Seriously. I understand why people trade in.
Discussion
Thankfully, the part of the country I live in means that when selling a car privately I barely ever get any 'innit' or 'bruv' ringing up or emailing, and on the rare occasion they do, I explain the geography of the country to them as they don't seem to ever have seen a map, and they quickly decide that a drive of several hours isn't worth it.
This issue of geography really helps thin them out to be honest, and if they are prepared to travel the distance then at least you know they are slightly serious, especially after you tell them the absolute minimum you will accept and that they will be going home empty handed otherwise.
The last car I sold was via a classified advert on eBay and it was a young lad from newcastle who came with his friends, and when he got here he had brought the advert asking price in cash minus £200 as he expected something knocked off,
and I just told him no and that there were others interested in it. He had to go to a cash machine in the nearby town and return with the additional £200
I'm massively fussy about loads of good pictures and a totally accurate description in my adverts so that when people arrive to view they see exactly what was in the advert, and it gives me the upper hand to tell them to go away if they start trying to find faults or chip at the price.
This issue of geography really helps thin them out to be honest, and if they are prepared to travel the distance then at least you know they are slightly serious, especially after you tell them the absolute minimum you will accept and that they will be going home empty handed otherwise.
The last car I sold was via a classified advert on eBay and it was a young lad from newcastle who came with his friends, and when he got here he had brought the advert asking price in cash minus £200 as he expected something knocked off,
and I just told him no and that there were others interested in it. He had to go to a cash machine in the nearby town and return with the additional £200
I'm massively fussy about loads of good pictures and a totally accurate description in my adverts so that when people arrive to view they see exactly what was in the advert, and it gives me the upper hand to tell them to go away if they start trying to find faults or chip at the price.
nomank said:
Trying to sell my '60 plate Cayenne at the moment. Had peeps tell me how it doesn't have 'essential' options so it's worth many thousands less. It's not a low spec car by any means but I clearly stated what it did have in the advert. Grrr. Already fed up of the many numptys.
What's something like that worth? I'd have expected someone serious about buying a 4 year old Porsche to be doing so at a main dealer which might explain the pain you're having 
Toaster Pilot said:
nomank said:
Trying to sell my '60 plate Cayenne at the moment. Had peeps tell me how it doesn't have 'essential' options so it's worth many thousands less. It's not a low spec car by any means but I clearly stated what it did have in the advert. Grrr. Already fed up of the many numptys.
What's something like that worth? I'd have expected someone serious about buying a 4 year old Porsche to be doing so at a main dealer which might explain the pain you're having funkyrobot said:
My fiancee's brother, who lives in Surrey, just sold his Y reg Mercedes S Class.
He put the car up for sale and within a couple of days thought he had a buyer. The chap who wished to purchase the vehicle was from Romania. Unfortunately, my fiancee's brother decided to do the deal from his house.
The chap turned up to collect the car and just to show how friendly he was he brought three big blokes with him. A bit of intimidation started and the price was haggled down from £2000 to £1400. Money exchanged hands but before the Romanians left, one then demanded fuel money. Apparently, because my fiancee's brother lives in a nice house, the chap said 'you live in big house so you can give us diesel money'. This part of the deal wasn't agreed and the term 'fook off' was used. It wasn't very pleasant.
The Romanians left in the car. However, the chap is now away on business for a few days and he is worried because his pregnant wife is alone in the house. I'm sure everything will be fine as they have good security and she isn't stupid. Not good though.
So, if ever I sell a car privately, I'm meeting the potential seller in a car park miles away from home.
I had a very similar thing happen when selling my A8. He put the car up for sale and within a couple of days thought he had a buyer. The chap who wished to purchase the vehicle was from Romania. Unfortunately, my fiancee's brother decided to do the deal from his house.
The chap turned up to collect the car and just to show how friendly he was he brought three big blokes with him. A bit of intimidation started and the price was haggled down from £2000 to £1400. Money exchanged hands but before the Romanians left, one then demanded fuel money. Apparently, because my fiancee's brother lives in a nice house, the chap said 'you live in big house so you can give us diesel money'. This part of the deal wasn't agreed and the term 'fook off' was used. It wasn't very pleasant.
The Romanians left in the car. However, the chap is now away on business for a few days and he is worried because his pregnant wife is alone in the house. I'm sure everything will be fine as they have good security and she isn't stupid. Not good though.
So, if ever I sell a car privately, I'm meeting the potential seller in a car park miles away from home.
