Fault immediately after private sale - what would you do?

[davek_964]

I sold my 20 year old Cayenne today. It was far from perfect (cosmetically) but mechanically pretty sound. Very very rarely went wrong, no warning lights etc.

Buyer texted me an hour later and said that he'd just started it and it's showing 4wd system failure - and asked if I'd ever seen it. I have never seen that error (I owned the car 11 years / 30k miles). From a quick search it seems that it could be low battery (possible, I used the car rarely) or 'case servo motor' which is a 10 min job to replace although probably a £500 part.

We've exchanged a few texts, buyer seems good natured and has asked for nothing - and it was a private sale.

However : I believe they are genuine people - it was a fairly young couple, just bought first house, had to sell van and downgrade etc. Of course, none of that could be true - but I believe it is.

I have already decided my course of action, but I'm curious whether anybody else would do anything or just wash your hands of it - if you did believe they were genuine.

[SFTWend]

I would do nothing but sympathise.

It's common for buyers to try their luck, claiming a fault straight after purchase and seeking financial goodwill. Would you really buy an old Cayenne if you were trading down in hard times? Not going to be cheap to run.

If all genuine I wouldn't be offering money as that suggests you knew about the imminent failure and it would be an admission of guilt.

[sjc]

I’d go with my gut feeling if you’ve met them and made a judgment. Tell them what you’ve found on google and see after. From a moral point of view I might make a contribution towards a new battery if it’s proven to be the case.
It would end there though.

[Jamescrs]

I wouldn’t be offering any sort of partial refund or to assist with repair because it’s a common scam now. I wouldn’t trust it.

Probably just say sold as seen

[OverSteery]

"had to sell van and downgrade etc" to a 20 year old Porsche!

[valiant]

davek_964 said:

.


However : I believe they are genuine people - it was a fairly young couple, just bought first house, had to sell van and downgrade etc. Of course, none of that could be true - but I believe it is.

Had to sell van, downgrade etc and then buy a 20 year old Cayenne because they are so cheap to run. Hmmmmm.

If you’re struggling you buy a Focus not a Porsche.

Sounds a bit scammy to me.

[Seasonal Hero]

Downgrade to that? Makes no sense at all.

[davek_964]

I believe the downgrade was to free up capital but they still needed a van size vehicle for various reasons.

I'm very confident that they are not scamming

[Car_driver]

I'm currently running a 20 year old Cayenne. Any lights on the dash are the new owner's problem. Please don't offer them anything.
(Sorry, had a look that you sold it for cheap on Facebook Marketplace, so all the less reason to offer the new owner anything).

[fflump]

You’ve got to admit it looks odd. There are plenty of “van-sized” vehicles that are not ancient Porsches!

[Mr Whippy]

20yr old Porsche Cayenne to save money

[Seasonal Hero]

davek_964 said:

I believe the downgrade was to free up capital but they still needed a van size vehicle for various reasons.

I'm very confident that they are not scamming

If you’re downsizing for financial reasons you don’t buy a brave pill.

[Car_driver]

Need a "van sized vehicle" and buy a Cayenne. They are trying it on and should have bought a Berlingo.

[davek_964]

Ok, to show that there are genuine people in the world :

I asked if they were happy with the car since I was not happy it had thrown an immediate fault. They replied that they were, and it was just bad luck.

When they bought the car, they offered about £150 less - I refused since I'd had plenty of genuine interest. However, this evening I offered to retrospectively accept it and refund them £150 which would at least help with the cost of repair.

They thanked me, but said that it was unnecessary - private sale, sold as seen and just one of those things.

Whether it's a sensible economical choice is a different conversation I guess, but I hope it works out for them.

The world is not completely full of scammers it seems. I found it quite refreshing that they really are as genuine as I thought they were

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 12th February 21:38

[ABMA]

davek_964 said:

Ok, to show that there are genuine people in the world :

I asked if they were happy with the car since I was not happy it had thrown an immediate fault. They replied that they were, and it was just bad luck.

When they bought the car, they offered about £150 less - I refused since I'd had plenty of genuine interest. However, this evening I offered to retrospectively accept it and refund them £150 which would at least help with the cost of repair.

They thanked me, but said that it was unnecessary - private sale, sold as seen and just one of those things.

Whether it's a sensible economical choice is a different conversation I guess, but I hope it works out for them.

The world is not completely full of scammers it seems. I found it quite refreshing that they really are as genuine as I thought they were

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 12th February 21:38

Hats off to you sir

[soad]

ABMA said:

Hats off to you sir

This.

[bennno]

davek_964 said:

I believe the downgrade was to free up capital but they still needed a van size vehicle for various reasons.

I'm very confident that they are not scamming

Did you do,plete the full v5 transfer in to their name? What value are we talking for an 04 plate cayenne?

[davek_964]

bennno said:

Did you do,plete the full v5 transfer in to their name? What value are we talking for an 04 plate cayenne?

Yes, it was done online. Car was sold for just over £2k.

Edited to add : They checked the insurance cost before agreeing to view the car, and checked the cost of taxing it. It obviously drinks petrol - but other than that, in my ownership it's actually been very cheap to run. But the point of this thread wasn't really to question their financial decisions in buying a car - whether people believe it's "sensible" to downgrade to an old Cayenne or not isn't really relevant - in the brief conversation we had about why they were buying, that was the explanation I was given.

It shows how many scammers there are in the world that most people's assumption is that they were trying it on - even though I was clear in the original post that I was sure that wasn't the case (and later developments in the evening proved I was right).

Edited by davek_964 on Tuesday 13th February 07:15

[davek_964]

sunnyb13 said:

£2k is good value

It was priced to sell - although given how quickly it sold, perhaps priced a bit too low. But the main reason I sold it was because I'm tired of paying ~£800 a year for tax / insurance on a car I don't need. It really should have been sold years ago.

[fridaypassion]

Two sets of decent people involved in a private sale? We're going to need custard on this one it's sounds too good to be true!

I had the misfortune of selling a car private just before Christmas. Old but very nice one I won't say the car in case the helmet is on here but within 24 hours I get the call...it's drinking oil my "mechanic friend" will investigate and we'll be in touch to organize you paying for it and differently already got a solicitor lined up! Absolutely zero chance of that the car was 100% and thoroughly checked over. Obviously trying it on the bloody cheek of people. This guy was a professional as well with the emergency services and would have got a letter from me to his boss about his conduct had he persisted.