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[110tHunDer]

 
Good call.  Your car is beautiful!  Would love to see the others.  I've always lusted after a '79 10th anniversary. 

[2006ULTRA]

I do own a dealership and you are correct I do not enjoy making people feel bad about their current vehicle situation.  Nobody wins in that deal and I don't care for the people that work in my industry who treat customers like that.  Unfortunately there are way too many people in the retail car business who need an attitude adjustment.

This T/A is my personal car, I didn't buy it to sell it 2 years ago.  I wanted a Bandit T/A and came across this car first and I decided to buy it.  Then a year later the Bandit car I wanted came up for sale again at a better price so I bought it too.  At that time I decided to keep both cars.  Then I came across a 78 Y88 4 speed trans am for sale fully restored.  It was the deal of a lifetime price wise so I bought it to flip it.  I then became attached to it.  It is 1 of 1257 ever made.  I have the PHS documents on the car as well. I've never owned a muscle car that wasn't modified etc etc.  The Y88 feels like a time capsule.

It just boiled down to feeling a little guilty for having too many cars so I decided to let 1 Trans Am go.

Here is the Bandit car.



The Y88

[Tru-Blu]

I was originally going to suggest that you keep his offer as a "Plan B," but since you don't really need to sell the car you are in a position to hold out for the "right" offer or buyer - that normally translates into someone that just has to have what you are selling.  Your 78 is a rare beast in itself with the condition its in and what has been done to it.  I think the guys offer would be settling for something on the sale, and you really don't need to do that.

I recommend thanking him for his offer, tell him it's a really nice bike, but you would just be trying to resell it and you would be trading one sale attempt for another.  I would also mention that you don't have to sell the car, so it allows you to wait for the right offer.  I'd then tell him that if he can sell his bike quickly and come up with the $25k then there may be a chance that the car could still be available.

BTW - absolutely stunning Zam!  One of things that will make a car look really good or really bad will be panel alignment.  From the pics you provided, yours looks pretty straight!

[1sharprdkg]

Always loved and wanted a Bandit car!

[King2013]

bike + 9,000.00 for the trade deal.
if your just going to sell the bike there's additional work your going to be doing to get the money you want for it.
sounds like a dick move but why would you want to trade to sell unless there was more money for you in it?
if your looking to help the guy out that's one thing but if you really just want the cash and he can't wait to sell the bike he's gonna have to take a hit.

[SDCVO]

I do own a dealership and you are correct I do not enjoy making people feel bad about their current vehicle situation.  Nobody wins in that deal and I don't care for the people that work in my industry who treat customers like that.  Unfortunately there are way too many people in the retail car business who need an attitude adjustment.

This T/A is my personal car, I didn't buy it to sell it 2 years ago.  I wanted a Bandit T/A and came across this car first and I decided to buy it.  Then a year later the Bandit car I wanted came up for sale again at a better price so I bought it too.  At that time I decided to keep both cars.  Then I came across a 78 Y88 4 speed trans am for sale fully restored.  It was the deal of a lifetime price wise so I bought it to flip it.  I then became attached to it.  It is 1 of 1257 ever made.  I have the PHS documents on the car as well. I've never owned a muscle car that wasn't modified etc etc.  The Y88 feels like a time capsule.

It just boiled down to feeling a little guilty for having too many cars so I decided to let 1 Trans Am go.

Here is the Bandit car.



The Y88

Just curious what kind of dealership you own?

[2006ULTRA]

All good advice so far.  The guy emailed me and is still interested in doing a deal just haven't settled on a price yet.  He seems like a pretty nice guy and he wants the car so him and his wife can both enjoy a toy together.  They don't ride much, he only put 1500 miles on the bike this year.

If I decide to do the deal with him I'll rest easy because I know the car will have a good home which is important to me.

I'm not to worried about selling the bike in the low 20's.  With the warranty, new motor, tour pac and lowers I think someone will be getting a good deal on a nice bike. Not too many CVO streetglides for sale in that price range.  Heck a nice regular used Ultra will cost you 16K ish.  I think someone would step in to the lower 20's for a CVO.

