How not to sell your motor - mini rant
Discussion
So I've been looking for another Astravan recently and typically there's never any advertised when you want to buy. There was one local to me that has popped up on the (Ebay) radar a few times now and it has the spec I want, but it has an auto box rather than the usual 6-speed manual. Having had a few Astravans in the past I consider myself fairly clued on them but I know the square root of f
k all about the autos. I do know that I've read somewhere that some of the auto models come with a DPF and also the tax bracket is different on some of them too. So I fired off a message to him :
Just a final question to see if he knows about the DPF then and I'll ring him during sensible hours tomorrow to arrange a viewing etc :
king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.
Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
k all about the autos. I do know that I've read somewhere that some of the auto models come with a DPF and also the tax bracket is different on some of them too. So I fired off a message to him :Dialogue said:
Me: Hi, how much is the road tax for 12 months on this please? Thx. [bearing in mind that he has blanked out the reg plate in all the pics so can't check it via the taxdisc.gov site].
Him: Around £200.
"Around"?! WTF. What sort of answer is that? Him: Around £200.
Dialogue said:
Me: "Around" ?? Please can you provide the vehicle reg so I can check the exact amount myself or can you : https://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/app...
Thanks.
Him: £215.
Fair dos, got there in the end. Thanks.
Him: £215.
Just a final question to see if he knows about the DPF then and I'll ring him during sensible hours tomorrow to arrange a viewing etc :
Dialogue said:
Me: Thanks. I don't know much about the autos hence the question as the tax banding is different to the manuals on some model years. I also understand that some of the auto models come with a DPF (diesel particulate filter) whereas the manuals do not - do you know if yours has one?
Him: No idea if it has a DPF. What I do know is that at the time of advertising dealers want 6500 +VAT [his is advertised for 5500 no vat] for a similar vehicle that doesn't come with all the extras.
You're in Huddersfield... So is the van. Come and look at it. It's stored in a heated and lit garage so can be viewed day or night.
I apologise for my curtness... I always think that if you have to ask about road tax etc then you can't afford it.
Regards
Richard
Not knowing about the DPF - fair enough, I can check that out for myself when viewing it. Next bit about the price is irrelevant and I didn't ask him for his opinion on the price but I don't hold it against him, even though his figures are actually way off. Fair point on coming to see it - that's exactly what I had planned to do after making some initial email enquiries (it was midnight at the time of this dialogue so obviously can't ring him). But WTF is the final line all about?! Regardless of his "apologies" it's none of his fHim: No idea if it has a DPF. What I do know is that at the time of advertising dealers want 6500 +VAT [his is advertised for 5500 no vat] for a similar vehicle that doesn't come with all the extras.
You're in Huddersfield... So is the van. Come and look at it. It's stored in a heated and lit garage so can be viewed day or night.
I apologise for my curtness... I always think that if you have to ask about road tax etc then you can't afford it.
Regards
Richard
king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
SMcP114 said:
When a car is advertised online, you tend to recieve so much nonsense that sometimes a genuine query will get lost in a world of timewasters. That could possibly be what happened here.
Agree to some extent, but this is in fact at least the 2nd time he's had it on a 30-day classified ad with Ebay so one could assume he isn't getting much interest at all otherwise it would not still be for sale 2 months later. Or maybe he's been spending his time telling other prospective buyers what they can and can't afford as well! All that jazz said:
So I've been looking for another Astravan recently and typically there's never any advertised when you want to buy. There was one local to me that has popped up on the (Ebay) radar a few times now and it has the spec I want, but it has an auto box rather than the usual 6-speed manual. Having had a few Astravans in the past I consider myself fairly clued on them but I know the square root of fk all about the autos. I do know that I've read somewhere that some of the auto models come with a DPF and also the tax bracket is different on some of them too. So I fired off a message to him :
Just a final question to see if he knows about the DPF then and I'll ring him during sensible hours tomorrow to arrange a viewing etc :
king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.
Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
He's probably had loads of nobs asking stupid questions. If you had gone round to look at it you'd have been able to find out if it has a DPF and how much tax costs. Was a £35 a year difference in road tax really going to be a deal-breaker?k all about the autos. I do know that I've read somewhere that some of the auto models come with a DPF and also the tax bracket is different on some of them too. So I fired off a message to him :Dialogue said:
Me: Hi, how much is the road tax for 12 months on this please? Thx. [bearing in mind that he has blanked out the reg plate in all the pics so can't check it via the taxdisc.gov site].
Him: Around £200.
"Around"?! WTF. What sort of answer is that? Him: Around £200.
Dialogue said:
Me: "Around" ?? Please can you provide the vehicle reg so I can check the exact amount myself or can you : https://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/app...
Thanks.
Him: £215.
Fair dos, got there in the end. Thanks.
Him: £215.
Just a final question to see if he knows about the DPF then and I'll ring him during sensible hours tomorrow to arrange a viewing etc :
Dialogue said:
Me: Thanks. I don't know much about the autos hence the question as the tax banding is different to the manuals on some model years. I also understand that some of the auto models come with a DPF (diesel particulate filter) whereas the manuals do not - do you know if yours has one?
Him: No idea if it has a DPF. What I do know is that at the time of advertising dealers want 6500 +VAT [his is advertised for 5500 no vat] for a similar vehicle that doesn't come with all the extras.
You're in Huddersfield... So is the van. Come and look at it. It's stored in a heated and lit garage so can be viewed day or night.
I apologise for my curtness... I always think that if you have to ask about road tax etc then you can't afford it.
Regards
Richard
Not knowing about the DPF - fair enough, I can check that out for myself when viewing it. Next bit about the price is irrelevant and I didn't ask him for his opinion on the price but I don't hold it against him, even though his figures are actually way off. Fair point on coming to see it - that's exactly what I had planned to do after making some initial email enquiries (it was midnight at the time of this dialogue so obviously can't ring him). But WTF is the final line all about?! Regardless of his "apologies" it's none of his fHim: No idea if it has a DPF. What I do know is that at the time of advertising dealers want 6500 +VAT [his is advertised for 5500 no vat] for a similar vehicle that doesn't come with all the extras.
You're in Huddersfield... So is the van. Come and look at it. It's stored in a heated and lit garage so can be viewed day or night.
I apologise for my curtness... I always think that if you have to ask about road tax etc then you can't afford it.
Regards
Richard
king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
All that jazz said:
Regardless of his "apologies" it's none of his fking business what he thinks I can and cannot afford!
Although he got it wrong this time, it is his business what he thinks you can or can't afford though. He has to make a decision whether you're even worth replying to or not - and bear in mind many (or most?) of the people responding, won't be worth replying. king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! If £35 either way on the tax disc was a deal breaker for you... I don't think I'd have replied either.
Edited by icetea on Sunday 9th September 02:28
RevolveR said:
You'd be surprised what people who sound like nobs online are like in real life. If you like this car, I'd say go meet him - I bet hes sound.
If its a one off comment like that one he made I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and go see the car - certainly since you're so near it anyway. Things sometimes don't come across online the way the person intended. Or he could simply be making a mistake and thinking you're a time waster.
I would only read something into someones online comments when they follow a pattern. Which is why you'll never see me driving a car from Tom Hartley Jr
icetea said:
Although he got it wrong this time, it is his business what he thinks you can or can't afford though. He has to make a decision whether you're even worth replying to or not - and bear in mind many (or most?) of the people responding, won't be worth replying.
If £35 either way on the tax disc was a deal breaker for you... I don't think I'd have replied either.
I disagree and I don't understand this attitude from people either. You are sitting on £5500 of asset that you want to sell, but yet the very trivial matter of answering prospective buyers' questions is seemingly too much effort for you to bother responding to. It's hardly like I was asking which country the interior carpet was made in, was it? How much the RFL costs is a pretty standard question a buyer would ask and to say to the prospective buyer that they probably cannot afford the vehicle just because they've asked about it is, imho, the height of ignorance and rudeness.If £35 either way on the tax disc was a deal breaker for you... I don't think I'd have replied either.
Edited by icetea on Sunday 9th September 02:28
The extra £35 would not necessarily be a deal-breaker but there are 2 other tax bands on the Astravans with the other one being £135 for the year. As the vehicle would be earning a living then obviously one in the lower tax band would be preferential, hence why I enquired.
icetea said:
If its a one off comment like that one he made I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and go see the car - certainly since you're so near it anyway.
The ebay account doesn't have my current location on it so once again he was making (wrong) assumptions. I am not in Huddersfield and it would be a minimum 2 hour round trip from where I am, which is something I'm not prepared to do to get answers to basic questions that the seller should be able to answer in seconds over email. Even if I did live in Huddersfield, why should I potentially waste my time doing the seller's work for him because he's too lazy and has preconceived ideas about his prospective buyers? No.. he showed his true colours when he intimated that I couldn't afford it so I don't care how "nice" he may be in person, he can go fk himself! I think you've written it off too quickly. And unfortunately all you've done is reinforce his opinion that you were, in fact, a time-waster.
Buy the vehicle, not the seller. You won't have to speak to him ever again but you might get the perfect vehicle.
The exception to the above is, as mentioned, Tom Hartley Jr from whom I wouldn't buy a car. Ever.
Buy the vehicle, not the seller. You won't have to speak to him ever again but you might get the perfect vehicle.
The exception to the above is, as mentioned, Tom Hartley Jr from whom I wouldn't buy a car. Ever.
