Tales of selling your car private
Discussion
My only two tales of selling private are quite uneventful really...
1) Listed car on Pistonheads at a price that would ensure it made it into the under 5k smoker barge thread. Fellow member on PH showed an interest, came round to view, I took him for a long drive and he bought it there and then with a little bit knocked off for low tread on a couple of the tyres.
2) Second car was a bit of a s
tter with so much wrong with it that I listed it only on eBay and kept it well away from the PH peeps. I had the usual barrage of idiots offering me half the price I wanted for it even though I'd priced it £3k lower than the cheapest comparable listing on eBay to allow for repairs.
Finally get good vibes from a guy who spoke English as his first language, so I invite him to come and inspect the car. He turns up, we go for a drive and during the drive the fking engine management light comes on for the first time ever! If it was me I'd have walked, but I offer to get my code reader from the garage to see what the problem is and he is happy to stick around.
Turns out to be the 'secondary air injector' - something non-trivial used to reduce emissions when the engine is cold (iirc). Buyer spends 10 mins looking up the fault on his phone, and confident he can buy and fit the replacement parts I knock him a few bob off the price and off he goes.
1) Listed car on Pistonheads at a price that would ensure it made it into the under 5k smoker barge thread. Fellow member on PH showed an interest, came round to view, I took him for a long drive and he bought it there and then with a little bit knocked off for low tread on a couple of the tyres.
2) Second car was a bit of a s
tter with so much wrong with it that I listed it only on eBay and kept it well away from the PH peeps. I had the usual barrage of idiots offering me half the price I wanted for it even though I'd priced it £3k lower than the cheapest comparable listing on eBay to allow for repairs. Finally get good vibes from a guy who spoke English as his first language, so I invite him to come and inspect the car. He turns up, we go for a drive and during the drive the f
king engine management light comes on for the first time ever! If it was me I'd have walked, but I offer to get my code reader from the garage to see what the problem is and he is happy to stick around.Turns out to be the 'secondary air injector' - something non-trivial used to reduce emissions when the engine is cold (iirc). Buyer spends 10 mins looking up the fault on his phone, and confident he can buy and fit the replacement parts I knock him a few bob off the price and off he goes.
ive bought and sold quite a few cars on ebay, mostly trouble free but:
i sold a renault espace diesel, 140,000 miles no reserve, for £320 a years mot and in quite good condition with a drop down dvd screen
they won without viewing, and turned up to collect, they came from Leicester to tottenham. it was a cold day and the husband stayed in the car, even though he was an mot tester!!! in the ad it stated that the clutch was a little stiff as i had just put a new cable on. he drove it home to leicester, and the next day she left me negative feedback saying it needed a new clutch
i agreed to buy a cerbera from pistonheads for £7750 but buyers dropped out of buying the bmw 850 and 350z i was selling at the time so i cancelled my cerbera offer. the next day i got deposits on both the 350z and the bmw 850, i then saw the cerbera i was after on pistonheads for £1250 on ebay, i bid on it and won the car for £1250 less than i was going to pay the day before. it gets better. i didnt get on with it and preferred my chimaera and put it on pistonheads on the monday and sold it that night to Jan from Finland for £8250, he paid me in 500 euro notes and i made £250 on the exchange rate, i was quite pleased :-)Jan drove it all the way home to Finland, the journey is on pistonheads.
i sold a range rover v8 that i had been using every day for 3 months for a 60 mile round trip, for £600 to someone who never looked at first, he paid me via paypal. he turned up with 3 mates to collect and asked for a test drive, i said why, youve already bought it. he grumbled and his mates got in and he roared off down the road as fast as he could.
i called him a few hours later to see how everything had gone, and he had blown the engine up, he wasnt very happy.
i have 1252 feedback on ebay all positive except for the 2 planks who bought the espace and the range rover.
