39 replies to this topic

[fiveoclock]

Ive also found you get a better quality of buyer when selling on forums or AutoTrader as opposed to ebay or gumtree and usually a better price.

This in spades, I had the best 2007 330i convertible you could imagine, low miles, right colour and options, decent price. All I got on ebay for 2 months was bellends calling me bruv and offering me two thirds of the asking price. Asked Jon Seal what he thought I was doing wrong, he said nothing just put it on autotrader, I did and it sold in 5 days. The problem is autotrader is 50 odd quid whereas ebay is 15 and pistonheads can be free but worth it in the end

[rabbidog]

i used to go on trust alot and have bought a few good cars like this, ie cheap car comes up buyer seems half decent put down deposit without seeing car, and then booked oneway ticket to pick up the car....worked 3 times, and i did well out of them.

Got stung last year bmw 335d guy seemed nice, was selling his sons car who was working abroad, put down 750 deposit booked a one way flight to scotland,insured it taxed it, every intention to buy it.... he drove down 1.5 hours to meet me at the airport.

The car had been in a previous accident badly repaired, fromt wing had red showing from where the paint had chipped, rear quarter panel bad body filler. i asked him for my deposit back and said he could take out what he thought was fair for petrol etc , he had taken a day off work and refused.....back he said he would knock 500 off for the paint i said no thanks.

lesson learned, question for you guys do yo think i can get my bank too fight for my deposit, as the transfer was done bank to bank...been just over a year now

I dont understand why you think you would be entitled to your deposit back. You chose to give a deposit without seeing the car, the seller didnt force you. Its your fault it went wrong. A deposit is for the seller to take his reasonable costs from if the buyer pulls out of the deal, sounds like thats what he did.

Although i wouldnt place a deposit on a car without seeing it, I think if the buyer placed a deposit in good faith, based on a thorough description of the car prior by the seller, and it then didnt meet his description then the buyer would rightly feel a bit aggrieved.

I certainly would not leave a £750 deposit as a private buyer, £200 max to cover the costs of re-advertisement and hassle regardless of the cost of the car.

I assume this car was well under market value hence the rush to put a large deposit on it to secure it before seeing it? If so u have to ask why its cheap?

Edited by rabbidog, 20 June 2018 - 02:49 PM.

[rabbidog]

Ive also found you get a better quality of buyer when selling on forums or AutoTrader as opposed to ebay or gumtree and usually a better price.

This in spades, I had the best 2007 330i convertible you could imagine, low miles, right colour and options, decent price. All I got on ebay for 2 months was bellends calling me bruv and offering me two thirds of the asking price. Asked Jon Seal what he thought I was doing wrong, he said nothing just put it on autotrader, I did and it sold in 5 days. The problem is autotrader is 50 odd quid whereas ebay is 15 and pistonheads can be free but worth it in the end

It really is worth paying for an autotrader advert imo. People expect things cheap on ebay in my experience.

[Ormes]

It's not an easy subject... I absolutely hate buying and selling cars and car parts, as there are always good people, and complete tw@ts around.

 

For example, I recently bought a pair of headlights from somebody through the FB group, advertised as excellent, paid a deposit, had a nice chat with the guy and collected, got them home and found the projectors were only being held in place by the rubber grommets on the back.  Tried to make contact to rectify the situation and none of my correspondence got a reply.  It is theft by deception, simple as that.  Would I do it again excercising the same caution (lack of), yes, because I don't want to think of everybody as a potential tw@t, and like to think I can trust forum members!

[Deaconp]

I am now actually thinking the ‘buyer’ was malicious. On the afternoon before ‘collection’ the following day he asked me to swap over the wheels (I did previously have two sets). On the phone he said he wanted Turbo wheels, then the request (by text) to swap wheels.
Almost seems like he was enjoying wasting my time.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tony H]

Probably was sincere but got cold feet and as no deposit did not feel compelled to go ahead. Could have just said that and apologised of course but some people are just like that!


I went to look at a vx near me for a stranger once. It was mint and he put a deposit on it.
Then found he could not get a loan big enough to buy the car and had the cheek to ask the seller for his deposit back! Maybe similar happened to your buyer but too proud to say the real situation.

[jonnyboy]

Always take a deposit. If someone is serious even if it's £250 it shows they are serious.

I withold all deposits but am always clear to people that I would rather not take a deposit than be put in the position of being asked for it back. If a deposit is returnable what's the point in taking it?

We can incur genuine costs by prepping things up and doing MOTs etc. It's rarely a problem though. Private sellers unfortunately bear the brunt of time wasters.

Funnily enough had a call from a chap on one of mine. Wanted us to drop everything and prep up a car at short notice but never heard back when I mentioned a £1000 deposit. I wonder if you can guess what his name was? 🤣

[rabbidog]

Probably was sincere but got cold feet and as no deposit did not feel compelled to go ahead. Could have just said that and apologised of course but some people are just like that!


I went to look at a vx near me for a stranger once. It was mint and he put a deposit on it.
Then found he could not get a loan big enough to buy the car and had the cheek to ask the seller for his deposit back! Maybe similar happened to your buyer but too proud to say the real situation.

Totally agree.

