Pretty much my worst nightmare

[greenbank]

So, I sold my F250 today. Kinda sad to see it go, but it went to an enthusiastic guy, if a bit of a mechanical novice.

Truck blew up on his drive home.

Engine still spins but he says there is lots of oil on top of the engine and it was down on power and smoking pretty good before he killed it. If you might recall, this was the 360 that was making a decent amount of tappet noise. I've been driving it, but not for sustained freeway use, which unfortunately was his drive back.

So now I'll be sending him some of his money back, which still doesn't quite feel like enough. On the other hand, there's more money in parts on that one than I sold it for...but that wasn't why he bought it.

Ugh.

[Sharkdance]

Im realy sorry if Im wrong for sayin it. And sensitive ears should probably have a finger securely inserted right now before repeating it.
But only one word comes to mind at the moment.

**** !!!

That sucks dude, by rights. unless it was in the deal you dont have to pay him back anything.
But working with him anyway prooves your a stand up dude!

[customcrewcab]

dnag seem like the truck din't want to go either. just get another 360 or 390 and keep it.

[4x4x4crewcab]

So now I'll be sending him some of his money back,

That is a nice thing to do I sure hope the buyer understands and appreciates what you are doing for him. Anybody buying a truck this old should understand it probably does need some things repaired and or something can and will go wrong,but in this case its a shame it had to happen to him on the way home.

[greenbank]

Worse, he is a nice guy, and this was going to be his entry into working on old cars...he didn't seem too down about it but it's gotta hurt. Especially with your kids with you, all excited about the old machine.

I sold it for $900 and have offered him $300 back. There's a '71 F250 for sale right near him with a bum transmission but a decent 352 in it for $200...so maybe he can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Appreciate the kind words, but the drive home...man. An old salt like me can roll with that kind of punch if I buy something but I sure hate to see a "newbie" to these great machines immediately get a sour taste in his mouth.

[fordman]

i hate to find out later that someone has lied to me especially when i gave them money back for something that never happened, i always get proof of broken stuff after i sell it. i just buy the whole thing back. but if they say no proof or you can't see it. too bad

[Faithful Old Road Dog]

I was straight up when I sold my 67. I told the kid that the motor was real tired and was not recommending any burn outs. After the test ride, he asked what that smell was. I told him it was him riding the clutch. He was planning on swapping motors anyway.

[adak57]

Greenbank, Sorry to hear about your bummer sales experience...

But you know... when I get to thinking sometimes that humanity sucks 'cuz everybody seems so damn greedy, then I see that there are still straight -up people like you....

My hat's off to you...

[willowbilly3]

Do what's right in your heart but you might want to have a little more proof than his word.
Yeah here comes another willowbilly story. I once sold a 77 Chevy wagon to a guy for like $250 or so. It was hit in the quarter and had a rear side glass out but ran great. I had hauled a few bumper dragging loads and felt it was good. A few days later the guy comes in, he was nice but a sniveler from the start. Tells me the frame broke and he had to scrap the car, caused him to loose his new job blah blah blah. I said bring it back and I'll either fix it or give back most of the money. It was 40 miles away and he had no way to get it back. It couldn't be towed and was unfixable. I bought the sob story and gave him back most of his money. A few years later I get a stack of parking tickets from the car in another town 200 miles from where he said it broke down at.

[hardtailjohn]

I sold a Peterbilt one time and the guy blew it up on the way home... he forgot to mention that he had spent time in every bar between my place and his on the way... and that it blew just a few yards after leaving the Moose Lodge... but I didn't want it back, so I went half on a new engine with him... about $8000 on my part (it ruined everything but the compressor and fuel pump)... he never could look me in the eye and tell me it wasn't his fault, but I know the truth... Ohwell... I know I did the thing that made me sleep best at night, and like I always say, "water seeks it's own level sooner or later". You did what you were supposed to, Greenbank... you know in your heart that it was the right thing to do, and if he's lying to you (doesn't sound like he is, in this case) that's a bad on him... you should sleep better at night and like what you see in the mirror better because of it!
John H.

[71-F-250SC-72-F-250C]

Hey Greenbank, did you tell him about fordification? Besides giving him some of his money back, you would be great help to him on this site. You know alot about what all that truck has. That will help him alot if he needs help with the engine. I would have given him some of the money back to, but it still seems like he got a good deal on the truck anyways. I would have paid $900 for it. Those disk brakes were definatly a plus on that truck.

[trukcrazy]

If he knew about the weak engine, then you went above and beyond by refunding part of the purchase price. I agree, it still seemed like a bargain even with the bad engine.

[69F110]

Greenbank...You're a good man. Life happens. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad...the measure of a man is how he deals with the tragedy when it comes...in this case, you come up smellin like roses. I applaud you for being a man about it...sometimes it is hard to admit that life isn't just about me at times, but the it is the truth. You did good Sir.

[greenbank]

Thanks for the kind words. The guy has found a rusty '67 for $400 with a donor motor, and I'm covering that. My wife thinks I'm nuts...but this is also about saving my old truck from the scrap heap and hopefully getting another person to turn some wrenches and enjoy these trucks.

I did tell him about this site, so maybe he'll show up here.

Meanwhile, that means I need another truck, doesn't it? Knowing my project list, I think I'm going to venture from my sub-$1000 habitat and save a few sheckels to try to get a "just use it" machine. Saw a really nice '65 F100 today (not for sale, just cruising around). Hm. I'm pretty catholic when it comes to Ford trucks...