i will add some more examples later
i sold a renault espace diesel, 140,000 miles no reserve, for £320 a years mot and in quite good condition with a drop down dvd screen
they won without viewing, and turned up to collect, they came from Leicester to tottenham. it was a cold day and the husband stayed in the car, even though he was an mot tester!!! in the ad it stated that the clutch was a little stiff as i had just put a new cable on. he drove it home to leicester, and the next day she left me negative feedback saying it needed a new clutch
i agreed to buy a cerbera from pistonheads for £7750 but buyers dropped out of buying the bmw 850 and 350z i was selling at the time so i cancelled my cerbera offer. the next day i got deposits on both the 350z and the bmw 850, i then saw the cerbera i was after on pistonheads for £1250 on ebay, i bid on it and won the car for £1250 less than i was going to pay the day before. it gets better. i didnt get on with it and preferred my chimaera and put it on pistonheads on the monday and sold it that night to Jan from Finland for £8250, he paid me in 500 euro notes and i made £250 on the exchange rate, i was quite pleased :-)Jan drove it all the way home to Finland, the journey is on pistonheads.
i sold a range rover v8 that i had been using every day for 3 months for a 60 mile round trip, for £600 to someone who never looked at first, he paid me via paypal. he turned up with 3 mates to collect and asked for a test drive, i said why, youve already bought it. he grumbled and his mates got in and he roared off down the road as fast as he could.
i called him a few hours later to see how everything had gone, and he had blown the engine up, he wasnt very happy.
i have 1252 feedback on ebay all positive except for the 2 planks who bought the espace and the range rover.
i will add some more examples later
Sold my wife's 2001 A3 1.8 TSport this Easter. The car was in excellent condition with a FSH (including an up to date cam belt - rare on an aging 1.8T.) Posted on the Autotrader website on Friday, bloke and his wife viewed on Saturday morning and returned with the cash (£100 less than an optimistic asking price) in the afternoon.
The engine light kept popping on for a 501 fault which we'd tried to get rid of by replacing all sorts in the engine (the odd sensor, hoses etc.). It never affected the cars performance or running and so I believed it to be spurious. I told the bloke this and gave him my Ebay fault reader I used to clear the code and he was happy as Larry that I'd been so honest with him
Steve
The engine light kept popping on for a 501 fault which we'd tried to get rid of by replacing all sorts in the engine (the odd sensor, hoses etc.). It never affected the cars performance or running and so I believed it to be spurious. I told the bloke this and gave him my Ebay fault reader I used to clear the code and he was happy as Larry that I'd been so honest with him
Steve
Last year I sold my DC2 Integra- the advert went up midweek, and I received an email enquiry that same evening from a chap in Holland. He requested a few more photos of it, and agreed to come over to view it on the Saturday.
He came to the UK on the Friday night, stayed in a hotel, then arrived at mine Saturday morning. I took him out for a quick test drive, he had a good look around the car and agreed to buy it.
Gave me the full asking price in cash making no attempt to haggle, drove with me to my bank to pay it in, went back to the house, rang his insurers to confirm a pre-set up policy for the car, signed all the relevant paperwork and off he drove.
I'll admit I'd been somewhat nervous getting an enquiry from abroad, but when he turned up he was a quality chap and a genuine enthusiast- and spoke fluent English.
It turned out that mine was the exact spec he'd been looking for (a 96-spec JDM with 98-spec brakes and a few other modifications) and that he was worried he was going to miss out on it!
So an excellent sale, within 4 days, to the first enquirer. So not all private sales are doom and gloom! I was gutted to see the car leave, but was over the moon that it went to a good home.
I still miss it...
He came to the UK on the Friday night, stayed in a hotel, then arrived at mine Saturday morning. I took him out for a quick test drive, he had a good look around the car and agreed to buy it.
Gave me the full asking price in cash making no attempt to haggle, drove with me to my bank to pay it in, went back to the house, rang his insurers to confirm a pre-set up policy for the car, signed all the relevant paperwork and off he drove.
I'll admit I'd been somewhat nervous getting an enquiry from abroad, but when he turned up he was a quality chap and a genuine enthusiast- and spoke fluent English.
It turned out that mine was the exact spec he'd been looking for (a 96-spec JDM with 98-spec brakes and a few other modifications) and that he was worried he was going to miss out on it!
So an excellent sale, within 4 days, to the first enquirer. So not all private sales are doom and gloom! I was gutted to see the car leave, but was over the moon that it went to a good home.
I still miss it...
