Subtle indications that a car has not been loved
Discussion
I was looking at a Megane R26, which, all polished up, looked lovely but I noticed the mats inside were knackered and on closer inspection (thank you big image facility on eBay) the wheels were quite damaged. They might be subtle pointers but the mats oddly put me off a bit. I thought that if they were that knackered (worn/curling up) that the owner probably hadn't loved the car much.
What else puts you off?
What else puts you off?
brrapp said:
I actually look at the seller and where he is living before I look at the car. You can tidy up a car to hide a lack of care, but it's harder to hide your own personality.
This................and for me the engine bay.Anyone can take their car to the local "Romanian/Albanian" car wash once a week, but the condition of the engine bay can tell a great deal about the care an owner has put into looking after the car.
TJC46 said:
This................and for me the engine bay.
Anyone can take their car to the local "Romanian/Albanian" car wash once a week, but the condition of the engine bay can tell a great deal about the care an owner has put into looking after the car.
In this case I'm in a lot of trouble because I have never once cleaned my engine bay. Oh the horrors.Anyone can take their car to the local "Romanian/Albanian" car wash once a week, but the condition of the engine bay can tell a great deal about the care an owner has put into looking after the car.
codenamecueball said:
In this case I'm in a lot of trouble because I have never once cleaned my engine bay. Oh the horrors.
On the other hand, a clean engine bay to me would point out "it's been steam cleaned to hide a leak."For me: shabby interior and kerbed wheels(more than the usual graze) are the two biggest standouts.
Nickp82 said:
I look (amongst other things) at the number plates, in particular who made them. Matching franchised dealer plates from original supplier always a good sign, one plate on the front made by 'x and y auto repairs' is a warning sign to me
Why? My plates used to come from a mates Tyre centre that went bust years ago, I've had them years and had them on all kinds of cars from modern (at the time) TVR's to Mercedes'?
Nickp82 said:
I look (amongst other things) at the number plates, in particular who made them. Matching franchised dealer plates from original supplier always a good sign, one plate on the front made by 'x and y auto repairs' is a warning sign to me
Good tip, not something I've thought of before. Of course mismatched plates could have an innocent explanation, but if spotted I would definitely look a bit closer.Judging a car by its external visual quality to determine its internal mechanical / electronic quality is always going to be a guessing game. There was a Warranty Wise report recently that ~40% of used Porsches (in their sample) are reporting some problem or other. Porsche owners (on balance) are going to be toward the higher end of repairing, caring and shinying up their cars -- yet, they still report high failure rates.
Torquey said:
Tyres - if they are not matching, a decent brand and preferably OEM then I'd seriously think twice about it.
Matching Yes.OEM? No!
As long as they are a known brand I wouldn't be too concerned.
Also factor in people run cars on budgets, just because some have a tighter budget than others doesn't mean a car hasn't been cared for. So just because it has 4 regular run of the mill Dunlops that were on offer with the local tyre fitter rather than the highsport Dunlop (what ever they are calling them these days) (other brands are available) that doesn't indicate neglect just financial budgeting!
Tuvra said:
Nickp82 said:
I look (amongst other things) at the number plates, in particular who made them. Matching franchised dealer plates from original supplier always a good sign, one plate on the front made by 'x and y auto repairs' is a warning sign to me
Why? My plates used to come from a mates Tyre centre that went bust years ago, I've had them years and had them on all kinds of cars from modern (at the time) TVR's to Mercedes'?
clio007 said:
Seems like I can put some matching part worns on my old snotter along with matching front and rear plates and I will be onto a winner come sale time
Rent a lovely house on the best street in your area for a week or two also and bingo bango, top dollar for your old banger.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff