I’m a lot less inclined now. The car was purchased from Pur Sang four years ago, and has just sat. So it’s exceeded its warranty. Worse, when these cars do come up for sale, Pur Sang encourages sellers to have Pur Sang go over the car in order to correct any faults. This hasn’t been done. I’m no longer interested. But I still may buy a new one! Matt
Which also makes me think that if I’m not going to buy the Carriage House car, no one ever will. Matt
In the end, it is just a car and not terribly complex. I wouldn't expect it to be too expensive to get in order or keep in order. Did they note if the car has been titled yet? That could be a big selling point to me as these types of cars are a PITA to register here in MO.
It's not titled. I've titled an Ariel Atom in PA. It's not easy. If it were titled, I would have bought it already. Also, while the car isn't complex, many parts are fragile. There are leather couplings, for example, for the supercharger and other bits. If those have sat for four years, I'd be concerned. Matt
I upped my offer, contingent that they title the car and it passes a Pur Sang PPI. It seems very fair to me. Matt
The story is that the seller had eye trouble. That may or may not be true. But sitting for fours is a long time. I could definitely get a title. I think I mentioned, I did it for an Ariel Atom in PA. FL makes it a breeze to register replicas with the proper date of original manufacture. The Factory Five forums have some easy how-tos. Matt
Except it’s priced too high. For 20% more I can buy a new one, to my specifications, with removable fenders, and an original looking magneto instead of that ugly Ford distributor in the center of the dash. (That part screams replica.) All under warranty and factory supported. Which the Carriage House car, being four years old, is not. Matt
Makes sense. If you get one please share the process, these are incredible imo. I love the Alfa they do, but I'm given to understand its harder to drive than the Bugatti. Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Stick to your guns. They have your phone number and email and you just may be hearing back from them in the future. This is a very thin market. Personally, for the reasons you stated, I feel they need to knock at least 10-15% off their asking price to achieve parity with your other stated option.
Very reasonable approach. If you have to go through the pain and suffering to title the vehicle, might as well have a new one. Too bad the car in question isn't titled. Would be a much easier sell IMO - I know I would go for it. Shame to see such a nice piece sitting around unused.
What I find interesting (or just dumb - depending on how you look at it) Is that if the owner's not in any hurry to sell - and clearly he isn't - why not just go through the process to get it titled? Once it's titled in one state, it makes it much easier for a buyer to get it titled in another.
I agree. Titling the car when it was delivered would have made the most sense. Unless... there's a financial angle. If, say the owner of the car didn't want to pay sales tax, and absolutely needs $190k. Perhaps something went quite wrong between ordering the car and delivery. An aside: these cars have no odometers. There's no way to tell how many miles are really on it. Matt
The Alfa is awesome. But a center accelerator pedal scares me. And they're harder to drive for other reasons. The 35B is just so perfect. The drums are built into the wheels, so the whole wheel acts like a radiator to dissipate heat. The Pur Sang cars have hidden alternators and starter motors. Matt
I would imagine that the owner does not want to pay the taxes on the vehicle to get it titled. Probably does not need the $$$ as it has been sitting for sale for some time. Not unusual for someone to buy a car like this and slap a plate on from another vehicle and use it for a bit.
Here's a comparison of the original-looking Bosch magneto that hides modern electronic ignition, and the clunky black distributor that makes it look like a replica, as on the car in question. Matt Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login