Not for the first time, I've lost out on a car to a dealer. Advert up on Wednesday night, phone call placed 10 am Thursday morning "sorry pal, someone's coming to look at it tonight". 9 pm - car sold.

Sure enough, the car's back up for sale today at a dealer with a £3k markup.

I fully appreciate traders' right to make a living, and that's how the market works, etc. I have no quibbles when the trader actually adds some value such as importing. But to simply flip for a profit without doing anything other than be quickest on the draw? I have to admit it leaves a slightly bitter taste.

 

Unfortunately thats just the way the cookie crumbles :-(

 

Free market... Dog eat dog... Way of the world... Etc, etc...

However unpalatable to any one individual that may be.

 

Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Phone call placed at 10am, why didnt you go and look at it before the trader?

Snooze you lose unfortunately, especially if something is cheap. Missed out on 3 cars when I was looking for my type r, purely down to distance and how quick I could get there.

 

what dealer was it?

 

If it were the strict definition of sour grapes I would be saying the car is rubbish and not worth buying .

The trader made the viewing appointment first and has the right to first dibs. It did actually occur to me to call earlier but I didn't want to bother someone too early in the day. Lesson learned - next time I'll be on the blower at 0730...

Just popping over right away wasn't an option given I had a full day of work ahead and was 200 miles away.

Indeed...no disagreement there.

 

who bought it and what was it

 

Dealers notrmaly work on 2.5 k markup to cover warrenty and refurbishment etc for the forecourt
Probably a shortage of stock with non existence sales of impreza now so garage need to stock their forecourt for customers amd they probably got a £500 discount of the seller

Best keep on looking on here or join a local forum and ask if any members are thinking of selling

 

the deals are out there you just need to be quick
all this ill come Saturday, when it's Monday isn't no good
see the car, get in a plain train car bus etc etc
and buy it ( if all ok though )

 

That's an excellent point. There's a real dearth of high-quality cars on the market at the moment.

 

Probably of no use to you but traders are a god send for private sellers in some cases. I recently sold a bmw to a trader via ebay after being messed around by umpteen private buyers. Trader got on the phone, gave me a £1000 deposit and came and collected within 2 days paying balance in cash.

I underetand your issue but see a car, go view it and take cash asap.

 

just gotta be quick on the ball im afraid

took me between 1-2months to find mine, was in the same boat, see a car....too late its gone and a dealers got it

i was just lucky with mine, saw the ebay ad that had been up for 20mins, even more lucky it was 10mins away from me, went round that night, test drove, deposit to get it off ebay, bought the day after

fight fire with fire as they say

 

As a sage earlier contributor pointed out I think the lack of good stock is exacerbating the situation.

Someone pointed out on an another thread that it keeps prices up, so perhaps I'll be thankful when it comes time to sell.

 

I know how you feel OP.

I drove to Bradford a couple of weeks ago to buy an 83 Merc SL for a friend. Liked it, wanted it without haggling.

Seller was too honest. He sold the car to another guy who called before me and wanted to see it before me but seller couldn't accomodate.

On the same day I went to see an Evo that apparently had 3 people coming to buy so I better be quick. Car still for sale.

 

Good point, Shaid. There's a Spec C advertised and sold on this forum in Oct 2012 that's been at a dealer since then listed with a £5k markup.

Some of the dealers I must admit I'm reluctant to consider due to their reputation, so when they hoover up stock it's a good thing for sellers but less so buyers.

 

If you look at the spec c as a poverty spec Sti all of a sudden it's not worth soo much. I think they looks the mutts nutts in white though.

 

Have you a link to the car?

 

when selling i never bother with the first dibs crap, if you make an appointment on your timeline but someone else gets their first, i dont care! first come first served with the money is the buyer

 

nice guy

 

lol, cheers! but if he left a deposit over the phone or something thats different

 

Good to see lovely old school manners still exist in GB today

 

If a dealer came to buy my car I would be thinking I have advertised too cheap. Anyone got any good tips about sussing out a potential viewer as a dealer?

 

I bugs me when they buy them off ebya then relist them back on with a mark up. Its insulting lol

 

I wouldnt be fussed if it was a dealer or private punter - cash is all the same..!!

 

If we sell our van to a dealer (hopefully not...) they'll mark it up at least £10k...

The trouble is, it's easy and feels "safe."

 

too many timewasters these days "oh im coming on weekend" and you get let down, sit in all day waiting for them

Last one i had, we shook hands oh im a bit short i need to pop to cash point, told him where it was and never come back

 

i sold mine to a dealer - then 2 days later its advertised for just over £1k more on autortrader.

end of the day i was happy with the price i got for it, saves it sitting down the drive getting in the way and taxing it etc.

at the price he's advertised it he's no chance but may make a few hundred in the long run

 

just had a look and its stil for sale 3 weeks later

 

Worst of all are the really nice cars that are bought just to be broken for parts, a sad fate for many Bugs and Blobs. But the front end of my Bug was completely rebuilt with parts from other cars after a deer strike, so I can't complain too loudly.

 

This wasnt the one from rsdirect was it?