Joe, a self-described eWillys addict (aka – Joe in Mesa), created this post about the reasons why some jeeps never seem to sell. He’s organized the problems into four categories: seller issues, ad issues, buyer behavior, or the jeep itself. His examples reflect what I’ve experienced. No doubt there are more . . . Perhaps you’ll find this instructive or amusing. Thanks to Joe for assembling it.

SELLER ISSUES:

• Unrealistic seller (thinks jeep is worthy of Barrett-Jackson price).
• Reluctant seller (doesn’t really want to part with his/her “baby”).
• Seller won’t respond (doesn’t answer phone or email). Could be jaded from the SPAM attempts. Some people get slammed with email SPAM when posting to craigslist. Others have received telemarketers after posting their phone number.
• Email responses from buyers are going into seller’s junk mail. Dave has run into this problem when replying to a Craigslist ad using a yahoo account.

AD ISSUES:

• Wrong contact info in ad (incorrect phone number or email address. Sometimes just a “type-O”).
• Misspelled “Willys” or other issue making ad hard to find (copy the spelling from your vehicle!). That’s why Dave uses a whole bunch of different spellings for “Willys” when searching Craigslist. He just got a great deal on a 25 page brochure off of eBay because the seller spelled misspelled the name WYLLIS. Sometimes Willys nor Jeep is used in an ad. One alternative some sellers use is “flat fender” as in “Flat Fender for Sale”.
• Old ads, seldom updated. Only gets reposted with the same price, pics, and description every time. Buyers quickly tire of old ads.
• Poor pics or lack of pics in ad. Have great pics can really help. Conversely having poor or no pics will turn off many potential buyers, that sometimes no-pic ads are fantastic deals. But, you have to investigate a lot of bad ads to find a good deal.

BUYER BEHAVIOR:

• Not local to buyers: too far from the major metro area. Some folks don’t want to deal with an absent buyer. Some want the money quick and don’t trust paypal. Others don’t trust absent buyers.
• Particular buyers. Many jeeps are worth the hard work but not everyone can afford the time it takes or don’t have the facilities to repair a mechanically challenging-jeep.
• Cheap local buyers (many people only want a deal, a “steal”, or a bargain).
• Scared, reluctant local buyers (see reasons for HARDER to sell, below)

JEEP ITSELF:

Technically the jeep itself should never be an issue that a low enough price can’t solve (a common example would be “no engine”: I bought one of those), but some jeeps are much HARDER to sell:

• – no title (in some states nearly impossible to resolve, and expensive in many others)
• – excessive rust
• – bad engine (cracked, seized, etc.. IMHO “no engine” jeeps sell better than “bad engine” ones).
• – horribly ugly (despite the current saying, there really isn’t a butt for EVERY seat)
• – similarly, “what the heck did Bubba do?… and why’d he do THAT?”
• – botched, incomplete “projects”
• – jeep covered by piles of misc. parts, furniture, dust, animal droppings, etc. (“barn find”? Really?)
• – jeep looks way better in the photos than in person.
• – seller places an ad without pics, but offers a description that doesn’t match with what a buyer finds when he or she sees the vehicle in person.
• – Bottom Line: insufficient value (cost too much to fix or restore… even if you gave it away for free)

Could there be other reasons? Poor economy (buyer issue), seller is a jerk, nearly impossible to move/get (tree growing up through frame, buried deep in a barn or basement, holding up the corner of the structure, in window of Banana Republic mall store…)?

So, buying a jeep can be an adventure!

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $12,500.

Mark just listed this good looking M-38 over at warjeeps.com. Even includes a phone for that occasionally air strike you might need.

“M38 that drives great and is in great condition. Has always been garage kept and we’ll maintained. Everything works well and it has no rust or dents. Also has new tires.”