Rude people/ time wasters when selling a car

[koma]

My mother passed away on the 23rd of December and a week later her dog developed a serious illness requiring immediate surgery, as the dog isnt insured I'm being billed for over 1k in costs atop of funeral expenses so i decided to sell my ke30 corolla to help ease the financial situation.

I placed an advert locally for now and didnt give it much thought with everything going on but then i get an email asking if its still available. i was off island attending and arranging my mums funeral at this point and notified the interested party that id be back this week, i emailed him today as I'm back to see if he would like to view and i get this in response.

"Nah, it's not worth it.
If it was lowish mileage and totally original I might consider making an offer but the fact it's been messed about with renders it almost worthless unless your specifically looking for that unoriginal make and model.
Thanks anyway"

i know at this time I'm more than likely being over sensitive but why show interest in a car that you think is almost worthless?

fyi the cars a 1978 and done 79k miles thats low in my book.

Anyone got other stories of time wasters when selling?

[dodgerover]

curse word who turn up leave a cheque as deposit then it bounces.... What's the point? Nobody is going to give you the keys on the strength of a cheque so why waste my time.

More importantly sorry for your loss.

[jayom]

IF you want to pass on details of it to me, pics etc, I reckon there would be quite a few heads on this side of the water that would be very interested.

[fred]

There is an awful lot of dreamers out there
Sorry for your loss,
Put it up here. Give it a go

[agentprawn]

I've had a few eBay timewasters bidding, winning, then no contact or some similar messages. I think it's because they can sit behind a computer and do this near enough annonymously, for fun or through boredom really, and get away with it. Try not to take it personally. Sorry for your loss.

[oog]

I'm going to sound old now, but buying and selling cars isn't what it used to be. Although selling is definitely the worst experience. Soooo many time wasters out there, from bidders that never turn up to those that ask loads of questions apart from the one important one that the purchase hinges on (Don't ask me every question under the sun, talk money and then ask if I can deliver the car 300+ miles away). Then there is the rudeness and bullying like the people who drive you down on price before viewing and then get shirty when they view the car and you wont drop any lower (as you've already said after knocking off money, "that's as low as I'll go).

I'm dreading the moment in a couple of months when it will be time to sell my winter.

[Dan_betG]

the worst for me is the comments before a sale

"if you were closer/if i had money/if i hadnt just bought a car/if i had space/if i had a license/if i wasnt in prison/if i wasnt 20 miles away" i'd buy that MATE

Fxxk OFF

[miller63]

The above is the new pet hate... I would if syndrome!

Id would buy a Ferrari IF I could afford it lol

[THE_Liam]

What really boils my curse word is when you're selling a car, pretty cheap as it is for say £800, and you get a one word reply on the thread along the lines of "160 quid m8"...

Also, people arguing when you refuse an offer, I got it on another forum when selling my 306 for £450:

"Hi mate, will you take £250 for the car tonight?"

"No, sorry, it's pretty cheap as it is. If you take it tonight I'll do £400 just to get rid of it."

"Listen mate, it needs new wishbones and it isn't exactly tidy body wise, £250 is a good price. £250 tonight"

"No thanks mate"

"Why not? You won't get more"

"Fair opinion, I'll hold out ta"

"F**k you then, why advertise a car if you don't want to sell it!"

[slomoshun]

in days gone by it was an advert in a paper shop window
99 times out of 100 it was a local person who rang or turned up / deal done / car sold
old fashioned but effective
have had two people bidding each other without my intervention in days gone by
enter what should be easier times to advertise and its all hassle
always said if price is right someone will buy it who is genuine
but then the keyboard warrior as appeared / who can offer silly money / unreadable abuse and all done anonymous which throws the car selling experience upside down
progress from the paper shop advert / sadly don't think so.

[Dan_betG]

What about receiving abuse because you don't like the heap of curse word they've offered you in px?

[koma]

thanks for the condolences guys. I've thrown up a for sale add for those that suggested.

I've had a few other experiences when selling a car. I did once have a guy go back and forth for weeks asking for things to be taken off the car to make it cheaper then put back on, my steering wheel during this time was put on and taken off no less than three times. He then requested to pay it up (it was £500) I said sorry no as its such a small amount its not worth my time waiting.

this was after me refusing to let him test drive it as he had yet to pass his test and had no valid insurance he wasn't happy about this. I did take him out in it and offered to take him to a garage of his choice to get it looked over etc.

I still have a guy that I sold my BMW to calling me up randomly asking about things on the car, I'm happy to help but asking me what alignment was done on the car after almost a year is a bit much.

[Battles]

Sorry for your loss man, try not to take it personally.

When I advertise I only put a phone number and don't do texts until I've spoken to someone first. If someone's got to speak to you then they're going to have to be really hard-necked to make a cheeky offer verbally but it's so easy to do by email or text.

I've had people asking about cars I've sold months and months later and I usually wonder if they're just lonely and want to chat about cars or if they're trying to ask for money back on the deal.

