The joys of 5K Autotrader searching!
Discussion
So daughter needs a car, up to 5 grand,petrol,hatch or vert,cruise, manual max 90k miles ish...what could go wrong ( other than the car).
No 1: Home trader:Do a 60 miles round trip to see a 50k mile high spec 207 with apparently great history and barely a mark, and it def' has cruise control and speed limiter because the advert says it and the phone call confirms it. Must be bloody nice for what the home trader is asking.But it doesn't have cruise,and the door mirror has been done with hammerite and a completely different finish to the other one, and the brakes are stuck on even though she drove it this morning.
No 2: Private sale: Ring up about a 208 and ask about " the car for sale" to which the reply is " which one", so a home trader but no, apparently he simply got two cars for sale, even though it appears this came from auction and hes only had it a month.
No 3: Private sale, really local,so we meet at the restaurant for a first look where he works,208 bought for his wife as a Xmas present "but she doesn't like it". Is the V5C in her name ? "Yes it is"... no its not, it's still in the previous owners name....then he points out "Do I want that instead", and points to an Octavia that he's also selling...but deffo not a home trader, oh no.
No 4: Lovely looking A3 cab,timing chain and oil pump belt done etc etc, it's 100 miles away so need a bit of a convo' first. Well would you believe it? He also bought it was his wife at Xmas but it's too small ( they've got 4 kids FFS!), no invoice for the work because he's done it all himself apparently and the parts invoices were put through his business.
And so we get to No5, a 135 high spec Mito, owned by budding F1 engineer, parents selling it for him as he's working away.Ring up and all checks out, but there's a 17 year old who hasn't got a licence yet looking at it. they kindly ring me back to say that they are giving him until midday tomorrow as he was first to look at it, but they don't think he will follow it through as he didn't seem to know what he was looking at and insurance would be huge. I tell them I admire their principles, and can I be second? So yesterday I pop over there, and the car is as good as it gets, one small issue that a 5 min google found the answer to. The family are car nuts,it has all the bills other than one for cambelt and water pump that was listed, and in 5 mins the son has found the garage who did it and got them to mail the invoice, so all good.They wasn't keen for me to drive it as they felt I may not be insured ( I was), but when they took me out in it there wasn't one squeak, rattle or anything, felt like a new car, not bad for an 11 year old Italian.The bloody 17 year old rang back at midday and bought it !
No 1: Home trader:Do a 60 miles round trip to see a 50k mile high spec 207 with apparently great history and barely a mark, and it def' has cruise control and speed limiter because the advert says it and the phone call confirms it. Must be bloody nice for what the home trader is asking.But it doesn't have cruise,and the door mirror has been done with hammerite and a completely different finish to the other one, and the brakes are stuck on even though she drove it this morning.
No 2: Private sale: Ring up about a 208 and ask about " the car for sale" to which the reply is " which one", so a home trader but no, apparently he simply got two cars for sale, even though it appears this came from auction and hes only had it a month.
No 3: Private sale, really local,so we meet at the restaurant for a first look where he works,208 bought for his wife as a Xmas present "but she doesn't like it". Is the V5C in her name ? "Yes it is"... no its not, it's still in the previous owners name....then he points out "Do I want that instead", and points to an Octavia that he's also selling...but deffo not a home trader, oh no.
No 4: Lovely looking A3 cab,timing chain and oil pump belt done etc etc, it's 100 miles away so need a bit of a convo' first. Well would you believe it? He also bought it was his wife at Xmas but it's too small ( they've got 4 kids FFS!), no invoice for the work because he's done it all himself apparently and the parts invoices were put through his business.
And so we get to No5, a 135 high spec Mito, owned by budding F1 engineer, parents selling it for him as he's working away.Ring up and all checks out, but there's a 17 year old who hasn't got a licence yet looking at it. they kindly ring me back to say that they are giving him until midday tomorrow as he was first to look at it, but they don't think he will follow it through as he didn't seem to know what he was looking at and insurance would be huge. I tell them I admire their principles, and can I be second? So yesterday I pop over there, and the car is as good as it gets, one small issue that a 5 min google found the answer to. The family are car nuts,it has all the bills other than one for cambelt and water pump that was listed, and in 5 mins the son has found the garage who did it and got them to mail the invoice, so all good.They wasn't keen for me to drive it as they felt I may not be insured ( I was), but when they took me out in it there wasn't one squeak, rattle or anything, felt like a new car, not bad for an 11 year old Italian.The bloody 17 year old rang back at midday and bought it !
Edited by sjc on Thursday 8th February 14:42
Changed days on the private buying front, that is for sure, sounds a nightmare. A word of caution re the Peugeots, my mate works for a local main dealer (not Peugeot) that also sells second hand cars. He reckons Peugeots are the worst cars for eating suspension components and other run of the mill ancillaries they get in and warned me off them.
