Another unhappy buyer - private sale

mrmot

We had similar with a Zafira 1.6 that we sold, the owners handbook does give a acceptable level of oil consumption which I think is 1 litre per 1000 km - so quite high - but within manufacturers limits.

captainawsome

Just an update for anyone who's interested. Our mutual connection told me today that he has now traded the car in, so hopefully that will be the last I hear about it now. Apparently he 'took a hit on it' but I could comment how much.

Just like to say thanks again for all the great advice and encouragement

teffers

Glad you got it sorted.

jase1

One thing I've noticed is a general theme with these threads is people paying a lot of money for an old car.

This car must have been something out of the ordinary to be worth 3 grand after 10 years/130k miles. I've spent less (much less) on cars five years newer and with half the mileage.

I think this has a bearing on the attitude of the buyer. They spend what is a fair chunk of change on an old car, and because it was quite expensive, they expect it to be perfect.

I think some people need to be educated that just because a given model holds its value well, doesn't mean it's any more long-lived than one that's worth £500 after the same period of time and mileage.

It's a shed (they all are at this age, unless they've been particularly well looked after), and sheds go wrong. End of story. If a bit of dropped oil is the worst problem the car has, it's doing well.

I think the trading in at a loss thing is telling. In truth, the car was overpriced at point of sale. Not the seller's fault, it's in his interest to get as much as he can for it. But the buyer is an idiot.

caprikid1

"I think the trading in at a loss thing is telling. In truth, the car was overpriced at point of sale"


Wow you concluded all that ?


We don't know what he said to the trader.


We do not know the state of the car at trade-in point.


We do not know what it was traded against (Close value car).


We do not know the level of the loss.


I would not expect to buy a car privately, then trade it in for more than I paid. It would be a very nice world if we could do that.

jase1

Unless the car was in some way out of the ordinary, £3150 at 10 years old is overpriced pretty much by definition.

And the OP mentioned that the buyer used the words "took a hit". That ain't going to happen just because a car loses oil.

I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that this was another Volkswagen (most of the other ones have been). People have this !!!!-eyed notion that old VWs are fantastic and so are worth 5x what they would be if they had a Ford badge on the bonnet. More fool them.