Buying an Impreza Hawkeye, blind, from Scotland...
Discussion
WBAC's bid probably involved a short drive,10mins in a portacabin, a weak coffee, a signature and money in the bank a short time later... £1500 from matey would have probably involved lots of faffing, unknowns at the door, dodgy test drives, haggling, the risk of iffy pound notes then several weeks of waiting for the inevitable "M8, the cars has broke down, I want my money back" etc etc that we've come to expect. Generalising there obviously but for the want of a couple of hundred quid, I'd rather drop kick a car to WBAC or similar and save a lot of stress and hassle.
Davie said:
WBAC's bid probably involved a short drive,10mins in a portacabin, a weak coffee, a signature and money in the bank a short time later... £1500 from matey would have probably involved lots of faffing, unknowns at the door, dodgy test drives, haggling, the risk of iffy pound notes then several weeks of waiting for the inevitable "M8, the cars has broke down, I want my money back" etc etc that we've come to expect. Generalising there obviously but for the want of a couple of hundred quid, I'd rather drop kick a car to WBAC or similar and save a lot of stress and hassle.
This.Plus, WBAC weren't suggesting he should subsidise their f
king travel costs!
Kitchski said:
Davie said:
WBAC's bid probably involved a short drive,10mins in a portacabin, a weak coffee, a signature and money in the bank a short time later... £1500 from matey would have probably involved lots of faffing, unknowns at the door, dodgy test drives, haggling, the risk of iffy pound notes then several weeks of waiting for the inevitable "M8, the cars has broke down, I want my money back" etc etc that we've come to expect. Generalising there obviously but for the want of a couple of hundred quid, I'd rather drop kick a car to WBAC or similar and save a lot of stress and hassle.
This.Plus, WBAC weren't suggesting he should subsidise their f
king travel costs!Thought this might be an interesting read but what a sorry tale.
Golden rule when buying/selling cars for me is you need to to see it in person. End of. This thread reinforces that.
As for the PH aficionados all trying to have a dig either at OP or trader & apportioning blame, I honestly thought your average PH member was better than that.
There will always be 3 sides to the story. Buyers, Sellers & the truth. Fruitless trying to dissect it all on here
Golden rule when buying/selling cars for me is you need to to see it in person. End of. This thread reinforces that.
As for the PH aficionados all trying to have a dig either at OP or trader & apportioning blame, I honestly thought your average PH member was better than that.
There will always be 3 sides to the story. Buyers, Sellers & the truth. Fruitless trying to dissect it all on here
chrismc1977 said:
Golden rule when buying/selling cars for me is you need to to see it in person. End of. This thread reinforces that.
Exactly this.To buy a car unseen is a wholly alien concept to me - especially buying from a small dealer at the other side of the country.
I’m hyper suspicious of private sellers, and I trust dealers even less. I could do it if I was buying from a good specialist with a very solid reputation, but that’s about the only circumstance in which I’d buy a car unseen.
I do wish I was a bit more balsy but A) I'm very fussy and B) I generally don't trust sellers.
I have bought cars from Scotland off eBay but always get the train there so I can view them, TVR they have all been good ones must have been lucky, only cars I have had delivered to me have been quite new ones but the SQ5 I bought was not as described, they took it back rectified the faults and Re delivered that was a main dealer from Newcastle delivered to Bedford
colinrob said:
I have bought cars from Scotland off eBay but always get the train there so I can view them, TVR they have all been good ones must have been lucky, only cars I have had delivered to me have been quite new ones but the SQ5 I bought was not as described, they took it back rectified the faults and Re delivered that was a main dealer from Newcastle delivered to Bedford
Probably because nobody with half a brain would run a TVR in the winter in Scotland! I have a 25 year old car that’s been in my possession in Scotland for 15 years. No advisories ever for rust, because it’s never been outside between October and March.
My tales of woe . . . . about 10-12 years ago I went through a phase of thinking I was Mike Brewer. I scoured Gumtree daily trying to keep upgrading without spending any cash - straight forward swaps being the choice of the day and it was very very common at this time.
After half a dozen or so swaps I was in a mint Nissan 300ZX manual non turbo. A P38 Range Rover appeared 3 hours drive away. Guy was interested in a swap. The Range Rover looked great and had 20" alloys - huge back then. He said there was a slight issue with the air suspension, the compressor had gone but he would supply me with a new one to take away. car still drove he said.
SO off I go, 3 hrs later Im at the Range Rover, its on its ass and drives with the tyres scrubbing. Blinded by the lust to own it I done the deal and had a horrible drive home. I turned a blind eye to the duff suspension, the headunit that didnt work, the dash falling apart, the huge area of paint missing from the roof ( must have been painted and section flaked off ), the discoloured plastics, the rattles, the oil stained cream carpets etc.Next day takes it to a local LR Indy who fits the compressor and then tells me all 4 airbags are shot. Way above my budget to fix. Swapped it as it was for a Rover 75 worth a quarter of the RR just to keep me mobile.
A few swaps later Im in a mint Celica - spied a nice silver Mk3 MR2 - it had to be mine. Its now December, freezing, sleet falling, dark and miserable when I go to view. Guy starts its up sounds very "cammy" to me - he says it will wear off as its been sitting for days and the oil will be very cold and will need to heat and lubricate. I take it a drive, again, blinded, I wanted it.
Next day rattle is worse, decide to take it to work, It didnt make it excessive rattling, plumes of smoke - yeh oval bore - the cat had disintegrated into the engine. Guy I bought it from didnt want to know - It was Ok when you drove it away mate.
Dont even get me started on my old MGF and MGTF . . . .
After half a dozen or so swaps I was in a mint Nissan 300ZX manual non turbo. A P38 Range Rover appeared 3 hours drive away. Guy was interested in a swap. The Range Rover looked great and had 20" alloys - huge back then. He said there was a slight issue with the air suspension, the compressor had gone but he would supply me with a new one to take away. car still drove he said.
SO off I go, 3 hrs later Im at the Range Rover, its on its ass and drives with the tyres scrubbing. Blinded by the lust to own it I done the deal and had a horrible drive home. I turned a blind eye to the duff suspension, the headunit that didnt work, the dash falling apart, the huge area of paint missing from the roof ( must have been painted and section flaked off ), the discoloured plastics, the rattles, the oil stained cream carpets etc.Next day takes it to a local LR Indy who fits the compressor and then tells me all 4 airbags are shot. Way above my budget to fix. Swapped it as it was for a Rover 75 worth a quarter of the RR just to keep me mobile.
A few swaps later Im in a mint Celica - spied a nice silver Mk3 MR2 - it had to be mine. Its now December, freezing, sleet falling, dark and miserable when I go to view. Guy starts its up sounds very "cammy" to me - he says it will wear off as its been sitting for days and the oil will be very cold and will need to heat and lubricate. I take it a drive, again, blinded, I wanted it.
Next day rattle is worse, decide to take it to work, It didnt make it excessive rattling, plumes of smoke - yeh oval bore - the cat had disintegrated into the engine. Guy I bought it from didnt want to know - It was Ok when you drove it away mate.
Dont even get me started on my old MGF and MGTF . . . .
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