Goodwood Sportscars
Discussion
This might sound like a daft question but if the cars are as good as the descriptions he writes, how come they appear to be so well priced?
I look at the asking prices for sheds in here and on Autotrader then compare them to his cars, and I know where I will be looking for my next car!
Steve
I look at the asking prices for sheds in here and on Autotrader then compare them to his cars, and I know where I will be looking for my next car!
Steve
The descriptions of the cars do set the bar very high in terms of what you'd expect should you be able to get to see one.
The difference between the cars from goodwood and some of the 'sheds' on autotrader in reality might not be much, however goodwood are traders, so of course they're going to make a bit more of an effort with descriptions, photographs and talk the cars up - if I ever sell my '5' I think I'll just copy and paste one of the descriptions from their website into my ad
The difference between the cars from goodwood and some of the 'sheds' on autotrader in reality might not be much, however goodwood are traders, so of course they're going to make a bit more of an effort with descriptions, photographs and talk the cars up - if I ever sell my '5' I think I'll just copy and paste one of the descriptions from their website into my ad
Edited by yellowbentines on Monday 20th June 13:10
Well hopefully "mine" won't be a shed...... 
Seems to me that being located where he is, he realises that to build his business he has to be open and honest about the cars...
Photos can obviously hide a multitude of sins but I've not seen a "shed" in his stock in the last few months while I've been looking...
To the OP, drop him an email and tell him what you are looking for and take it from there...
Seems to me that being located where he is, he realises that to build his business he has to be open and honest about the cars...
Photos can obviously hide a multitude of sins but I've not seen a "shed" in his stock in the last few months while I've been looking...
To the OP, drop him an email and tell him what you are looking for and take it from there...
I've met Steve, and he does come over as being a decent chap, and I enjoyed talking to him.
However, as said above, his descriptions set the bar impossibly high for the calibre of cars he's selling. I was fully expecting to see a cracker based on his description, but the reality was quite different. I probably wouldn't go quite as far as saying the car was a shed, but in my opinion, it didn't live up to the expectations set by the description either.
I agree that in reality, his cars are probably closer to the bottom end of the market, but with the added disadvantage of having a trader margin built into the price, although admittedly he does give the cars a fairly comprehensive going-over prior to offering them for sale and he was very honest with me about what issues he had uncovered with the car I was about to view.
Hit and miss, would be my summary - there's only so much you can expect from a sub £3k MX5 from a dealer, and that goes for any dealer, in my opinion.
However, as said above, his descriptions set the bar impossibly high for the calibre of cars he's selling. I was fully expecting to see a cracker based on his description, but the reality was quite different. I probably wouldn't go quite as far as saying the car was a shed, but in my opinion, it didn't live up to the expectations set by the description either.
I agree that in reality, his cars are probably closer to the bottom end of the market, but with the added disadvantage of having a trader margin built into the price, although admittedly he does give the cars a fairly comprehensive going-over prior to offering them for sale and he was very honest with me about what issues he had uncovered with the car I was about to view.
Hit and miss, would be my summary - there's only so much you can expect from a sub £3k MX5 from a dealer, and that goes for any dealer, in my opinion.
Hi all, I’m the guy who runs Goodwood Sportscars so perhaps you’ll indulge me.
Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
As for pricing, I try and stick under £2000 if possible. I like to turn my cars round pretty quickly and I know fine well that some of the better ones will sell for substantially more than my selling price but I’ll have them forever before they sell. The cheaper you sell them, the quicker they sell.
MX5s tend to attract a lot of people who have never had an older/convertible car before. In fact many of these buyers have only bought newish cars or run company cars and intend to use the MX5 as a weekend car. If they apply the same standards to buying a 20 year old car as they do to buying a new Audi, for example, its always going to be a steep learning curve if I’m not careful.
As for selling sheds - well I sincerely hope not. I check every car more thoroughly than most places and put right most things that many sellers wouldn’t bother with. Even so, occassionally I’ll miss something or something will go wrong days after purchase. Its the ‘joy’ of old cars.
I buy lots of cars from the public and know what an utter minefield that is. Hopefully the service I offer is safer than buying from Ebay etc but cheaper than buying from a big dealer.
Steve
Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
As for pricing, I try and stick under £2000 if possible. I like to turn my cars round pretty quickly and I know fine well that some of the better ones will sell for substantially more than my selling price but I’ll have them forever before they sell. The cheaper you sell them, the quicker they sell.
MX5s tend to attract a lot of people who have never had an older/convertible car before. In fact many of these buyers have only bought newish cars or run company cars and intend to use the MX5 as a weekend car. If they apply the same standards to buying a 20 year old car as they do to buying a new Audi, for example, its always going to be a steep learning curve if I’m not careful.
As for selling sheds - well I sincerely hope not. I check every car more thoroughly than most places and put right most things that many sellers wouldn’t bother with. Even so, occassionally I’ll miss something or something will go wrong days after purchase. Its the ‘joy’ of old cars.
