Bizarre viewing yesterday
Discussion
My Jeep is for sale and I had a very strange viewing yesterday. A couple came to see it, they spent about 20 minutes moving the seats about and debating how they would fit their 4 children and mother in law in there. They then test drove it about 200yds at 20mph and didn't seem interested in how it drove in the slightest, just that it actually moved. Then there was another 10 minutes of debating where the double buggy would go with seven people in it, then they went away to think about it and get back to me. They didn't even open the bonnet, check the service history or anything.
This morning I received a text saying the wife didn't think it was big enough as the boot wouldn't fit a double buggy once 7 people were in there. This is quite true but are there actually any vehicles on the market at all for less than £15k which will? It also seemed bizarre that people who were clearly totally uninterested in cars (they turned up in a dirty gold Multipla diesel) would be looking at a 5.7 Hemi Jeep
. I was expecting the buyers to be either Men who need family transport but still something nice or people who want a quality 4x4 with real on and off-road performance who don't do too many miles, not people who want any old family bus if it fits a buggy in the back.
Ah well, selling cars is always a laugh. You end up speaking to and meeting all sorts that you would never come across in day to day life, it all adds to the fun
.
This morning I received a text saying the wife didn't think it was big enough as the boot wouldn't fit a double buggy once 7 people were in there. This is quite true but are there actually any vehicles on the market at all for less than £15k which will? It also seemed bizarre that people who were clearly totally uninterested in cars (they turned up in a dirty gold Multipla diesel) would be looking at a 5.7 Hemi Jeep
. I was expecting the buyers to be either Men who need family transport but still something nice or people who want a quality 4x4 with real on and off-road performance who don't do too many miles, not people who want any old family bus if it fits a buggy in the back.Ah well, selling cars is always a laugh. You end up speaking to and meeting all sorts that you would never come across in day to day life, it all adds to the fun
.Explanation:
Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
I once went to view a Mondeo that was for sale privately.
It looked nice in the pictures, and the seller gave it a glowing sales pitch.
As I drove down the cul-de-sac where the seller lived, I could see it was a bit of a shed - in fact at that point I would normally just turn around and go home, making my apologies via text/call/email or whatever.
Problem was, I had got lost and called him for directions. He was standing at the end of his drive looking for me as I drove up.
So, being too polite I just had to go through the motions pretending to be interested. The very short test drive that he offered just confirmed it was rubbish.
So the point is - is your Jeep a shed?
It looked nice in the pictures, and the seller gave it a glowing sales pitch.
As I drove down the cul-de-sac where the seller lived, I could see it was a bit of a shed - in fact at that point I would normally just turn around and go home, making my apologies via text/call/email or whatever.
Problem was, I had got lost and called him for directions. He was standing at the end of his drive looking for me as I drove up.
So, being too polite I just had to go through the motions pretending to be interested. The very short test drive that he offered just confirmed it was rubbish.
So the point is - is your Jeep a shed?
The Wookie said:
Explanation:
Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
Not a bad shout. Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
The Wookie said:
Explanation:
Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
This was exactly what I was expecting but either he was also totally uninterested or a very good actor. He even sat in the back and got the wife to drive it, I just don't understand some blokes Dad spots Jeep online, thinks he can pull a fast one and escape a suicide inducing diesel MPV and get a big dirty V8 Jeep past the Mrs as it has 7 seats. He doesn't drive it quickly or far, and only talks about the pure practicality as otherwise it will reveal that he wants it for entertainment value rather than solely for the purpose of solemn family duty which must be unflinchingly obeyed.
Mrs beats him to death with boringness. Man is depressed and consigned to another few years of misery driving an MPV.
The end
.HemiCommander said:
My Jeep is for sale and I had a very strange viewing yesterday. A couple came to see it, they spent about 20 minutes moving the seats about and debating how they would fit their 4 children and mother in law in there. They then test drove it about 200yds at 20mph and didn't seem interested in how it drove in the slightest, just that it actually moved. Then there was another 10 minutes of debating where the double buggy would go with seven people in it, then they went away to think about it and get back to me. They didn't even open the bonnet, check the service history or anything.
This morning I received a text saying the wife didn't think it was big enough as the boot wouldn't fit a double buggy once 7 people were in there. This is quite true but are there actually any vehicles on the market at all for less than £15k which will? It also seemed bizarre that people who were clearly totally uninterested in cars (they turned up in a dirty gold Multipla diesel) would be looking at a 5.7 Hemi Jeep. I was expecting the buyers to be either Men who need family transport but still something nice or people who want a quality 4x4 with real on and off-road performance who don't do too many miles, not people who want any old family bus if it fits a buggy in the back.
Ah well, selling cars is always a laugh. You end up speaking to and meeting all sorts that you would never come across in day to day life, it all adds to the fun.
Not weird at all, the family were assessing their primary requirement - space. If it didn't fit the bill at this first hurdle then why waste everyone else's time with items such as service history etc.This morning I received a text saying the wife didn't think it was big enough as the boot wouldn't fit a double buggy once 7 people were in there. This is quite true but are there actually any vehicles on the market at all for less than £15k which will? It also seemed bizarre that people who were clearly totally uninterested in cars (they turned up in a dirty gold Multipla diesel) would be looking at a 5.7 Hemi Jeep
. I was expecting the buyers to be either Men who need family transport but still something nice or people who want a quality 4x4 with real on and off-road performance who don't do too many miles, not people who want any old family bus if it fits a buggy in the back.Ah well, selling cars is always a laugh. You end up speaking to and meeting all sorts that you would never come across in day to day life, it all adds to the fun
.From your story they seemed courteous, gentle on your car and even texted you to let you know they weren't interested. Sounds like a reasonable prospector to me.
