inapropriate to contact previous owner?

[sirhc76]

I believe I have confirmed who the first owner of my car was and would like to contact this person just to chat. I have a phone number thanks to a little digging. I knew that my car had come from York PA to Horseshoe Bay Texas. I also knew that the first owners name was Bruce. In doing a little digging I found a person who moved from York to Horseshoe Bay and was/is a vintage Lotus racer based race info I found from a Sebring race report.

It is possible that somebody on the board knows Bruce R from the Penn region. Would it be inappropriate for me to try and contact this person just to say hello I have your old car, do you have the second key fob and window sticker

Thanks,

Chris

 

[jasontiff]

You're a nice enough dude...and DAMN RESOURCEFUL, might I add...I think someone that is THAT into cars would probably enjoy chatting with a fellow car nut and see where their car went. It'd probably do his heart good to know it's being taken care of like it is. My vote is give him a ring...just not at 3am

 

[goldcup]

I have gotten the same call and was not at all offended in fact enjoyed talking with the new owner.
Give it a shot, if he does'nt want to talk to you, he wont answer or he will brush you off.

 

[dave6666]

Show up at his house and do donuts in his yard with a burning effigy of Obama on a stick.

He'll either like you or not then, but the ice will be broken.

 

[Warfang]

Show up at his house and do donuts in his yard with a burning effigy of Obama on a stick.

He'll either like you or not then, but the ice will be broken.

what he said.

 

[GoCanes1]

I often talk to the guy I sold my car to and did the same research to find the guy that owned my new to me car before me and he has been great also. Car guys are car guys and love the chance to talk about any car, expecially one that they owned.

Mike

 

[-FROG-]

I'd put a gun to their head and make them an offer they can't refuse. Or, you could do the nice thing and give them a simple phone call.

 

[plumcrazy]

id have no problem being contacted about a car i loved. i would wonder how you found me though. so maybe reach out to them thru the dealer ? some way not to make it so creepy.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Send him a picture of the car now.

 

[Leslie]

he may want visitation rights, be able to sit in her, take her for a stroll once inawhile...

before ya' know it...you're back in court, every other Wednesday, weekend visits

car-amony, it gets messy haha

 

[Wedge500]

I sent a PM to the previous/original owner of my car and am kind of disappointed because I have not received a response.

So far this car is awesome , so if you see this post "Tom S" feel free to send me a PM.

 

[ViperGeorge]

I was contacted by the new owner of a Camaro SS I once owned. Not sure how he found me but I was fine with it. I sent him pics of the car when it was new and pics of the car competing in the Cannonball One Lap, he was unaware of that . I even sent him a set of decals to return the car to its Cannonball form. Also sent him the original window sticker and other stuff I still had laying around. He loved it and really was enthralled with the car's history.

So call.

 

[sdaddy]

I talked to the original owners of both my Vipers and got useful information from both. Both seemed to enjoy knowing what had happened with their car. One said he had the original window sticker and would send it to me but he never did.

 

[viper GTS-R]

Hey if Papa John's found his Camaro, you can call a dude about your car! Houses and cars work the same way, you want info about it's history you gotta go find it! Except houses don't come with tires, a steering wheel, a V10 or a sneaky pete break light at the back door.

--RS

 

[Bandit3]

Found my 70 Boss 302 that I bought new in 69 and spoke to the fella who's restoring it in Michigan. He was glad I called him to give him some history of the car, unfortunately have no pictures of it when new. Also called the first owner of my gen 1 and he too was glad to tell of the history of it. Call him, he'll appreciate it.

 

[sekhmet]

I would say go for it. I had title transfer issues on my A8 and the previous owner was very helpful to me.

Not to mention if it was may car that I had sold a few years ago I would be very interested to see what it was like today.

 

[BlackSnake99]

I agree. It should be fine. I bought my car from my neighbor so he comes and critiques my cleaning techniques. Thats the downside!

 

[whitebluevipe]

just do it. if he is cool he won't mind.

 

[zoomie]

I contacted the original owner of my GTS from the Dodge purchase/service records. He was pleased to know where it went, had bought a SL55 AMG. He said he now wished he had kept the Viper, and to let him know if I wanted to sell it. Fat chance ! lol

 

[jasontiff]

Sounds to me like that is an overwhelming "no", Mr. Stalker.

 

[gb66gth]

Clearly, the right thing to do is stalk the hell out of this person. Show up at their place of business, at their home, the country club, his wife's place of business, etc. , etc.

He'll talk to you. Oh yeah, he'll HAVE to talk to you!

 

[1994viper]

Oh yes. I also would like to find out who were the 11 previous owners of the car I currently own, and ask them questions.

 

[joedud]

The fact that you are even concerned about contacting the previous owner shows you are the kind of person who would not offend anyone.

 

[KenH]

Reminds me of running into the previous owner of the first car I ever bought.

I was a 16 year old in high school. Got a job and ran out and bought a nice looking slightly used '70 mustang fastback (this was in '74). The thing looked pretty cherry to me. Had a big 390 engine in it.

Shortly after I bought it, a guy pulls up at the gas station I am filling up at and says 'Hey that's my old car! Let me tell you about it".

Turns out he had dropped the 390CID engine in it. I didn't know it didn't come stock that way as it said 390 on the hood scoop. He put the bigger motor in it because he used it for road racing. Then he proceeded to point out the large area of bondo on the driver corner panel that I was unaware of and the fact that one front fender was actuallly off a '69 mustang and 'almost' matched the other one.

Talk about bringing me down a bit on my new pride and joy. Of course I also kept that car longer than any other car that I have had since, so it couldn't have been too bad I guess.