Auto Trader - reluctant seller ?
Discussion
I enjoy buying and selling cars privately for friends and family and reckon that I'm up to speed with most of the scams and dodgy dealings out there - but this one has got me confused.
So, given the hideous state of the roads around us in East Sussex, we decided to sell my wife's SLK. Nice car, great spec and it went for the asking price within 48 hours of going live on Auto Trader. Not bad for a "summer" car advertised in early March. So good so far. The replacement needed to be a privately-sourced well spec'd quality hatch (Merc/Audi/VW) up to about £20K , auto box and with sat nav and LED lights at minimum.
Back to Auto Trader and the sudden realisation that the 2nd hand market now features some crazily elevated prices and an awful lot of Cat S/N or poverty-spec cars. However one car stood out - low mileage, fsh, all the toys and, tellingly, a well-written and comprehensive advert with good quality photos (I won't identify the specific car/ad). An HPI check turned out clear and the car sailed through its first MOT a few months ago. The car was advertised at an appropriate (not enticingly low) price and enquiries/viewings were apparently "welcome". Once again, so good so far.
I first made e mail contact with the seller about a week ago - after 3 days he replied to say the car was still available. I then asked for a few more interior shots (headlining, boot etc) and he readily agreed - but nothing turned up. I sent a further e mail which got no reply so I contacted the guy by phone 2 days ago and he again promised the photos and said viewing this weekend was possible. Yesterday I chased with another phone call and he promised to send the photos and a scan of the service history. He also reassured me that his name was on the V5C, that it was a genuine sale and the car was ready to go. He also offered to send address details for a viewing. Predictably nothing has turned up. Another e mail chase up this morning but no response.
At no stage have I sensed anything (else) dodgy - no meet in a service station on the M25 , forward a £1K holding deposit etc. However a bit more investigation shows that the ad has been on A.T. for over 6 weeks and the asking price has dropped by nearly £2K during that time. He even dropped the price by a further £250 on the morning after I spoke to him earlier last week - which seems very odd if he sensed a genuine enquiry.
So what could be the advantage of having an apparently very saleable high spec car on AT for over 6 weeks and ignoring what presumably must have been a lot of serious enquiries ? The only thought I have is that either his wife/partner/Court have demanded/ruled that the car must sell and he is keen to keep the car - so he is denying that he is receiving any offers. Any other thoughts ?
So, given the hideous state of the roads around us in East Sussex, we decided to sell my wife's SLK. Nice car, great spec and it went for the asking price within 48 hours of going live on Auto Trader. Not bad for a "summer" car advertised in early March. So good so far. The replacement needed to be a privately-sourced well spec'd quality hatch (Merc/Audi/VW) up to about £20K , auto box and with sat nav and LED lights at minimum.
Back to Auto Trader and the sudden realisation that the 2nd hand market now features some crazily elevated prices and an awful lot of Cat S/N or poverty-spec cars. However one car stood out - low mileage, fsh, all the toys and, tellingly, a well-written and comprehensive advert with good quality photos (I won't identify the specific car/ad). An HPI check turned out clear and the car sailed through its first MOT a few months ago. The car was advertised at an appropriate (not enticingly low) price and enquiries/viewings were apparently "welcome". Once again, so good so far.
I first made e mail contact with the seller about a week ago - after 3 days he replied to say the car was still available. I then asked for a few more interior shots (headlining, boot etc) and he readily agreed - but nothing turned up. I sent a further e mail which got no reply so I contacted the guy by phone 2 days ago and he again promised the photos and said viewing this weekend was possible. Yesterday I chased with another phone call and he promised to send the photos and a scan of the service history. He also reassured me that his name was on the V5C, that it was a genuine sale and the car was ready to go. He also offered to send address details for a viewing. Predictably nothing has turned up. Another e mail chase up this morning but no response.
