I despair of the 2nd hand car rackets

libertysurf

dodo69 wrote: »

The last two cars I bought I got through the small ads in local rag.

Wow - sounds good. Our local papers had nothing but I am looking for a tight spec I suppose.

Lum

I second buying cars off forums, you can quickly pull up the sellers posting history and see what problems they had and how they went about fixing them. Also if dey talks like dis m8 init on most of their posts you can avoid dealing with them.

The "no time wasters" refers to buyers who pull stunts like asking to turn up at an awkward time, so you take time off work, then they don't show. Or, if you're selling a performance car, turn up and just want to take it out for a spin and they have no intention of buying.


FWIW I think I was pretty honest when selling my old car, advertised at £400 but looking for about £250, first guy who phoned up said he was interested and I was sure to tell him all the problems it had (blowing exhaust, knackered lambda sensor, high fuel consumption) then ask if he still wanted to take a look.

Turned out he did because he was only down the road anyway. I still see it out and about from time to time, so I guess he got it sorted. My windows haven't been bricked or my other cars keyed.

oscarward

Think someone said some time ago, when ringing up about a local rag ad just tell them you're ringing about the car for sale. Not the rover/ford/whatever for sale

A trader will have to ask 'Which one?'

That will tell you a lot if they're not being honest about trading.

rev_henry

Read Honest John's guide here:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/buy_sell/buying_used/the-two-golden-rules

And autotrader has one in the front of the print magazine that's good. Can't find it on their website though.

No timewasters/tyre kickers means no 17 year old lads coming to thrash your vintage porsche around the block a few times and then not buy.

It sounds just as well you didn't see the cars you mentioned - the sellers obviously weren't worth the time of day.

libertysurf

Thanks - I had previously looked up honest john on the telegraph and the autotrader web site has guides. There is even a printable set of Qs on AT to ask yourself and the seller. One of the 1st is the landline number of the seller. Seems a bit dumb for traders to advertise on there and then get upset if the buyer asks for the landline number - sigh.

I spoke to a garage and was impressed with them, but the prices were double what I see on the websites. There is 20% VAT to start with.

Is there a website for the small ads that appear in newspapers? I found friday ads, but it's the same mix of traders.

PS No reply as yet to my post on the car club 'wanted' forum.

rev_henry

Have you looked on pistonheads?

libertysurf

rev_henry wrote: »

Have you looked on pistonheads?

Yup! And was advised to be v careful as boy racers like this site.
Mmmm....is there a granny site? Just asking....

Lum

Boy racers advertise on other sites too, and there are plenty of sensible people on Pistonheads.

I don't think you'll be seeing a greater ratio of chavved up Saxos on Pistonheads vs Autotrader or eBay. Also since Pistonheads encourages free form text rather than the strict word limit of Autotrader, the seller's poor spelling and horrible SMS speak makes the idiots easier to spot and avoid.

ukjoel

If its any compensation try selling a car you get just as many wasters. I am trying to sell a 2005 focus estate.

Buyer 1 turns up with their dad - local - love the car - all good price agreed - then phone up half an hour later saying they didnt realise 17 year old son would cost them £5500 in insurance - sorry.


Buyer 2 negotiates deal from Afghanistan and then sends his mechanic mate round to check on car. Mate turns up at 9pm and shines a high power torch at the car and declares he can see some minor scratches.

On top of those two have had 5 scam attempts since ad went on autotrader - 2 of them laughable but the other 3 good enough to fool an average seller who wasnt thinking this sounds too good to be true.

Waste of space. Autotrader seems to attract nutters and scammers.

libertysurf

ukjoel wrote: »

... have had 5 scam attempts since ad went on autotrader - 2 of them laughable but the other 3 good enough to fool an average seller who wasnt thinking this sounds too good to be true.
Waste of space. Autotrader seems to attract nutters and scammers.

We’d love to know the scams – perhaps we should share them here so people won’t be trapped!
I’ll start with one I heard, from what I think is a sound source.

A truck was for sale. The normal checks showed nothing wrong with it. Not stolen. Cash given. A few weeks later the tax needed renewing. That’s when the problem arose. Turns out the truck was in a yard with loads of others, and the owners were leasers and did not notice the theft of the truck until weeks later. So the searches were fine.

Sad to say that once it was found to be stolen the truck was returned and the whole £10k that was paid, was lost.