No, I've not suddenly taken up an interest in the '72s. I put this here because it is an abject lesson in how NOT to construct a craigslist ad. He has two words of text, and the only photo is the one below. It would be a better photo if he were trying to sell the bicycle. https://up.craigslist.org/for/d/lake-linden-72-oldsmobile-toronado/7388068886.html
1 pic that shows "yup, we got this car" and he says it's solid, and puts the price in, and has the location. Well, he's got the car, I guess, and it appears to be in Wisconsin. It's far from a detailed ad, but it's an ad (barely.) He does have a number in there.
Frankly, the one photo doesn't even prove this. The photo looks like it could have been taken of any car by the side of the road as he was driving by. If you're going to take only one photo, how about standing on the other side of the car, so we see the front and the whole car? It's when you actually open doors, the trunk, the hood, that you establish that the car is really yours to sell.
Actually, we do have more photos. This is apparently the same car. He does have more photos and more description. https://up.craigslist.org/bar/d/calumet-1972-oldsmobile-toronado-455/7388522307.html
Huh. Yeah, I had forgotten about that nonsense. OK, so I'm seeing water on the pavement, and the lawn doesn't look wet. The old wet the car trick for presentation, instead of polishing and waxing it? Maybe. The finish looks like it's in need of a polish. And it still has the original vinyl top? Oh dear lord, can you suspect rust? Oh, and what's the car in the background in the pic above? Back on the Toronado: I'm not seeing any glaringly obvious rust by the wheel arches, but in the rear, there's bare metal on the car where original paint doesn't exist. Some of that has some obvious spots where rust started, so I guess they took a wire brush to it and ripped up a lot of the finish that was peeling. That's most obvious here: And the gas tank leak that's low on the tank? Easy enough to fix, if it's a few pinholes.
The car definitely has issues, that's for sure. But they're asking only $2800 for it, and if it runs and drives as well as he says it does, it could be a good buy. You have to expect some problems at that price level.
