Image via Dennis Collins/YouTube
We’ve long suspected many of these professional car hunters on YouTube don’t upload footage of some of their blunders, failures, and embarrassing moments. You really can’t blame them for wanting to put their best foot forward for the adoring public, but the unfortunate truth is it gives some aspiring car hunters an unrealistic perspective. Well, we finally found a video where one shows an outing that has mixed results and it’s refreshing.
There’s finally a new two-door Jeep pickup again.
That car hunter is none other than Dennis Collins, who has over 35 years of experience buying and selling cars, especially Jeeps. So when he flies to California to take a look at a couple of Scramblers the man is most definitely in his element.
Sure enough, as he starts looking at the first one, which is kept in a storage unit by the late owner’s estate, he starts picking it apart. Likely the heirs looked up the value of the Jeep pickup by assuming the black color it’s painted is original. However, Collins is skeptical precisely because of its high price.
And he should be, so the man does his due diligence. He makes sure the frame tag and dashboard VIN match, then spends time moving parts under the hood to check the factory color code.
That’s where he hits his first snag: the Scrambler wasn’t painted black originally. He has to try negotiating for a lower, albeit still high, price. After all, not many of these Jeeps were made and that particular one is in fantastic condition.
Fortunately, an agreement is made and the Scrambler along with a treasure trove of old Mopar parts are loaded up to be hauled back to Texas.
But the second Scrambler owner isn’t quite so negotiable. After looking at the Jeep, Collins tries negotiating what he believes is a fair price. The old man at one point gets frustrated and instead of coming down from his original amount, kicks it up by $10,000. You can’t win them all, that’s for sure.
The video, which is worthwhile watching versus some garbage on TV, shows a more realistic take on how car hunting goes. Just keep in mind Collins is a seasoned pro and makes it look easy, so if you want to try jumping into the business expect more hiccups or even some serious blows.
Image via Dennis Collins/YouTube