A few years ago when selling my 328Ci I got a call from a guy who took the address agreed a time to view the car but never showed up. However these things happen and I thought no more of it. Then had a call from the police the gist of which was that they'd just picked up a known car thief in the Odsal Top area of Bradford for some offence and upon searching him had discovered that he had my name, address and some details of the car on him. They wanted me to check and confirm that the car was still in my possession since they were of the view he was planning to steal it or had already done so.
Was a bit of a nightmare since the Mrs was freaked out and (despite my protests that given police involvement he was unlikely to steal my car now) she refused to be in the house alone for ages.
Was a bit of a nightmare since the Mrs was freaked out and (despite my protests that given police involvement he was unlikely to steal my car now) she refused to be in the house alone for ages.
I've never sold a car on e-bay but I've bought one which led to an interesting experience with a follow on sale of another vehicle.
I'd always wanted an Alfa156 but being locked in to a company car scheme when they first came out I'd never scratched the itch.
Two or three years ago I was idly browsing e-bay one Saturday and I spotted a 1998 V6 very low mileage example on at £700. What I also spotted was that it was sitting on the forecourt of a well-known dealer in Italian exotica.
I certainly wasn't brave enough to buy unseen so I arranged to view and sure enough it was being sold by the dealership. Their reasoning was it was just too good to put through the trade.
Cut a long story short I decided I'd go for it and with a winning bid of £1,000 it was mine.
Trouble was SWMBO made it clear that I now had too many cars so one had to go. Regrettably I decided my trusty old Volvo 940 would have to go.
I decided to advertise on PH at £1100. A slightly cheeky price but it did have a very full service history, was fully functioning (except AC), taxed and MOT'd and had about 160k on the clock.
Roll on two weeks and not even a single enquiry. I was just about to advertise on AT or even e-bay when I had a call at work one afternoon. It was a young lady enquiring after my Volvo
To say I was surprised would put it mildly - a 13 year old 160k Volvo estate is not your usual car for a female twenty-something to drive around in.
What surprised even further was her first question 'Was it a GLE or GLT?'. I said I didn't have a clue so she followed with 'Does it have cruise control?' I said no and her response was 'It must be a GLE then'. At this point I really thought I had some nutter on the phone.
This was followed up by a couple more questions about the spec and then a 'OK, sounds interesting, I'll call you back in 10 minutes'.
Sure enough the phone rings ten minutes later and I was subjected to more questions - 'did it have AC, did it have heated seats, did it have a sunroof etc' to be followed with ' OK, I'll call you back in ten minutes'.
In that intervening ten minutes I considered what kind of buyer would go through such a process and firmly decided that I either had a complete headcase on the phone or some kind of scammer. So when the phone rang for the third time I asked who was calling. Her reply was ' Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I introduce myself, I'm Julie and I'm calling from BBC TopGear'
The rest as they say is history but it wasn't until she turned up to view the car 3 hours later that I really believed her.
(Apologies to those who may have heard the story before)
I'd always wanted an Alfa156 but being locked in to a company car scheme when they first came out I'd never scratched the itch.
Two or three years ago I was idly browsing e-bay one Saturday and I spotted a 1998 V6 very low mileage example on at £700. What I also spotted was that it was sitting on the forecourt of a well-known dealer in Italian exotica.
I certainly wasn't brave enough to buy unseen so I arranged to view and sure enough it was being sold by the dealership. Their reasoning was it was just too good to put through the trade.
Cut a long story short I decided I'd go for it and with a winning bid of £1,000 it was mine.
Trouble was SWMBO made it clear that I now had too many cars so one had to go. Regrettably I decided my trusty old Volvo 940 would have to go.
I decided to advertise on PH at £1100. A slightly cheeky price but it did have a very full service history, was fully functioning (except AC), taxed and MOT'd and had about 160k on the clock.
Roll on two weeks and not even a single enquiry. I was just about to advertise on AT or even e-bay when I had a call at work one afternoon. It was a young lady enquiring after my Volvo
To say I was surprised would put it mildly - a 13 year old 160k Volvo estate is not your usual car for a female twenty-something to drive around in.
