The distance you'll go to buy a second hand car...
Discussion
Saturday morning rant incoming, it's been eating away at me for a week...
When I were a lad, I used to have no issues driving all over the country to buy cars... sometimes we even embarked on 1,000 mile round trips with a V6 Omega and a trailer and there were times where the fuel alone outweighed the cost of the car we were bringing back. But it was a) necessary and b) good fun. Necessary because to find rarer stuff like Calibra Turbos and such nonsense, you had to travel. Good fun because it was a manly day out, buying cars, burning fuel and setting off to new lands. Numerous cars have come north of the border over the years, some were a waste of time but hey.
These days, I'm still happy to accept that for the right car or something the wee bit different, you do need to travel and that's still sometimes part of the fun, But, it's just become a bit more of a chore. I don't know if it's because the roads are busier, public transport is a bit of a ball ache or if it's because people selling cars seems to be a bit more... just, less accommodating these days.
Last Monday... finally decided that my aging but utterly dependable and lovable old V70 had to go, long story short... it's worth little so decided to trade it in against a similar aged V70R. Makes sense eh? Anyways, this seemed easier than public transport or enlisting a mate to help. One car down, deal done, one car home. So, spoke to the trader and yes, car's great... fresh MOT... runs perfectly etc etc. Looked fine, checked out fine so final words of "Now, it's ready to drive away yes?" Good, game on then.
Monday 06:30hrs and the old Volvo is fueled, I'm fueled and we're set to go... aaaaaand so it begins. Forth Road bridge congestion, M8 congestion, Ballieston, congestion... it's 7am for Christ sake but it's fine. M74 and time to open up the taps. Great, lorry racing, potholes, man in a van doing 62 in lane two. Relax... hit three lanes and here we go. No, middle lane sitters, people in 1 series driving like utter tools. Carlisle and a McDonalds and that'll sort me out. M5 and then off towards Leeds and a caravan, a lorry and a four tractors. Meanwhile all this time, sat reminding myself that I'm doing the right thing, the old Volvo is ruined, rattles, looks ruined... this is a good thing.
Get to said dealers... no sign of your man even though he knows I was coming and I called him an hour before arrival. There's the car though, here's what the high blood pressure was for. And it's utter garbage. One walk round sees a list as long as my arm... OSR tyre flat, NSF borderline illegal, brakes corroded, unwashed and flung in the corner of a yard. Quick look under and it's looking damp and rusty. Your man arrives, there's the key and off he goes to sweet talk the Autosmart rep. Interior stinks, floors covered in general filth. Fire it up... ABS light on (fresh MOT aye?, TRACS light on, service light on, 5 miles range and a squeak from behind the timing belt cover. I switch it off.
"It's not for me" I say, thanking him for his time... I know, I'm polite and patient man... "What's wrong with it?" he asks. Now clearly this guy is the Jason Manford of dealers and he's just having a laugh right? I smile and say "It's just for me, but cheers" and with that I get back in my old, ruined Volvo which suddenly feels like a Rolls Royce all of a sudden, reset sat nav for home via the misery of the M5 once again and having been there for all of 4 minutes, 10hrs and 525 miles after leaving the house I'm home.
My frustration over this whole farce has grown over the past four days... why was I so polite? Why did that lady in the one series drive for 23 miles in the middle lane? Why did I spend over £80 on fuel for this? Why did I think this was a good idea? I then spent the next few hours on Autotrader, distance set of "under 10 miles" looking at things like Renault Scenics and Suzuki SX4's. I've since found another V70R and also a nice A6... one's in Manchester, one's in Birmingham however where once I'd have been straight back down, now I just can't be bothered with the hassle and the let down. Now I think a Renault Bongo or whatever they are on a £99 a month PCP from the dealer 3 minutes up the road would be better.
Anyways, cool story / not enough swearing I know... but help me here, rekindle my desire to embark on a mission to buy cars in foreign lands, alternatively feel free to add your own stories / rants on the subject whilst I go off and price up a train ticket to Bolton. Wherever that is.
