Where are the normal people, is common sense no longer a thing from car buyers!

Anthony147

So, wife’s Clio car gave up the ghost and wouldn’t start. 

Tried the usual suspects - Battery, Starter motor, crank sensor and subsequently gave up and bought a replacement car for her as I don’t have trusted mechanic to work on it.

Decide to list it on gumtree as spares and or repair for £350. 

Fair enough price in my opinion for a 2007, two owner, 57k, full leather, 1.6 automatic, air con etc with 9 months MOT and then the lack of common sense and normalcy begin:

Several messages offering to take it for the £350 IF it starts and drives with a new battery - but if it doesn’t they don’t want it.

If I had messages wanting to negotiate I can get that, but it must work for £350, beggars belief or maybe I’m just too old and out of touch.

it’s a spares / repair car if it worked properly - we wouldn’t be selling it and if we were it’s probably £2k+ for it.

I get wanting something cheaply BUT come on - £350 in 2024 for a working, ticketed and we’ll equipped car is pushing your luck and expecting to dictate terms on it is just abnormal, all the details are in the ad that it does not work and is spares / repairs but still the messages come through.

Anyway - vent over.
Peace and all the best to all.

Brie

Your first and only mistake was to put "common" & "sense" together.

I can't remember the number of times on freegle or similar listed nice items available for free and all we needed to do was agree when they would pick up.  And responses asked if I can deliver.  It's free! Make an effort!!  I've no problem with someone showing up and saying "oh no, I don't want that it's too big/small/orange/whatever" but I'm not going to deliver something on the off chance they won't be there or refuse to take it.

Hope you luck out eventually!!

Albermarle

I suppose the issue is that you would need a tow truck, so that would probably cost £150/£200, unless you had one already.
On the other hand someone mechanically minded could get it going again and make a decent profit.

Okell

I think I would have added that the car was a non-starter and for spares or repair only

But I'm sure that still wouldn't have stopped people asking if it ran OK...

Anthony147

Okell said:

I think I would have added that the car was a non-starter and for spares or repair only

But I'm sure that still wouldn't have stopped people asking if it ran OK...

That was in the advert title, three times in the main text and again separately to reinforce what was being sold including what had been changed and not worked.

CurlySue2017

"is common sense no longer a thing from car buyers"

I would suggest that common sense is becoming a very rare beast in general, not just among car buyers

I share your frustrations, after recently trying to sell a faulty car myself and having the same type of responses, I eventually sold it via Motorway.   

More and more now, people want something for nothing. 

rollingmoon

When I've had to get rid of cars like that I've sent them straight over the weighbridge. It's simply not worth dealing with the sort of entitled half-wits that selling a spares-or-repairs car will bring to your door. The very last thing I'd ever do with such a car is advertise it on Scumtree, for the reasons you have just discovered.

Okell said:

I think I would have added that the car was a non-starter and for spares or repair only

But I'm sure that still wouldn't have stopped people asking if it ran OK...

No, it doesn't. They ask things like:

"If I get the bus from <insert somewhere in the UK at least 250 miles from where the car is> will I be able to drive it home?"

"£<insert half the asking price> cash tonite"

"LOWEST PRICE M8"

"U SWAP FOR PITBULL & broken Xbox & £50?"

"CAN U DELIVER TO <insert somewhere in the UK at least 250 miles from where the car is>?"

etc. etc. etc. No, life's too short - just scrap it already.