What surprised even further was her first question 'Was it a GLE or GLT?'. I said I didn't have a clue so she followed with 'Does it have cruise control?' I said no and her response was 'It must be a GLE then'. At this point I really thought I had some nutter on the phone.
This was followed up by a couple more questions about the spec and then a 'OK, sounds interesting, I'll call you back in 10 minutes'.
Sure enough the phone rings ten minutes later and I was subjected to more questions - 'did it have AC, did it have heated seats, did it have a sunroof etc' to be followed with ' OK, I'll call you back in ten minutes'.
In that intervening ten minutes I considered what kind of buyer would go through such a process and firmly decided that I either had a complete headcase on the phone or some kind of scammer. So when the phone rang for the third time I asked who was calling. Her reply was ' Oh, I'm sorry, didn't I introduce myself, I'm Julie and I'm calling from BBC TopGear'
The rest as they say is history but it wasn't until she turned up to view the car 3 hours later that I really believed her.
(Apologies to those who may have heard the story before)
A while back i sold my Laguna DCI with a fresh MOT to a bloke who instantly taken it to a garage for inspection after he had bought it.
He calls me in the middle of the night to tell me that he is furious that i sold him a "deathtrap" according to the garage. The advising garage was the usual tyre fitter chain that is mentioned on here and after some chat it turns out its a death trap because one front drop link has some play. I explain the motives behind the tyre chain and that they are looking for a little earner.
He then says he is reporting me to VOSA. I explain that as an individual he can report me all he wants. Yet in a last effort of being nice to the guy i ask him to bring it back so i can give my trusted garage a second inspection. They put it up on the ramps and inspected all the areas that the tyre fitters called hazardous then turned round to the guy and told him what we already knew, the car was flawless.
He calls me in the middle of the night to tell me that he is furious that i sold him a "deathtrap" according to the garage. The advising garage was the usual tyre fitter chain that is mentioned on here and after some chat it turns out its a death trap because one front drop link has some play. I explain the motives behind the tyre chain and that they are looking for a little earner.
He then says he is reporting me to VOSA. I explain that as an individual he can report me all he wants. Yet in a last effort of being nice to the guy i ask him to bring it back so i can give my trusted garage a second inspection. They put it up on the ramps and inspected all the areas that the tyre fitters called hazardous then turned round to the guy and told him what we already knew, the car was flawless.
Edited by mini1380cc on Friday 4th January 09:50
I sold my Mondeo ST24 on PH a few years back.. the guy was travelling down quite far so I agreed to meet him at Exeter, about 100 mile drive up from SW Cornwall for me and the Mrs in her car to bring me back home.
With no deposit, or money for fuel.. so quite trusting for me! They agreed to extra for travelling costs.
When I arrived in Exeter, the guy was 2 hours late.. turned up in a mk1 Mondeo diesel and managed to get out of the car and lock the keys in the car with the engine running!!
I ended up calling my own personal RAC to have the car broken into.. took another 2 hours waiting around.. quite fed up by this point.
Eventually all was sorted, even had cheek to try and knock the price of my ST down, no chance. This was the last time I agreed to sell a car from anywhere other than outside my house, trying to help people out doesn't always work out for the best.
With no deposit, or money for fuel.. so quite trusting for me! They agreed to extra for travelling costs.
When I arrived in Exeter, the guy was 2 hours late.. turned up in a mk1 Mondeo diesel and managed to get out of the car and lock the keys in the car with the engine running!!
I ended up calling my own personal RAC to have the car broken into.. took another 2 hours waiting around.. quite fed up by this point.
Eventually all was sorted, even had cheek to try and knock the price of my ST down, no chance. This was the last time I agreed to sell a car from anywhere other than outside my house, trying to help people out doesn't always work out for the best.
I must be very lucky.
I've bought and sold cars and bikes on here and ebay over the years and never had any problem.
I did sell a Touareg to a rather well know foot ball player through an advert on here some years ago. He came and collected the car from my workplace and, as he got in, I warned him of a cast iron bollard behind the car and offered to get the car out for him.
Of course the car had front and rear parking sensors too, so there was no excuse as he promptly reversed into the bollard and damaged a light cluster and rear bumper!