Past experience of a Peugeot my wife owned also suggested the most clueless dealer mechanics in the trade. They had 18 months to diagnose a worsening intermittent fault (that was almost constant by the time someone else diagnosed it) on a fpsh car, most of the servicing done by them and still couldn't diagnose a blocked fuel filter, that turned out to be an original even though they had changed it at the previous three services, so liars as well.
Past experience of a Peugeot my wife owned also suggested the most clueless dealer mechanics in the trade. They had 18 months to diagnose a worsening intermittent fault (that was almost constant by the time someone else diagnosed it) on a fpsh car, most of the servicing done by them and still couldn't diagnose a blocked fuel filter, that turned out to be an original even though they had changed it at the previous three services, so liars as well.
wc98 said:
Changed days on the private buying front, that is for sure, sounds a nightmare. A word of caution re the Peugeots, my mate works for a local main dealer (not Peugeot) that also sells second hand cars. He reckons Peugeots are the worst cars for eating suspension components and other run of the mill ancillaries they get in and warned me off them.
Past experience of a Peugeot my wife owned also suggested the most clueless dealer mechanics in the trade. They had 18 months to diagnose a worsening intermittent fault (that was almost constant by the time someone else diagnosed it) on a fpsh car, most of the servicing done by them and still couldn't diagnose a blocked fuel filter, that turned out to be an original even though they had changed it at the previous three services, so liars as well.
Ta for that, we've gone off the 207 for being too old, and the 208 because of the ridiculous instrument/steering wheel layout.Past experience of a Peugeot my wife owned also suggested the most clueless dealer mechanics in the trade. They had 18 months to diagnose a worsening intermittent fault (that was almost constant by the time someone else diagnosed it) on a fpsh car, most of the servicing done by them and still couldn't diagnose a blocked fuel filter, that turned out to be an original even though they had changed it at the previous three services, so liars as well.
Nightmare. Well done for asking the right questions and not getting caught. I think FB is a favourite for home traders and Cat cars.
Keep a lookout for another Mito. I had one and thought it was very good and certainly reliable. Just make sure, if it's a multiair, that the correct oil has been used. Modern Alfas have a very unfair reputation in terms of reliability, which makes them great value used.
Keep a lookout for another Mito. I had one and thought it was very good and certainly reliable. Just make sure, if it's a multiair, that the correct oil has been used. Modern Alfas have a very unfair reputation in terms of reliability, which makes them great value used.
Tony_T said:
Don't buy a 207 if it has the prince engine. In fact probably don't buy one at all.
Thanks,but had it in the daughters Mini for 140k miles without incident, wouldn't need to look for a replacement if someone had looked where they were going.That said, the 207/208 is off the menu for the reasons previously posted.
wc98 said:
Changed days on the private buying front, that is for sure, sounds a nightmare.
Yeah it seems almost everyone plasm them off on WBAC, which presumably is what drives the surge in home traders.I dont automatically have an issue with home traders, I bought the E46 off one 8 years ago, but its certainly not the same market it was a decade or two ago.
That and the fact that was was a £1500 car is now £5000+!
J4CKO said:
If you think AT is bad, try FaceBook Marketplace, Obi Wan Kenobi had a good description of it.
Aka car flipper central! You only need to go onto platforms like Tiktok where the same people are showing their supposed profits etc. Very often, the car was sourced from FMB before later being advertised on and sold through it again.
Perhaps it's because it's free and you don't need to pay for multiple car adverts, which was an issue in the days of Gumtree when most used cars were flipped having been sourced from live car auctions.
In the past I've tried to keep search preferences to private sellers and not trade, but still exercise trepidation as not everyone is who they say they are.
A simple Google search of a 'private' seller's mobile number that yields historic car advert listings is one instant red flag
sjc said:
Tony_T said:
Don't buy a 207 if it has the prince engine. In fact probably don't buy one at all.
Thanks,but had it in the daughters Mini for 140k miles without incident, wouldn't need to look for a replacement if someone had looked where they were going.That said, the 207/208 is off the menu for the reasons previously posted.
sjc said:
So daughter needs a car, up to 5 grand,petrol,hatch or vert,cruise, manual max 90k miles ish...what could go wrong ( other than the car).
No 1: Home trader:Do a 60 miles round trip to see a 50k mile high spec 207 with apparently great history and barely a mark, and it def' has cruise control and speed limiter because the advert says it and the phone call confirms it. Must be bloody nice for what the home trader is asking.But it doesn't have cruise,and the door mirror has been done with hammerite and a completely different finish to the other one, and the brakes are stuck on even though she drove it this morning.
No 2: Private sale: Ring up about a 208 and ask about " the car for sale" to which the reply is " which one", so a home trader but no, apparently he simply got two cars for sale, even though it appears this came from auction and hes only had it a month.
No 3: Private sale, really local,so we meet at the restaurant for a first look where he works,208 bought for his wife as a Xmas present "but she doesn't like it". Is the V5C in her name ? "Yes it is"... no its not, it's still in the previous owners name....then he points out "Do I want that instead", and points to an Octavia that he's also selling...but deffo not a home trader, oh no.
No 4: Lovely looking A3 cab,timing chain and oil pump belt done etc etc, it's 100 miles away so need a bit of a convo' first. Well would you believe it? He also bought it was his wife at Xmas but it's too small ( they've got 4 kids FFS!), no invoice for the work because he's done it all himself apparently and the parts invoices were put through his business.
And so we get to No5, a 135 high spec Mito, owned by budding F1 engineer, parents selling it for him as he's working away.Ring up and all checks out, but there's a 17 year old who hasn't got a licence yet looking at it. they kindly ring me back to say that they are giving him until midday tomorrow as he was first to look at it, but they don't think he will follow it through as he didn't seem to know what he was looking at and insurance would be huge. I tell them I admire their principles, and can I be second? So yesterday I pop over there, and the car is as good as it gets, one small issue that a 5 min google found the answer to. The family are car nuts,it has all the bills other than one for cambelt and water pump that was listed, and in 5 mins the son has found the garage who did it and got them to mail the invoice, so all good.They wasn't keen for me to drive it as they felt I may not be insured ( I was), but when they took me out in it there wasn't one squeak, rattle or anything, felt like a new car, not bad for an 11 year old Italian.The bloody 17 year old rang back at midday and bought it !
Sounds like the Mito was decent at least!No 1: Home trader:Do a 60 miles round trip to see a 50k mile high spec 207 with apparently great history and barely a mark, and it def' has cruise control and speed limiter because the advert says it and the phone call confirms it. Must be bloody nice for what the home trader is asking.But it doesn't have cruise,and the door mirror has been done with hammerite and a completely different finish to the other one, and the brakes are stuck on even though she drove it this morning.
No 2: Private sale: Ring up about a 208 and ask about " the car for sale" to which the reply is " which one", so a home trader but no, apparently he simply got two cars for sale, even though it appears this came from auction and hes only had it a month.
No 3: Private sale, really local,so we meet at the restaurant for a first look where he works,208 bought for his wife as a Xmas present "but she doesn't like it". Is the V5C in her name ? "Yes it is"... no its not, it's still in the previous owners name....then he points out "Do I want that instead", and points to an Octavia that he's also selling...but deffo not a home trader, oh no.
No 4: Lovely looking A3 cab,timing chain and oil pump belt done etc etc, it's 100 miles away so need a bit of a convo' first. Well would you believe it? He also bought it was his wife at Xmas but it's too small ( they've got 4 kids FFS!), no invoice for the work because he's done it all himself apparently and the parts invoices were put through his business.
And so we get to No5, a 135 high spec Mito, owned by budding F1 engineer, parents selling it for him as he's working away.Ring up and all checks out, but there's a 17 year old who hasn't got a licence yet looking at it. they kindly ring me back to say that they are giving him until midday tomorrow as he was first to look at it, but they don't think he will follow it through as he didn't seem to know what he was looking at and insurance would be huge. I tell them I admire their principles, and can I be second? So yesterday I pop over there, and the car is as good as it gets, one small issue that a 5 min google found the answer to. The family are car nuts,it has all the bills other than one for cambelt and water pump that was listed, and in 5 mins the son has found the garage who did it and got them to mail the invoice, so all good.They wasn't keen for me to drive it as they felt I may not be insured ( I was), but when they took me out in it there wasn't one squeak, rattle or anything, felt like a new car, not bad for an 11 year old Italian.The bloody 17 year old rang back at midday and bought it !
Probably about right for private sellers on Autotrader or any other classifieds platform. 20% of the cars are good and the other 80% are s
te!J4CKO said:
If you think AT is bad, try FaceBook Marketplace, Obi Wan Kenobi had a good description of it.
FB marketplace is a hell hole.I had a 2016 Polo for sale in 2022, some mug offered me 3k, told him to jog on, called me all sorts of abuse under the sun, I sold it on Autotrader for £7,800.
Or “swopz for a cane corso and a ps5 bruv?”
At the time I was trying to buy a Golf R or a BMW 330, they were all shagged , dodgy home traders, drug dealers who don’t know how to 1) sell a car 2) communicate effectively.
Just stay away.
dhutch said:
I only use it for 'selling' bulky low value items to save them from the tip and or me from taking them.
Smaller items go to charity shops because its less painful that bartering the selling a £10 item for £4-6.
Snap, but it amazes me how many people buy your furniture “because they’re moving into a new place” but then magically it appears for sale at a profit straight after….Smaller items go to charity shops because its less painful that bartering the selling a £10 item for £4-6.
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