When I were a lad, I used to have no issues driving all over the country to buy cars... sometimes we even embarked on 1,000 mile round trips with a V6 Omega and a trailer and there were times where the fuel alone outweighed the cost of the car we were bringing back. But it was a) necessary and b) good fun. Necessary because to find rarer stuff like Calibra Turbos and such nonsense, you had to travel. Good fun because it was a manly day out, buying cars, burning fuel and setting off to new lands. Numerous cars have come north of the border over the years, some were a waste of time but hey.
These days, I'm still happy to accept that for the right car or something the wee bit different, you do need to travel and that's still sometimes part of the fun, But, it's just become a bit more of a chore. I don't know if it's because the roads are busier, public transport is a bit of a ball ache or if it's because people selling cars seems to be a bit more... just, less accommodating these days.
Last Monday... finally decided that my aging but utterly dependable and lovable old V70 had to go, long story short... it's worth little so decided to trade it in against a similar aged V70R. Makes sense eh? Anyways, this seemed easier than public transport or enlisting a mate to help. One car down, deal done, one car home. So, spoke to the trader and yes, car's great... fresh MOT... runs perfectly etc etc. Looked fine, checked out fine so final words of "Now, it's ready to drive away yes?" Good, game on then.
Monday 06:30hrs and the old Volvo is fueled, I'm fueled and we're set to go... aaaaaand so it begins. Forth Road bridge congestion, M8 congestion, Ballieston, congestion... it's 7am for Christ sake but it's fine. M74 and time to open up the taps. Great, lorry racing, potholes, man in a van doing 62 in lane two. Relax... hit three lanes and here we go. No, middle lane sitters, people in 1 series driving like utter tools. Carlisle and a McDonalds and that'll sort me out. M5 and then off towards Leeds and a caravan, a lorry and a four tractors. Meanwhile all this time, sat reminding myself that I'm doing the right thing, the old Volvo is ruined, rattles, looks ruined... this is a good thing.
Get to said dealers... no sign of your man even though he knows I was coming and I called him an hour before arrival. There's the car though, here's what the high blood pressure was for. And it's utter garbage. One walk round sees a list as long as my arm... OSR tyre flat, NSF borderline illegal, brakes corroded, unwashed and flung in the corner of a yard. Quick look under and it's looking damp and rusty. Your man arrives, there's the key and off he goes to sweet talk the Autosmart rep. Interior stinks, floors covered in general filth. Fire it up... ABS light on (fresh MOT aye?, TRACS light on, service light on, 5 miles range and a squeak from behind the timing belt cover. I switch it off.
"It's not for me" I say, thanking him for his time... I know, I'm polite and patient man... "What's wrong with it?" he asks. Now clearly this guy is the Jason Manford of dealers and he's just having a laugh right? I smile and say "It's just for me, but cheers" and with that I get back in my old, ruined Volvo which suddenly feels like a Rolls Royce all of a sudden, reset sat nav for home via the misery of the M5 once again and having been there for all of 4 minutes, 10hrs and 525 miles after leaving the house I'm home.
My frustration over this whole farce has grown over the past four days... why was I so polite? Why did that lady in the one series drive for 23 miles in the middle lane? Why did I spend over £80 on fuel for this? Why did I think this was a good idea? I then spent the next few hours on Autotrader, distance set of "under 10 miles" looking at things like Renault Scenics and Suzuki SX4's. I've since found another V70R and also a nice A6... one's in Manchester, one's in Birmingham however where once I'd have been straight back down, now I just can't be bothered with the hassle and the let down. Now I think a Renault Bongo or whatever they are on a £99 a month PCP from the dealer 3 minutes up the road would be better.
Anyways, cool story / not enough swearing I know... but help me here, rekindle my desire to embark on a mission to buy cars in foreign lands, alternatively feel free to add your own stories / rants on the subject whilst I go off and price up a train ticket to Bolton. Wherever that is.
I've usually travelled a fair distance to pick my cars up as I always feel it's worth it for the right car. A day of ballache for something you're going to keep is a small price to pay.
To be fair most of my older cars have been bought through forums so I had a good idea of their condition and their life with the current owner. I'd never travel far for an unknown to be honest.
Recently bought an almost new car and was tempted by one in Aberdeen. Wouldn't have thought twice about getting a bus, train and plane to go and get it, then a stupidly long drive home to the Midlands. Ended up only travelling about 100 miles instead.
