Stories of strange selling experiences
Discussion
cbmotorsport said:
A chap I know who used to sell motors in his youth, would swap four speed gear knobs for 5 speed ones. He would let the prospective buyer run the car up and down the 100m of road outside his house by way of a test drive. Obviously they never went far enough to try out 5th gear. Cars were sold as seen.
Try that where I grew up and someone would remove your face with a Stanley knife.As happened to a chap I did know of. Londoner, who was working in central Scotland on the then new M74 motorway and thought he was a real ticket so sold a Triumph Stag with no reverse through means of careful positioning of said car.
Bloke from Douglas bought it. Returned it the next day in a rather firm manner. London hard man/wide boy/geezer/roadworker was then signed off sick for quite some time by sheer co-incidence.
Selling my second car - a Toyota Yaris. I'd bought it as a repaired cat D, and during my ownership it was hit by another driver requiring repairs to most panels on the N/S of the car then my sister borrowed it and stuffed the front end in to the central reservation of a motorway in the snow. Eventually got it repaired yet again (written off again, I bought it back from insurers). Unsurprisingly by that point I wanted a change!
Listed it on Gumtree and an hour later a foreign sounding chap phoned up. He was in London, I was in Inverness. Nevertheless he sounded keen to buy!
A few days later he flew up, with wife and young child in tow. I picked them up in the car, took them to my house, he looked over the car. He did ask if the bootlid had been replaced as it was a slightly different shade to the other panels. I said no, neglecting to point out that the bootlid was about the only panel with original paint.
Cash paid, and off they all went back to London!
That was about 5 years ago, and it looks like that poor car is still on the road.
Listed it on Gumtree and an hour later a foreign sounding chap phoned up. He was in London, I was in Inverness. Nevertheless he sounded keen to buy!
A few days later he flew up, with wife and young child in tow. I picked them up in the car, took them to my house, he looked over the car. He did ask if the bootlid had been replaced as it was a slightly different shade to the other panels. I said no, neglecting to point out that the bootlid was about the only panel with original paint.
Cash paid, and off they all went back to London!
That was about 5 years ago, and it looks like that poor car is still on the road.
POORCARDEALER said:
Sold a £5K van, scottish chap says I cant get down til 7 pm, I said I will take it home ...he arrives and proceeds to give me a wad of £100 notes (scottish money)....only time i have ever had any or seen them...
I had the same with NI money and a BMW. The guy was actually a really sound fella, despite every time he spoke his accent made him sound like he wanted to kill me.I'd never even seen a NI £20 before then. He could have been handing me Bank of Zog for all I knew.
POORCARDEALER said:
Sold a £5K van, scottish chap says I cant get down til 7 pm, I said I will take it home ...he arrives and proceeds to give me a wad of £100 notes (scottish money)....only time i have ever had any or seen them...
I had a similar situation with an Irish guy that i met at the airport to sell a Subaru to. He produced 12k in brand new Bank of Ireland £50 notes.Typically it was a Sunday and the banks were closed. I almost never let him take the car as i'd never even seen one of these notes before.
E36Ross said:
There's a video somewhere on YouTube, Guy turned up to buy a Campervan and took it away on a towing dolly..... Tow car was something like a 106 Peugeot!
Anyone know the video?
I sold a Range Rover l322 to a guy from Glasgow. He turned up with a ford mondeo and a 1.5 ton plant trailer. All it he must have been close to 4.5ton towing weight which he had to take over the A9 so quite hilly. Feel sorry for his clutch and brakes.Anyone know the video?
Slow said:
I sold a Range Rover l322 to a guy from Glasgow. He turned up with a ford mondeo and a 1.5 ton plant trailer. All it he must have been close to 4.5ton towing weight which he had to take over the A9 so quite hilly. Feel sorry for his clutch and brakes.
Should have used the Range Rover to take the Mondeo Nanook said:
Jimmy Recard said:
Should have used the Range Rover to take the Mondeo
I could be wrong, but I don't think Slow specialises in cars that run.Was my silver Range Rover I got cheap while being told it had a dead gearbox. Took it out and the box was fine. Couldnt turn the engine over though, wouldnt crank nor turn over by hand. Didnt want the hassle of swapping engines so just sold it on. Engines being cheaper than dead gearboxs on these I made a nice profit too.
E36Ross said:
There's a video somewhere on YouTube, Guy turned up to buy a Campervan and took it away on a towing dolly..... Tow car was something like a 106 Peugeot!
Anyone know the video?
Its a Clio and a renault trafic campervan on a 2 wheel dolly.Anyone know the video?
it looks scary as hell as it drives off
Many moons ago selling a mk1 Golf gti... my own fault really because 1st guy to view offered a decent price to take it off my hands (ebay auction) but I got greedy and thought "well if that's the first offer...."
Sadly the next tosser who knew the cars well came in at an astonishing lowball offer. No problem. I simply refused. He then proceeded to complain like a little b
h and which point I walked off and closed the door. Not done he then goes all out writing complete tripe on the owners forum about the car. I replied if it was such a Shiite example, why did you make an offer instead of walking away? Mummy and daddy never said no when you were young did they mate? he went into silent mode.
tt.
Sadly the next tosser who knew the cars well came in at an astonishing lowball offer. No problem. I simply refused. He then proceeded to complain like a little b
h and which point I walked off and closed the door. Not done he then goes all out writing complete tripe on the owners forum about the car. I replied if it was such a Shiite example, why did you make an offer instead of walking away? Mummy and daddy never said no when you were young did they mate? he went into silent mode. t
t.Hainey said:
I had the same with NI money and a BMW. The guy was actually a really sound fella, despite every time he spoke his accent made him sound like he wanted to kill me.
I'd never even seen a NI £20 before then. He could have been handing me Bank of Zog for all I knew.
I know some "colourful" trade types - a couple of times they've been down the wine bar or whatever and pulled out huge rolls of Scottish fifty pound notes. I'm sure there's a dodgy angle.I'd never even seen a NI £20 before then. He could have been handing me Bank of Zog for all I knew.
Dog Star said:
I know some "colourful" trade types - a couple of times they've been down the wine bar or whatever and pulled out huge rolls of Scottish fifty pound notes. I'm sure there's a dodgy angle.
Why is that dodgy rather than any other UK bank note?It's the same as a Bank of England £50 note
About ten years ago my girlfriend at the time wanted shot of her diesel mk3 Fiesta. Now this thing was an absolute shed. Probably had the six months remaining on its MOT left to live. We put it on Ebay with a 150 start bid (the price of some work shed recently had done to it) and no reserve. By the time the auction finishes, the only bid on it is the 150 starting price.
Guy gets in touch and asks if I can meet him at the nearest coach station. Im in Darlington (which he knows) and hes in Bournemouth. And he wants to come on the National Express. Which is something outrageous like a 12 hour journey. I go anyway assuming hes not turning up. Low and behold, there he is with his 4 year old son?? Walk him round the car, hes happy with it, hands over the cash, refuses all offers of a brew or something to eat, gets in and off he goes; never heard from him again.
I could never get my head around it. Its not like it was a rare or desirable car, it was a heap of st. Are there no heaps of st closer to him? Why embark on such an epic journey, with a small child for a 150 quid snotter? Why risk undertaking a 350 mile trip, in the depths of winter in a knackered old car youve just bought?
Maybe Im missing something.
Guy gets in touch and asks if I can meet him at the nearest coach station. Im in Darlington (which he knows) and hes in Bournemouth. And he wants to come on the National Express. Which is something outrageous like a 12 hour journey. I go anyway assuming hes not turning up. Low and behold, there he is with his 4 year old son?? Walk him round the car, hes happy with it, hands over the cash, refuses all offers of a brew or something to eat, gets in and off he goes; never heard from him again.
I could never get my head around it. Its not like it was a rare or desirable car, it was a heap of s
t. Are there no heaps of st closer to him? Why embark on such an epic journey, with a small child for a 150 quid snotter? Why risk undertaking a 350 mile trip, in the depths of winter in a knackered old car youve just bought?Maybe Im missing something.
spodrod said:
About ten years ago my girlfriend at the time wanted shot of her diesel mk3 Fiesta. Now this thing was an absolute shed. Probably had the six months remaining on its MOT left to live. We put it on Ebay with a 150 start bid (the price of some work shed recently had done to it) and no reserve. By the time the auction finishes, the only bid on it is the 150 starting price.
Guy gets in touch and asks if I can meet him at the nearest coach station. Im in Darlington (which he knows) and hes in Bournemouth. And he wants to come on the National Express. Which is something outrageous like a 12 hour journey. I go anyway assuming hes not turning up. Low and behold, there he is with his 4 year old son?? Walk him round the car, hes happy with it, hands over the cash, refuses all offers of a brew or something to eat, gets in and off he goes; never heard from him again.
I could never get my head around it. Its not like it was a rare or desirable car, it was a heap of st. Are there no heaps of st closer to him? Why embark on such an epic journey, with a small child for a 150 quid snotter? Why risk undertaking a 350 mile trip, in the depths of winter in a knackered old car youve just bought?
Maybe Im missing something.
Pissed ebaying probably. Guy gets in touch and asks if I can meet him at the nearest coach station. Im in Darlington (which he knows) and hes in Bournemouth. And he wants to come on the National Express. Which is something outrageous like a 12 hour journey. I go anyway assuming hes not turning up. Low and behold, there he is with his 4 year old son?? Walk him round the car, hes happy with it, hands over the cash, refuses all offers of a brew or something to eat, gets in and off he goes; never heard from him again.
I could never get my head around it. Its not like it was a rare or desirable car, it was a heap of s
t. Are there no heaps of st closer to him? Why embark on such an epic journey, with a small child for a 150 quid snotter? Why risk undertaking a 350 mile trip, in the depths of winter in a knackered old car youve just bought?Maybe Im missing something.
In 2010 I sold my 1989 Defender, I'd done a lot of work on it, 200 tdi, BFG MT tyres, safari snorkel, lift kit, chequer plate bonnet and wings etc. It looked great but took a couple of attempts to meet its quite modest reserve on Ebay (annoyingly now it would be worth 2x what it did then, oh well)
So when it did eventually meet reserve I got a email from the buyer to say he was Polish and didn't speak much English, and would have the cash in a couple of weeks. Grr I thought, but I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and hang on relisting it.
A couple of weeks later I got a text to say he was based in London (I was in Blackpool) and he would be be coming up to collect it.
He turned up, a few hours late, accompanied by 3 other quite hard looking chaps in strange attire, shell suit jackets, light blue jeans with massive belt buckles and cowboy boots, I kid you not! This remember was 2010!
One of the guys runs straight up to the Defender and excitedly jumps up on the bonnet! My jaw hit the floor.
Luckily the guy who identified himself as the buyer tells his mate, I assumed, to "get the f*ck down" in Polish.
All four of the guys simultaneously lit their cigs and paced around the car, rocking, pushing, prodding, pulling everything while I spoke to the buyer who was counting the cash out. I tried to ignore their bizarre activities and concentrate on the money counting. It was all there and he signed the V5.
About an hour later I get a call from him to say he was at a petrol station and he couldn't get it into reverse. My heart sank. I thought great, it was sold as seen, the deal was done and now he's found a problem it didn't have in my ownership. What was he going to do?
I talked him through the process of getting it into reverse, and he kept saying he was trying what I was instructing him to do, but in his broken English it was a nightmare! It turned out he just wasn't pushing the gear stick far enough over and up to select reverse! I joked with him you need 6ft long arms to work the gearbox on these old Landrovers, they aren't sports cars! That seemed to smooth things over and I didn't hear from him again, thankfully.
I did worry what they had planned to do with it, so I swiftly got the V5 in the post and washed my hands of it. Wish I'd kept that Landy....
So when it did eventually meet reserve I got a email from the buyer to say he was Polish and didn't speak much English, and would have the cash in a couple of weeks. Grr I thought, but I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and hang on relisting it.
A couple of weeks later I got a text to say he was based in London (I was in Blackpool) and he would be be coming up to collect it.
He turned up, a few hours late, accompanied by 3 other quite hard looking chaps in strange attire, shell suit jackets, light blue jeans with massive belt buckles and cowboy boots, I kid you not! This remember was 2010!
One of the guys runs straight up to the Defender and excitedly jumps up on the bonnet! My jaw hit the floor.
Luckily the guy who identified himself as the buyer tells his mate, I assumed, to "get the f*ck down" in Polish.
All four of the guys simultaneously lit their cigs and paced around the car, rocking, pushing, prodding, pulling everything while I spoke to the buyer who was counting the cash out. I tried to ignore their bizarre activities and concentrate on the money counting. It was all there and he signed the V5.
About an hour later I get a call from him to say he was at a petrol station and he couldn't get it into reverse. My heart sank. I thought great, it was sold as seen, the deal was done and now he's found a problem it didn't have in my ownership. What was he going to do?
I talked him through the process of getting it into reverse, and he kept saying he was trying what I was instructing him to do, but in his broken English it was a nightmare! It turned out he just wasn't pushing the gear stick far enough over and up to select reverse! I joked with him you need 6ft long arms to work the gearbox on these old Landrovers, they aren't sports cars! That seemed to smooth things over and I didn't hear from him again, thankfully.