Not being a follower of football, I had no idea who he was until one of my colleagues commented that 'It's the first thing he's hit in six-months!'
I've bought and sold cars and bikes on here and ebay over the years and never had any problem.
I did sell a Touareg to a rather well know foot ball player through an advert on here some years ago. He came and collected the car from my workplace and, as he got in, I warned him of a cast iron bollard behind the car and offered to get the car out for him.
Of course the car had front and rear parking sensors too, so there was no excuse as he promptly reversed into the bollard and damaged a light cluster and rear bumper!
Not being a follower of football, I had no idea who he was until one of my colleagues commented that 'It's the first thing he's hit in six-months!'
I love it and hate it in equal measures, when a deal goes great its a good buzz, when things get painful i wonder why i bother.
Nice story - Golf tdi 04 plate, guy rings me from Ireland, sounds genuine, gives full asking and i pick him up from airport. I do let him negotiate off £50 for a tank of fuel, i don't mind as it's been such a painless sale.
Bad story - Audi A3 tdi 04 plate, guy from Norway/Sweden rings, difficult to understand, wants me to bring the car into london, then richmond, then egham. i work fulltime so can't really drive to these locations in the middle of the day and anyway i'm suspicious and can barely understand the bloke. In the meantime and nice young lady comes down with her dad from oop north, go over the car with a fine toothcomb and make me a fair offer, i accept. First guy rings back and i tell him the car is sold, h goes mental telling me he had first refusal as he rang me first (he hadn't) and how i've broken a contract and he will ring the police to have me arrested. I told him to- etc etc
Odd story - 205 Gti (for a mate) bloke hands over the money in cash and says "i bet you're going to have a big nose up with that now" erm... i just put the money in the bank really.
Awful story - audi a4 avant "Has the car been owned by a <derogatary word for ethnic group>?" "i should've asked, are you a <ethnic group>" No way did i want these people anywhere near my house.
Nice story - Golf tdi 04 plate, guy rings me from Ireland, sounds genuine, gives full asking and i pick him up from airport. I do let him negotiate off £50 for a tank of fuel, i don't mind as it's been such a painless sale.
Bad story - Audi A3 tdi 04 plate, guy from Norway/Sweden rings, difficult to understand, wants me to bring the car into london, then richmond, then egham. i work fulltime so can't really drive to these locations in the middle of the day and anyway i'm suspicious and can barely understand the bloke. In the meantime and nice young lady comes down with her dad from oop north, go over the car with a fine toothcomb and make me a fair offer, i accept. First guy rings back and i tell him the car is sold, h goes mental telling me he had first refusal as he rang me first (he hadn't) and how i've broken a contract and he will ring the police to have me arrested. I told him to- etc etc
Odd story - 205 Gti (for a mate) bloke hands over the money in cash and says "i bet you're going to have a big nose up with that now" erm... i just put the money in the bank really.
Awful story - audi a4 avant "Has the car been owned by a <derogatary word for ethnic group>?" "i should've asked, are you a <ethnic group>" No way did i want these people anywhere near my house.
honest_delboy said:
Odd story - 205 Gti (for a mate) bloke hands over the money in cash and says "i bet you're going to have a big nose up with that now" erm... i just put the money in the bank really.
I thought that was the norm tbh, as both of my buyers asked whether I was going to get pissed/go shopping/rent a hooker...etc when they handed over the cash.JuanGandini said:
Some family friends of mine flogged their car privately for cash (think it was about £2k for a 10 year old 2.0 golf IIRC). I know nothing about the pain they went through with the deal itself.
BUT...
Coincidently someone broke into the house the same day, lobbed some sausages into the kitchen to keep the dogs quiet and made off with the cash.
I wouldn't accept cash now that I heard their story!
Almost the same thing happened to a member of my family.BUT...
Coincidently someone broke into the house the same day, lobbed some sausages into the kitchen to keep the dogs quiet and made off with the cash.
I wouldn't accept cash now that I heard their story!
Eldery great aunt had a MINT (cosmetically at least) mk1 Ford Capri which my Mum begged to buy from her for me. That thing looked like a concours car. It sat in her garage and barely moved so probably had a few mechanical faults but it would have been worth it. My mum offered her well what the car was worth and we thought it was almost a done deal.
Anyway Great Aunt Dot had a "friendly" & "concerned" neighbour who "looked after her" and took the car off her hands for £400. Knowing she was one of those elderly people that didnt trust banks, a few days later her house was burgled and the £400 taken. Car disappeared from the neighbours too probably sold for what it was actually worth
Buying a 205GTi:
I heard of a 205GTI at a local main dealer where a mate worked as a mechanic. My mate seemed to think it would be going to auction so I arranged a test drive for Christmas eve. Turned up and looked around it and took it for a drive. Knocking drop links and filthy interior aside it seemed OK. Back at the dealer just as we were about to talk money the salesman’s phone rang and he left the office. I took the opportunity, much to the horror of the girl I was with, to take a look at his paper work for the car. Turns out it was taken in at £2200 as a trade in. Salesman returns…
Salesman: It is going to auction, so what will you give me?
Me: £2000
Salesman: looks at paperwork and says he can’t take £2000, but how about £2300.
Me: OK, but only if you tax it.
Salesman: Can’t do that
Me: What about £2250
Salesman: Ok
Deal done.
Selling a camshaft through an internet forum:
I agree to sell a cam to a guy in Madrid from an internet forum that I use often. I agree to post it and upon receipt he will paypal me the money. He claims that the cam was never delivered. Royal mail tracked the package to a Spanish mail depot only. Another Madrid guy who frequents said forum and a Spanish forum contacts me and asked if my sale has gone OK as the buyer has a reputation as a st. I tell him that there was a problem, so he offers to visit the buyer’s local post office to ask if there is a record of the delivery. Turns out there is, with signature!
I confront the buyer with this and he tries to spin me some cock and bull that the house numbers of the street have been changed and it must have been delivered to someone else. Google street view shows a pic of the address and I post him a screen shot of the image, asking if that was in fact his address. I also sent a screen wash of another address with which the buyer was associated, kindly provided by my new friend in Madrid. Cue a few weeks of bullstting from the buyer claiming to know nothing of the second address and that his neighbours are denying all knowledge. Buyer helpfully suggests that I file a claim with Royal Mail. I tell him that Royal Mail have delivered to the depot in Madrid and it would be more helpful if I came to Madrid (I posted a screenshot of the EasyJet flights) as it would be easier if we both went to the local post office and asked for a comparison of signatures.
Two days later the cam turns up at a neighbours and he offers to return it. I say no, my new friend in Madrid will collect and in the end buys it off me anyway.
I subsequently posted on the Spanish forum what had happened, without prejudice. Cue lots of abuse and name calling.
tt.
Selling Civic Type-R on Autotrader:
Guy calls and has a look at the car in the presence of my dad as I was offshore. He pays asking price, paperwork filled in and off he goes. Ten days later, I get a NIP from a camera 20 miles from my house, so I phone the guy up and confirm his name and address. When he asked why I needed to know, I told him that I have the NIP and I will be forwarding on his info as the drive. He wasn’t happy!
I heard of a 205GTI at a local main dealer where a mate worked as a mechanic. My mate seemed to think it would be going to auction so I arranged a test drive for Christmas eve. Turned up and looked around it and took it for a drive. Knocking drop links and filthy interior aside it seemed OK. Back at the dealer just as we were about to talk money the salesman’s phone rang and he left the office. I took the opportunity, much to the horror of the girl I was with, to take a look at his paper work for the car. Turns out it was taken in at £2200 as a trade in. Salesman returns…
Salesman: It is going to auction, so what will you give me?
Me: £2000
Salesman: looks at paperwork and says he can’t take £2000, but how about £2300.
Me: OK, but only if you tax it.
Salesman: Can’t do that
Me: What about £2250
Salesman: Ok
Deal done.
