Once your car is sold, how do you answer the phone?

[mat205125]

Alex@POD said:

If it were me, I'd greet the person, and when they enquired about the car, I would politely tell them it has been sold.

Not this guy I just phoned up though, he just answered "Sold!", and hung up. No hello or waiting to see what I was calling about! Straight to the point I guess, but how rude is that? His advert was a little dodgy though, that could have been a clue.

What other nice words have you encountered when ringing for a car?

Please give us a link to the advert so we can check to make sure that its still sold

[Dalto123]

DouggyMc said:

I had a cracker of a conversation last night whilst I was looking for a cheap shed for the daily commute..

Me- "Hello I am calling regarding the Ford Escort you have up for sale"

Him- "fk off i'm having a dump call me later"

Classy bloke.. Won't be buying from him then!

[sleep envy]

hman said:

I went to buy a car off a guy in central london,

I looked around the car, took it for a drive and made him an offer - at which point he said it had been sold..

When asked why he hadn't told me that from the outset - he said "you never asked and I wanted to see if you'd give me more for it".

Cheeky .

Lesson learnt - I now ask if the car is under offer before setting out to see it

He did have a point though.

[mrmr96]

Conversely, my first question when calling up to buy a car is "I'm calling about [desc of car], is it still for sale?"

Why would anyone do anything else?!

[edo]

Here's an idea sellers; Turn off the advert, or set it to sold when it is sold to save everyone's time?

Oh, and try putting the mileage you fekwits!

[LuS1fer]

mrmr96 said:

Conversely, my first question when calling up to buy a car is "I'm calling about [desc of car], is it still for sale?"

Why would anyone do anything else?!

It's an old ruse to flush out traders who may have more than one car for sale but masquerade as private sellers.

"I'm phning about the car"
"Which one?"

Aha!

[xRIEx]

hman said:

I went to buy a car off a guy in central london,

I looked around the car, took it for a drive and made him an offer - at which point he said it had been sold..

When asked why he hadn't told me that from the outset - he said "you never asked and I wanted to see if you'd give me more for it".

Cheeky .

Lesson learnt - I now ask if the car is under offer before setting out to see it

Say, "Damn, I really want it. Will you take £x (temptingly higher offer) for it then? Yes, excellent, I'll just go cash, sort the insurance, you contact the other buyer and tell them you've sold it to me."

Then don't go back.

[Alex@POD]

mat205125 said:

Please give us a link to the advert so we can check to make sure that its still sold

I can't do that I'm afraid, however it's stll up on Gumtree, red Astra estate in Castleford. Interestingly a 1996 MK4, which wasn't launched until 1999...

[MK Ultra]

Seen a car advertised online local to me last year,

(Me) - Hi I've seen a car you've got advertised on AT, a (make) and (model).
(Seller) - Yes that's right.
(Me) - Have you still got it for sale? - If I could ask you a few questions?
(Seller) - Errm, yeah ok.
(Me) - So I start and ask if there is any problems with the car,..... only to be interrupted
(Seller) - Are you Asian?
(Me) - Errr, perhaps I am.
(Seller) - Am not selling you the car.
(Me) - Say again?....You're not selling me the car because I might be Asian?
(Seller) - Err, yeah If your Asian I'm not going to sell you my car.
(Me) - Sorry I'm confused, it's not like I'm going to give you Chinese/Indian currency for it!
(Seller) - You lot haggle too much.
(Me) - Seriously? Ok, whatever man...

Now I found that rude.

[McSam]

tbc said:

Anyone remember the Bentley continental GT in the PH Classifieds a while back

was around £28k

but instead of taking it to a park or the countryside or even a stately home

they'd decided to take a photo of it in their sthole council house back garden beside the whirly line covered in primarks finest, uncut clumped grass and mildew covered kids toys

was on it for ages

if the seller is rough then then the car is also likely to have been raked to hell and back

I do remember that, it was outstanding I simply couldn't believe it.

It totally agree with those saying you're buying the person as well as the car. Mine was owned by a Mr Brooks-Usher, from Buckinghamshire, for eight years - accordingly, it has about ten grand in service receipts and is absolutely spotless

ETA - The above poster with "I'm not selling to you because you're Asian", Jeeeesus, that's possibly the most incredible thing I've heard from buying/selling car experiences - and there has been some howlers! What a weapons-grade .

