Selling Your Car Experience - Is It The Same For You?
22 October 2002, 11:49 AM
#1
I sold my Vectra last night. Realistically priced for a 92K 5yr old diesel with FSH.
It went in the papers last Wednesday & someone rang Thurs to arrange viewing on Saturday morning. Other than that, I'd had no calls (now had a further 4 for different papers wanting me to advertise with them
)
Bloke & his partner turn up @ 10:45 (late). He walks once round the car. I take them out for a short drive & that's it. Didn't ask to see paperwork, wasn't interested in hearing about recent work or anything else. Said he'd call back after he'd been to look at another car but TBH I wasn't surprised when he didn't.
Just after he'd left, I get another phonecall from another bloke. Just wants to come & see the car - no other questions except what colour. He turns up with his wife and again its once round the car, a good look inside at the dashboard & off we go for a drive (me driving). He doesn't ask any questions that might show any knowledge of cars so I felt compelled to show him that it braked in a straight line, no steering pull etc. Again, he takes my word that the car is HPI clear & has a full dealer service history & has no known accidents. No checking of shutlines etc. Even tell him I'd be taking the CD player out and I show him all the defects that there are - cracked bumper (bird-stike) & leak in boot. He just turns round and says he'll pay the asking - no haggling
Left a deposit & turned up last night with cash & drove it away (sob 
). Cash is now banked & worming its way towards my overdraft
This begs the question... WTF?
Did I price it too low? Sept Glasses for the mileage was £4050. It was stonechip city, scraped bumpers & a cracked front one. It wasn't particularly clean (marks & ingrained dirt) inside & the boot lets in water from the n/s/r wheel arch. 4mm only on the tyres & the MOT expires in 1 month. I had it up for £3750 which is what a local dealer reckoned I should start at for a sale. So presume a reasonable price.
But neither of the two people that came to see it paid any attention to the most obvious things that might stitch them up & cost them money. No independant HPI check (mine was for me buying the car 2.5 years ago) so it could've still been subject to a finance agreement. No checking of the service book to verify my claim of full dealer servicing. No checking of Vin/Chasis/Engine numbers whatsoever. No checking of Tax Disk or MOT. No AA/RAC check or independant garage check or mate in the business type check. No checking of shutlines and evidence of accident damage repairs or cut'n'shut. In fact nothing like any of the steps I would take if I was going to part with £3750 of my hard earned cash
I'm not surprised that unscrupulous dealers/sellers are able to rip people off if they don't take even the most basic steps to protect themselves. Is it just me and this instance or is it the norm?
It went in the papers last Wednesday & someone rang Thurs to arrange viewing on Saturday morning. Other than that, I'd had no calls (now had a further 4 for different papers wanting me to advertise with them
)Bloke & his partner turn up @ 10:45 (late). He walks once round the car. I take them out for a short drive & that's it. Didn't ask to see paperwork, wasn't interested in hearing about recent work or anything else. Said he'd call back after he'd been to look at another car but TBH I wasn't surprised when he didn't.
Just after he'd left, I get another phonecall from another bloke. Just wants to come & see the car - no other questions except what colour. He turns up with his wife and again its once round the car, a good look inside at the dashboard & off we go for a drive (me driving). He doesn't ask any questions that might show any knowledge of cars so I felt compelled to show him that it braked in a straight line, no steering pull etc. Again, he takes my word that the car is HPI clear & has a full dealer service history & has no known accidents. No checking of shutlines etc. Even tell him I'd be taking the CD player out and I show him all the defects that there are - cracked bumper (bird-stike) & leak in boot. He just turns round and says he'll pay the asking - no haggling
Left a deposit & turned up last night with cash & drove it away (sob ). Cash is now banked & worming its way towards my overdraft This begs the question... WTF?
Did I price it too low? Sept Glasses for the mileage was £4050. It was stonechip city, scraped bumpers & a cracked front one. It wasn't particularly clean (marks & ingrained dirt) inside & the boot lets in water from the n/s/r wheel arch. 4mm only on the tyres & the MOT expires in 1 month. I had it up for £3750 which is what a local dealer reckoned I should start at for a sale. So presume a reasonable price.
But neither of the two people that came to see it paid any attention to the most obvious things that might stitch them up & cost them money. No independant HPI check (mine was for me buying the car 2.5 years ago) so it could've still been subject to a finance agreement. No checking of the service book to verify my claim of full dealer servicing. No checking of Vin/Chasis/Engine numbers whatsoever. No checking of Tax Disk or MOT. No AA/RAC check or independant garage check or mate in the business type check. No checking of shutlines and evidence of accident damage repairs or cut'n'shut. In fact nothing like any of the steps I would take if I was going to part with £3750 of my hard earned cash
I'm not surprised that unscrupulous dealers/sellers are able to rip people off if they don't take even the most basic steps to protect themselves. Is it just me and this instance or is it the norm?
22 October 2002, 12:36 PM
#4
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Looking at buying a car at the moment and like you say I go over everything with a fine tooth comb.. there is one I want to buy but I didn't get to check in the boot to see if it had been rear ended (I forgot) but everything else is perfect but I am not going for it until I can see in that boot.. might agree to buy it and give it one last check over before I part with the money and drive it away..
Sounds like you did good.. I am sure I would never be that lucky..
I always end up part exchanging rather than selling private...
JGM
Sounds like you did good.. I am sure I would never be that lucky..
I always end up part exchanging rather than selling private...
JGM
22 October 2002, 12:49 PM
#5
Scooby Regular
You generally get a feeling as to whether a car is straight or not. I know I shouldn't but I never check HPi, etc etc and dont really do much except look around it, check the shutlines, check tyres etc.
When I bought my MR2, I didn't even drive it. My dad has one, so I knew they were nice cars. I was too busy at the time with work, but had a couple of days to buy a car. So I gave £6k to my dad, and off he went to buy it. Needed a new rad, but other than that has been faultless in the last 20 months/13k miles
When I bought my MR2, I didn't even drive it.
My dad has one, so I knew they were nice cars. I was too busy at the time with work, but had a couple of days to buy a car. So I gave £6k to my dad, and off he went to buy it. Needed a new rad, but other than that has been faultless in the last 20 months/13k miles
22 October 2002, 12:49 PM
#6
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I'm not surprised either. It's been a while since I sold a car privately to someone I did n't know, but even then it was amazing what people do (or don't do).
And you wonder why the likes of driven still bang on about checking this and that etc
And you wonder why the likes of driven still bang on about checking this and that etc
22 October 2002, 12:53 PM
#7
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Not suprised, had the same kinda thing whenever i have sold a car privately.
When i sold my cav 4x4 turbo all the guy checked was that his buggy would fit in the boot!!! ....and i'm sure some people here will vouch for how many things can often go wrong on a 4x4 cav...transfer box anybody
!
When i sold my cav 4x4 turbo all the guy checked was that his buggy would fit in the boot!!! ....and i'm sure some people here will vouch for how many things can often go wrong on a 4x4 cav...transfer box anybody
!
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22 October 2002, 01:00 PM
#8
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Its a lot about the person that you're buying from or selling to. I know some people are good at confidence tricks, but generally when buying I decide quite quickly if I believe the person or not. And when selling I also quickly decide if the person is a timewaster or not.
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