Rant - People have no honor or integrity anymore

[Martinjmpr]

BTW I've had buyers do something similar too. I think I told this story before but years ago I was trying to sell the wife's Grand Vitara. Met with a potential buyer who took it for a test drive and we agreed on a $10k price. This was on a Sunday and he said he'd need a few days to arrange to get the cash (the car was paid for and we had the title in hand.) I said, no problem.

Four days later, buyer calls me with a sob story, he had some unexpected expenses and could only get $9600. For some reason the dumba$$ thought I'd be OK with that. Instead I told him politely that we had a deal and if he couldn't hold up his end of it he could f**k off. Never heard from him again but two months later I sold the car for $10,200 so in the end it worked out for me.

So to the OP: Just put this one in the "Craigslist Story" file and move on. You will find another bike, for sure, especially with Winter coming and people not wanting to put their bikes into storage. Also, just FYI but ever since CL started charging for car and MC ads, I've seen a lot more activity on Facebook Marketplace. I bought my Honda 919 on FB Marketplace in March and just sold it last weekend (after I decided it wasn't comfortable for me to ride.) Sold in literally under 24 hours.

[SouthPaw]

And how much is THAT going to cost? Not just in $$ but in time and aggravation?

I never would be in that situation, first because I would never finance a motorcycle but more importantly, if I agreed with you on a price, I'd stick to it.

But if I was and someone said that to me I'd just laugh at them and say "OK see you in court!" Because, really, are you going to waste your time on that? No reasonable or sane person would.

Think about it: At this point, OP is pissed, he took some extra time and drove some extra miles, but he's not out any actual money (yes, I know gas money or "money = time" but really, that's just part of life. If OP had driven to the seller's home and decided not to buy the bike he'd still be out that same amount of money so IMO it doesn't count as a loss - OP went there to look for a bike, there was no guarantee he'd buy one.)

Still, OP is in the same position he was when this whole thing started. So why on earth would he go to the step of filing a claim in court, hiring a process server, etc? Better to save that money for another bike, don'tcha think? Motorcycles for sale are like buses: You miss one, there will be another one along soon enough.

So I'd say OP's best option is to just move on and keep looking for the bike he wants.

Of course, if you're a very cynical person, maybe this was his plan all along? Get you on the hook and then try to squeeze some extra money out of you once you had mentally "committed" to the deal. Seems unlikely but it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

My thoughts exactly. What would it cost me in the end? Probably more than his new price of $7500, for what? To prove a point? Shit happens and it's not the end of the world. Motorcycles come and go, especially in my house hold. I doubt I would have had for a full year before I wanted something else anyways. In the twelve years that I have been riding, I have gone through 50+ bikes. Some stick around longer than other but eventually, I get bored and sell them. At any given time, I could have zero bikes or four, just depends on what the market is doing. I financed my first bike at a young age (20 maybe?) and after I paid it off, I swore I would never do that again, and haven't since. They are merely toys to me and I refuse to make payments on a toy, but that's just me.

Yeah, I mean, flaky people are gonna be flaky.

Personally I would be very leery of buying anything from a private seller that still has a loan on it, exactly because of hassles like this. When it comes to motorcycles in particular, I prefer to do straight cash deals for bikes that are paid for and have a clean title. Most likely the OPs seller was selling at a lower than market price because he knew the hassle of paying off the loan would dissuade some potential buyers (like me.)

Think about this: If there had been no loan on the bike and you'd gone over there with cash in hand, you would have made the deal, gotten the title signed over to you and ridden off - no chance of "seller's remorse" or changed minds. To me that is the essence of a good CL deal: Discussion, agreement, money changes hands, DONE.

I've purchased a handful of bikes that still had loans on them. After you figure out the process, it's pretty easy. You and the seller both meet at the bank and the bank does all the paperwork for you. The only hang up that could happen, is if the bank needs the owner to sign the title before they release it to you. I request the title be sent to the bank and for the seller to come in and sign it vs sending it to their house for a signature. This way, the bank holds the title no matter what, and you aren't chasing the seller around for anything else but a signature. I almost passed on this deal because of this situation as I knew it's usually a couple week process from beginning to end to get the title but my buddy reminded me "the good deals always require some leg work" so I opted to go through with it, or so I thought lol. Now, when it's the other way around and the purchaser needs to finance it, that can be a PITA. The R1 I had for sale earlier this year, one guy wanted to buy it but had to finance it. His bank wanted pictures of the title, then they were going to do a market analysis on it, determine how much they would loan it, etc. I finally told the guy that if all else fell through, I would contact him but I would wait for someone with cash which happened the following week.

BTW I've had buyers do something similar too. I think I told this story before but years ago I was trying to sell the wife's Grand Vitara. Met with a potential buyer who took it for a test drive and we agreed on a $10k price. This was on a Sunday and he said he'd need a few days to arrange to get the cash (the car was paid for and we had the title in hand.) I said, no problem.

Four days later, buyer calls me with a sob story, he had some unexpected expenses and could only get $9600. For some reason the dumba$$ thought I'd be OK with that. Instead I told him politely that we had a deal and if he couldn't hold up his end of it he could f**k off. Never heard from him again but two months later I sold the car for $10,200 so in the end it worked out for me.

So to the OP: Just put this one in the "Craigslist Story" file and move on. You will find another bike, for sure, especially with Winter coming and people not wanting to put their bikes into storage. Also, just FYI but ever since CL started charging for car and MC ads, I've seen a lot more activity on Facebook Marketplace. I bought my Honda 919 on FB Marketplace in March and just sold it last weekend (after I decided it wasn't comfortable for me to ride.) Sold in literally under 24 hours.

You are 100% correct. Now that CL charges, most deals are on Marketplace. The 'problem' with Marketplace is that it is so much easier to post and respond to ads. It's literally luck of the draw and also how much you are willing to pay over asking price. A little Honda Grom was posted for sale for $1500 a few weeks ago. I responded and told the guy I could be there in an hour with cash. He told me that he had offers at $2300 right now and more coming in. Can't blame the guy but the market for almost anything right now is insane. There will always be another so it's really no skin off my back. You hit the nail on the head because it could have easily been a POS, I would have passed on it and be out about the same. This bike had been dropped on both sides but it only had minor damage. For the price, it was still a good deal, at least in my eyes.