Anything to be done about a sitting car?

I know this post seems like the dumbest thing already, but hey fug it. Is there anything that can be done about someone who won't sell a car, yet neglects it? Do you know any social engineering tactics? There is this asian guy with a 190e cosworth who doesnt say no, but never says yes to selling it. He is flakey. I also don't want to harass the dude. He is also storing the car at someone elses property. I confirmed that thing has been sitting, unmoved an inch, for at least 9 years, maybe 10. Uncovered in east coast weather. Why won't this RAT sell the fucking car or just say no and tell me why? I love these cars and there is one rotting away 5 mins from my house :( is this some sort of sick asian tradition(WasabiCars)? I mean I know they cut up live frogs and eat them, but this is worse.

Have you made him an offer? Cash is king. If he won't at least negotiate after you throw out a number, then he's likely saving it to sell in the future (and quite obviously doing a shitty job of that).

no offer but I did say, I know what it is and I have money. he just said ill think about it. Says call him later and never picks up. I should just offer him a crazy amount.

>I did say, I know what it is and I have money
Now that's an offer he can't refuse

trying to see if he would sell it man, this wasnt some formal meeting. just showed up. on the spot shit

"i have money" meaning im not gonna offer the guy $1500, i know what it is as in like, it might be in bad shape but its still a nice car. I was just trying to get him to sell it as i said. He wouldnt give me a straight answer. Was also trying to avoid over paying, what if he said $2000? Never know. not eager to throw out a low number to insult him, or a high number to overpay.

>I confirmed that thing has been sitting, unmoved an inch, for at least 9 years, maybe 10. Uncovered in east coast weather

Look up Lot Rot. Just walk away man
just walk away

:(

Get over it and move on. It's not your business or concern. You asked him to sell, he won't, it's over.

You could buy that for $2k, put $10k into it, and have a car worth $7k. If your intent isn't parting it out and you want to make it a driver, to get a fair deal he would have to give you $3k to take it.

Okay, realistically, what is some of the worst things that can happen with lot rot? I looked it up and it said brakes and rubber components, sure, but is there anything else bad? I have a friend who wants to fix up a car that has been sitting for a few years, and was going to help him fix it. Just want to know what I'm getting into here.

The worst thing that can happen is water that has separated from the coolant eating through a water passage into an oil passage in the block or head. If you bought that car you would have to pull the engine and trans and take them apart to be safe, those Cosworths were high strung for their day. It's very likely the car has some kind of rat damage. The interior will be ROASTED, if you've ever been in a leather interior car at a junkyard that's sat in the sun for years you'll know you can never get rid of that roasted leather smell, and replacing every interior part would be extremely expensive and time consuming. The paint is obviously shot as well. Even if you don't value your time at all, the investment just in parts and consumables would end up costing more than just buying a clean example.


Here's an example of what I was talking about, engine was dyno'd at the factory in the early 00s and put in a crate. Residual coolant from the dyno test had eaten through the block next to the sleeve, made a nice smoke show/coolant milkshake after about 100 miles of breakin.

Floor boards rot out

In these situations you will pay WAY more than the car is worth.

>show up with literally cash in hand
>tell them you would like to buy it and get it back on the road
>cash today
>I have cash
>take this cash
>get your POS over priced car that is going to be insanely expensive to repair from sitting for 10 years

people try to buy my vehicles all the time.

it's annoying.

if i wanted to sell it it would be listed for sale.

now go away.

people try to by mine all the time too. its not annoying at all. i enjoy talking about my car. the main difference here is this car is rotting into the ground and hes doing nothing with it

very good strat thanks

i had this happen with a dirtbike but i was able to fix it myself (I know that is no possible on the car though).

still, its offensive that its rotting away to me

>rotting away 5 mins from my house
Just put an add in Craigslist offering to part out, with the guys number. You're doing him a favor.

LMAO

Don't bother. Cosworth 190E's are very expensive to restore with extremely hard to find parts and in the end it won't be worth the money. Sounds like that Asian dude is doing you a favor by not selling you a money pit.

It's probably beyond saving unfortunately, letting a tuned German car sit for a decade is a borderline death sentence. The engine is probably going to have to be completely rebuilt and water has probably got into places it shouldn't. Fuel tank has probably rotted out, and god knows what else is wrong

This isn't even enough to get the bug out of me. i want this car so bad.

iktf user, iktf. But unless you can get it for a song, you're better off just paying full price to import one. It'd work out to about the same anyways, with less of a hassle. You could get a 2.5-16 even.