I buy lots of cars from the public and know what an utter minefield that is. Hopefully the service I offer is safer than buying from Ebay etc but cheaper than buying from a big dealer.
Steve
Sbloxxy said:
Hi all, I’m the guy who runs Goodwood Sportscars so perhaps you’ll indulge me.
Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
As for pricing, I try and stick under £2000 if possible. I like to turn my cars round pretty quickly and I know fine well that some of the better ones will sell for substantially more than my selling price but I’ll have them forever before they sell. The cheaper you sell them, the quicker they sell.
MX5s tend to attract a lot of people who have never had an older/convertible car before. In fact many of these buyers have only bought newish cars or run company cars and intend to use the MX5 as a weekend car. If they apply the same standards to buying a 20 year old car as they do to buying a new Audi, for example, its always going to be a steep learning curve if I’m not careful.
As for selling sheds - well I sincerely hope not. I check every car more thoroughly than most places and put right most things that many sellers wouldn’t bother with. Even so, occassionally I’ll miss something or something will go wrong days after purchase. Its the ‘joy’ of old cars.
I buy lots of cars from the public and know what an utter minefield that is. Hopefully the service I offer is safer than buying from Ebay etc but cheaper than buying from a big dealer.
Steve
Sounds fair enough to me. Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
As for pricing, I try and stick under £2000 if possible. I like to turn my cars round pretty quickly and I know fine well that some of the better ones will sell for substantially more than my selling price but I’ll have them forever before they sell. The cheaper you sell them, the quicker they sell.
MX5s tend to attract a lot of people who have never had an older/convertible car before. In fact many of these buyers have only bought newish cars or run company cars and intend to use the MX5 as a weekend car. If they apply the same standards to buying a 20 year old car as they do to buying a new Audi, for example, its always going to be a steep learning curve if I’m not careful.
As for selling sheds - well I sincerely hope not. I check every car more thoroughly than most places and put right most things that many sellers wouldn’t bother with. Even so, occassionally I’ll miss something or something will go wrong days after purchase. Its the ‘joy’ of old cars.
I buy lots of cars from the public and know what an utter minefield that is. Hopefully the service I offer is safer than buying from Ebay etc but cheaper than buying from a big dealer.
Steve
Sbloxxy said:
Hi all, I’m the guy who runs Goodwood Sportscars so perhaps you’ll indulge me.
Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
Thanks for getting involved Steve, I've sent you a PM email.Yes you’re right in that I do try and write a detailed description as I hate having next to no info when I buy a car. Maybe some of you are right in that this makes the cars appear to be better than they actually are. I hope not and I am honest about faults etc beforehand.
Your firm does come from a bit of a different angle on selling as you're effectively trade, yet advertising/selling in a way a decent private seller who's an enthusiast might.
Therefore, people are going to expect an excellent car (forgetting it may be 20yrs old and that brings unexpected problems) as they're buying from a specialist/enthusiast and they're described and photographed very well, but as you are trade any little issue will get picked up, criticised and publicised for all to see.
Hence my comment about you setting the bar high with the descriptions, but they are good and as said I may pinch one if I ever sell my car
I bought my 1991 VS mk1 from Steve Bloxham last year
I can tell you the car was nicely prepared and all the niggles sorted out
Hes is a truly decent genuine bloke who cares passionately about what he does and really knows the marque inside out - and if I was buying another Eunos I wouldn't even contemplate going anywhere else
I would recomend him to anyone on this forum without reservation
I can tell you the car was nicely prepared and all the niggles sorted out
Hes is a truly decent genuine bloke who cares passionately about what he does and really knows the marque inside out - and if I was buying another Eunos I wouldn't even contemplate going anywhere else
I would recomend him to anyone on this forum without reservation
Anybody have any recent experience of Goodwood sportscars - I did a search and this seemed to be the most recent thread I could find.
I've just been given the go-ahead by mrs rejn to look for a mk1 MX5 and goodwood seem to have some nice cars in stock.
From what I see, goodwood aren't the cheapest, but they offer a bit more peace of mind than buying off ebay or trawling round local private sales - in particular, I'm wary of buying something where rust will appear through the sills in the first year of ownership!
I've just been given the go-ahead by mrs rejn to look for a mk1 MX5 and goodwood seem to have some nice cars in stock.
From what I see, goodwood aren't the cheapest, but they offer a bit more peace of mind than buying off ebay or trawling round local private sales - in particular, I'm wary of buying something where rust will appear through the sills in the first year of ownership!
I bought a mk2 RS there for a friend about a year ago - great car, honestly advertised for a decent price.
The previous owner had spent a fortune on it, but it was sold for less than it would have been put up for on Nutz IMO.
As for rust, apart from the longirons on mk2s, it's all easy to check for, and can't imagine that there'd be a barrier to proper inspection at there.
The previous owner had spent a fortune on it, but it was sold for less than it would have been put up for on Nutz IMO.
As for rust, apart from the longirons on mk2s, it's all easy to check for, and can't imagine that there'd be a barrier to proper inspection at there.
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