One thing about selling a car like this is you have a very small market of people who will spend 25K on a Trans Am like mine.  It is a nice car but it really isn't anything special like the Y88 for example.  This guy wants Red which isn't a great color in the Trans Am world. 

I'm going to try and work a deal with the guy mainly because I like him and I want the car to go to someone like him. He seems really honest and most of all he has a legitimate reason for wanting the car.  I don't care about making a bunch of money but I don't want a knot on the forehead either when the deal is over.  I feel bad for the guy because I think he paid way to much for the bike when he bought it but I can't change that.  I hate to see that kind of thing happen.  He will have to give me money and his bike which he knows but in the end he will be better off because my car is definitely worth 25K maybe more to the right buyer.  If this guy keeps it nice and decides to sell down the road he could recoup some of the money he wasted on the bike.

What kind of dealership do I have?  It is a used car dealership.  I worked in the new car side for 12 years.  I was a general manager of a Ford Lincoln Mercury store at the end of my career and just got tired of it.  Long hours got to me and mainly I just wasn't happy.  When I got in the business in 1997 it was a challenge and I had fun doing it.  At the end of my run it wasn't fun anymore.  Our dealer group had 9 stores and we were all in a competition against each other.  The end result of a deal like that is you forget what's important which is the customer and at the end of the day you have accomplished nothing.

I like to build relationships with my customers one at a time.  I am a small dealership but it is all mine and I'm proud of it.  I do business the right way and I have a good reputation in my community.  I know most people don't think much of car dealers and they are right.  Our industry has earned the reputation they deserve unfortunately.  There are some good people in the business but they have little control.  It's not necessarily the people that make it unsavory as it is the process these people have to work in.  Now a days they just herd the customers like cattle and make the car buying experience painful.  I try and humanize the experience when someone come to my store.  If I enjoy myself then usually the customer does too.

[DCFIREMANN]

The red TA is a clean and very nice looking car. BUT tell me about the blue 68 cuda in the showroom!!!!

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[2006ULTRA]

You have a good eye!

That is my Baby 1968 Barracuda Formula 340S 4 speed.  I built that car 10 years ago and it made the cover of Mopar Muscle magazine in 2005.

[Mano]

All very nice cars.

[ChopperPilot]

Nice cars, I wish I still had my 79 TA.

[Banana man]

I had a Bandit car back in 1978 and liked it but at that time I bought and sold many cars I now wish I had back.
The red car looks very nice and the bandit car is cool but the Y88 is by far the most special IMHO. If memory serves
me correct it had the bandit type striping and gold turned dash and was low production also. Also yours with
a 4 speed would be extra special. Gold was the only color and did not care for it at the time but have grown
to like it now. I always loved the 77 to 81 body style. I especially liked the 79 to 81 cars with the split headlights.
My all time favorite TA was 1979 because it was the only year you could get the split headlight nose with the
big engines (the 400 pontiac or the 403 olds). In 1980 they went to the little 301 engine and totally ruined the
performance aspect of the car.

If they built the same body style car with today's technology I would buy one immediately. As it stands now I
try to buy a 10th Anniversary someday. I really love these cars. To me they look way better than the muscle
cars of the late 60's and early 70's.

[2006ULTRA]

You are correct on the Y88, roughly 6300 total made and of those 1267 were 4 speeds.  My car is kind of strange, only one I've ever seen with standard interior, it has no power windows, locks, tilt or cruise but it does have fisher T Tops, power trunk release and rear defrost.

My car has 56,000 miles and completely restored.

[SanJuanRon]

$20k seems high for the bike, upper teens is more realistic.  SJ Ron

[Banana man]

You are correct on the Y88, roughly 6300 total made and of those 1267 were 4 speeds.  My car is kind of strange, only one I've ever seen with standard interior, it has no power windows, locks, tilt or cruise but it does have fisher T Tops, power trunk release and rear defrost.

My car has 56,000 miles and completely restored.

WOW!  That is a strange option combo. Usually power trunk and rear defrost came on cars that had all the
other options also.

Forget the bike and keep the cars! The old trans am cars ARE more special than the CVO bikes are. IMHO.