I did worry what they had planned to do with it, so I swiftly got the V5 in the post and washed my hands of it. Wish I'd kept that Landy....
I've mentioned this on here before.
Had a MK11 MR2 for sale. Bloke calls and says when can he view the car. We arrange for Saturday morning. Saturday morning comes and there is a knock at the door, bloke is there and he hands me the envelope with the full asking price in cash. Ask does he not want to drive it or start her up? No he's had a look around and through the windows....... Drives off..
Had a MK11 MR2 for sale. Bloke calls and says when can he view the car. We arrange for Saturday morning. Saturday morning comes and there is a knock at the door, bloke is there and he hands me the envelope with the full asking price in cash. Ask does he not want to drive it or start her up? No he's had a look around and through the windows....... Drives off..
This might be a bit long, but I want to capture the mental. The four people in this story are me, my brother (Lewis), his girlfriend (Fiona) and her sister (Emily), whom I've never met.
Last year, I had a shed Corsa and I was thinking of getting a different shed but not bothered since it was fine. Then my brother phoned (he was a medical student without much money):
"Hi mate, I could really do with finding a cheap car because I've got a hospital placement coming up. Just something to get there and back. Can you help me find something?"
"You know that Corsa I've got? How about that?"
"Yeah, that'd be perfect. How much do you want?"
"Tell you what, I'll find something I want. Come with me to collect it and you can have the Corsa for nothing. It's got a little under four months MOT on it."
So that's what we did. On the way back from collecting the new car we stopped for a McDonalds and filled in the V5. I dropped it in a post box on the way home.
Four months later, I'd forgotten about it completely. My mobile rang about 7:30am while I was at work and I assumed it was someone calling in sick.
"Good morning, am I speaking to Mr Recard?"
"Who's that?"
"My name is Emily Johnson."
"Er, ok then. Can I help you?"
"I'm the self-appointed counsel of Mr Lewis Recard."
"What, my brother? What's he done?"
"It's actually about what you've done, Mr Recard. You sold him a deathtrap."
"What? I don't follow."
"That car you sold him has failed its MOT."
"What, the Corsa I gave him? Did he ask you to call me?"
"Actually, Fiona told me to call you. The two of them took it for an MOT yesterday and there was not only a worn out tyre but also a numberplate light out. When you agreed to hand it over to him, you entered a verbal contract to provide a working car."
"So? it was working. He can get a new light bulb and tyre."
"It means that you've endangered his life and the Sale of Goods Act means that he's entitled to a full refund and potential compensation."
"It really doesn't. And he's welcome to a refund of £0 that he paid."
She didn't want to give up but I phoned him and asked him about it. She'd heard about it from the girlfriend and seen a claim there, and as a law student (clearly a st one) saw a claim against me.
Last year, I had a shed Corsa and I was thinking of getting a different shed but not bothered since it was fine. Then my brother phoned (he was a medical student without much money):
"Hi mate, I could really do with finding a cheap car because I've got a hospital placement coming up. Just something to get there and back. Can you help me find something?"
"You know that Corsa I've got? How about that?"
"Yeah, that'd be perfect. How much do you want?"
"Tell you what, I'll find something I want. Come with me to collect it and you can have the Corsa for nothing. It's got a little under four months MOT on it."
So that's what we did. On the way back from collecting the new car we stopped for a McDonalds and filled in the V5. I dropped it in a post box on the way home.
Four months later, I'd forgotten about it completely. My mobile rang about 7:30am while I was at work and I assumed it was someone calling in sick.
"Good morning, am I speaking to Mr Recard?"
"Who's that?"
"My name is Emily Johnson."
"Er, ok then. Can I help you?"
"I'm the self-appointed counsel of Mr Lewis Recard."
"What, my brother? What's he done?"
"It's actually about what you've done, Mr Recard. You sold him a deathtrap."
"What? I don't follow."
"That car you sold him has failed its MOT."
"What, the Corsa I gave him? Did he ask you to call me?"
"Actually, Fiona told me to call you. The two of them took it for an MOT yesterday and there was not only a worn out tyre but also a numberplate light out. When you agreed to hand it over to him, you entered a verbal contract to provide a working car."
"So? it was working. He can get a new light bulb and tyre."
"It means that you've endangered his life and the Sale of Goods Act means that he's entitled to a full refund and potential compensation."
"It really doesn't. And he's welcome to a refund of £0 that he paid."
She didn't want to give up but I phoned him and asked him about it. She'd heard about it from the girlfriend and seen a claim there, and as a law student (clearly a s
t one) saw a claim against me.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff