Would you want to talk to the former owner of your car?

[J.Rovirosa]

Looking through old posts in the classifieds, I think I've found the previous owner of my truck, who was a member of this site and nloc. Didn't have too many posts, and I'm pretty sure he's not a member any longer since his last post was around the time he got rid of the truck in the middle of '08. He doesn't have an email address listed, so it's not likely I'll be able to get any additional background on my truck other than what he posted. I'd love to find out the history on it since I'm definitely keeping it....but part of me wonders if I'd really like to know more about the truck, specifically how it was treated and what's been replaced beyond what's immediately obvious.

So has anyone here that's been able to track down a previous owner had any negative experiences doing so?

 

[scottg]

I would be nervous because if the previous owner lost the vehicle for unhappy reasons, they might give you lots of negative information about it. I'm almost just happy enough to see a clean carfax and call it good. Sometimes, we might not really want to know what our car went through with a previous owner. Hell, my car is a 2 owner car that were both elderly. What if one of them crapped their pants in my driver's seat I currently sit in? LOL

 

[04_Mach1]

Sold the car back in 2008 and contacted him just a few months ago. He has added just wheels since then. And the mileage stands at 96k. That is on my former 2004 Mustang Mach 1. I sold it back in 2008 with about 78k miles on the odometer. That is good that he is out there still driving it instead of sitting in his garage. Was a fun car when i owned it back then. Looking to build my current mustang when I get the time.

 

[pho_phizzat]

I wouls ask him the number of the chick who left that stain on the seat. smells oh so good!

 

[oldmodman]

I wouls ask him the number of the chick who left that stain on the seat. smells oh so good!

It's from a McDonalds Fillet of Fish happy meal.

And I would be very disturbed if I heard from the previous owner of my most recent car purchase.


He's Dead!

 

[HYBRED]

I still talk to the former owner of my Mustang. Interestingly enough, he bought it back, so I guess it goes both ways now. We also heard from the former owner of Will's 99 SS a few times, and the current owner was just at our house last week for a parts deal. He also emailed Will pics of it fresh out of paint, it made him a little sad lol

 

[pho_phizzat]

It's from a McDonalds Fillet of Fish happy meal.

And I would be very disturbed if I heard from the previous owner of my most recent car purchase.


He's Dead!

lol

 

[01strokersnake]

It's kinda like finding out who your gf used to date. Maybe he was a real gentleman and treated her nice and you're getting the benefits of that now. Or maybe he beat the shit outta that thing, really hit it hard, and you're just getting his scraps.

 

[thomas91169]

yeah, why wouldnt you?

i assume you bought the car at a dealership, but whenever someone buys used from private party, obviously youre going to meet the previous owner anyways.......its a great asset to be able to get to know someone and get a feel for how they treat not only their car but other belongings (if you meet at, say, their house).

It would suck in your situation having already bought the truck, then talk to the guy only to find out he raped and abused the shit out of it, had it modded to hell and de-modded before trading in so its a hackjob just waiting to be unraveled. But then again, buying from dealerships sometimes do have advantages, as they are *supposed* to go through it with their 150pt inspections or whatnot before sticking it on the lot.

 

[Coiled03]

Yeah - I'd kinda like to talk to the guy and ask him why he got rid of the thing in mint condition, bone stock, less than a year old, with only 8K miles.

I was *told* by the dealer the previous owner was an old guy who didn't like the heavy clutch. But it sounded like a line of BS to me. Then again, most anything coming from a dealer sounds like a line of BS to me, and given the condition of the car when I bought it, it's plausible.

 

[rw93cobra]

I bought my 03 cobra a few months ago off of craigslist. The guy I bought it from said he bought it off of here. I went back and found the for sale ad on here and found who owned it before him. It was nice talking to that previous owner because he gave me alittle more history on the car and how many owners it has.

 

[thomas91169]

Yeah - I'd kinda like to talk to the guy and ask him why he got rid of the thing in mint condition, bone stock, less than a year old, with only 8K miles.

I was *told* by the dealer the previous owner was an old guy who didn't like the heavy clutch. But it sounded like a line of BS to me. Then again, most anything coming from a dealer sounds like a line of BS to me, and given the condition of the car when I bought it, it's plausible.

thats actually a pretty plausable reasoning. I could see an older fellow getting rather annoyed at the heavy clutch and trading in for a corvette or something that has a far lighter clutch.

beats the "it was owned by an old lady" story they always tell.

 

[streetassasin]

not really, the truck was a stock when I got it so it more than likely had a boring life

 

[oldmodman]

I bought my 03 cobra a few months ago off of craigslist. The guy I bought it from said he bought it off of here. I went back and found the for sale ad on here and found who owned it before him. It was nice talking to that previous owner because he gave me alittle more history on the car and how many owners it has.

I can believe the "heavy clutch" story. I am an "old guy" and I have had to park my Cobra a couple of time since I bought it new in 2002. Once when I injured my knee (mountain bike crash) and then again after the required knee surgery.

 

[Domingo]

Only if I could beat the crap out of them for the stupid things they did.

Painting the interior trim pieces yellow and then spraying a light layer of tan over them before selling it (so it chipped and started to show yellow through in a short period of time).

Breaking half the clips on the interior pieces so nothing stays together correctly.

Not reconnecting the side scoops or sideskirts correctly when they removed what I will assume to be the worlds worst mustang bodykit.

Gluing 3 inch thick wood inside the trunk, with no known reason.

Giving it HEAVY 18" chrome wheels and the wrong size tires so the speedo was off and it rubbed in turns.

The sad thing is, the person only had the car for ~6 months before trading it at a nissan dealership.

 

[M3xpress]

My first car, which is my Mustang came from the dealer. The dealer was into cars so he told me a bit about the original owner. The maintenance was up on it and the car looked like he took care of it and he didn't put a lot of miles on it so I assumed it was all good and had a boring, stock life.

 

[thomas91169]

Only if I could beat the crap out of them for the stupid things they did.

Painting the interior trim pieces yellow and then spraying a light layer of tan over them before selling it (so it chipped and started to show yellow through in a short period of time).

Breaking half the clips on the interior pieces so nothing stays together correctly.

Not reconnecting the side scoops or sideskirts correctly when they removed what I will assume to be the worlds worst mustang bodykit.

Gluing 3 inch thick wood inside the trunk, with no known reason.

Giving it HEAVY 18" chrome wheels and the wrong size tires so the speedo was off and it rubbed in turns.

The sad thing is, the person only had the car for ~6 months before trading it at a nissan dealership.

Damn.

Id imagine he traded it in so he could rice out a 350Z which will give him more street cred.

 

[03_SVT_Freak]

yes. the guy who owned my cobra before me was a drug dealer who used the cobra to run from the police. lol

 

[T-Bolt]

Bought the truck from a friend of mine, so yeah, I do. He's still pissed at himself for selling it a year later.

 

[Silver2003Cobra]

I just look in the mirror.. and nope, this is one car that I'm not planning on getting rid of..