watch out for scams. Too Many of them to list here and easy get your car and nothing in the bank in the end. Bogus Checks and money orders are still very common.
Why? In super short... Banks can say they "cleared" in hours to a few days and release fund because Required By Federal Banking Laws but they find out weeks or months later "the paper" is stolen or otherwise bogus and You Will be on the hook for that money.
Anyone telling you otherwise have no clue how banks and credit union really works or worse.
A big Example: If a "check" amount is > the winning amount even a little is a suspect scammer.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Fortunately, there is an upside. The universe takes with one hand and gives with the other. My new toy, a '99 GT convertible with 70K miles ( I can get OUT of it without looking like a horse's ass) -
I'm in Orge's corner on the bad checks. Even a bank cashiers check is no guarantee you've been honestly paid. As soon as the car title has been transferred all the buyer has to do is call the bank and mention 5 words or less and the cashiers check become null & void before the seller has a chance to get to the bank.
So, "Beware of Buyers bearing checks"
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
In today's world, the only payment anyone should be accepting for long-distance purchases is bank wire transfer, no exceptions, because it protects both parties and is a one way ticket, it can't be reversed. There was a time when banks checks / cashiers checks were as good as gold, but those days are long gone, nowadays those checks can come back and bite you. I witness several hundred thousand dollar transactions a week for vintage cars, and 99% of buyers / sellers have only 2 methods...
Long Distance = Electronic wire transfer from one bank account to another (takes about 2 hours to show in account, can't be reversed) Local = Cash (be sure to get a bank teller pen so you can fan out bills and swipe the pen across all the bills to check for counterfeits)
PS: As far as Fiero prices go, I've been following old car prices for decades (its my job) and the prices on Fiero's haven't gone up, they are actually stagnate or dropped in value when you account for inflation and the deteriorating purchasing power of the US Dollar, mostly due the central banks printing endlessly to paper over the 2008-2010 economic collapse (which is still going on today but that is another subject). Yes the prices on Fiero's have gone up a little, they have to because everything cost more, but the value really has not. Most old car prices have risen substantially over the last 10 years, including 80's cars like Mustang and Supra, but the Fiero's are still the same. I sold 2 of my GT's approximately 15 years ago for the same price they would sell for today. (around $10k)
Think of it this way, it takes somebody working today 3 times as much to earn/have the same things that somebody had when the Fiero GT was new. General Motors spent $300 million ($800 million in today money) developing the Fiero. If a Fiero GT cost $16k new, it would cost $40k today. So this same car 3 decades later, in excellent condition with lower miles, can be purchased for around $10k today ($3700 in 1980's money). Amazing and sad.
It goes without saying, the Fiero is a lot of car for the money all things considered (mid-engine, frame/body design, safety, reliability, low cost of parts, etc) when compared to others.
[This message has been edited by Skybax (edited 09-12-2021).]
Prices for New and Used vehicles are High because... (Very short version.) Chip Shortage etc making New vehicles hard to make. Used cars are high price as result of that plus many floods etc east of Mississippi and people need a car. Even many Rental op's sold most of their fleet during lock down last year to generate cash flow. That's on top of Hertz's Chapter 11 reorg sold a lot of their fleet.
Cash is good... Traveling w/ a lot of cash, often even if is local, is bad for many people. Even Cops can "steal" cash stopping you for nearly any reason under Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws in most US States and similar laws in some other "Western" Countries. Is why bank to bank Wire Transfer is safer but a bit hard to use to buy a car and many other things. Note tho that $10,000 and up will be reported to IRS etc for Anti-Money Laundering in US.
[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 09-16-2021).]
It would seem to me that relatively new used cars would see a bump in prices due to the supply chain shortages but I doubt the prices for a 30 year old niche car would be affected the same way.
FWIW, the young guy who bought my car said his friends are starting to look seriously at various underappreciated cars from the 80's. This is a more likely driving force behind the uptick in prices.