At no stage have I sensed anything (else) dodgy - no meet in a service station on the M25 , forward a £1K holding deposit etc. However a bit more investigation shows that the ad has been on A.T. for over 6 weeks and the asking price has dropped by nearly £2K during that time. He even dropped the price by a further £250 on the morning after I spoke to him earlier last week - which seems very odd if he sensed a genuine enquiry.
So what could be the advantage of having an apparently very saleable high spec car on AT for over 6 weeks and ignoring what presumably must have been a lot of serious enquiries ? The only thought I have is that either his wife/partner/Court have demanded/ruled that the car must sell and he is keen to keep the car - so he is denying that he is receiving any offers. Any other thoughts ?
Sounds like a woman sticking her oar in. You love your car more than me, it has to go (cross face, arms folded etc)
A few weeks later, I just can’t understand it love, no one seems to want my car, I’ve dropped the price and everything, sheesh tut sigh roll eyes must be Brexit / Covid / Ukraine what more can I do, maybe best if I hang onto it for a bit.
A few weeks later, I just can’t understand it love, no one seems to want my car, I’ve dropped the price and everything, sheesh tut sigh roll eyes must be Brexit / Covid / Ukraine what more can I do, maybe best if I hang onto it for a bit.
I think I am right in saying that one of the advert choices on Auto Trader holds your ad online for six weeks (unless you cancel it). Another option has your ad up forever until you tell them it is sold.
The seller may have done one of these and previously agreed to sell the car but not received full payment yet.
Alternatively, the seller may just be going through the motions of selling for entirely unrelated reasons (divorce, etc).
The seller may have done one of these and previously agreed to sell the car but not received full payment yet.
Alternatively, the seller may just be going through the motions of selling for entirely unrelated reasons (divorce, etc).
I reckon he's doing some "vetting" of the interested buyers and isn't doing it very well.
For example, he will have had the usual "I want it now, full price" rubbish, so is trying to get his money from those scammers, whereas you sound like you know what you are doing, and will make an offer a few hundred (or thousand) below the asking price.
For example, he will have had the usual "I want it now, full price" rubbish, so is trying to get his money from those scammers, whereas you sound like you know what you are doing, and will make an offer a few hundred (or thousand) below the asking price.
x5tuu said:
Or perhaps the seller is just busy with life and work and the sale isn’t the number one burning priority for them at this precise moment?!
Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
That’s exactly what I want to do - but it’s a 200 mile round journey so I think it not unreasonable to get a few more details. So your response is impressively ignorant.Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
Edited by moffspeed on Saturday 26th March 18:17
x5tuu said:
Or perhaps the seller is just busy with life and work and the sale isn’t the number one burning priority for them at this precise moment?!
Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
I'd go with this; some people just aren't on top of stuff like taking more photos and scanning documents, even if it means potentially losing a sale. My old flatmate was like this; had his WRX up for sale and got continuous calls from people about it but he was just lazy and never responded to people. He wasn't like this is other aspects of his life, he was a genuinely nice guy - just couldn't be bothered dealing with selling the car. Ended up trading it in against his new car. Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
moffspeed said:
I first made e mail contact with the seller about a week ago
I sent a further e mail which got no reply
I contacted the guy by phone 2 days ago
I chased with another phone call
Another e mail chase up this morning but no response.
Any other thoughts ?
Yes. Stop faffing about like you're assessing the provenance of a ming vase, and go see it with your buying shoes on.I sent a further e mail which got no reply
I contacted the guy by phone 2 days ago
I chased with another phone call
Another e mail chase up this morning but no response.
Any other thoughts ?
The market is FLOODED with dreamers who phone, email, ask questions about this and that - and never buy a damn thing. From his end, that's what you look like.
It'll sell to someone who shows up in person before you've finished your forensic examination of the service book.
shtu said:
Yes. Stop faffing about like you're assessing the provenance of a ming vase, and go see it with your buying shoes on.
