The Used Car Hunt
Author
Discussion

Tonberry

Original Poster:

2,277 posts

219 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Does anyone actually enjoy this? Wading through the st to eventually find a respectable example of what isn't a particularly rare or desirable car?

Overpriced. Not as described. Dishonest sellers.

It's becoming a part time job. Only without the wage.

What is the longest you have waited for the 'right' car?

Deluded

4,968 posts

218 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
It's a total pain in the arse.

What really pisses me off though is sellers who can't answer simple questions.

Emailed an eBay ad the other day with some questions about the car not mentioned in the ad. They replied with "call me 0793...."

fk off!

Bill

58,215 posts

282 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
yes There are two reasons I keep cars for ages, this and having to sell the old one.

MondeoMan1981

2,452 posts

210 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Day five for me. My head is bursting. Sellers not answering calls or emails. Lying about condition. Every ad full of bull. Dream land prices. People saying no offers when they've been trying to sell for five months at the same price!

Mojooo

13,291 posts

207 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Funnily enough just foudn out today my car needs some repairs so am deciding whether to bin it or repair it.

Finding a new car is half the hassle, at least with mine I know what I have.

RenesisEvo

3,824 posts

246 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
What is the longest you have waited for the 'right' car?
My current car was purchased after looking for around 6 months. I had a pretty good idea what I wanted, but nothing was coming up that was the right spec/price/location/condition etc. I happened across the one I bought almost by accident, I wonder if I rushed into it because I was so tired of waiting and searching. I don't have any regrets yet.

CoolHands

23,050 posts

222 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
It takes ages and two or three trips to see old shonkers 80 miles away (described as mint) before you find a genuine non-abused one. It's worth getting the right one though.

Captain Muppet

8,540 posts

292 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
Does anyone actually enjoy this? Wading through the st to eventually find a respectable example of what isn't a particularly rare or desirable car?
I've never bought a car that I didn't find desirable. Must be soul destroying.

I hate being lied to, which seems to happen with 80% of the cars I look at, but it's worth it because at the end of the struggle I get a car I really want (unless it's a rust free mk1 MR2 in which case I give up after six months and buy something else I really want instead).

matthias73

2,901 posts

177 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
I was on the hunt for a reasonably priced triumph spitfire last year. There were a couple of good looking ones, but they all had far to much non documented work on them for me to be happy (Mostly sills made out of filler, with no indication of who or when it was done)

I gave up in the end, the one I found in brilliant condition (20+photos that showed trouble spots were good) was sold before I was able to go get it.

I'm going to try again sometime with a larger budget to find the right one.

Zwolf

25,867 posts

233 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Tonberry said:
Does anyone actually enjoy this? Wading through the st to eventually find a respectable example of what isn't a particularly rare or desirable car?

Overpriced. Not as described. Dishonest sellers.

It's becoming a part time job. Only without the wage.

What is the longest you have waited for the 'right' car?
Absolutely love unearthing decent, reasonably priced examples of cars. The trick lies in not expecting the best car to be available at the lowest price, which is what consumes most people's futile attempts and feeds frustration.

Two and half years is the longest, during the course of which I ended up buying a few half respectable alternatives, running them for a bit before moving them on whilst the search continues for the best example of the original target car.

I eventually found it. It was dear compared to the rest of the examples I'd seen, but it was clearly worth every penny, I got to run it for a year or so before being made an offer that made sense at which to sell. To this day I wish I hadn't taken it up and bought a half-priced substitute to tide me over.


clockworks

7,457 posts

172 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
I've never bought a used car from a private seller that I didn't know. I've owned quite a few cars, but the secondhand ones have always come from dealers, family, or acquaintances.
I just couldn't face the hassle of buying from a private seller. I'd rather spend the extra money.

deltashad

6,731 posts

224 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
My brother bought a Mazda 6 from ebay. Looked really nice, we spoke to the garage and asked about the condition, we told him we would be driving from Perth Scotland to pick up the car (Manchester).

He said he'd fully checked the car and it was a minter.

We got there and it was only firing on 3 cylinders. We tightened the spark plug and started it, blue smoke. Ten minutes later still reaking of blue smoke.

I really didn't like the guy, came across as a total crook. We had to leave carless.


MondeoMan1981

2,452 posts

210 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Day five for me. My head is bursting. Sellers not answering calls or emails. Lying about condition. Every ad full of bull. Dream land prices. People saying no offers when they've been trying to sell for five months at the same price!

Zwolf

25,867 posts

233 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
MondeoMan1981 said:
Day five for me. My head is bursting. Sellers not answering calls or emails. Lying about condition. Every ad full of bull. Dream land prices. People saying no offers when they've been trying to sell for five months at the same price!
Try a year or several on the other side of the equation and you'll soon enough realise that there's much truth in the old adage of "buyers are liars".

Jasandjules

72,425 posts

256 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
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I think it was about eight months and 22 or so cars viewed before finally purchasing my first Chimaera. I am not fussy, honest wink

KardioKate

1,584 posts

181 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
I've been trying to source a Picasso for my parents.

The area is full of mid £2k cars which have just been wrecked by careless owners and kids. I know that Picassos are maybe not the most inspiring of cars, but there's no need to treat them so badly.

I've found that dealers seem to be the worst, rather than genuine private sellers.

Settled on a nice 07 plate car at £2200 with 35k on it, including a years MOT and RFL.

There are good cars out there, it's just finding them!

MondeoMan1981

2,452 posts

210 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
And a new one, buyer won't give me the price of the car, wants me to come and see it's excellent condition then it can be discussed.... Bizarre, it's a 9 year old Fiesta, not a rare classic....

Zwolf

25,867 posts

233 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
MondeoMan1981 said:
And a new one, buyer won't give me the price of the car, wants me to come and see it's excellent condition then it can be discussed.... Bizarre, it's a 9 year old Fiesta, not a rare classic....
Which simply means that the seller wants a totally unrealistic price that they know means you won't come if you know it beforehand, instead laughing your way to the next one down the list. Assuming it's a vanilla model, is any 9 year old Fiesta worth more than £1,500?

MondeoMan1981

2,452 posts

210 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
Zwolf said:
Try a year or several on the other side of the equation and you'll soon enough realise that there's much truth in the old adage of "buyers are liars".
Just spent 5/6 weeks selling mine mate, same issues as last time, so I always try to be an honest buyer - can also mean your offer is accepted and save a few £££ too smile

zygalski

7,759 posts

172 months

Thursday 17th May 2012
quotequote all
MondeoMan1981 said:
Day five for me. My head is bursting. Sellers not answering calls or emails. Lying about condition. Every ad full of bull. Dream land prices. People saying no offers when they've been trying to sell for five months at the same price!
Yeah.
"Mint" meaning not falling to bits when I thought it meant "as new"?