I'd take issue if they came for the test drive, paid lip service to the service history etc. revved the nuts off it before claiming it was too small and would you take £5k for it?
Land Rover Discovery 3.
Under 15k and still a bit of a bit with 7 seats.
As for your other question.
I buy my cars in a similar way to that buyer.
I'm not a mechanic or anything close to being one.
I base my sales decisions on the advert text, the attitude and personality of the seller, the look and feel of the sellers house and driveway.
It's not done me badly.
I've still bought a few sheds, but I expected them to be sheds.
Under 15k and still a bit of a bit with 7 seats.
As for your other question.
I buy my cars in a similar way to that buyer.
I'm not a mechanic or anything close to being one.
I base my sales decisions on the advert text, the attitude and personality of the seller, the look and feel of the sellers house and driveway.
It's not done me badly.
I've still bought a few sheds, but I expected them to be sheds.
sasha320 said:
Not weird at all, the family were assessing their primary requirement - space. If it didn't fit the bill at this first hurdle then why waste everyone else's time with items such as service history etc.
From your story they seemed courteous, gentle on your car and even texted you to let you know they weren't interested. Sounds like a reasonable prospector to me.
I'd take issue if they came for the test drive, paid lip service to the service history etc. revved the nuts off it before claiming it was too small and would you take £5k for it?
Don't get me wrong, they were perfectly nice and seemed genuinely interested it just seemed odd that they were even looking at such a vehicle given their requirements. I would have thought if space for children was the only requirement and how it drives was irrelevant then it wouldn't take much maths to prove that a diesel mpv would be a cheaper option.From your story they seemed courteous, gentle on your car and even texted you to let you know they weren't interested. Sounds like a reasonable prospector to me.
I'd take issue if they came for the test drive, paid lip service to the service history etc. revved the nuts off it before claiming it was too small and would you take £5k for it?
Snowboy said:
Land Rover Discovery 3.
Under 15k and still a bit of a bit with 7 seats.
As for your other question.
I buy my cars in a similar way to that buyer.
I'm not a mechanic or anything close to being one.
I base my sales decisions on the advert text, the attitude and personality of the seller, the look and feel of the sellers house and driveway.
It's not done me badly.
I've still bought a few sheds, but I expected them to be sheds.
These are all important things to take into account but surely you must at least go for a decent test drive? There could be all kinds of problems which could become apparent and cost a huge amount of money if you only notice them after purchase. I would only ever buy a car after a good test drive, if a seller was unhappy about this it would indicate they had something to hide and I should walk away.Under 15k and still a bit of a bit with 7 seats.
As for your other question.
I buy my cars in a similar way to that buyer.
I'm not a mechanic or anything close to being one.
I base my sales decisions on the advert text, the attitude and personality of the seller, the look and feel of the sellers house and driveway.
It's not done me badly.
I've still bought a few sheds, but I expected them to be sheds.
HemiCommander said:
They then test drove it about 200yds at 20mph and didn't seem interested in how it drove in the slightest, just that it actually moved.
Is 200 yards the range for a 5.7 Jeep??? 
On a slightly different be related topic, my MiL needed to sell her late husband's car recently and when we told her that she'd have to accompany potential buyer's on test drives she said that she wouldn't let anybody drive it!!!
HemiCommander said:
These are all important things to take into account but surely you must at least go for a decent test drive? There could be all kinds of problems which could become apparent and cost a huge amount of money if you only notice them after purchase.
Nah, no need - they "know" their SOGA rights and would expect you to fix any faults whatsoever HemiCommander said:
Don't get me wrong, they were perfectly nice and seemed genuinely interested it just seemed odd that they were even looking at such a vehicle given their requirements. I would have thought if space for children was the only requirement and how it drives was irrelevant then it wouldn't take much maths to prove that a diesel mpv would be a cheaper option.
Did they acknowledge that it was petrol V8?What's the insurance like - I wonder if they had have bought it, they'd be wanting to back-out when they tried to insure it?
NPI said:
Did they acknowledge that it was petrol V8?
What's the insurance like - I wonder if they had have bought it, they'd be wanting to back-out when they tried to insure it?
The bloke did say 'Is it a V8?" at one point, but he didn't seem bothered by the 18mpg. Given it has 5.7 Hemi written on the back this did suggest to me he either wasn't terribly interested in cars or was a very good actor trying to fool the wife What's the insurance like - I wonder if they had have bought it, they'd be wanting to back-out when they tried to insure it?
.The insurance isn't bad at all actually, hardly any more than my old Clio or Landcruiser. Considering the size, weight and power it seemed rather reasonable to me.
HemiCommander said:
people who were clearly totally uninterested in cars (they turned up in a dirty gold Multipla diesel)
Have you driven one?Multipla's are one of the best of their kind...good to drive and brilliantly laid out (a layout copied by Honda no less).
Good luck with your sale - perhaps a good dumping of snow might help.
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