To tell or not to tell

[drcjv]

Recently I bought a tractor from another OCC member. The tractor had some issues That I am pretty sure he knew about but did not disclose. So here is the question. Should you disclose problems with a tractor or leave it up to the buyer to find the issues for them self.

[olds45512]

When I sell a tractor I try to address as many of the issues that it has before I even list it, I don't sell junk and if I am selling junk I make sure whoever is buying it knows all the issues that I am aware of.

[Oak]

That's pretty low. I'm like Tim, I try and tell everything that I know about the machine.

[Sam Mac]

A couple years ago I bought a 1641 from a member that "It just needs a tune up" yep it needed a new engine. Buyer beware.

I play it straight when I sell something. Not worth trying to screw someone.

[Dirty Steve]

I have sold only 3. I have gone above and beyond on each one and no buyer has complained. Need to sell a couple now. I inform intended buyers of everything known and price accordingly.

[yettrbomb]

I tell the potential buyer about everything I am aware of, tractor or otherwise. I’ve been on the other side of the fence before, and it sucks.

[john hall]

I don't care if its a bale of hay or a piece of equipment, I let folks know whatever I know about the item. Very rare does someone come to look and not buy.

[CADplans]

I sold a Chevy S-10 4.3 to a neighbor just over two years ago,,, $1,000,,,
JUST this past Saturday,, he complained to me that a coolant carrying metal tube that is next to the intake manifold was leaking,,
and he was complaining like I should do something to help him get it fixed,,,,

So, this goes both ways,,,

I say buyer (or seller) beware, if you are expecting perfection,, go to Home Depot, not the forum, or Craigs List,,,

P.S. If the OP paid $4,500 or more for a 1968 Cub Cadet, and it was not correct,, tell us about it here.
If the OP paid under $1,000 expect there to be issues.

In between,, I do not have an answer,,,,

[sorner]

As a seller it is only right to tell everything you know about the item being sold to the potential buyer.

As a buyer, you have to take what a seller says with a grain of salt, it should be pretty easy to tell if someone is sincere or looking to offload a piece of crap.

When dealing with older equipment like these older tractors, the seller could be honest and sincere, and then a month or two down the road something happens to it... this is to be expected in my opinion with used equipment, and not a con job.

Personally, I am as honest a seller as they come, if someone buys something from me and then they have a problem with it, I can guarantee it was something I didn't know about. For example... I once sold a Kawasaki KZ305 motorcycle that I rode to work in the summers in nice weather, and put a lot of work into over the years. Then two days later I receive an email from the buyer telling me that the clutch stopped working and it left him sit. I got his address and went to his house the next day to look at it with him, and found that the clutch cable broke inside the housing. I helped him locate the replacement part and replace it, and he was happy.

I sold a Dodge Grand Caravan very cheap last summer that had rusted out rocker panels to a kid who was down and out and needed something to get him to work for a couple months, through connections his boss is good friends with my father in law. I told him everything up front, and that he only had a few months on it because inspection was due in January, and it would not pass due to rust. Three months later I get a call from my father in law telling me he blew the engine because there was no oil in the engine. He drove it for three days with the engine knocking and his boss said it doesn't sound right, so he checked the oil and saw it wasn't even on the stick. They put 4 quarts in it to get it back to full, and on the way home that very day the engine failed and now the van is in a junk yard somewhere. That van never leaked a drop of oil for me, and I had it for 6 years and changed the oil regularly. I know where he lived and where he worked, and he worked 5 days a week. I figured out by simple math how far he would have probably driven in that time just to and from work, and it would have been about 7000 miles. No way I could have been in any way responsible for that.

So, S@#$ happens sometimes. I have a conscience, and I think most people do... but there is always one person out there to ruin trust for everyone. I've been on both sides, if I buy something privately used and it has more issues than were disclosed, I feel like that is something I should have seen and missed, so it's on me to fix or deal with.

[olds45512]

Originally Posted by CADplans

I sold a Chevy S-10 4.3 to a neighbor just over two years ago,,, $1,000,,,
JUST this past Saturday,, he complained to me that a coolant carrying metal tube that is next to the intake manifold was leaking,,
and he was complaining like I should do something to help him get it fixed,,,,

So, this goes both ways,,,

I say buyer (or seller) beware, if you are expecting perfection,, go to Home Depot, not the forum, or Craigs List,,,

P.S. If the OP paid $4,500 or more for a 1968 Cub Cadet, and it was not correct,, tell us about it here.
If the OP paid under $1,000 expect there to be issues.

In between,, I do not have an answer,,,,

I've been down that road before. I sold a car to my aunt about 15yrs ago and after 8 month she came back with a list of about 20 things she expected me to fix, I told her I wasn't fixing it and I've been a little bit of a black sheep since then but I don't really care. Now I'm only sell cars to strangers.