Think I should help a friend?

[Moparal]

A friend called me from Ca. tonight. I bought my 70 barracuda project off of him a while back.  When they delivered the 70, I took his son for a ride in my 74 challenger. Not much of a car. Just a rust free black car needing interior work and another paint job. I built a 68 hp 440 for it and installed the reverse manual valve body, then put together some 410's with a power lock. 100% factory hp exhaust and a brand new set of 15x7 and 15x8 rallye's on it. It's an ok car. Might run low 12's or so if it hooks. Has a 9" 3500 stall. The car is solid. Might want a new front slash pan and a better hood is all. But to my question.

His son wants my car for his first mopar.  He's 21 yrs old. He wants to send me 10k this week and pick it up in a few weeks. He offered this amount. I wasn't selling my car. But I like his son.

With there being no rust in the trunk or floors or frame, or any panels, no dents, and with it being standard disc brakes and standard steering, with a new front end.  Do you think I might could sell it to him for that price? Is a 74 actually worth that price to more then one buyer?

I'm not ancious to sell my challenger but I also have 2 cudas.   Think my challenger is worth 10K or should I feel guilty?
They know the interior has to be finished. I installed a new head liner, new back seat cover and have 3 new interiorr panels for it and a new dash pad to put on.


Please give me some input.  The car is fun to drive, but on dry roads.  Think they would get a deal? or am I in the wrong for letting my car go? Once you sell...it's gone. And hard to find good cars today that need little body work.

[Lunchbox]

    

[Moparal]

I thought everone had seen my challenger

[Moparal]

I think i'm going to sleep on this tonight. I am having too much fun with this car right now.  I should be able to find another car for him around this price. Maybe not the same engine size tho. V8440 member offered him his challenger. And it looked good to me, but they thought it was rusty for ca. standards. I felt bad because I told them about v8440's car forsale and it was at 6k. very good deal to me other then it being a small block. Neil (v8440) has been helping me with parts for my car. Thanks to him, I have a brand new rear bumper along with some other stuff.

[EVIL72]

 If your having second thoughts then don't sell it. There not getting any cheaper or easier to find.
 I'd tell him if you ever do decide to sell it, he gets first dibs, and then maybe try to help him find one.
 What part of Ca. does he live? I'm in Nor Cal S.F. Bay area.

[Jacksboys]

If your having second thoughts then don't sell it. There not getting any cheaper or easier to find.
 I'd tell him if you ever do decide to sell it, he gets first dibs, and then maybe try to help him find one.

[whitesatinmopar]

My  ...............The ONLY time to sell a car is when you WANT to, or HAVE to. Being "backed" into a corner with an offer is not a good situation. No way should you feel guilty for anything in this situation. Besides, with todays prices $10K is not that much for your car. ie: a $5K car may require 6-8 in labor,sheet metal and paint. I'd say 10 grand for yours would be a deal, but not for you. Again.............just my 

[MyMopar]

In the New England area a rust free car with a 440 needing only interior work would get you more than 10k probably closer to 14k if everything is there.
Don't sell it if you are having doubts though.  FInd him a Valiant or something 

[71bigblock]

FInd him a Valiant or something 

Exactly, with the leaning tower of power.  Cant introduce someone by showing them all the power first.  Start him slow 

[jeryst]

I make it a rule to (1. Never borrow money from a friend, (2. Never lend money to a friend, and (3. Never sell a vehicle to a friend.

I've learned the hard way, over the years.

Friendships can be tricky, and selling things to friends, can sometimes be even trickier. Many times friends feel that they can take liberties that they would not take with strangers, or if something goes wrong, (like the son pounds the engine and it blows up, then tells his father that he doesn't know what happened), it can cause hard feeling and end the friendship.

First of all, just tell him that you don't want to sell the car, but if you decide to, you will give him first dibs. Don't let them guilt you into something you really don't want to do. I think you are better off to do as you suggest, and offer to help him find another vehicle.

If you do want to sell it to him, spend $150-$200 and get it officially appraised in order to get a true picture of its value. It wouldn't hurt, and it's a deal for you because now you know what your car is truely worth. Lets say it comes out to $15k. Then, you can show him the appraisal, and tell him that you would be willing to make him a deal on it, like say $13k (if that is acceptable to you), in order to be fair to both of you.

Sometimes, you just have to say, "Look, I can give you a break, but this is the best I can do. Period." They should not expect you to take a loss, any more than they would expect that you would charge them more than anyone else.

[360 'CUDA]

First off, if you sell it to them for 10 grand your not ripping them off. It's not like a 2002 Camaro that will lose half it's value next year.
Secondly, that is too much car for a twenty year old that's used to front wheel drive Hondas.

If you do sell them that car just forget about it. It's probably doomed 

At the very least he won't have his license for long   

[jeryst]

I want to explain something that I said earlier about learning the hard way.  Consider this: If you sell this inexperienced kid your built car, and something happens to him, you will never forgive yourself.

Back in the 70's, when I got out of high school, I bought a radical custom chopper. One of my best friends fell in love with it, and begged me to sell it to him. I wouldn't sell it, but he hounded me for over two years. Finally, I met my future wife, and we started to get serious and make plans, so the next time my friend asked me about it, I told him that I would sell it to him. He came over to the house the very next day, with the cash, and bought it. Two weeks later, he was killed on it, when a drunk driver in a full size Blazer hit him head-on. It took me a long time to get over it, and I've never forgiven myself. People tell me that it wasn't my fault, but in my heart, I know that if I wouldn't have sold it to him, he would have been in a different place at that time, it wouldn't have happened, and we would still be having good times together. He left a young wife, and two small children. The Butterfly Effect is real.

[71340RT]

Back in the mid 80's I sold a 19 year old a 71 Charger RT SE. With in a week he wreaked it going over 110 mph. He never got hurt but I have never sold a kid any car that I thought had to much power for them. I would hang onto the Challenger unless you are wanting to put funds into something else and ned the money. I'm going to have my cars appraised this spring just so I have a idea were I'm at for insurance and if I would decide to sell one of them. If you think you might want to sell the car a young kid may not be the best person to have a big block 440.

[Street_Challenged73]

As already stated, your car could probably be worth more than $10K.  My project is sitting right around that amount and that's without an engine rebuild, final bodywork/paint, and interior.  A running car in nice shape IMO is worth at least $10K the way I see it.

[The Cuda Guy]

Friends and money are always tricky, tread lightly make educated decsions and good luck.

Cuda Guy