# Am I expecting too much??



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I am looking for car to replace Mrs Plodd's Smart car which is becoming a trifle "tetchy" 
Over the past week I found found a couple that fitted the bill nicely visa Autotrader. Phone calls made to sellers, various matters discussed, most important one being do they use internet banking because my intended method of payment would be direct bank transfer as that is both secure and can be seen by the seller to have taken place. Once those points sorted out appointments were made to view the cars. On both occasions the appointments were two days on, due to my, and sellers, commitments. 

On both occasions on the evening prior to our morning appointments I have had text messages saying not to bother turning up as the car had now been sold from underneath me

Now the way I have always dealt with situations where I have had more that one person interested in an article is to always give the first person to contact me first refusal. Any subsequent callers being told "I have someone already interested, as they were the first to contact me I think in only fair they have first refusal. If you leave me your contact details I will be straight in touch if they don't want it" every single person I have treated in that manner seemed happy with my attitude, and on occasions I have gone back to the second person to give them the opportunity to purchase

Am I being unreasonable in expecting others to behave in a similar and decent manner??

Your views and opinions sought.

Andy


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## talogon (Aug 12, 2009)

Hi Andy
I agree completely as I have had this before, after driving a long distance to view the car. I did not even get a text to say it was gone, I now always phone before i leave home.
It would appear that others are not so courteous as we would like to expect.
Good luck with the hunt.
Brian


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

I am sorry to say that grab anyones money first is now the norm, due to the times we now live in.Did you not offer a deposit, returnable of course.:wink2::wink2:

cabby


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Cabby

To be honest no I didn't offer any sort of deposit as it simply didn't occur to me that any would be such an arse as to consider selling to anyone else before I got there!!! ESPECIALLY twice in succession. 

It just goes to show that my usual motto of "trust no-one, that way I won't get too disappointed" is rather accurate.

Hey ho, back to Autotrader it is then.

Andy


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

I have a friend who was a used car trader (retired now). He didn't have a forecourt or sales area so would advertise on line (mostly Autotrader) and sell the cars from his home address.

Over the years he lost track of the number of times he would hold a car as a prospective buyer was "on his way", "be there at 10 a.m." , "coming tomorrow evening" etc. etc. He became convinced that there must be a black hole somewhere where all his buyers had ended up!!

In the end he gave up and would tell buyers that the car was available for sale, to the first person who paid the money. If someone was 100% certain they wanted the car he would take a deposit to hold it. 

Sadly there are as many "arses" buying cars as there are selling them. Present company excepted.


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## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

Fings (ie maners) aint wot they used to be!!

Richard.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Thanks Phill

To the best of my knowledge (asking the right questions) I was pretty certain that both sellers were private individuals not traders. Neither mentioned deposits has a holding mechanism.

Andy


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Bargains don't wait Andy.

Ray.


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

You think you've got problems?

I once flew to Germany to buy a motorhome only to find when I got there the dealer had sold it the previous evening to an Irish dealer. The dealer had assured me 24hrs earlier that he would reserve it for me. :evil:
His excuse was that the dealer who bought it also bought several other used vans at the same time so he couldn't refuse to sell it to him.

Strangely enough he did me a favour as we decided to take a look at other dealers in the area and within about 4 hours had negotiated a purchase on a similar van from a small local dealer that was in better condition, a year newer and considerably cheaper. :smile2:

Old school manners are great but it don't work any more, if you see a bargain you've got to strike straight away or someone else will.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm with Andy on this one, my word is my bond and all that.

If I have agreed a sale then as long as the buyer has confirmed he is en-route then the item is his unless he doesn't show.

The problem is that there are too many people buying and selling from home on the side, so although they look like a private seller, a quick check shows them with half a dozen cars advertised. Ebay and Preloved are ripe hunting grounds for such people.

We bought a cheap 56 plate Astra 1.4 recently, 'been to the moon and back' mileage but was clean and an ex fleet car. £1500 and we allowed another £750 for a set of new tyres, a 'proper' spare wheel, a full engine and vehicle check, comprehensive insurance etc.

It ain't bad at all, just a shopping trolley for Rita as she doesn't like the bulk of the Discovery.

Peter


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

I'm also with Andy, if I say something then I stick to it and expect the other side to do the same.....

I also would feel mightily aggrieved if I turned up and it had gone, but in the end it's gone and there is nothing you can do about it excet ask to see the vendor's birth certificate.....

Which may well confirm something......

At least you got a text message, which did save some expenditure of time and money.

In the end you will find a better purchase with someone you CAN trust, if the vendor could not be trusted on that, what else had they neglected to say.....?

Dave


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## zack (Jun 16, 2007)

Hi Andy , have to say I always trusted people to be up front and stick to their word. Must have been mad held on to a car for 2 weeks on the understanding that they wanted it, refused to sell it to2 other people and on the day decided against buying it. What type of car are you looking for.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

It is the way of things 
My grandson is looking for a car

I'm trying to hold him back

Not to rush into things

Well I'm paying

He is afraid the car of his dreams may go without a spot on decision

I'm afraid my 6 grand will go with one

Only to be followed by a bad investment

Gosh life is hard

Aldra


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Sack

Mazda Mx5 at about £2000. Not exactly high value car but there are certainly some good 'uns out there, I just haven't been able to get to the bloody things quickly enough. Note to self "Must try harder"

We have had many in the past, even ran the area owners club for about 5 years so we are very well versed in just about everything about them.

Now looking for a cheapie 1.6 (not the quickest or best handling, that accolade goes to the Mk2 1800 sport, had one of those new, fantastic drivers car!! Then moved on to a Mk 3 which is the one with the folding hard top. Brilliant roof but the car had no "soul" and was very disappointing compared to my beloved Mk 2 1800. 

Looked at another today, round trip of about 100 miles to view a real dog of a car !!! Didn't even need to get that close, rear sills had been repaired with what I think was probably porridge. Seller was somewhat put out that I thought it was a bodge job (which it most certainly was) 

we are off on holiday on 9th Sept and are very busy up until then so I think I will start looking seriously when we get back. At that point I will be making sure to make any appointment for the same day!!!

Andy


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I had a Mazda

Loved it, lovely car Mazda 6

It talked to me

All sorts of beep combinations to tell me what I had left undone

Went then to a Toyota 

Loved that too

Alex wants a VW polo 

Apparently it suits his image

Aldra


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

I have been running Mazda's for many many years, now on the ninth!! 

Currently running a Mazda 6 tourer as a tow car. 

Absolute top of the range beastie purchased at exactly 2 years old at exactly HALF the new price. Every possible toy you could think of plus a few more. The coolest of the lot is that the headlights are linked to the steering.

175BHP 2.2 litre Diesel, goes like the wind and surprises a lot of boy racers, handles almost as well as an MX5 which is saying a lot! and, if I stick to 55-60 on motorway or A roads I can average 60mpg , yes really!!! Drops off a bit with 1500Kg of caravan hanging off the back though!!!!

I reckon I could almost get Mrs P's Smart car in the back of it!!!

Andy


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## Brock (Jun 14, 2005)

Lovely tow car, Andy. The Mazda 6 Tourer is a beautiful car and would be on my list if I went back to caravanning or decided to replace the van with a car. Comes out really well in the Car Buyer and Telegraph videos.

As to the sale, if I needed the money, I'd sell to the first who paid up. Wouldn't be my fault if I couldn't agree an earlier meeting with you. That said, I don't agree with the practice though. I think people should get in the queue.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Brock

Surely you have contradicted yourself in your last paragraph???

Andy


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## zack (Jun 16, 2007)

Andy, that's a coincidence I have a 1997 MK1 1800 only done 67000 miles. I absolutely love driving it. It doesn't have PAS, real drivers car.Currently have done my back in so can't get in it to use it.
Chris


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Sign of the times Andy, when I've sold stuff on Ebay, so many people just didn't show, they may have bought one before getting round to me, so if I get a buyer I just tell them it for sale to the first one who turns up, and that I've had other calls etc, I no longer hold onto items for the aforesaid reason, I've had assurances in the past, so I deduce, people are very sincere until they see another item, so mine are 100% for sale until I have money in my hand.

I wish it were as you would like, but their is no honour anymore.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Great car the MX5. I've had two 1800cc versions a MK1 and a MK2. Tremendous fun, as good a rwd as I ever had for handbraking round the place.

I also had an Elise which I liked very much as a summer car, but the Mazda was unbeatable for all season fun.


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

The other side is that the seller holds it for 2 days until you can get there, passes on 2 or 3 possible sales and you then decide not to buy it when you see it.

Had you guaranteed you would buy it if he waited 2 days?


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## Brock (Jun 14, 2005)

Andy, I's sacrifice my principle of 'get in the queue' if I needed cash quickly!


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## chilly (Apr 20, 2007)

I sold my Burgman scooter recently. I had 3 people wanting to buy it on the same day.
Caller 1 (rang around 10.00) was very keen and was traveling about 50 miles to collect it that evening around 20.00.
Caller 3 who rang at about 15.00 said he could be with me around 18.00.
I said that I was honour-bound to let the first caller see it and buy it if he wanted it. The guy just could not believe that I would risk losing a sale by hanging on for the first guy who called! In fact he got quite stroppy about it. 
I didn't like to say that there was another bloke in the queue before him :wink2:


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## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Yes same with motorhomes too.

We were interested in one recently and the seller was keen but then said he had promised first refusal to someone else. The first guy didn't buy it and neither did we in the end although we did view but not as advertised(we were contacted to say that the other guy did not buy and we could now buy it), there are that many people messing you about(both buyers and sellers) that you must stress the first person who turns up with the money can have it, just be honest and tell that to everyone.

If somehad had set off and come a long way though I would refund them the fuel money, but I would definitely sell to the first person with the cash. You have to be honest and fair as possible without losing a sale.

Paul.


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