Deposits are pretty meaningless when buying from big companies such as main car dealers, it is easy to cancel an order and get the full deposit refunded so doesnt really protect the the seller.

Maybe this has diluted peoples perception of deposits as a whole and there are many of those that believe it applies to private sales as well.

By definition a deposit is a sum payable as a first instalment on the purchase of something or as a pledge for a contract, the balance being payable later...(thanks google)

[Deaconp]

Always take a deposit. If someone is serious even if it's £250 it shows they are serious.


I withold all deposits but am always clear to people that I would rather not take a deposit than be put in the position of being asked for it back. If a deposit is returnable what's the point in taking it?


We can incur genuine costs by prepping things up and doing MOTs etc. It's rarely a problem though. Private sellers unfortunately bear the brunt of time wasters.


Funnily enough had a call from a chap on one of mine. Wanted us to drop everything and prep up a car at short notice but never heard back when I mentioned a £1000 deposit. I wonder if you can guess what his name was? 🤣

Seriously.....it couldn’t be.....Nick??




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rob999]

Imran? Elmo? 😄

[Ormes]

Imran? Elmo? 😄

 

Who was the troll "woman"... forgot her/his name...?  (and no I'm not talking aboutr Aimee or Ali M )

[jonnyboy]

[quote name="Deaconp" post="1956418" timestamp="1529602531"]

[quote name="jonnyboy" post="1956416" timestamp="1529602417"]
Always take a deposit. If someone is serious even if it's £250 it shows they are serious.


I withold all deposits but am always clear to people that I would rather not take a deposit than be put in the position of being asked for it back. If a deposit is returnable what's the point in taking it?


We can incur genuine costs by prepping things up and doing MOTs etc. It's rarely a problem though. Private sellers unfortunately bear the brunt of time wasters.


Funnily enough had a call from a chap on one of mine. Wanted us to drop everything and prep up a car at short notice but never heard back when I mentioned a £1000 deposit. I wonder if you can guess what his name was? 🤣[/quote]
Seriously.....it couldn’t be.....Nick??




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/quotep]

That's ther one!

[oblomov]

Quite a few years ago I travelled all the way to London to look at a car described as 'showroom condition'. When I got there it was in sh!t order, including broken spotlamp glass. After a short conversation it became apparent that the bloke was an idiot. I was so annoyed I seriously considerered decking him - except he knew where I was from. The lesson I learned was you never know who or what you're dealing with, as with the 'immaculate showroom condition' seats I bought on here.

[rob999]

Imran? Elmo? 😄

Who was the troll "woman"... forgot her/his name...? (and no I'm not talking aboutr Aimee or Ali M )

NextdoorSophie?

[The Batman]

anonymous user

[Ormes]

 

 

Imran? Elmo? 😄

Who was the troll "woman"... forgot her/his name...? (and no I'm not talking aboutr Aimee or Ali M )

NextdoorSophie?

 

 

Yeah that's the one
 

[GiGo]

Hate selling cars.... had a fair few time wasters with one car once that was on Auto Trader and really pissed me off, off loaded the Smart Car a couple of weeks ago, popped it on Facebook on Saturday on the Marketplace, had a phone call that night and was sold the next day, first person to look at it!  

[AstonVauxhall]

For private sales, I can understand someone not wanting to pay a deposit but for private sellers and for us, if a deposit is not taken, the car is still for sale. Personally, I wouldn't pay a deposit on a private sale. If the car isn't right, there's a high chance you won't get it back unless you're a powerfully built company director with a can of red bull handy. 

 

For private sales if a deposit is not taken, the first to pay the full amount wins. 

 

It's easy to be lead up the garden path by someone if you're basing it all on trust but after you've been messed around, you learn. Keep taking calls / appointments etc but as long as you're straight with someone that someone is coming to view on X date and they very well may buy it. Sometimes people don't like that but if you're honest, it comes across like that and not someone trying to invent some superficial interest. 

 

For us, if someone does place a deposit, handover/delivery is arranged at the same point. We will not hold a car indefinitely on a small deposit. Sometimes there are circumstances, someone has purchased but is off on holiday for two weeks, that's fine but I have seen people place large deposits on vehicles and then mentioned that they don't want the car for four months.. 

 

We take refundable deposits for distance customers who haven't seen the vehicle and can't get over for a few days. If the vehicle isn't what they thought, that's fine but we wouldn't put the vehicle through for preparation based on this.

 

VX's are a touch niche but I would suggest Tootle if you're looking to sell your car. Dealers bid for your car which keeps it simple and hassle free as the process can be. 

[oblomov]

A guy bought a house three doors away from me, put it on sale an hour after he moved in and then sold weeks later taking a 25k hit.  Turned out he also had deposits of 1k on three or four other houses.  No Idea what he was fkuking about at but I had sympathy for those poor b'stards with a deposit thinking they had sold their house when in fact they were dealing with a real tosser who was messing them around.  Had something similar done to me by a woman from London.  Said she'd buy the house and then when it fell through (nearly causing me to loose the house I intended to buy) I found she's visited eight houses on the day including mine ande told every one of them she intended to buy and wait to hear from her solicitor.  She didn't buy any house in the end because she died of cancer - I'm not one to indulge in schadenfreude but.....

[Nev]

schadenfreude but.....

 

It's good for the soul!