This sounds like a good deal, especially as you’ve dealt with him before.
What evidence does your friend have?
Would your friend like to make a better offer for the truck?!
My friend is the sort who distrusts nearly everyone, hangs onto things too long, and sometimes fails to close a deal because he wants to pinch more pennies out of it.
So… why do I listen to him?
For the past 10 years he’s helped me a great deal in keeping my vehicles running. Including some significant repairs. For the most part he’s been a good source of information, how to DIY, maintenance suggestions, and so on.
Which doesn’t mean his advice this time is the best. After all, it’s my truck not his and if I want to just plain give it away that’s my prerogative.
He could do the welding repair for me - he made one before and the mechanic interested in the truck said it was a well done repair - but it would be done on his schedule which could be months. Also, there’s some crap happening in his life which makes me think he just doesn’t have the time for it now, and in any case he can’t do the transmission repair.
I’ve appreciated his help over the years, but like I said the truck is now more a liability than an asset for me.
I’ll just note that while I have also asked this friend for advice in other matters his negativity can be aggravating. He’s a little on the paranoid side. Then a couple weeks down the line he expresses amazement at a deal I negotiated or how I navigated a bureaucracy or whatever. I listen to what he has to say but in the end the decision is very much mine.
It’s time for me to let go of the truck, it’s just a matter of how more than when.
About this, in my state at least (California) you might be able to file a certificate of non-operation, or better yet there might be a status where in essence you do not drive the vehicle but only for sales test drives. Is there such a status?
If there is such a status then your reg and insurance might drop considerably.
Added — apologies, I did not read the entire thread.
Sort of. I did look into it at one point.
But I’m really inclined towards wrapping this up fairly quickly.
I laugh when my ad very clearly says the price is FIRM and, even before they’ve looked at the item, they send an email asking if I’ll take $x less for it.
I don’t even reply, but maybe I should tell them Yes, and when they show up the first thing I tell them is, FIRM.
To get an idea of the private party sale price for your truck, look at similar listings on Craigslist in your general area. Look at the listings in several cities around you.
There are a number of sites to get estimates of selling prices such as KBB (Kelley Blue Book), Edmunds and NADA (J.D. Power) and the OP should definitely consult these. However a big problem is that the OP’s vehicle needs major repairs (welding and transmission, etc) and these are going to substantially reduce the truck’s value.
real good points here. Having a mechanic you can trust is absolutely one of the most important things to have in your life. This will help to cement that relationship.
The big used car pricing sites are good for pricing late model cars, but they aren’t all that accurate for old cars. They might be good for figuring out the auction cost since that’s where the dealers send old cars they get in trades. With a truck decades old, problems and necessary repairs should be expected and may not affect the price all that much. A truck like this may only get a few thousand in a private party sale. The buyer shouldn’t expect everything to be perfect at that age and price.
Sort of wish I had dropped in sooner, but I wanted to wrap this thread up
I did wind up selling the truck to the mechanic, who paid me in cash.
Very glad to have sealed the deal.
As a follow up - some old friends of mine (I’ve known the wife for 50 years now) had acquired a newer vehicle and had a “leftover”, still very serviceable Honda CR-V. The husband said “huh, we don’t need three vehicles, what should we do?” and his wife pointed out their friend had been looking for a replacement vehicle for several years now…
We completed that deal a mere 10 days after I sold my truck.
I tried figuring out all the paperwork details on my own, but quickly realized I could miss something. So I went to a branch of our BMV, stack of paperwork in hand, and said “Help?” very politely to the nice lady behind the desk, adding that if I needed to get or do something and come back again that was OK, I just wanted to get this done right.
She smiled, asked to see my paperwork, then started tapping on her keyboard, printing things, and in general got busy.
Less than 15 minutes later I was walking out of there with my temporary registration for the new-to-me Honda, my old plates from my truck had been transferred to said Honda, the title application was already filed, and that would be $XXX.XX dollars please. All other relevant things had been addressed.
I was impressed. In fact, I was so impressed I told her supervisor how impressed I was. Here I thought I’d be spending a week or two dealing with paperwork and multiple visits and it was all wrapped up in under a quarter hour and I was enormously pleased.
Anyhow, I now own a 7 year old Honda CR-V and a 24 year old Toyota Echo. I’m interested in selling the Echo, but as it is currently running well and I’m not financially pressed I’m not in a hurry. The CR-V is (for me) a nice middle ground between the pick up and the sedan, I’m quite happy with it.
I will say that vehicles changed a LOT between 2002 and 2019. Most of the airplanes I flew had less impressive cockpits than the Honda, it’s like a frickin’ space ship or something. I am very much liking the back-up camera.
CR-Vs are nice vehicles. If it’s the non-turbo 2.4l engine, you have a great car. That engine is just about bullet proof.
Congrats on end-to-end success!
And yes, dealing with the BMV / DMV / whatever they call it is vastly easier than in the old days.
Probably helped that I had done some research on my own and arrived with the needed documentation even if, due to inexperience, I wasn’t sure how to apply all of it to the process. For example, having the foresight to contact my vehicle insurance company pronto and having proof of insurance on hand immediately greatly speeded the end result.
Even so - it was fast, friendly and efficient. A pleasant surprise.
So… I went from never having bought a vehicle by myself (the late spouse used to handle most of that) to completing two private sales in less than two weeks. Hey, this old dog most certainly can learn new tricks.
None of us doubted you for even a moment.
Just last week I had to assist my GF’s ancient Mom in converting her driver’s license to an ID card, and changing her address. Which latter was a bit difficult when you live in an Olde Farte’s home. They want various evidences of your new address such as utility bills, etc. None of which such residents have; it’s an all-inclusive life.
Anyhow, between online resources to tell us exactly what we needed to bring, appointments to limit waiting, and a very pleasant clerk who helped us slink just outside the rules (“that happens to everyone who lives in a Home”), we got 'er done in very little time and zero angst.
I’m still not sure this really happened to me:
25+ years ago, I had an old Chevy. Close to being a junker. I asked $100 for it and a nice young man came to get it. Gave him the title, he gave me the hundred, transaction complete. Or so I thought. I found a lien notice in the files and disregarded it, the car was paid off a bazillion years prior. In fact, I tore it up, not knowing any better. An hour later, there’s a knock at the door and it’s Purchaser needing the lien notice to title the car — it’s in pieces, 25 to be exact. I/we head down to the DMV to see how to rectify the situation. Very nice lady at the counter. I explain the situation, she hands me a roll of Scotch tape and says do your best. I do. She accepts the document as is and all’s right with the world.
She, of course, had no reason to be that accommodating, she could have demanded I contact my former DMV and secure a replacement lien notice which would have probably taken a few weeks to find me and in the meantime, the car sale would be in limbo.
Hats off to that lady! DMV/MVA rules!
The best thing about our DMV is that they put cameras in the waiting room so you can see the wait time… Although I was impressed by their helpfulness registering my new truck also.
You know, now that you mention it, in almost 50 years of dealing with the DMV, I’ve only had one negative experience and that was my fault for being uninformed. The clerk was nothing short of pleasant/helpful.
Congratulations, the new car will really be a load off and a lot more comfortable. No can say you gave up too soon on the 2002. I used to be a bit of a gearhead and kept some cars for longer than reasonable. And I do miss a few of them but not the hassle.
My own step-up was from a 2004 to a 2013 Mazda3 and I was similarly dazzled by all the new bells & whistles. No rear cam that year yet, tho.
Oh, not exactly - I still have the 2002. It’s the 1999 pick up I sold off. 
But yes, I tend to keep my vehicles a long time.