Selling a camshaft through an internet forum:
I agree to sell a cam to a guy in Madrid from an internet forum that I use often. I agree to post it and upon receipt he will paypal me the money. He claims that the cam was never delivered. Royal mail tracked the package to a Spanish mail depot only. Another Madrid guy who frequents said forum and a Spanish forum contacts me and asked if my sale has gone OK as the buyer has a reputation as a s
t. I tell him that there was a problem, so he offers to visit the buyer’s local post office to ask if there is a record of the delivery. Turns out there is, with signature! I confront the buyer with this and he tries to spin me some cock and bull that the house numbers of the street have been changed and it must have been delivered to someone else. Google street view shows a pic of the address and I post him a screen shot of the image, asking if that was in fact his address. I also sent a screen wash of another address with which the buyer was associated, kindly provided by my new friend in Madrid. Cue a few weeks of bulls
tting from the buyer claiming to know nothing of the second address and that his neighbours are denying all knowledge. Buyer helpfully suggests that I file a claim with Royal Mail. I tell him that Royal Mail have delivered to the depot in Madrid and it would be more helpful if I came to Madrid (I posted a screenshot of the EasyJet flights) as it would be easier if we both went to the local post office and asked for a comparison of signatures. Two days later the cam turns up at a neighbours and he offers to return it. I say no, my new friend in Madrid will collect and in the end buys it off me anyway.
I subsequently posted on the Spanish forum what had happened, without prejudice. Cue lots of abuse and name calling.
t
t.Selling Civic Type-R on Autotrader:
Guy calls and has a look at the car in the presence of my dad as I was offshore. He pays asking price, paperwork filled in and off he goes. Ten days later, I get a NIP from a camera 20 miles from my house, so I phone the guy up and confirm his name and address. When he asked why I needed to know, I told him that I have the NIP and I will be forwarding on his info as the drive. He wasn’t happy!
JDFR said:
And my dog died after he ate your sausages. He was run over but that is not the point.
I have posted you a new puppy*. We aim to please. 
- Any failure to arrive is down to the Royal Mail and the bubble-wrap packaging used.
honest_delboy said:
Bad story - Audi A3 tdi 04 plate, guy from Norway/Sweden rings, difficult to understand,
Are you sure it was Norway or Sweden? Every single person Ive ever met from Norway or Sweden has spoken perfect English. Ive been there 25+ times and even the staff in McDonald speak fluent English to a level that many innit bruv types would be ashamed of. No reason to doubt your story but would be far more likely to be Eastern European or somewhere other than Scandinavia. The easy sales and purchases:-
1) It was 1999 and I had just sold my Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI to fund my first house purchase
, but needs must. It then transpired that me and the GF sharing lifts to the train station was not going to work. I needed a snotter. Fortunately the GF BIL worked in the trade, and he had a car come in that was perfect for me! It was a 1987 Renault 5 1.4 Campus (4 door!). It had a years tax and MOT, and would be perfect for my station run about. I told him to get it - and I would give £150 for it.
He drove it round my house that evening. It ran fine. Unfortunately every panel on the thing looked like it had been hit with a baseball bat. I mean every panel! It did the job though - was used as a station car, to get to and from football etc. I never locked it, and it never got nicked. Was perfect. I drove it everywhere as fast as it would possibly go (which was not very).
I got it retaxed and MOT'd, and then it started to overheat after driving about 10 mins - and I had the opportunity to get a bargain car (see below). I am sure it was a head gasket going. I stuck a sign in the window of the car for a week (offers - with no minimum price) as I drove it around, but thought it was going to die, and I would end up scrapping it.
Some guy from the station saw it, and called me up and offered £250. I never mentioned the overheating when he came, but did say to my Mrs if he called back to complain about it overheating I would refund the money. He never called back, and I saw the car for the next couple of years being used on the station run!
2) A mate at work had bought a 1994 Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 V6 16v from the company car scheme where we worked in 1997. It was now 2000. I remember he advertised the car for £5000 on AutoTrader and I kept telling he would not get anywhere near that for the car. I offered him (unseen other than a brief glimpse at work one weekend) £2500 for it! He told me where to go.
Everyday I would ask if he had sold it or not, and everyday I would say my offer still stands! He wanted a Golf GTI at the time. I kept looking at Golfs online during my lunch hour for him, and eventually (probably 3 months after he first had it advertised) I saw one that he really liked - but he had to sell his Galant first. I offered £2500 again for it! He did the maths on the back of a fag packet and said he needed £2750. I said I would go round and take a look at it - and see if I could raise the extra funds.
