Mother wants to buy our car, HELP!

CKhalvashi

Hey all,

I’m in a bit of a sticky situation atm with my mother.

We had an impulsive moment yesterday and decided to bag ourselves a BMW 525d at a bargain price, to celebrate getting out the mess our business caused us, however I’m concerned with the offer that we’ve had for the Passat.

I’ve stated that we’re going to be selling it, and my mother wants to by it. Whilst this is a not a problem generally, for an ’08’ plate car, this has 187,000 miles, mainly in London, and the DSG gearbox (which was replaced at 106,000, meaning that statistically it’ll need another one in the next year at 600mi/week)

Any advice, as I don’t want to sell her a car that’s absolutely knackered, however good it’s been to us! I’d rather sell it to the taxi company that are annoying me, give someone else grief! :cool:

fivetide

If it is a shed then you'd need to say that to any buyer.

If it is a decent car then its a decent car so which is it?

You could always do her a family discount as she isn't going to haggle anyway or get ti checked out and see if anything needs done.

will she be doing the moon miles you have?

5t.

Hammyman

"Lets celebrate getting out of the financial mess we were in by blowing £20k on a new car..."

Priceless. Won't be long before you're back in the same boat..

CKhalvashi

fivetide wrote: »

If it is a shed then you'd need to say that to any buyer.

If it is a decent car then its a decent car so which is it?

You could always do her a family discount as she isn't going to haggle anyway or get ti checked out and see if anything needs done.

will she be doing the moon miles you have?

5t.

There’s nothing wrong with it at this precise moment, I can confirm that. It passed its first MoT with no problems in August, and had around £800 spent on it last month for suspension and 2 tires. The main advantage for us is that the speed bumps are going in Beldams Lane, where we think the problem originated.

V did around 1200 a week in it. In reality, the car would be doing around another 5-600 a week. We’ve always had a 7 seater (got S-Max no.3 in September), thus it’s never been used for holidays etc etc etc.

I’m always wary about selling to family, and especially something as expensive as this. I know it looks immaculate (see link), but it’s still a high mileage car which worries me. The photos were taken at around 115,000. We’ve been offered £4,000 by her for it.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1352895347259&l=50d18d02f6

CKhalvashi

Hammyman wrote: »

"Lets celebrate getting out of the financial mess we were in by blowing £20k on a new car..."

Priceless. Won't be long before you're back in the same boat..

We paid £16k, plus £800 insurance which still leaves us with £17k. In all honesty, the Passat was a great car, but after 40 months a bit boring. It was stock from a company that’s in liquidation.

We’ll be keeping this at least 2 years, possibly anything upto 4, so it’s a reasonable long term investment. Looks great, too.

fivetide

CKhalvashi wrote: »

Car related news...

Sometimes chap, its better the devil you know. She could buy one with half the miles that turns out to be a lemon.

5t.

pendulum

It's not rocket science, tell her it's been a good car to you but point out its high mileage and your a bit worried something may go wrong in the future, if she still wants to buy it and her offer is acceptable to you then sell it, if not then sell it to someone else.
Sometimes high mileage cars turn out to be really good buys.

Strider590

Never sell cars to family, you'll be forking out for repairs long after the sale!!

Johnny_Barnes10

I wouldn't sell it to family, just in case something goes wrong. Could use the guilt trip into making you foot the bill for repairs. If you can get the same £, or more elsewhere do that. I'm sure your Mum will get another car elsewhere too.

CKhalvashi

fivetide wrote: »

Sometimes chap, its better the devil you know. She could buy one with half the miles that turns out to be a lemon.

My 1st S-Max (07) is owned by one of the cabbies on town with about 340,000. The 2nd (58) is owned by another cabbie with 244,000 (he’s done 27k since September), and I know that several Mondeos/S-maxes/Galaxies that have lower mileage have had serious problems, so that’s very true. Selling to a cab firm is different to selling to family, though.

pendulum wrote: »

It's not rocket science, tell her it's been a good car to you but point out its high mileage and your a bit worried something may go wrong in the future, if she still wants to buy it and her offer is acceptable to you then sell it, if not then sell it to someone else.
Sometimes high mileage cars turn out to be really good buys.

It’s spent most of its life hot, which has got to be a good thing. Knowing her driving style, I wouldn’t buy a car after she’s done with it. 45mph up Beldams Lane is not a good thing, and good riddance to the speed bumps!

Strider590 wrote: »

Never sell cars to family, you'll be forking out for repairs long after the sale!!

That’s exactly what I’m worried about! :mad:

krlyr

Sold as seen, as long as she's OK with that. I sold my last car to a friend, who unfortunately failed her driving test so couldn't collect it until about a week before its MOT was due. Had a bit of a worry that I'd sold someone a car that they'd have for a week before it cost them a fortune in repairs but I'd been honest all along about any issues in the past, advice given at its last MOT about bits that might need replacing, etc. and she got it at a bargain price because I just wanted rid - she paid as much as I'd have got scrap, and I didn't have to worry about taking it to a scrap place or them refusing to pay as much once they'd collected. If she'd had to pay more for repairs, she'd have had to pay more for repairs, she made the decision to buy it and was happy to accept the consequences.
Fortunately it passed its MOT - phew! - but as long as your mother knows where she stands if anything goes wrong, I don't see the issue, though I understand the worry/guilt (even if it's not totally rational)