Edited by McSam on Wednesday 29th August 21:48

[Baggio850]

MK Ultra said:

Seen a car advertised online local to me last year,

(Me) - Hi I've seen a car you've got advertised on AT, a (make) and (model).
(Seller) - Yes that's right.
(Me) - Have you still got it for sale? - If I could ask you a few questions?
(Seller) - Errm, yeah ok.
(Me) - So I start and ask if there is any problems with the car,..... only to be interrupted
(Seller) - Are you Asian?
(Me) - Errr, perhaps I am.
(Seller) - Am not selling you the car.
(Me) - Say again?....You're not selling me the car because I might be Asian?
(Seller) - Err, yeah If your Asian I'm not going to sell you my car.
(Me) - Sorry I'm confused, it's not like I'm going to give you Chinese/Indian currency for it!
(Seller) - You lot haggle too much.
(Me) - Seriously? Ok, whatever man...

Now I found that rude.

He did have a point though. I'm Indian and I used to work in the motor trade and found Asians just too difficult to deal with. It was never worth the hassle when you could deal 2/3 non Asian customers in the same time...

[BigBen]

DouggyMc said:

I had a cracker of a conversation last night whilst I was looking for a cheap shed for the daily commute..

Me- "Hello I am calling regarding the Ford Escort you have up for sale"

Him- "fk off i'm having a dump call me later"

Classy bloke.. Won't be buying from him then!

You would expect a more refined owner of a snotter Ford Escort

[hman]

BigBen said:

DouggyMc said:

I had a cracker of a conversation last night whilst I was looking for a cheap shed for the daily commute..

Me- "Hello I am calling regarding the Ford Escort you have up for sale"

Him- "fk off i'm having a dump call me later"

Classy bloke.. Won't be buying from him then!

You would expect a more refined owner of a snotter Ford Escort

thats the thing about telephones - you can choose not to answer it if you're otherwise occupied...

Why would anyone pick up whilst having a dump- yes its ngggggggggggggnavvvvy blue

[ghibbett]

^^^^^

[richb77]

Fatman2 said:

After I sold the Accord I ended up having a full blown conversation with an enquirer as he then wanted to know what to look out for, issues, reliability, dealers etc. Couldn't get him off the phone and I didn't want to be rude so stuck with it. Figured it was my good deed for the day.

Never any need to be rude so I guess a simple, "sorry but it's sold, thank you" usually suffices.

I had this whilst still selling my BMW R1150GS adventure. A guy rung up and his first comment was "i'm in northern Ireland so cant buy it but i want one and want to know what to look for".

Sadly i was too polite to tell him to sling his hook and went through everything i could think of. After 20 minutes he thanked me and i got a call about three weeks later with a description of his latest purchase and how my advice had helped him buy a great bike.

I felt quite pleased with myself

[richb77]

MK Ultra said:

Seen a car advertised online local to me last year,

(Me) - Hi I've seen a car you've got advertised on AT, a (make) and (model).
(Seller) - Yes that's right.
(Me) - Have you still got it for sale? - If I could ask you a few questions?
(Seller) - Errm, yeah ok.
(Me) - So I start and ask if there is any problems with the car,..... only to be interrupted
(Seller) - Are you Asian?
(Me) - Errr, perhaps I am.
(Seller) - Am not selling you the car.
(Me) - Say again?....You're not selling me the car because I might be Asian?
(Seller) - Err, yeah If your Asian I'm not going to sell you my car.
(Me) - Sorry I'm confused, it's not like I'm going to give you Chinese/Indian currency for it!
(Seller) - You lot haggle too much.
(Me) - Seriously? Ok, whatever man...

Now I found that rude.

Not condoning the attitude at all but it is a stereotypical image of an asian car buyer.

My old chap sold an Audi 80 some years ago. It was advertised for £800 and was mint. This Asian chap rang up but wanted to meet at a train station as that was his only means of transport.

My old chap like a mug drove it 20 miles to the nearest station and waited.

The guy turned up and looked it over, test drove it and said he wanted it....For £150.

My old chap didnt say a word, got in and drove home. I followed in his P38 4.6 rangie as i was the "lift home".

Lesson learnt

[mrmr96]

LuS1fer said:

mrmr96 said:

Conversely, my first question when calling up to buy a car is "I'm calling about [desc of car], is it still for sale?"

Why would anyone do anything else?!

It's an old ruse to flush out traders who may have more than one car for sale but masquerade as private sellers.

"I'm phning about the car"
"Which one?"

Aha!

Well yeah, but you can still open the conversation with: "I'm calling about ["the car"], is it still for sale?" Then you get to find out if they are selling >1 car, and also if it's still there.

PS - with PAYG phones being so cheap he could easily only sell one car at a time from each phone, so he knows any calls on that line will be about the single corresponding car. If he cared.

[thinfourth2]

NateWM said:

Me - Hi I'm ringing about the M3 you have advertised for sale. I would like to view the car, but was just wondering if it comes with tax (fails to say in advert) and what sort of condition the bodywork is in?

Seller - I don't wanna answer loads of questions mate just come and see the car if you wanna buy it. Either that or stopping being a fking timewaster and bugger off! Don't buy it as the owner is a idiot

.

EFA

[GenePoolReject13]

richb77 said:

MK Ultra said:

Seen a car advertised online local to me last year,

(Me) - Hi I've seen a car you've got advertised on AT, a (make) and (model).
(Seller) - Yes that's right.
(Me) - Have you still got it for sale? - If I could ask you a few questions?
(Seller) - Errm, yeah ok.
(Me) - So I start and ask if there is any problems with the car,..... only to be interrupted
(Seller) - Are you Asian?
(Me) - Errr, perhaps I am.
(Seller) - Am not selling you the car.
(Me) - Say again?....You're not selling me the car because I might be Asian?
(Seller) - Err, yeah If your Asian I'm not going to sell you my car.
(Me) - Sorry I'm confused, it's not like I'm going to give you Chinese/Indian currency for it!
(Seller) - You lot haggle too much.
(Me) - Seriously? Ok, whatever man...

Now I found that rude.

Not condoning the attitude at all but it is a stereotypical image of an asian car buyer.

My old chap sold an Audi 80 some years ago. It was advertised for £800 and was mint. This Asian chap rang up but wanted to meet at a train station as that was his only means of transport.

My old chap like a mug drove it 20 miles to the nearest station and waited.

The guy turned up and looked it over, test drove it and said he wanted it....For £150.

My old chap didnt say a word, got in and drove home. I followed in his P38 4.6 rangie as i was the "lift home".

Lesson learnt

Some asian buyers can be an absolute pain in the arse. They come and look at a used car, expect the condition to be as it left the factory but at the price of something twice the age and mileage. Saying that though, not everyone fits their stereotype. Not all young lads are test pilots, not all old people drive slowly and not all asian customers are a hassle to deal with.

[All that jazz]

GenePoolReject13 said:

richb77 said:

MK Ultra said:

Seen a car advertised online local to me last year,

(Me) - Hi I've seen a car you've got advertised on AT, a (make) and (model).
(Seller) - Yes that's right.
(Me) - Have you still got it for sale? - If I could ask you a few questions?
(Seller) - Errm, yeah ok.
(Me) - So I start and ask if there is any problems with the car,..... only to be interrupted
(Seller) - Are you Asian?
(Me) - Errr, perhaps I am.
(Seller) - Am not selling you the car.
(Me) - Say again?....You're not selling me the car because I might be Asian?
(Seller) - Err, yeah If your Asian I'm not going to sell you my car.
(Me) - Sorry I'm confused, it's not like I'm going to give you Chinese/Indian currency for it!
(Seller) - You lot haggle too much.
(Me) - Seriously? Ok, whatever man...

Now I found that rude.

Not condoning the attitude at all but it is a stereotypical image of an asian car buyer.

My old chap sold an Audi 80 some years ago. It was advertised for £800 and was mint. This Asian chap rang up but wanted to meet at a train station as that was his only means of transport.

My old chap like a mug drove it 20 miles to the nearest station and waited.

The guy turned up and looked it over, test drove it and said he wanted it....For £150.

My old chap didnt say a word, got in and drove home. I followed in his P38 4.6 rangie as i was the "lift home".

Lesson learnt

Some asian buyers can be an absolute pain in the arse. They come and look at a used car, expect the condition to be as it left the factory but at the price of something twice the age and mileage. Saying that though, not everyone fits their stereotype. Not all young lads are test pilots, not all old people drive slowly and not all asian customers are a hassle to deal with.

Agree with all this. In my experience Asian's are 99% guaranteed to waste your time. I had this when I was flogging my 330 and about 15 out of the 20 inquiries were from Asian's. "What's your best price?" "Will you take £2500 CASH for it today?" (it was up for a very reasonable £7k at the time). Then there's the "come on bro/come on my friend.." lines and the "it's not for me, it's for my friend, but he only has £x" etc etc.

Also had it when flogging my souped up (but damaged) Swift GTI. He'd already seen the car as it was parked in the shared yard where we worked. We'd agreed a price of £300 on the phone but when I got there to do the exchange he was there with 40 of his pals to try to intimidate me and hands over £200. I says "where's the rest?". "What do you mean?". "The other £100?". "No my friend, we agreed £200, don't try to rip me off!". WTF! He did pay the £300 we'd agreed after a lot of arguing but only after I'd told him I'd given him first refusal at £300 and it wasn't any skin off my nose if he refused to pay it as I already had someone else happy to pay what I wanted if the sale fell through. It was complete BS but he didn't know that.

In summary: bunch of time-wasters and it's not just with cars either, it's anything you're flogging.