How honest are you when selling a car?

[Mannginger]

I've just sold my first car privately (or at least first private sale not to a friend) and wanted to be as honest as possible as I don't have enough time to have a lot of people coming over to see a 220,000km car and then fretting about bits and pieces so I pulled together the below ad to make it as honest as I could be. A couple of people contacted me for pics of the rust etc which I took and then sent on.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

She was advertised for a week, I had 6 folks contact me, (Along with 2 scammers), 2 people come to see it and the second chap bought it. The first may have done as well but he found himself too tall (Seemingly he'd only driven a Mk2 before) May have been excuse to walk away but either way it sold in a week.

For me sensible pricing and an honest ad was all I could be bothered with. I'm fairly sure I could have got another couple of hundred quid for her but I was happy, buyer was happy so all's well IMO

[swisstoni]

This thread probably explains why opinion polls are inaccurate. Everybody's honest apparently.

[skyrover]

EazyDuz said:

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.

Yes apparently there was a design flaw on the pre-2002 engines which caused the pistons to wear badly causing huge oil consumption.

She assumed that, being a Toyota it was a fairly safe bet. It was only the second car she had ever bought.

To make matters worse, the garage that recovered it her gave her 50 quid for the car saying it was all it was worth, despite it being a minter. I would have found another engine for it had she told me soon enough.

[UK345]

gizlaroc said:

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

I would say no issues I am aware of. If however they drew my attention to a specific part then I would elaborate at bit. For example, I sold my previous car to a chap who didn't bother looking around it underneath. The exhaust was on its way out but had just got through the MOT. As he never looked there was no way of him known so little point in pointing it out. He negotiated £150 off the price so that was more than enough to cover that cost

[GSP]

I've not had my own car for nearly 10 years, so have been out of the game for quite some time.

I have recently been looking for a defender 90 and viewed quite a few. I wanted one that was immaculate, so imagine my suprised when everyone I went to look at was a rust piece of st. Now I'm not a complete moron I know they are working vehicle which is what I intend to use it for to, but christ some of these described as immaculate had holes in the bulkhead.

Most seemed to be home traders who had machine polished and in some cases even resprayed badly cars to make a quick buck.

[Iva Barchetta]

gizlaroc said:

UK345 said:

The way i see it is the buyer has the responsibility to inspect the car before parting with cash. I will not go out my way to point out faults unless of course they are picked up on the buyers inspection. End of the day i am trying to sell the car and want to make it sound as appealing as possible. I leave the buyer to look around and discuss the features or recent work etc.

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

Somebody here admitted to "turning up the radio" on the road test to mask a wheel bearing noise.

And it's not gizlaroc.

[gizlaroc]

Iva Barchetta said:

Somebody here admitted to "turning up the radio" on the road test to mask a wheel bearing noise.

And it's not gizlaroc.

Haha, so he really does have no morals.

[Marvib]

Private sale...I will tell all I know and price accordingly.

Trade in...not so much.

[CX53]

Iva Barchetta said:

Somebody here admitted to "turning up the radio" on the road test to mask a wheel bearing noise.

And it's not gizlaroc.

Great, hope Im never unfortunate enough to buy from a like that

[Matt UK]

I'm the sort of wally that lives with minor niggles whilst I have the car... and then gets them all sorted a week before putting up for sale with a full 12 month clean MOT.

i know, I know, I'm doing it wrong...

[TheJimi]

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....

People like you rock

UK345 said:

gizlaroc said:

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

I would say no issues I am aware of. If however they drew my attention to a specific part then I would elaborate at bit. For example, I sold my previous car to a chap who didn't bother looking around it underneath. The exhaust was on its way out but had just got through the MOT. As he never looked there was no way of him known so little point in pointing it out. He negotiated £150 off the price so that was more than enough to cover that cost

People like you suck

[UK345]

Iva Barchetta said:

Somebody here admitted to "turning up the radio" on the road test to mask a wheel bearing noise.

And it's not gizlaroc.

You expect us all to be proud of that move iva ? People like you make buying a car a miserable experience

[J4CKO]

I point stuff, out, it gets people onside, but the key is not to go overboard, its up to the buyer to spot stuff, its worth mentioning the main things they will see anyway.

[Iva Barchetta]

UK345 said:

Iva Barchetta said:

Somebody here admitted to "turning up the radio" on the road test to mask a wheel bearing noise.

And it's not gizlaroc.

You expect us all to be proud of that move iva ? People like you make buying a car a miserable experience

Just to point out to all reading this .

It was UK345 that admitted on here that he covered up multiple faults on a crap Fiesta he sold.
Thread got deleted.

[Paul-4gg49]

EazyDuz said:

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

Can't happen afaik.

I know some people do receipts etc, but I only do something that says Mr X paid X for the car on X day. Just proves I sold it on a set date.

I absolutely hate selling cars, so I do the most eloquent descriptive adverts but leave out any overly negative points becuase, quite frankly, people looking online tend to immediately switch off if you mention scratches, etc. If they call, then we talk about other aspects that are less appealing where I explain them better than I could in an advert.

My last 3 cars I've sold to the first guy to ring me. Sure, there are some things we negotiate over, and if the buyer doesn't know their stuff then that's there fault, but I'm an honest seller and would never sell something that I wouldn't be happy to buy myself.

[CS Garth]

Private sale: I explain all as if the buyer was my mother. I might be a few quid down but I sleep well at night.

Trade in: I answer the man's questions honestly, he's a professional buyer, but wouldn't feel the need to draw his attention to anything otherwise

[havoc]

CS Garth said:

Private sale: I explain all as if the buyer was my mother. I might be a few quid down but I sleep well at night.

Trade in: I answer the man's questions honestly, he's a professional buyer, but wouldn't feel the need to draw his attention to anything otherwise

Sounds fair to me.

If something mechanical needs doing I do it, or if selling I make it clear to a buyer that it'll need doing / hasn't been done (e.g. cambelt in <1 year on Becs' GTi when we sold it last year, and still on original clutch at >80k). If it's cosmetic and noticeable then I'll probably have sorted it out, if cosmetic and minor then I won't (older used car private sale, not nearly-new main dealer) but I'll be completely honest in the advert...

...which has meant fewer people coming to see the cars I'm selling (I price fairly but won't give a car away, like so many people expect from private sale nowadays), but they've all gone to 1st or 2nd person to see them.

[V8RX7]

I am far more honest than anyone has been to me.

If all sellers and buyers were like me the world would be a better place !

Equally buyers ought to have a bit of common sense if you're buying a 15+ year old, 100,000+ mile car, for approx 1/20th of it's new price it isn't going to look like it just rolled off the production line.

[SuperHangOn]

UK345 said:

gizlaroc said:

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

I would say no issues I am aware ofcost

Bloody irritating tactic which results in wasted time and journeys.

I list any faults worth knowing about, saves time and hassle with disgruntled viewers.

[V8RX7]

SuperHangOn said:

I list any faults worth knowing about.

And there is the issue - what a seller thinks is a "fault worth knowing about" probably isn't the same as what a buyer thinks.

After I've bought a car I always ask "is there anything I should know or be aware of ?"

I once bought an MX5 and it turned out the boot literally flooded with water - 2" after a nights rain - the seller hadn't mentioned it - I could have left my laptop or dissertation in there !