View Full Version : Classified Ads Tru meaning( a rant )


cadmat
11-28-07, 11:47 AM
Reading all the discussion about the 85 Brougham Coupe for 8500
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/rwd-19xx-1985-deville-fleetwood-1985/124159-do-you-think-price-too-high.html
really reminded me of all the "subjective" things people put in their car ads. I paroose the classifieds every day looking for another Caddy to play with, and I have for many years. ( I'm a sucker for a 2 thousand dollar former luxo barge) and tend to pick up a new project every year or so... ANyway, I always read these ads with the proverbial "grain of salt" beacause more often then not, the person selling it is a clueless individual who wound up with the car by accident, and has a delusional view of the car because he and everyone he knows has never had a Cadillac and he is usually quoting what folks mentioned in passing.."Oh that Eleganza was a real rare model.. they only made a few of those" (dawoo made an eleganza, not Cadillac) "It's gonna be a Classic cause it's 25 yrs old" ... lots of cars are 25 yrs old , some states and insurance companies give you a break on rates because of this, but it really means nothing to the markeplace, except that finding trim parts are gonna be a challenge.
And just because the car has power seats and power windows they say stuff like "has every option, and all works" that means that the rear tilt works, but the seat doesn't move any other way, and the original owner was 4'10".. does it have illuminated entry? sunroof? auto dimming? rear leveling?
( often not, or if it does, none of it works) How bout the A/c? " oh yea, works great, it's just disconnected and needs a charge" .. that's 1000.00 repair right there, at least here in California.and "disconnected means there's a compressor rolling around in the trunk.
"perfect interior" sure, perfect except for the all the cracks in the dash and door panels covered with spray painted duct tape as well as carpet that is now ripped out in the front area and the rust hole in the floor you can see the street thru, and the headliner held up with 1000 thumb tacks.
"compleatly stock" except for the paint, hubcaps, grill, botched lowered spring job, missing fender fillers, and the former camero front seats where the originals used to be.
by the way, the ad for this car read 83 Cadillac coupe de ville 4 door, all original clean but needs work 1800.00

and I'm sure you all know what he meant by "needs work" it meant the ht4100 engine was in pieces around the yard..

and finally, here is an unrelated observation, But doesn't it seem That the real "perfect, one owner, flawlessly maintained cars are always the 40000 mile Calais sedan in puce green with an am radio, mustard vinyl interior and roll up windows. and all the Talismans with sunroofs and Fuel injection are giant 300000 mile rust holes held together with flaking paint chips?

cadmat

My_favorite_Brougham
11-28-07, 12:38 PM
Golly-gee-wilikers! :eek: Yeah it's a shame the heavily optioned cars are in the boneyard while bone stock cars seem to be all that's left. Guess it makes sense; all the fancier cars are more of a pleasure to drive. I always see 5.7L Broughams in ragged-dogged condition with mint 5.0 cars around. I guess it's because that engine is such a workhorse...it just keeps running and running.

CaddymanTom
11-28-07, 01:15 PM
Cadmatt, I completely agree with your above statements. I like it when people see power windows and door locks that the car is "has all options" As for the luxury packages I have seen many Cadillacs with the de'elgance packages which some people mean the car has a leather interior. I have seen 1975 and 1976 Eldo Barritz convertibles and many odd "factory original" colors. I have almost given up looking on e-bay for cars. It seems to be a dumping ground now for worn out abused cars. Its a shame I purchased my 87 Brougham on e-bay and have been very happy with it. however that was 2 years ago. I went last week to look a 1976 Fleetwood Brougham with FI. This ad was in Collector Car trader and the ad said interior perfect, some paint fade and runs good. Upon opening the door the seats were so dried out that i was scared to sit on them, the vinyl top was shot, the car smoked when started which took a little doing, and the paint was worn down to the primer on most of the car and he wanted 5000.00 dollars for the car. I realize the people want to sell these items for whatever reason but do a little research on what you are selling people!

cadillackid64
11-29-07, 12:00 AM
Cadillac buying is tough in California, you're competing with the pimp community. The whole experience can be really annoying; dumb statements like

"It's got power windows which I didn't know they had back then"

You want to say "it's a '79! They've had power windows since the 40's"

The whole antique at 25 years thing has bugged me forever, the plates or the insurance, I guess but whatever.

Benzilla
11-29-07, 07:12 PM
Power windows? You're angry because somebody didn't know power windows existed in '79? Try this.

The other day I had the Phaeton out at a cruise in, just talking to some people, showing them the car, etc. And this kid came up (maybe 17, 18) looked at the radio and was like WTF is that? I wasn't too surprised, and just informed him that it was an eight track player... After a couple awkward silences and a brief explanation, he was starting to get it. Then he asked if I ever got tired of just listening to old tapes. Slightly confused, I told him it was okay, because it also picks up AM/FM radio.... His response???

"Holy shit, they had radio back in '79?!?"

Ben.

79caddy1
11-29-07, 07:19 PM
Power windows? You're angry because somebody didn't know power windows existed in '79? Try this.

The other day I had the Phaeton out at a cruise in, just talking to some people, showing them the car, etc. And this kid came up (maybe 17, 18) looked at the radio and was like WTF is that? I wasn't too surprised, and just informed him that it was an eight track player... After a couple awkward silences and a brief explanation, he was starting to get it. Then he asked if I ever got tired of just listening to old tapes. Slightly confused, I told him it was okay, because it also picks up AM/FM radio.... His response???

"Holy shit, they had radio back in '79?!?"

Ben.

Thats funny! My son is 18 now, and I am 43. He asked me recently if I remember when radio came out?....:bonkers:
I told him I used to go buy 8 tracks tapes, and albums.
He said...."oh, thats the bigger sized cd's you guys had then"....:histeric:

cadmat
11-29-07, 09:44 PM
I'm kind of a nut for old technology. I have about 300 working 8 tracks and 3 players including a state of the art
( from '79) recorder that has fast forward and dolby.. anyway a couple of years ago I had my family over for a holiday dinner, and my nephew was saw all the tapes near the stereo
( a giant Zenith Console from the 60's) he comes over and asks, "What kind of game is boston? is it like an old atari?" he was holding the 8track of the rock group "boston" their first album, self titled.. if you remember the picture on the front is giant guitar like spaceships flying around a planet that is exploding.. gotta' love old album art!!..
http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/46/788746.jpg

MAtt
PS.. I do have CD's and MP3's as well, so I'm not THAT far behind the times..:cookoo: