Discussion
Is it good form to post in the forum(s) if you consider you've had your time wasted by an advert in PH Classifieds?
I saw an advert, liked the look of the car, e-mailed the vendor to get photos and spoke to him on the phone, (it's a two hour drive each way), to ask him if there's anything he could tell me about it before I committed to travel. He said it was as per the ad and worth the trip (I'll admit he did offer to meet half-way).
Yesterday I drove there; it was quite a pretty car and looked fine at first glance. As I looked closer, the carpets on the drivers side were quite damp; he said it was because he'd just washed it. On closer inspection, the carpets had a mustiness about them and some mould was visible. Furthermore, the seat belt had rust marks where it had touched the anchor bolt. It had odd tyres; one U and one V rated on the back and two W rated on the front. A quick look underneath showed a lot of rust on the chassis; the little powder coating there was, was peeling away too. He then dropped into the conversation that he still owed finance on it but would clear it if it was sold, and as an aside "by the way, it's had a rear-end shunt so has a new back end"!
At the time I was dissappointed to have driven so far, but on the drive back I've gotten madder and madder! Fer
sake! He knew I was driving a long way and I was bound to find these things - or he was hoping to dupe me! Either way, honesty was lacking!
Should I post in the relevent forum advising potential buyers or let it be and trust that potential buyers will suss him out?
I saw an advert, liked the look of the car, e-mailed the vendor to get photos and spoke to him on the phone, (it's a two hour drive each way), to ask him if there's anything he could tell me about it before I committed to travel. He said it was as per the ad and worth the trip (I'll admit he did offer to meet half-way).
Yesterday I drove there; it was quite a pretty car and looked fine at first glance. As I looked closer, the carpets on the drivers side were quite damp; he said it was because he'd just washed it. On closer inspection, the carpets had a mustiness about them and some mould was visible. Furthermore, the seat belt had rust marks where it had touched the anchor bolt. It had odd tyres; one U and one V rated on the back and two W rated on the front. A quick look underneath showed a lot of rust on the chassis; the little powder coating there was, was peeling away too. He then dropped into the conversation that he still owed finance on it but would clear it if it was sold, and as an aside "by the way, it's had a rear-end shunt so has a new back end"!
At the time I was dissappointed to have driven so far, but on the drive back I've gotten madder and madder! Fer
sake! He knew I was driving a long way and I was bound to find these things - or he was hoping to dupe me! Either way, honesty was lacking! Should I post in the relevent forum advising potential buyers or let it be and trust that potential buyers will suss him out?
Edited by lordgrover on Monday 18th September 08:44
lordgrover said:
Is it good form to post in the forum(s) if you consider you've had your time wasted by an advert in PH Classifieds?
Not really good form, although I can certainly understand why you're pissed off (I would be).
Hopefully the seller will amend his ad to enlighten others of the facts...
I'm not condoning the sellers actions for one minute, but...
...is this not a taste of desperation on his part?
There are plenty of TVRs out there on the s/h market at the moment and it is definately a buyer's market, so any way that you can get someone to look at a car you have for sale, the the seller's eyes at least, had got to be worth a go.
I'd be furious if someone had wasted my time as they have yours, but in a strange way I think I'd undertstand.
Tim
PS: The right car is out there for you, and when you find it you'll know!
...is this not a taste of desperation on his part?
There are plenty of TVRs out there on the s/h market at the moment and it is definately a buyer's market, so any way that you can get someone to look at a car you have for sale, the the seller's eyes at least, had got to be worth a go.
I'd be furious if someone had wasted my time as they have yours, but in a strange way I think I'd undertstand.
Tim
PS: The right car is out there for you, and when you find it you'll know!
Yep, annoying 
The tyres thing would bother me the most, I want everything ship shape on the sticky stuff front. Rusty ish chassis...um ar, to be fair it is probably par for the course, though you would expect a vendor to be up front about it and price the car accordingly. Lets be honest, most of us know about such things.
The damp carpet, oh well, some leaking via the door/roof, again relatively par for the course, but you would like honesty about and a price reflecting it. It isnt/shouldnt be a deal breaker for someone looking to buy a TVR - I presume here an RV8 car?
Finance on the car? Never understood why that would be a problem, probably 50% of us have finance on our cars, its just settled when you buy.
The tyres for me, I never trust a car that isnt on decent rubber.
