." As they drove off in their new car that costs twice as much.

I was going to say no, but I remembered I once drove my personal vehicle (86.5 Nissan hardbody kingcab) to a site 20 miles away and parked it at the front of a parking lot across the road from my site. When I walked back to the truck and Hispanic guy was standing there and wanted to buy it. He was quite persistent, but the whole thing felt creepy. I declined and a couple of weeks later, the engine let go.

El Rabitto gets more of these offers than it deserves. The best one came at the SOWO VW show a couple years back when someone threw a really high number at me (in front of my wife). I probably should have taken it but I am just too attached. My wife and friends were all watching it go down and wondering if I would sell...

A guy noticed that I had taken the plates off a '99 Protege that I was about to dispose of. He stopped in the driveway, got my attention while I was mowing the lawn and paid me $800 for it, which is more than it was worth.

Easiest sale I ever made.

Yes. Often on the 1970 Chevelle. One of them actually got a yes.

Often on the Samurai, but no one wants to pay what I think it's worth.

Occasionally on the Abomination, again not for what I want for it.

So far, only once for SanFord. But he's not for sale.

Pretty much every time I drove the Superbeetle convertible someone tried to buy it, in traffic, if I parked, all the time. Pretty much the same thing with the 914, and it is not nearly as nice as the bug was.

Only happened a few times in the Miata.

tuna55 wrote: Just one time. I was driving my very first car. It was an '81 Camaro in primer grey, chrome steel wheels. It looked awful in every way. I painted it lots of random rattle can jobs, including one with polka dots. I was driving it downtown in Syracuse and a guy pulls up to me in a vanagon or something with tiny spoked wheels sticking way out, laughing, shouting "I love your car!!! Want to trade!?" I said no. I wish I hadn't.

That may be one of the most positive encounters that I have ever heard of in Syracuse. Most just involve people getting shot.

I got the comment a few times on my 280zx, once (fair offer but lowball for what I had in it) for my 1983 Honda Civic wagon, and I've had at least 3-4 guys ask if the Courier was for sale. 1 was nostalgic, the other guy waited outside the grocery store for me and said he had 3 others

about 3 or 4 times a year.... most of the time I tell them, "it is beyond your what you can afford"

I've had three people stop by the house and ask whether my '99 jeep Cherokee is for sale. No one about the Kia sorento or vw passat

oldskewtoy, can I buy your car? It's awesome. I want to drive it.

I've had 3 people ask me about selling my ugly D350.

Camino story part is true, wife told me stories all the time.