I am never buying/selling a car privately again.
Discussion
Thank you PH'ers in anticipation of allowing me to rant.
Seriously though... Whats up with all the nutters out there?
If an email doesn't open with "Whats your best price?" it usually ends up being one of the PayPal scams. Failing that, I've had visitors who clearly know nothing about the particular car I'm actually selling.
I've been told my car must have been driven through flood water after looking at the dip-stick. It hasn't. That oily stuff - It's called oil. It's supposed to be there.
I've been told my car's fan is coming on when it's started up from cold. It doesn't. That's the engine warming up, lubricating itself.
I've had someone tell me the suspension is too hard/low. It's a sports car. It has sports suspension.
I've had people email me with ridiculously low offers - So low they're insulting.
I've had people ask me how much Tax/MOT it has left. It's in the advert.
I've had people ask me about the service history. It's in the advert.
Sigh...
Cheers all.
Seriously though... Whats up with all the nutters out there?
If an email doesn't open with "Whats your best price?" it usually ends up being one of the PayPal scams. Failing that, I've had visitors who clearly know nothing about the particular car I'm actually selling.
I've been told my car must have been driven through flood water after looking at the dip-stick. It hasn't. That oily stuff - It's called oil. It's supposed to be there.
I've been told my car's fan is coming on when it's started up from cold. It doesn't. That's the engine warming up, lubricating itself.
I've had someone tell me the suspension is too hard/low. It's a sports car. It has sports suspension.
I've had people email me with ridiculously low offers - So low they're insulting.
I've had people ask me how much Tax/MOT it has left. It's in the advert.
I've had people ask me about the service history. It's in the advert.
Sigh...
Cheers all.
Skyedriver said:
See my recent thread about trying to get your money out of your bank, I'm spitting feathers at the sheer audacity of wehat are you spending it on sir.
Won't tell me, wel you cannot have your money.
I think you took a wrong turning just outside the Pie and Piston on your way to HSBC....Won't tell me, wel you cannot have your money.
It's normal, it's the start of the process of a sale.
If I get that response I know they are 80% interested, if you've priced your car fair with negotiation leverage into it, then you'll sell it for near what you want, not many buyers like to pay full asking, we like to get what we think is a bargain, even if we haven't done our research to see what the right value/price to pay is.
Don't take it personal, it's just the start of a sale, or of course, it's someone with nothing to do and thinks nothing of pissing about.
I'd rather sell private and get the right value than trade in with a dealer who will give me half a pence!
If I get that response I know they are 80% interested, if you've priced your car fair with negotiation leverage into it, then you'll sell it for near what you want, not many buyers like to pay full asking, we like to get what we think is a bargain, even if we haven't done our research to see what the right value/price to pay is.
Don't take it personal, it's just the start of a sale, or of course, it's someone with nothing to do and thinks nothing of pissing about.
I'd rather sell private and get the right value than trade in with a dealer who will give me half a pence!
Cheers chaps.
It's been getting on for two months now though... I've just paid for another months advertisement on PH classifieds.
It's getting to the point where I need to get it shifted rather sharpish now, as I've already bought another car and running two is bleeding my wallet!
I may have to reluctantly sell it either at a very low price or to WBAC...
It's already priced very competitively; in fact its the cheapest, newest, lowest mile variant I can find on the internet!
It's been getting on for two months now though... I've just paid for another months advertisement on PH classifieds.
It's getting to the point where I need to get it shifted rather sharpish now, as I've already bought another car and running two is bleeding my wallet!
I may have to reluctantly sell it either at a very low price or to WBAC...
It's already priced very competitively; in fact its the cheapest, newest, lowest mile variant I can find on the internet!
I guess I've been lucky, I sold my CLK last year on PH classifieds within a week or so without a problem, and just three weeks ago I sold my GMC dayvan in less than a day. I put the advert on ebay on Thursday at around 4pm, I accepted an offer the next morning and the chap came with cash and took it away on the Sunday. Sure, I had some silly offers and a couple of barely legible texts, but that's to be expected really. Put plenty of detail in your advert with some decent pics, price it sensibly and it should sell.
You will always get idiots coming to view a private car sale, always. You just have to spot them early and then you can save your time and basically tell them to do one!
But please don't give the satisfaction to WBAC. The advert itself makes me want to punch the TV screen every time I see it. You could always use auction websites?
But please don't give the satisfaction to WBAC. The advert itself makes me want to punch the TV screen every time I see it. You could always use auction websites?
I don't get this "insulting" offers thing - I've had stupid offers for stuff (not cars) I later sold for much more on eBay, but I just found that laughable rather than insulting - it's not personal, there is clearly a population of loons out there who have been watching "The Apprentice" or something similar.
As for the clearly loony - on Ebay I had people asking such stupid questions that I ignored 'em and blocked them from bidding. It's all part of life's rich tapestry :-)
As for the clearly loony - on Ebay I had people asking such stupid questions that I ignored 'em and blocked them from bidding. It's all part of life's rich tapestry :-)
Dunno if it's still true, but WBAC allegedly had a rep for lowering the online offers on the most tenuous grounds. I've found the online values to be so low that I wouldn't want to have to go along and argue the toss - I have always got more by private sale or trade in, but maybe I just have the kinds of cars they don't really want anyway.
TACottle said:
Cheers chaps.
It's been getting on for two months now though... I've just paid for another months advertisement on PH classifieds.
It's getting to the point where I need to get it shifted rather sharpish now, as I've already bought another car and running two is bleeding my wallet!
I may have to reluctantly sell it either at a very low price or to WBAC...
It's already priced very competitively; in fact its the cheapest, newest, lowest mile variant I can find on the internet!
If its the Focus you're trying to sell then good luck. I had a right job trying to sell my f/l ST3. For some reason it seems to attract mentalists. It's been getting on for two months now though... I've just paid for another months advertisement on PH classifieds.
It's getting to the point where I need to get it shifted rather sharpish now, as I've already bought another car and running two is bleeding my wallet!
I may have to reluctantly sell it either at a very low price or to WBAC...
It's already priced very competitively; in fact its the cheapest, newest, lowest mile variant I can find on the internet!
I've largely either sold cars privately on enthusiast forums (when it's always been the first person who comes to see inspects, and hands over the cash without any hassle) or have taken the car to a trader.
The prospect of putting a car up on Autotrader and dealing with the general public does terrify me somewhat, mostly due to the horror stories on here. Last car I sold this way was in about 2007 - had one or two time wasters, but a chap turned up, test drove it, and handed over the money. Then quite fairly I guess said "Right, you've had my money.. now tell me if there's any problems I need to know about!" - I said it had a very slow puncture on one tyre which he seemed happy enough with, and went on his way!
The prospect of putting a car up on Autotrader and dealing with the general public does terrify me somewhat, mostly due to the horror stories on here. Last car I sold this way was in about 2007 - had one or two time wasters, but a chap turned up, test drove it, and handed over the money. Then quite fairly I guess said "Right, you've had my money.. now tell me if there's any problems I need to know about!" - I said it had a very slow puncture on one tyre which he seemed happy enough with, and went on his way!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff