I Hate Selling Cars Privately...

[RS Grant]

Ok, as most of you know, I'm making a half-ar$ed attempt as selling the Spec-G and I'd forgotten how much crap I'd get... not to mention the 3rd world companies that promise to sell my car for me.

Here is some conversations I've had with one particular enquiry that came from a Pistonheads E-mail I got (this is a long post by the way):

"Yea mate I'm calling about the Subaru you've got for sale? Is it still available?"

"Ok, yes, its still around"

"Great, I defo want your car, its got the exact mods I'd put on one.. looks great bla bla bla bla"

"Thats fine, when do you want to come up for a look around it then?"

"I'll fly up on Friday, will fly straight to Dundee"

"Thats fine, I'll pick you up from the airport and we can head back to my house so you can look over the car"

"Brilliant, I'll call you with my flight times once I've booked"

"Fine, talk to you then"

..........few days go by, sent a text on the Wednesday to see if he had booked his flights. Got a phonecall that evening:

"Hi mate, not going to fly up anymore, going to hire a car and drive up and look at a few scoobs on the way to yours.."

"Ok, is that not about 600 miles?!"

"Yea, just want to make sure I'm getting a good deal...."

"Well, since you contacted me on Pistonheads, you'll see the other 2007 STi cars on there are priced higher than mine and dont have the money spent on them already but thats fine, when can I expect you?"

"It'll be around 2pm, are you ok with an RAC Inspection?"

"Yep, the car is spot on and I understand the need for an inspection when spending this amount of money. Gives you a wee bit more peace of mind"

"Right, can I get your details so I can book inspection??"

"Sure, bla bla bla... (all details given)"

"Great, so I'll go and book that and let you know when they are going to be out to do the inspection, talk to you later"

"No bother, bye for now"

..........phonecall about 3 hours later, pretty damn late on in the evening now:

"Hi Grant, got a bit of a problem..."

"Ok, whats that?"

"Been called into work on Friday, wont be able to come up til the following Friday.."

"Thats fine, did you get through to the RAC about this Friday?"

"No, err, not booked that until I know when I'm coming up"

"Ah right, when I got an inspection done, I got it done before I'd arranged to travel down to see the car. They send out a written report that you look over and judge if its worth the trip or not, at least, thats what I used the report for"

"Hmmm, what if you drove down (600miles away from me BTW), I got the inspection done on the Saturday at my house and if everything is ok give you the money and your flight home?"

"No mate, I'm not putting 600 miles on the car so you can get an inspection done to see IF you want it or not.. I'm really in no rush to sell it, so if you are free next week then by all means come up to view/inspect the car at my house"

"Ok, well I'll be in touch next week"

"Fine, talk to you then"

Now, I'm a suspicious kinda guy and when someone starts messing me about like this it just makes me worse, haha.. he has all the details of my car, my address and (mobile) phone number. But is now seriously stalling and not willing to leave even a minimal deposit or commit to a time to view the car..... am I being lined up for some dodgy dealings??

My old man reckons that if I'm worred then I should maybe stick the car somewhere else for a couple of weeks just to be on the safe side, because I only 'think' this guy is in England as I dont have an address for him and am going by what he's said and his accent.

He could well be living 5 mins down the road from me and planning to take my car, told you I was suspicious!! Flip side to that is, if he is a thief, he's obviously not a have-a-go-hero so he probably wouldnt think twice to breaking into the house to get the keys.......and he wouldn't be happy if the car isnt here.

Whats your impression of the contact I've had with him?? Or, the other option I'm thinking is that he is just a dreamer that would love my car but has no actual intention of buying it, which is probably more likely?!

Cheers,

Grant

Edited April 22, 2008 by RS Grant

[scoobzie]

plain and simple m8 if your not in take the keys with u but i shouldn,t think you have anything to worry about 8 out of 10 people are timewasters when selling anything with your car and spec i would say he is living with the carebears in the clouds a real dreamer lol regards scoobzie

[oobster]

I take it you've not got a landline for the bloke Grant? Just a mobile number?

[thefastone]

dunno, I think the boy sounds like a bit of a clown...

[RS Grant]

I just have a mobile number for him and an e-mail address... so I suppose there might be a way of tracking him through t'internet if things go t!ts up.

lol @ carebears, possibly.. although he has taken it waaaay further than other timewasters that have been in touch.

Cheers,

Grant

[Jimmy321]

That would make me suspicious too, i'd keep the keys with me all the time (as you should do anyway). He might just be a dreaming time waster.

[ScoobySounds]

can you ask him for his details, judge his reaction to your question, then you'll get more of a feeling about him. If he's genuine he won't have a problem, and will understand your concern.

If your worried after that then yeah, i reckon keep it somewhere else for a wee bit.

[dave_morgan]

can you ask him for his details, judge his reaction to your question, then you'll get more of a feeling about him. If he's genuine he won't have a problem, and will understand your concern.

If your worried after that then yeah, i reckon keep it somewhere else for a wee bit.

Yep, that would be my approach. If he's genuine, he won't have a problem. I had a guy from Switzerland wanting to buy my Skyline last month and he started asking for all sorts of info I wasn't happy giving away to a stranger so I asked him for a copy of his passport/id. He sent it no problem, and his email address showed me where he worked too. Saying that after we agreed a deal, we went back on it, so no guarantees even after jumping through hoops! That's 4 times I've (verbally) sold the Skyline now, and everytime it falls at the last hurdle (before they've even seen the forking car!!). I'm now getting really ratty with buyers and telling them I'm not holding it or turning anyone away unless there's a deposit in the bank. Another viewer coming on Friday though (from Holland) so fingers crossed, otherwise it's on Autotrader next week.

[sparky_sj04]

Hardly a solution, but as regards the worry that he might be lining up your car to have a pop at, you could always use the "super-lock" system so that the car can't be started even with the keys. The only way you can start it is by you entering the pin code...

Obviously that wouldn't be ideal if he's already broken into your house to get the keys right enough...

The guy might be a dreamer or he might just be an indecisive loon.. either way I think you're right to have a few suspicions..

[dan_jess]

I dont think the guy has really done anything wrong. He was honest about not being able to make it up. It was a bit cheeky asking if you would drive down, but if you dont ask you dont get, you may have been happy to do that (after a non returnable deposit had been paid if he decides not to take it of course). Only strange thing is not wanting to get the inspection after it was him that spoke of it. Dont worry mate, im sure you will sell it soon enough. . . or keep it, then decide to sell it again haha

Have you decided on a replacement?

[fai17]

bam pots....take a deposit first

[jodie typeRA]

i know how you feel about the timewasters.. ive has so meny its starting to drive me crazy ...

[paul555sti]

I must have just been lucky Grant, the first guy that phoned me from London via piston heads asked all the right questions and then flew up to Edinburgh and bought the car cash. The only worry i had was the cash being dodgy but the bloke came back to my local bank whilst i deposited the money before heading off with my wagon. The guy may just be a dreamer or he may be genuine and just hasn't bought a car from so far away or in this manner before. ( bit of a cheek wanting you to drive it to him though )

[superstar_tradesman]

Guy may be a timewaster or he may be dodgy, if you can maybe stick the car somewhere else, if you have a mobile number for him surely he could be traced thru that too.

[paul555sti]

Guy may be a timewaster or he may be dodgy, if you can maybe stick the car somewhere else, if you have a mobile number for him surely he could be traced thru that too.

Mobile phone numbers ar pretty useless if its pay as you go he would just bin it.

[superstar_tradesman]

Mobile phone numbers ar pretty useless if its pay as you go he would just bin it.

Thought you had to have pay as you go registered now cos of that?

[paul555sti]

Thought you had to have pay as you go registered now cos of that?

I am sure you could get a hold of an old phone and a sim card from ebay or somewhere quiet easily.

[superstar_tradesman]

I am sure you could get a hold of an old phone and a sim card from ebay or somewhere quiet easily.

True,

[col666]

Grant,

I'll give you 5k for it, be round in 20mins

[RS Grant]

Thats the kind of buyer I like Col... straight to the point, no bull$hit...

Text from him this morning, which was pretty rude as I've spent a fair bit of time e-mailing specific photos, talking to him on the phone, answering questions etc...... "bought a car locally, cheers for your help" was all the text said. So luckily for him, I'll never get the chance to meet him fist to face, oops, I mean face to face. Total cock.

Cheers,

Grant

Edited April 23, 2008 by RS Grant

[dan_jess]

I take my comments back, the guy is a complete p3n1s!

[Richie Cross]

I guess it's natural to be suspicious. If people are going to view the car, it's always an idea to have them see it

away from your house in a public place. If you haven't passed any personal details on, they won't know where

you live.

Was there not a thread last year where a forum member sold his car only for the guy to recontact him saying

it was a total dog with bad bodywork etc and he was coming up to the house to get his money back??

[Guest]

your just paranoid mate at least he let you know he was not interested anymore rather than just saying nothing having you waiting

[StrikE]

Just tell him the car is now sold m8. Never give out your personal details tho, i am with Richie Cross on this one, a mobile number is best, even better still get down to a phone shop & get a free sim card from vodafone with a £5 credit, that way if they hassle you or the car is sold all you need to do then is bin the sim card.

job done

only after they part with cash would i take them to keepers address, plus i would get the money paid in a bank first, just in case its dodgy

[seano]

Do a deal with me on my Spec C and there will be no hassle lol