[Mercdan68]

Sorry for your loss fella,, I've bought and sold loads of old cars,, if I go to view a car and it ain't for me I say so , no harm in haggling face to face but doing it via text won't get anywhere with me, I've sold a couple of cars thru this site far less aggro than I had with other forums , sold a rover to jeffeRS off here last year, he called me asked straight out any problems with it,, which there wasn't, he turned up at the train station next day with cash no haggling ,, funny thing is we've become good pals due to this forum and I woulda sold him that car for less if had known him as he was honest straight forward and didn't mess about,, the worst place to sell is without doubt eBay full of dreamers even for a cheap motor avoid it!!

[pistonpopper]

Sorry for your loss mate.

As a rule I sell my cars on fleabay, and I dread it... what a seething hive of knuckle dragging morons that place is. All to often you have to "sell" it two or three times before you get a genuine bidder on it. I've got one of my cars on it right now, it is probably ending as I write this, but the last time I checked, the guy that was "winning" has no feedback, and joined ebay the day I listed my car. Is he going to come and buy it if he wins? I doubt it!! So then I'm into re-listing it, and annoyingly I've had a couple of people view it, then offer me cash which was more than I want, but I've turned them down because it had met its reserve, and I thought it unfair to the bidders. If you say youre going to buy something, or win an auction for something, then buy it, drive it, enjoy it, and if you find you don't enjoy it, then sell it...

By the way fella, nice Corrolla!!

[slomoshun]

On another note last year paid asking price on a daily runner and had to keep on at the owner to fit a battery and get it started. Once he gave me all the paperwork i understood why. A folder full of receipts for 5k and id bought it for £ 550 which was sellers asking price. Only ever sold on ebay once and deal was done in hours so cannot say much but suppose its easier for knuckle heads to bid and leave the building. Went to swap sites as alternative and some were very good people then in crept through the back door the ebay knuckle heads and that route was ruined. With the tax laws and often lack of honesty in describing cars might just hold on to what ive got hoping the sales situation gets better.

[nomad]

Condolences - nobody needs idiots/dreamers when selling a car but it's even worse for you. Hope you get sorted out.

Related but slightly off-topic, I started the thread below after wasting lots of time trying to get sensible answers about (and a weekend going to view) an interesting motor last year. It might help you - at least you know you're not alone.
retrorides.proboards.com/thread/153698/tips-advice-buyers-sellers-motors

[PandaSelecta]

Few years ago I sold a Fiat Fiorino van on ebay. No mot but it was taxed. Winning bidder gives bad feedback as I wouldn't drive the thing all the way to Birmingham. On top of no mot or insurance, he wanted me to do all this with no extra money to cover diesel and a train fare, and no money until I delivered it.

[Curtis]

Jan 15, 2015 14:02:41 GMT THE_Liam said:

What really boils my curse word is when you're selling a car, pretty cheap as it is for say £800, and you get a one word reply on the thread along the lines of "160 quid m8"...

Also, people arguing when you refuse an offer, I got it on another forum when selling my 306 for £450:

"Hi mate, will you take £250 for the car tonight?"

"No, sorry, it's pretty cheap as it is. If you take it tonight I'll do £400 just to get rid of it."

"Listen mate, it needs new wishbones and it isn't exactly tidy body wise, £250 is a good price. £250 tonight"

"No thanks mate"

"Why not? You won't get more"

"Fair opinion, I'll hold out ta"

"F**k you then, why advertise a car if you don't want to sell it!"

adam73bgt had this exact issue over on the XJ40 forum. I've never had the (mis?)fortune of selling a car, most of them heading to the scrapyard. The only car I ever sold was my first fiesta, chucked on ebay with a BIN of £400, advertised with no MoT so would need towing away. Following day a guy arranges a viewing, comes and looks at the car, says its for his daughter and puts £400 cash in my hand, hops in the car, takes the v5c and drives off! I was amazed at how easy it was.

Sorry for your loss pal, I can only hope that future sales go as smoothly for you.

[jonw]

Sorry for the loss. Not the sort of sh1t you need at this time.

Had one with the Mini. Put it for sale cheap as it wasn't in the best shape. Kid turns up with his "mate who knows these things" and proceeds to pick all the faults I knew were there and a few that were not. The best was the lack of choke.....

"well the choke's broken"
Why?
"obvious - the cable is missing and the hole's been filled"
Left the factory like that
"no it didn't"
Do you know about these cars?
"have had loads. Know all the fault and oddities, so I know when I see a problem"
It's fuel injection...

H kicked the a*se off of the car.... gave me a list of faults.... to which the reply was.... well what do you expect from a cheap car??? Moron stop wasting my time! The kid who came to buy it was a chancer as well, moaned it was slow and loud...... It's a mini.... not the 2ltr chavved up vauxhall he turned up in! Moron#2.

Suffice to say the car sold very quickly after those two bu**ered off.