I went and looked the following evening, and bought the car. 75k miles, and loads of toys! It was my first proper car, and I loved it! I kept it for nearly 4 years - as it rolled past the 125k miles.
I then decided that I wanted a new car, and I was talking to a mate on a golf holiday that I was thinking about selling the Galant, to purchase a new car. He wanted it. He really wanted it - it had become a cult car amongst my mates. He did not have a lot of money though. I asked him how much he would give for it, and he said he had £750. I shook hands with him on the holiday as an agreed price, and as soon as I found my next car (Alfa GTV) - he came round with £750 and took it off my hands.
Is the only vehicle I have bought or sold where I had no idea of the value of it (and nor did he) - we both just had a price that both of us were comfortable letting the other one have it for, and that worked for us.
He still had the car around 2008! It had done over 175K miles - and then the gearbox went. He was at his girlfriends, and he could only get the car into reverse. He reversed it home for 3 or 4 miles in the early hours of the morning, and it was finally towed away.
He called me to come and see it before it was collected! I loved that car!
1) It was 1999 and I had just sold my Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI to fund my first house purchase
, but needs must. It then transpired that me and the GF sharing lifts to the train station was not going to work. I needed a snotter. Fortunately the GF BIL worked in the trade, and he had a car come in that was perfect for me! It was a 1987 Renault 5 1.4 Campus (4 door!). It had a years tax and MOT, and would be perfect for my station run about. I told him to get it - and I would give £150 for it.He drove it round my house that evening. It ran fine. Unfortunately every panel on the thing looked like it had been hit with a baseball bat. I mean every panel! It did the job though - was used as a station car, to get to and from football etc. I never locked it, and it never got nicked. Was perfect. I drove it everywhere as fast as it would possibly go (which was not very).
I got it retaxed and MOT'd, and then it started to overheat after driving about 10 mins - and I had the opportunity to get a bargain car (see below). I am sure it was a head gasket going. I stuck a sign in the window of the car for a week (offers - with no minimum price) as I drove it around, but thought it was going to die, and I would end up scrapping it.
Some guy from the station saw it, and called me up and offered £250. I never mentioned the overheating when he came, but did say to my Mrs if he called back to complain about it overheating I would refund the money. He never called back, and I saw the car for the next couple of years being used on the station run!
2) A mate at work had bought a 1994 Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 V6 16v from the company car scheme where we worked in 1997. It was now 2000. I remember he advertised the car for £5000 on AutoTrader and I kept telling he would not get anywhere near that for the car. I offered him (unseen other than a brief glimpse at work one weekend) £2500 for it! He told me where to go.
Everyday I would ask if he had sold it or not, and everyday I would say my offer still stands! He wanted a Golf GTI at the time. I kept looking at Golfs online during my lunch hour for him, and eventually (probably 3 months after he first had it advertised) I saw one that he really liked - but he had to sell his Galant first. I offered £2500 again for it! He did the maths on the back of a fag packet and said he needed £2750. I said I would go round and take a look at it - and see if I could raise the extra funds.
I went and looked the following evening, and bought the car. 75k miles, and loads of toys! It was my first proper car, and I loved it! I kept it for nearly 4 years - as it rolled past the 125k miles.
I then decided that I wanted a new car, and I was talking to a mate on a golf holiday that I was thinking about selling the Galant, to purchase a new car. He wanted it. He really wanted it - it had become a cult car amongst my mates. He did not have a lot of money though. I asked him how much he would give for it, and he said he had £750. I shook hands with him on the holiday as an agreed price, and as soon as I found my next car (Alfa GTV) - he came round with £750 and took it off my hands.
Is the only vehicle I have bought or sold where I had no idea of the value of it (and nor did he) - we both just had a price that both of us were comfortable letting the other one have it for, and that worked for us.
He still had the car around 2008! It had done over 175K miles - and then the gearbox went. He was at his girlfriends, and he could only get the car into reverse. He reversed it home for 3 or 4 miles in the early hours of the morning, and it was finally towed away.
He called me to come and see it before it was collected! I loved that car!
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