How honest are you when selling a car?

[EazyDuz]

And is there such a thing as being too honest?
For example, if the cambelt or other service part is due, do you ever say something like, 'cambelt due hence the price', or do you just leave that out.
I messaged a guy asking about the cambelt as it was at 68k and its due every 40k. He replied, 'It hasnt been done in my ownership and i dont know before then, but it hasnt showed any signs of needing to be done'.
Probably because the only sign is a snapped belt and £000's of repairs.

Likewise i'm selling a car which throws out a p0303 cylinder 3 misfire. The problem is it only does it ONCE every 2 or 3 months. I've checked the plugs which look fine so it could be the coil pack, but i dont want to spent a load buying new parts fault finding something that happens so rarely. I just clear the ECU fault codes using a bluetooth OBD thing and it gets out of limp mode on the fly, engine light goes out and its good again for weeks. So should i mention this in the ad or not bother?
I've also viewed/bought cars which claim all electrics work, then to find niggles like the air con doesnt work, or one light leveller is broken, which were either left out intentionally or the seller genuinely didn't know

[EazyDuz]

Jasandjules said:

I am very honest. To the extent that people come and complain that the "scratch" or "mark" I noted is hardly visible etc..

BUT I want someone to view the car knowing exactly what it is like and needs doing. Because I really fecking hate it when I view a car and discover a load of things they "forgot" to tell me.

ETA - I tend to find I sell my cars quite quickly too....

I've sold bikes very quickly as i have more experience in selling them. I go all out and do a Youtube video circling the bike talking about it, then a quick ride with cam in my helmet. First guy who called bought it, when he showed up i said, 'Not much more i can tell you as i said everything in the video', he laughed and it was sold within 10 minutes.
As a private sale the buyer has no right to come back moaning to you though as its sold as seen. I suppose i should mention the p0303 code though

[EazyDuz]

CX53 said:

I am always honest but I still always make the buyer sign two copies of a receipt, one for them and one for me, reading something like: I am happy with the condition of the car (reg no) and have been offered every chance to fully inspect the car prior to sale. As a private sale, the car is sold as seen on (date) for (£)

It annoyed the chap who bought my classic Saab 900 recently but I didn't want any aggro after selling a 22 year old car. It was very accurately described and he was complaining there was a tiny bit of plastic trim missing by the ashtray when he came to collect. It's a 22 year old car in great condition, described at great length and detail, and he was moaning about that. A receipt something like the above just stops any annoying pedant from giving you hassle afterwards!

Good call. So what are these horror stories i've heard about private sellers being taken to court?

[EazyDuz]

I much prefer emailing for detais, makes sending/receiving pics a lot easier too

[EazyDuz]

skyrover said:

As honest as I can be.

If a car has a terminal problem I will list it as spares/repair.

I have a friend who was sold a toyota celica with a massive oil consumption problem, to the point the engine seized 3 days after she bought it despite it having a full sump of oil when she purchased it.

The bloke had cleaned the rear bumper and exhaust of all soot deposits and brimmed the engine with oil before he sold it.

To say she was heartbroken is a massive understatement, not to mention the lack of car and subsequent financial hardship.

Edited by skyrover on Sunday 7th February 17:53

Pre 2002 model IIRC were known to guzzle oil. Always do as much homework as you can handle on the car you want. Join forums and bore them with mundane questions if you must.
Doesnt change the fact that its a scumbag move though.

[EazyDuz]

gizlaroc said:

So if the buyer asks "Anything I need to know about it?" will you tell them the issues or lie?

Thats open to interpretation i guess
Does the buyer NEED to know you went dogging in the car the night before and havn't had it valeted since?
Does he NEED to know the high beam left side bulb is out?
Does he NEED to know the aircon doesn't actually work but its too cold to tell either way? (this happened to me, turned out the condenser had shot it) Should have known to watch for the revs dipping when AC is turned on

[EazyDuz]

caelite said:

I have always been honest about issues, im getting to the point where I feel im being forced to blatently lie though, Ive bought 2 lemons in a row with issues that cant exactly be picked up in a test drive (one of them terminal), and im in a really bad way money wise and NEED to get them gone. I suppose when people do it too you you either have to take the hit or continue the cycle so to speak, the world is a stty place.

If they did it to you, doesnt mean you should do it to someone else. Karma

[EazyDuz]

swisstoni said:

It must have been some different EasyDuz who yesterday wrote the quote below when advising someone who'd bought a car with a bodged respray;

"Might just be the pics but it doesnt look very shiny. Looks like the clear coat isn't even there. I'd just get some of that colour matching polish and hide it as best you can, then sell the car if it gets any worse."

Please quote where I said, 'sell the car and not tell the buyer'?.
Never assume kiddo

[EazyDuz]

SuperHangOn said:

Of course it is very subjective but I do try to give a potential buyer a good idea of the condition before a viewing. I would certainly mention the leaking roof.

I try to view cars in better areas/parked outside nicer houses partly for this reason - less hard up people are likely to view their time as more important than eking every last £50 out of a sale. Doesn't always work of course.

Edited by SuperHangOn on Monday 8th February 08:40

This. If the pics are taken outside a council house with some hooded kids playing football in the background I dont even message. Those sellers usually have their cars for well over the market value in the hope that an idiot will buy so they can fund their booze and fag budget.
They're often abused too with no service history

[EazyDuz]

Bennet said:

Painful though it may be, personally I'd be mentioning that. Your buyer is unlikely to have a bluetooth OBD thing or know how to use one. To them it will be a trip to the garage every few months to get the fault cleared and could be a miserable, expensive diagnostic process while the garage try replacing this or that until something fixes it. This will probably spoil the car for them.

Would you fancy buying that car if you didn't know about the fault, or how to clear one?

No but a quick google of said code tells me within 30 seconds the most likely cause. So i'm still undecided. More towards telling them though, even though it happens so rarely, and it is a 12 year old car.