To be fair most of my older cars have been bought through forums so I had a good idea of their condition and their life with the current owner. I'd never travel far for an unknown to be honest.
Recently bought an almost new car and was tempted by one in Aberdeen. Wouldn't have thought twice about getting a bus, train and plane to go and get it, then a stupidly long drive home to the Midlands. Ended up only travelling about 100 miles instead.
I've always had to travel 100+ plus miles to find a car I like and I've only been let down once. The one time I was let down was when I went to look at a premier EP3 Type R. First thing I did was turn the engine on, check the wheels, tyres and pads, turn engine off then check oil. The dip stick was as dry as a bone 
. He then drove straight to his local Tesco's with me on board to buy some budget oil and he let me thrash it back to his as I'd never driven an EP3 before. Feel sorry for the future buyer of it.
. He then drove straight to his local Tesco's with me on board to buy some budget oil and he let me thrash it back to his as I'd never driven an EP3 before. Feel sorry for the future buyer of it.
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OP, In view of your isolation, have you not considered asking a PHer local to any car you maybe seriously thinking of buying to Bob round and give it the once over for you ?
I don't mean conducting an extensive assessment, but perhaps just a bit of mobile phone video and a peak inside or a listen to the engine would weed out the dogs for you.
I don't mean conducting an extensive assessment, but perhaps just a bit of mobile phone video and a peak inside or a listen to the engine would weed out the dogs for you.
I don't know where you are in Scotland, but picking a loch lomond post code, there are dozens of V70s within 100 miles on Auto trader?
http://tinyurl.com/zce59aj
http://tinyurl.com/zce59aj
Screechmr2 said:
I've travelled 370 miles to get an mr2 turbo before. Mostly 100ish miles would be my maximum. Having now moved to near Norwich that might have to increase because there is very little choice here and they charge a premium because of it.
I had a chap travel from around Northumberland /Newcastle ( can't remember which) to buy my mr2 turbo off me in Surrey...unrelated?I hope it worked out for them, but at £1350 it was a pretty good price and was as described.
I also drove a £400 snotter from croydon to aberdeen for the sister in law, as you just can't get cheap motors up there. It was stolen about 2 weeks later...
Ian
Great story OP - sorry it didn't work out as you'd hoped.
I think some second hand dealers just want you to get onto the lot. Then they can deal with the problems (or not, as the case may be)
I've travelled far twice to get cars over the years.
I went from home (Durham) to Inverness on the train to get a Saxo.....craziness you may think...but the car was free (and i know the owner) and the whole - will this be a disaster was part of the fun.
I got a really cheap train ticket so i wasn't too out of pocket.
The 6-7 hour drive back through the night was somewhat 'epic' though, coinciding with one of the worst storms i've ever seen, which seemd to last the majority of the lenth of the journey back, there were a couple of occasions, one being going over the Forth Road bridge...where i nearly 'lost' the car.
The car was mainly fine...and it was FOC...so i couldn't complain too much!
The other time was again getting the train in totally the other direction to Bristol to pick up a Panda 100HP.
Tickets were one-way...didn't know the owner, didn't know how good the car 'really' was....there was little option, i had to take the car! But again that was all part of the fun.
Turns out it went great, guy was great (a regular on PH!), car was great and the only real problem was my sat nav ran out of battery on the way back up and wouldn't fit into the 12v socket...so i kinda got lost for an hour before managing to kinda get back on course.
Apart from these two times however...the majority of my other 20-ish cars have probably been bought from within 20 miles from home.
The Picasso was the closest....literally 1 minutes walk from my house!
I think some second hand dealers just want you to get onto the lot. Then they can deal with the problems (or not, as the case may be)
I've travelled far twice to get cars over the years.
I went from home (Durham) to Inverness on the train to get a Saxo.....craziness you may think...but the car was free (and i know the owner) and the whole - will this be a disaster was part of the fun.
I got a really cheap train ticket so i wasn't too out of pocket.
The 6-7 hour drive back through the night was somewhat 'epic' though, coinciding with one of the worst storms i've ever seen, which seemd to last the majority of the lenth of the journey back, there were a couple of occasions, one being going over the Forth Road bridge...where i nearly 'lost' the car.
The car was mainly fine...and it was FOC...so i couldn't complain too much!
The other time was again getting the train in totally the other direction to Bristol to pick up a Panda 100HP.
Tickets were one-way...didn't know the owner, didn't know how good the car 'really' was....there was little option, i had to take the car! But again that was all part of the fun.
Turns out it went great, guy was great (a regular on PH!), car was great and the only real problem was my sat nav ran out of battery on the way back up and wouldn't fit into the 12v socket...so i kinda got lost for an hour before managing to kinda get back on course.
Apart from these two times however...the majority of my other 20-ish cars have probably been bought from within 20 miles from home.
The Picasso was the closest....literally 1 minutes walk from my house!
sparkythecat said:
OP, In view of your isolation, have you not considered asking a PHer local to any car you maybe seriously thinking of buying to Bob round and give it the once over for you ?
I don't mean conducting an extensive assessment, but perhaps just a bit of mobile phone video and a peak inside or a listen to the engine would weed out the dogs for you.
Yes, definitely something I’d consider and something I’d be happy to do in return however on this occasion it was a dealer (something I rarely buy from!) and thus based on images and a few emails exchanged and discussions had, it seemed to be a good one. Quite cheap too, hence my gut feeling was he wasn’t even sure what it was thus could be a “find” as it were, thus on that… made the trip. That one backfired though! I don't mean conducting an extensive assessment, but perhaps just a bit of mobile phone video and a peak inside or a listen to the engine would weed out the dogs for you.
But indeed, would be great if such a thing was easily accessible… as you say, quick video walk round and a glance over could save us all a lot of time, money and hassle travelling the length of the country on wild goose chases.
The Mad Monk said:
I don't know where you are in Scotland, but picking a loch lomond post code, there are dozens of V70s within 100 miles on Auto trader? http://tinyurl.com/zce59aj
Appreciate that, but this was a V70R in a good colour and with an auto box… I could count on one hand how many of those have been available for sale within the past 12 months. For something different / rare / special, you have to be prepared to travel but sadly, as per my rant… these days even buying such cars is just more hassle than it’s worth.
Maybe just a changed market, people are less honest / too many Mike Brewer wannabe’s out there and perhaps the days of a gentleman’s word are long gone.
Just in case other's fall in to the trap, this is the car in question:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
I know, I know... Keighley... but did my homework and asked the questions... think I'm more annoyed at myself for having too much faith in humanity!
Bizarrely, the car was £2100.00 last weekend and by the time I'd got home, it was £3289.00... makes the whole situation even more farcical!
On the bright side, A65 was a fairly nice drive on the way back and my current V70 seems to be running much better after a decent run.
Ironically, the second car I've since found... it's 26 miles away from where I was 5 days ago.
Trying to muster up the enthusiasm to do it all over again this coming Monday... 10 years ago I wouldn't have even questioned it. I'd have already had my sandwiches made and drawn the route on my well thumbed copy of "AA British Road Map 1998 Edition" and dug out several CD's in readiness.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...
I know, I know... Keighley... but did my homework and asked the questions... think I'm more annoyed at myself for having too much faith in humanity!
Bizarrely, the car was £2100.00 last weekend and by the time I'd got home, it was £3289.00... makes the whole situation even more farcical!
On the bright side, A65 was a fairly nice drive on the way back and my current V70 seems to be running much better after a decent run.
Ironically, the second car I've since found... it's 26 miles away from where I was 5 days ago.
Trying to muster up the enthusiasm to do it all over again this coming Monday... 10 years ago I wouldn't have even questioned it. I'd have already had my sandwiches made and drawn the route on my well thumbed copy of "AA British Road Map 1998 Edition" and dug out several CD's in readiness.
I flew from Newcastle to Southampton last year to buy a Lotus Elan.....it was a nice car, the owner was a great guy who drove a fair distance himself to meet me at the airport. I drove it and didn't like it............didn't see that coming, and ended up hiring a car to get back.
I'd do it again though, if I thought it was for the right car.
I'd do it again though, if I thought it was for the right car.
The furthest I've been to see a car was only a couple of weeks ago.
Wife wanted a Fiat 500, "really really" wanted a white one with Italian flag stripe but was flexible as it would be a used car, wasn't bothered about spec as long as it was a 500 and wasn't silver, yellow, pink or had a red cloth interior.
I wanted to make sure she got a decent spec so a Lounge ideally in a 1.2 or Twinair; preferably a Twinair.
She kept on bombarding me with ads for Pop spec vastly overpriced cars with high miles.
Given our proximity to London, I set search engines to a 40 mile radius and didn't think I would have too much hassle finding something; oh how wrong I was, everything was crap, I wanted to buy privately too but very few people sell privately now and if they do they are too expensive. I saw a couple but they were terrible.
Then on a training course whilst up in Leicestershire a forum friend sent me a link to a well priced, private sale one owner, FSH, Lounge Twinair, low miles, white with Italian flag stripe, in Gosport; 50 miles from home, 150 miles from my training course.
I rang them straightaway, got a good vibe from them on the phone and arranged to go that evening, my course finished at 16:00, I drove straight there, taking three hours, within half an hour of arriving I had driven away having negotiated £200 off (I would have paid the asking price), leaving a £200 deposit.
We collected it last week.
Wife wanted a Fiat 500, "really really" wanted a white one with Italian flag stripe but was flexible as it would be a used car, wasn't bothered about spec as long as it was a 500 and wasn't silver, yellow, pink or had a red cloth interior.
I wanted to make sure she got a decent spec so a Lounge ideally in a 1.2 or Twinair; preferably a Twinair.
She kept on bombarding me with ads for Pop spec vastly overpriced cars with high miles.
Given our proximity to London, I set search engines to a 40 mile radius and didn't think I would have too much hassle finding something; oh how wrong I was, everything was crap, I wanted to buy privately too but very few people sell privately now and if they do they are too expensive. I saw a couple but they were terrible.
Then on a training course whilst up in Leicestershire a forum friend sent me a link to a well priced, private sale one owner, FSH, Lounge Twinair, low miles, white with Italian flag stripe, in Gosport; 50 miles from home, 150 miles from my training course.
I rang them straightaway, got a good vibe from them on the phone and arranged to go that evening, my course finished at 16:00, I drove straight there, taking three hours, within half an hour of arriving I had driven away having negotiated £200 off (I would have paid the asking price), leaving a £200 deposit.
We collected it last week.
That's an interesting point about driving and not liking...
Previously, I've mostly traveled to buy cheap (ish) performance stuff in the knowledge that a) it's a bit of a roadtrip b) things were easier back then and c) if it wasn't that great / didn't take to it, I'd take it anyways and 99% of the time you'd move it on north of the border with minimal loss.
But now, I don't know if it's because I'm nervous about committing to a car I haven't owned / driven previously thus don't want to travel to have a go and decide I simply don't like the drive or if it's because I'm worried that if I bought something and didn't gel with it, would I shift it on as easily?
Maybe it's because the majority of sellers these days are happy to brand the "no time wasters" tag around... seems if you don't buy it, you're instantly a time waster. I dear say your man there in Keighley thinks I'm a time waster but such is life... perhaps a sign of the sort of 'defensive selling' that's going on these days. It's almost like perspective buyers are bullied in to buying, ok a bit of a extreme view but still.
Maybe I've just got too soft, too cautious and time is too precious these days... reading some of these stories, I need to MTFU and get back on it!
Previously, I've mostly traveled to buy cheap (ish) performance stuff in the knowledge that a) it's a bit of a roadtrip b) things were easier back then and c) if it wasn't that great / didn't take to it, I'd take it anyways and 99% of the time you'd move it on north of the border with minimal loss.
But now, I don't know if it's because I'm nervous about committing to a car I haven't owned / driven previously thus don't want to travel to have a go and decide I simply don't like the drive or if it's because I'm worried that if I bought something and didn't gel with it, would I shift it on as easily?
Maybe it's because the majority of sellers these days are happy to brand the "no time wasters" tag around... seems if you don't buy it, you're instantly a time waster. I dear say your man there in Keighley thinks I'm a time waster but such is life... perhaps a sign of the sort of 'defensive selling' that's going on these days. It's almost like perspective buyers are bullied in to buying, ok a bit of a extreme view but still.
Maybe I've just got too soft, too cautious and time is too precious these days... reading some of these stories, I need to MTFU and get back on it!
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