First they were late turning up with no messages, so I had left to go out to play snooker.
Then I get a call saying they are there can they have directions. So I arrange to meete them at a petrol station since I'm not at home.
Turned up with 3 huge guys, and then proceeded to tell me all kinds of rubbish about what was wrong with the car and offered something stupid.
I feel very lucky that I was at a well lit CCTV forecourt in the end because they were obviously going to try the intimidation thing.
So I said no to their offer and left.
last few years I have always sold my cars on ebay, 7 day auction ending on a monday evening starting at 99p with no reserve.
Stipulate in the add that 10% deposit is required within 24 hours of the auction ending and set restrictions on the kind of buyer i will deal with - such as feedback levels they have, uk only etc...
Never ever had a problem that way and always got what the car has been worth.
Stipulate in the add that 10% deposit is required within 24 hours of the auction ending and set restrictions on the kind of buyer i will deal with - such as feedback levels they have, uk only etc...
Never ever had a problem that way and always got what the car has been worth.
What a seller thinks their car is worth is of only limited interest to me. Lots of dealers will try and double their money and so I have no reservations about offering half what they might be asking. All I really care about is what I'm prepared to pay and if the car is as described and in line with the market I've paid asking price before. On the other hand, if their price is hopelessly optimistic, then my offer will reflect that. They always welcome to tell me to foxtrot oscar. There's always another car. I can't understand why people have to get so personal about inanimate objects.
Recently sold a ropey old Mondeo on Ebay. 99p start , Buy it now of £800.
I had Endless inquiries as to "What I'd take for it" via ebay.
Eventually the auction ends an a charming man from Coventry with 1 feedback wins the car for £700. He calls me fairly promptly so i gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He turns up the same evening with his family in tow. Before even looking at the car his fat wife was doing an incredibly pungent log in the toilet ("I'm bustin' love can I use yer toilet").
Test drive goes well, he likes the car (its fairly well kept). Before shaking on the deal he insists on phoning his second cousin ("he used to work for Kwikfit yer know"). Second cousin manages to diagnose a fault with the flywheel down the phone in an incredibly poor mobile phone reception area very precisely (despite the extensive service history showing a flywheel replacement less than 10k ago), and advises the buyer to walk away.
This was annoying, and no amount of protesting about coming to see the car before bidding will make him change his mind, so I suck it up, get out the air freshener and move on.
Sold it on a relist for the same price to a nice man from Brentford who broke several laws on the test drive.
Original bid winner then left me negative feedback on ebay due to car not being "as advertised".
I had Endless inquiries as to "What I'd take for it" via ebay.
Eventually the auction ends an a charming man from Coventry with 1 feedback wins the car for £700. He calls me fairly promptly so i gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He turns up the same evening with his family in tow. Before even looking at the car his fat wife was doing an incredibly pungent log in the toilet ("I'm bustin' love can I use yer toilet").
Test drive goes well, he likes the car (its fairly well kept). Before shaking on the deal he insists on phoning his second cousin ("he used to work for Kwikfit yer know"). Second cousin manages to diagnose a fault with the flywheel down the phone in an incredibly poor mobile phone reception area very precisely (despite the extensive service history showing a flywheel replacement less than 10k ago), and advises the buyer to walk away.
This was annoying, and no amount of protesting about coming to see the car before bidding will make him change his mind, so I suck it up, get out the air freshener and move on.
Sold it on a relist for the same price to a nice man from Brentford who broke several laws on the test drive.
Original bid winner then left me negative feedback on ebay due to car not being "as advertised".
9mm said:
johnxjsc1985 said:
9mm said:
I can't understand why people have to get so personal about inanimate objects.
You do realise this forum is called Pistonheads 
tboxes or repmobiles, not exotic rare classics.Negative Creep said:
9mm said:
johnxjsc1985 said:
9mm said:
I can't understand why people have to get so personal about inanimate objects.
You do realise this forum is called Pistonheads tboxes or repmobiles, not exotic rare classics.Are you an example of the kind of member I was talking about or an exception?
Its payback for the sellers who describe cars as mint and get you to drive halfway across the country too see an absoulute heap.
I drove 300 miles once to view an M3 which the seller had used somebody elses photos to advertise it!! They werent even photos of the same car!! The only thing they had in common was the interior and exterior colour
I drove 300 miles once to view an M3 which the seller had used somebody elses photos to advertise it!! They werent even photos of the same car!! The only thing they had in common was the interior and exterior colour
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