The market is FLOODED with dreamers who phone, email, ask questions about this and that - and never buy a damn thing. From his end, that's what you look like.
It'll sell to someone who shows up in person before you've finished your forensic examination of the service book.
This x100!The market is FLOODED with dreamers who phone, email, ask questions about this and that - and never buy a damn thing. From his end, that's what you look like.
It'll sell to someone who shows up in person before you've finished your forensic examination of the service book.
After selling a cheap motorbike a few months ago the amount of enquiries with demands was just silly and annoying. The first guy who came brought a trailer and it was sold right away. I'd have nearly given it for free to get the space back, thankfully he didn't haggle!
moffspeed said:
x5tuu said:
Or perhaps the seller is just busy with life and work and the sale isn’t the number one burning priority for them at this precise moment?!
Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
That’s exactly what I want to do - but it’s a 200 mile round journey so I think it not unreasonable to get a few more details. So your response is impressively ignorant.Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
Edited by moffspeed on Saturday 26th March 18:17
x5tuu said:
Or perhaps the seller is just busy with life and work and the sale isn’t the number one burning priority for them at this precise moment?!
Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
I don't think the OP has an address despite asking for it....Could be that he thinks you are a time waster with all the questions and requests for stuff - just go and visit it FFS and stop fannying about.
Bearing in mind the ad ticks all the OPs boxes, the conversation should have gone like this, and crucially, on the phone,
"Yes, I'm calling about your car? When can I come and see it and what's your address?"
And not emails to the effect of,
"If you can meet my exacting standards I may deign to visit next weekend".
(paraphrasing for the SELLER'S view. It's an apparently well-put-together ad, maybe he feels he's done enough and a serious buyer will put in the effort to visit.)
"Yes, I'm calling about your car? When can I come and see it and what's your address?"
And not emails to the effect of,
"If you can meet my exacting standards I may deign to visit next weekend".
(paraphrasing for the SELLER'S view. It's an apparently well-put-together ad, maybe he feels he's done enough and a serious buyer will put in the effort to visit.)
Reminds me of when dealers leave cars on their website but it sold a while ago… we’ll take your details sir, we have another car sir… though part of me cannot help and wonder whether the seller is holding out for a higher offer. A bit like the property market was hot in places and it became a seller’s market. Who knows.
I would ignore someone asking for photos of the headlining especially if I had already wrote a good advert. To be honest I mainly ignore emails anyway. I have found if the person is serious they phone and view.
200 miles to view a car I was serious about wouldn’t bother me in the slightest either.
200 miles to view a car I was serious about wouldn’t bother me in the slightest either.
DarrenFromLeeds said:
Reminds me of when dealers leave cars on their website but it sold a while ago… we’ll take your details sir, we have another car sir… though part of me cannot help and wonder whether the seller is holding out for a higher offer. A bit like the property market was hot in places and it became a seller’s market. Who knows.
They’re doing that so they can have a market barometer to gauge the calls they’re getting on that type of car, which helps them to know the real state of the market when it comes to buying actual stock.Pistonheads classifieds have a good number of sold cars - it’s annoying because you yourself then have to make actual phone calls and bother dealers to base your own “state of the market” position on real life actually available cars.
Edited by Julian Thompson on Saturday 26th March 19:35
Julian Thompson said:
DarrenFromLeeds said:
Reminds me of when dealers leave cars on their website but it sold a while ago… we’ll take your details sir, we have another car sir… though part of me cannot help and wonder whether the seller is holding out for a higher offer. A bit like the property market was hot in places and it became a seller’s market. Who knows.
They’re doing that so they can have a market barometer to gauge the calls they’re getting on that type of car, which helps them to know the real state of the market when it comes to buying actual stock.Pistonheads classifieds have a good number of sold cars - it’s annoying because you yourself then have to make actual phone calls and bother dealers to base your own “state of the market” position on real life actually available cars.
Edited by Julian Thompson on Saturday 26th March 19:35
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