Edited by Funk on Sunday 9th September 10:36
Funk said:
I think you've written out off too quickly. And unfortunately all you've done is reinforce his opinion that you were, in fact, a time-waster.
And how exactly do you come to that conclusion unless you have a completely different definition of the word 'time-waster' to that of the English dictionary?Nowhere did I say in my posts above that I would discount the vehicle because it was £215 for the tax. I said that the lower rate of £135 would be preferential - may I suggest you look up the word to understand its meaning.
The van is a high spec with 2 fairly rare option packs on it and there are not many of them about so the tax rate would come as a secondary consideration to that anyway thus I would've probably bought it if the rest of the vehicle was as described in the ad. How exactly is that being a time-waster?
Any normal person would consider that to be the perfect buyer.Email is great but one of the problems with it and any other electronic communication such as this posting is that you can't always be sure that both sides have a common understanding of what is written. It doesn't mean that either side is wrong or being stupid, it even happens when talking face to face but less so.
People are assessing and summing up people all the time and they sometimes get it wrong which is what the seller has done here.
One example of this for me was an occasion when I was getting a local paint shop to do some work on an old car of mine. I dropped the car off, next day, I call in during the working day, dressed in scruffy tracky bottoms and an old T shirt on my push bike which wa equally scruffy. This time the owner saw me and he started quizzing me about what I did or a living which I first thought was just idle chat but he then goes onto say that he was worried that I was out of work and whether I could afford the job they were doing.
Another time, I went to a BMW dealership in another old car and the salesman treated me like I was a time waster even commenting that they wouldn't be interested in taking my old car in px. Well it wasn't for sale an the car I was buying was being bought outright. . I ended up buying the car from elsewhere because he came across as such a twunt.
People are assessing and summing up people all the time and they sometimes get it wrong which is what the seller has done here.
One example of this for me was an occasion when I was getting a local paint shop to do some work on an old car of mine. I dropped the car off, next day, I call in during the working day, dressed in scruffy tracky bottoms and an old T shirt on my push bike which wa equally scruffy. This time the owner saw me and he started quizzing me about what I did or a living which I first thought was just idle chat but he then goes onto say that he was worried that I was out of work and whether I could afford the job they were doing.
Another time, I went to a BMW dealership in another old car and the salesman treated me like I was a time waster even commenting that they wouldn't be interested in taking my old car in px. Well it wasn't for sale an the car I was buying was being bought outright. . I ended up buying the car from elsewhere because he came across as such a twunt.
I think his responses sound reasonable. If I was a genuine buyer and genuinely interested in a car, they wouldn't put me off. The fact they have suggests his concerns may've been warranted. Sorry, no offence intended - but he spent time checking the VED and emailing you, you've had the answers you want but you're not going to see the car.
I agree with the principle though - sellers need to make an effort selling the car, and with half arsed responses (or no response) it's not surprising that people lose sales. Read some good examples of this on PH, but the exchange you describe isn't one of them.
I agree with the principle though - sellers need to make an effort selling the car, and with half arsed responses (or no response) it's not surprising that people lose sales. Read some good examples of this on PH, but the exchange you describe isn't one of them.
johnnyBv8 said:
I think his responses sound reasonable. If I was a genuine buyer and genuinely interested in a car, they wouldn't put me off. The fact they have suggests his concerns may've been warranted. Sorry, no offence intended - but he spent time checking the VED and emailing you, you've had the answers you want but you're not going to see the car.
Agree with this.Although he didn't need to mention price/affordability, it's a 5k van with a decent spec, why miss out on it over an email response.
He's probably had to reply to countless emails.
All that jazz said:
Not knowing about the DPF - fair enough, I can check that out for myself when viewing it. Next bit about the price is irrelevant and I didn't ask him for his opinion on the price but I don't hold it against him, even though his figures are actually way off. Fair point on coming to see it - that's exactly what I had planned to do after making some initial email enquiries (it was midnight at the time of this dialogue so obviously can't ring him). But WTF is the final line all about?! Regardless of his "apologies" it's none of his fking business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.
Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
He is quite right, you appeared to be overly concerned about the exact tax figure -and why would that be? He's also warning you that he'll not take much from the asking price. You on the other hand become indignant because you *THINK* you been insulted? Get an attitude adjustment and see it from the other POV and you will see what a time waster you are sounding like.king business what he thinks I can and cannot afford! As it happens I already pay £215 on my other Astravan - the only reason I was asking was simply out of curiosity I've seen some of the Astra estate autos at £250 per year.Not surprisingly, any interest I had in the van has now completely disappeared as a direct result of his closing remarks. You, sir, win this weeks award for "how not to sell a motor". Knob.
Sorry PHers, not even a 1/10 rant but it wasn't really a rant, more a "WTF?" moment.
Cheers
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