The tyres thing would bother me the most, I want everything ship shape on the sticky stuff front. Rusty ish chassis...um ar, to be fair it is probably par for the course, though you would expect a vendor to be up front about it and price the car accordingly. Lets be honest, most of us know about such things.
The damp carpet, oh well, some leaking via the door/roof, again relatively par for the course, but you would like honesty about and a price reflecting it. It isnt/shouldnt be a deal breaker for someone looking to buy a TVR - I presume here an RV8 car?
Finance on the car? Never understood why that would be a problem, probably 50% of us have finance on our cars, its just settled when you buy.
The tyres for me, I never trust a car that isnt on decent rubber.
STOP THE PRESS......"TVR WITH WET CARPET & SURFACE RUST ON CHASSIS"
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
RUSSELLM said:
STOP THE PRESS......"TVR WITH WET CARPET & SURFACE RUST ON CHASSIS"
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
I'm with you on this .. as far as i can see it's a TVR with the usual TVR stuff.. you'd expect a lot of this on any car you go to see .. including panel replacement .. much more common than you realise.
Maybe the viewing left a bitter taste in your mouth, but it doesn't sound from the way you've described it like it was a bad car.
If the car was an otherwise sound example at a fair price I'd say it's all ok.
lordgrover said:
ask him if there's anything he could tell me about it before I committed to travel.
I think given that there were things he volunteered when you were there, that he did not tell you on the phone - when you specifically asked, this is bad form. It's one thing to say 'the car is as per the ad' and leave it to the prospective buyer to find out more. It's another to remain essentially silent on the phone only to furnish concerning details on arrival. I simply don't understand the mentality of some advertisers. 'Mint', 'showroom', 'concourse'. B0llocks more like. Do these vendors think a prospective purchaser won't look at the car and see the reality? Whether or not that reality is these are common TVR 'faults', if a prospective purchaser asks an open question regarding the condition of the vehicle, it is poor form to fend off the answer only to volunteer relevant information in person. IMHO.
lordgrover said:
He said it was as per the ad and worth the trip (I'll admit he did offer to meet half-way).
Not going to comment on the main substance of the posting as I don't own a TVR, but as regards meeting half way this is a definite
, this is simply common sense, you always should see the car at the vendors property, and with plenty of daylight hours left...
I have to say from personal experience that it is totally unacceptable to not disclose significant material facts regarding a car, whether the potential purchaser is travelling a long way or not. I share your frustration having travelled long distances to see a car that has been misdescribed - such a pointless and unrewarding exercise.
One should not expect every minor defect to be detailed particularly with TVRs as some issues probably go without saying but rear or front end shunts particularly if registered should qualify for discussion early on in the sale I would have thought.
Tyres, damp etc probably less significant but often, once one major thing is brought to your attention, the smaller things just simply tip the balance when one their own they could possibly be ignored.
Sadly as you say it is buyer beware if buying from a private trader but good luck with your search.
One should not expect every minor defect to be detailed particularly with TVRs as some issues probably go without saying but rear or front end shunts particularly if registered should qualify for discussion early on in the sale I would have thought.
Tyres, damp etc probably less significant but often, once one major thing is brought to your attention, the smaller things just simply tip the balance when one their own they could possibly be ignored.
Sadly as you say it is buyer beware if buying from a private trader but good luck with your search.
I know all of the problems I mentioned are common to Tivs, but the ad said it had been garaged & pampered and he told me it was in excellent condition. Ah well, we live and learn 
RUSSELLM said:
STOP THE PRESS......"TVR WITH WET CARPET & SURFACE RUST ON CHASSIS"
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
Blimey, he wasn't showing you my car was he ?
Washed the car my arse, he probably doesn't own a garage & the thousands of pounds spent on chasing leaks & replacing carpets have finally worn him down.
Bump on the rear, scratch on the rear, unless he's saying it's on the VCAR register he didn't have to tell you.
I don't owe anything on mine, but it wouldn't put me off if I had to settle with the other persons finance company.
Four new tyres are £500, it's nothing in the grand scheme of Tiv ownership.
Providing it's not on the register, your looking at 1 x piece of sandpaper, 1 x tyre, 1 x valet & a bit of time identifying the leak (water coming off the top of the master brake cylinder)
Depends how much it's on sale for I suppose.
What he said.
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