What is your worst/most ridiculous and best/easiest experience when selling your car ?

[Alan_B]

I've never had a difficult sale, but easiest must have been my Bora about 6 years ago. 175k and in great condition, it was on Gumtree for all of an hour before some fella from Omagh I think was on his way to Sprucefield. 9pm on a wet night, dark etc and he showed up. Took it a quick drive and agreed a price. Didn't want the sub and amp so that was swiftly removed from the boot.

Had a mate with me who didn't drive at the time and we dandered up towards McDs to get something to eat and ring a taxi. Some fella parked up shouted over did I just sell my car or something so went over and got chatting. Sold him the sub and amp for £100 or something like that and a lift home.

The worst I had was the fella from Birmingham who flew over for my LPGd e46. Took near 2 weeks courting him on the phone sending him photos of this and that before he finally decided he was game. Picked him up from the airport (after doing my best to remove the rear tyres on the way up) and the whole process was agony. He was just a bit of a dose. Asked why the car didn't have kickdown. It was a manual!!!!

 

[c_rad]

Not car related but we had a guy in yesterday I couldn't quite believe.

"Hi I bought a pair of snickers trousers and they shrunk in the wash. I rang snickers uk and they said they would refund them so I'm here to collect the £65."

"Ok sir lets see them"

"Sure I threw them out as they didn't fit anymore."

"ok sir can I see your receipt?"

"No I lost it. Not sure I definitely bought them here but your a snickers retailer so I want my £65".


Sure no problem, no product, no receipt and no idea. Are you sure you didn't have 2 pairs? Sure take £130 to be safe.

Must have been something in the water yesterday Simon!
Not long after I had that fella come in looking to collect £50 in credit or cash after trading in two Draper impact guns against a Dewalt one.

Do you have a receipt or credit note Sir?

No, I was told by the fella who served me it would be fine.

Ok... can you point him out or remember his name?

No, Mate it was months ago.... look I am just looking my money to be honest (slightly more aggresive tone)

Sorry sir, we can't just hand out money or credits of any kind without some proof.

Lad that is hectic, The fella told me he would sort it.

I am sorry sir but we can't just hand money out with no proof.

Actually it was my business partner was in...

Ok...... Well maybe see him about the receipt or paperwork then get back to us.... ( Kthanksbye )

Best/worst bit was he smelt of booze.... I did not get the chance to see if he drove in or not as his van was parked up the yard

 

[Ruairi83]

Best was wife's old a3.
She reveread out of driveway in new house and near pulled front bumper off.

Left it to mate at body shop to fix front bumper and give a general tidy up as was getting ready for sale. He had it parked up with front that was scraped and that couldn't be seen.
One of local motor factor fellas see it and got my number. Once it came back he viewed it and test drove. I told them before he drove car that brakes needed done. He didn't want it but his mate who was with him wanted it if I changed the brakes all Round and held it for a month. I added Brakes to price and took deposit. Fitted new discs and pads all round and fella came With rest of cash 1.5months later.

Wasn't in a hurry to sell or advertise. Was hassle free as enjoyed fitting brakes. Still see it and he has it spotless.

Funny:

Had old 2006 a4 1.9tdi for sale for few months. Not much interest.
Had hybrid turbo and remapped by Autotune to 170bhp.
Phoned one day and it sounded like dark Vader on phone who wanted to view car.
Old boy in his late 60s arrived in a few year old merc. (I thought straight away he ain't taking this)

He took car a drive, got lost and drove past house 3 times with me standing in main road and I had to go get him. Lol

He came back and said "Jez big man that thing can fair shift, would blow the pants of the merc". Il take her for £600 under asking price. Told him lowest and he left deposit and collected next night.

 

[m00k]

When buying the Calibra turbo it only had 20k on it and had phoned the guy asking for more details etc explained I was a fussy fit and wanted to know anything and everything bout it as it was between it and a higher miles dtm, never heard anything for ten days and figured it's a bucket of bolts

Then a call explaining he was selling on behalf of his late father inlaw and hadn't a chance to get near car at the house for a while so described it perfectly £100 deposit and booked flights he said he wud meet us at airport

So met him at the front door and his house was literally 100 yards from the main airport gate... can still remember walking that 100 yards not believing my eyes at the condition from there

Was only intended to be a runabout for six months...9 years later it's done about 5k miles since and lived in an air chamber

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[jayk]

The easiest for me was few months ago ,advertised the dc2 on Gumtree for big money , got a phone call within 10minutes called the next day , knocked all the panels checking for filler (none) ask for a test drive didn't take it over 2k rpm or even went close to vtec. Reach into his pocket , brown envelope with full asking price . Signed the papers and Off she went . I Wish most buyers were like this.

 

[gsmith]

Easiest for me was a 206 bought it tested it put it on gumtree sold within half an hour they looked at it drove it handed the cash over.
Strange one had to be the vxr guy came out drove it loved it agreed a price him and his dad checked it all over both of them where easy to talk to knew the car was perfect agreed to collect it on the Saturday landed down with the cash and his mother then checked the car over for 2 hours checked every receipt made sure the dates of the parts docs matched the service had a wee notebook and was writing everything down was a complete torture for about 6 weeks after over stupid things but never seen them again at least I was easy when I got it off you @Iain Traynor

 

[Sharkey]

He was happy I sold it and made profit. He was for scrapping it. Although I did buy him a box of beer from memory lol

 

[Gaz]

Easiest : sold an EG civic VTi many years ago to a guy from Cork. He rung me on a Thursday, was on the phone no more than 5 mins and asked a couple of questions about the car. Said he would arrange to come up for it over weekend but didn't specify when. I got a phone call at 8pm on Friday to say he was passing Dublin and would be there in 2hrs. I was in the pub at the time! Luckily I lived nearby so went home and dug out the paperwork and cleared my rubbish out of the car. He landed, barely looked at the car, handed over the asking price without haggling and took off for Cork again at 10pm - deal done in 10 mins.

Hardest was polar opposite. Again, a guy from down south who was interested in my Supra TT. Tons of phone calls followed by multiple emails, followed by numerous high res photos of every possible angle of the car and underneath/engine/etc. Then he came up and spent a good 3hrs solid looking round it, then went for long test drive where he carefully checked rev range in every gear, brake tested it, etc. Then insisted on a further hour long inspection on a ramp at a local garage, I had to chuck the mechanic £30 for its use. Then came down to haggling and hmmmmed & aaaahed for another hour. Eventually I got a bit ratty and told him it was an honest car, time to **** or get off the pot.

Had a few other experiences myself when buying/selling.

One guy took out finance on the car on the day he sold it to me.

Another bought a gt4 Celica off me, then hounded me 11mths later because he felt I was responsible for the head gasket blowing nearly a year into his ownership.

Sold another car to a guy who strangely went mute when we met up and got his dad to do all the haggling/dealing.

Bought a 325i from three Bradford types who drove me to a lockup on an industrial estate then closed the shutter after we drove in, thought I was gonna get robbed/murdered so had mentally decided to try and maim the biggest first - but luckily all turned out well!

 

[k20_chunky]

I think the best sale I ever had was last year. I put an Insignia up for sale on donedeal, paid for the ad, the ad went live at 1.30am, I got a phone call 10mins later. I was raging, new born baby in the room and grumpy other half who had both been woken. He was calling from Cork, asked did I have the full V5 present and if the car had a service history. Told him yes to both and he said he'd see my at 9 the next morning. I thought to myself this man was mad but low and behold phone rings at 8.45am and he was looking my address, 2 mins later he landed at the house. Walked around the car, handed me the money, asked me to fill his coffee flask and let his mate use the toilet and away they went.

 

[G N K]

Think I've told this one but in keeping with the thread.

Selling a Subaru, I had a couple of people out to see it and as it needed a few things (which I disclosed) they either didn't buy or offered stupid money which I declined.

Got a call from Hollybrook saying they would be interested in the car as they had a customer looming one, agreed on a good price which i was happy with and they asked could I leave the car with them for a day or two for inspection.

I was flat out working and said sure if it suits go and lift it tomorrow from the house, wife phones me the next day. Gave them two guys the keys and they cars away. Sound what did they arrive in? A scraped old old polo she said.... well I almost died, a polo??? GTI at least, you sure you seen right?

It was scrap.

Oh my God, starlight on the phone to them and the boy was laughing, confirmed it was a wee run a bout they had.

Called in two days later for the cheque for the agreed amount.

Sold the Leon to @Burt2000 he called took it a spin with his wife, came back and transfered the agreed amount.

Mostly been lucky, they're the best stories though.

 

[Ge0rge]

think i spoke about this one on here before after bein pointed in the direction of a thread about it on the old jon44 website, bout 6 or 7 years ago i had a wee corsa b up for sale, took the alloys off one day to paint the back drums as they looked a bit worse for wear after putting new wheels on, i no sooner had the wheels off and first coat on and i had a fella at me to swap it for a civic he had that had been vandalized, the corsa owed me buttons and i had another couple ek civics there that needed parts so the deal would have been perfect, i cant remember the exact timings but he was flat out at me all evening so i rushed through as quick as i could but they wernt dry in time, i was out until about 1 am by the time i was done and just put the wheels back on, his dad and i think his missus and another girl possibly his sister arrived the next day and looked around it, done all the usual stuff (all came in his dads car from west belfast) and took it for a test run, him and his dad were happy and said how are we gonna work this, i said if the civic starts and drives il do the deal, il drive corsa over and il drive civic back...

young gun couldnt wait that long, no mate il drive the corsa home with my missus if thats ok i said no worries il jump in with your dad, so i get in his dads car and we follow the corsa across the street into the petrol station where he throws some petrol in and we head towards the motorway (middle of marching season) right down albertbridge road we headed next thing back wheel comes off the corsa and bounces right across the road with people everywhere, we pull up behind the corsa the 2 girls get out along with the young fella from the corsa screaming we could have been killed etc etc and then the dad chimes in sayin wtf, then it dawned on me **** i bet i never tightened the 2 back wheels back up properly after dropping her off the jack i put my hands up and apologised right away it was my fault i was at it til late last night and just wanted to get to bed, next thing police car right over, who was driving here? young lad points to me without hesitation and says him, i said what? then the gf says aye him he was driving, they young guy looked at the dad and he said aye nothin to do with us and they all tried to head for the dads car, i said listen a minute i wasnt drivin nothin and they all started shoutin and ballin in their best west belfast accents "aye ye feckin were"

cop said to the fellas da right who was driving and again the dad points to me and i started laughin, cop said its far from funny this is serious i said i know it is(i knew they were diggin a hole) cop said right one last time im gonna ask who was driving, the young lad again said him and pointed to me, i said are you sure about that, he said aye, i said are you very sure, aye he says ive never drove the car as ive no licence yet or no insurance it was one or the other, i said right so how did the petrol get into it ? the look on his face was priceless when he remembered he just put petrol in and went in and paid for it in front of all the cameras the tit.

could only find 2 wheel bolts and a scissor jack what carry on gettin a wheel back on on my own and a corsa back up through the streets of the east in the middle of a parade, he was cryin im gonna get banned before i get my licence or he had already points that would take him over and get him banned and was blamming me over on a thread on jon44 til i logged in and told them the full story the wee sh1te, no doubt hes probably on here.

 

[EP82JM]

think i spoke about this one on here before after bein pointed in the direction of a thread about it on the old jon44 website, bout 6 or 7 years ago i had a wee corsa b up for sale, took the alloys off one day to paint the back drums as they looked a bit worse for wear after putting new wheels on, i no sooner had the wheels off and first coat on and i had a fella at me to swap it for a civic he had that had been vandalized, the corsa owed me buttons and i had another couple ek civics there that needed parts so the deal would have been perfect, i cant remember the exact timings but he was flat out at me all evening so i rushed through as quick as i could but they wernt dry in time, i was out until about 1 am by the time i was done and just put the wheels back on, his dad and i think his missus and another girl possibly his sister arrived the next day and looked around it, done all the usual stuff (all came in his dads car from west belfast) and took it for a test run, him and his dad were happy and said how are we gonna work this, i said if the civic starts and drives il do the deal, il drive corsa over and il drive civic back...

young gun couldnt wait that long, no mate il drive the corsa home with my missus if thats ok i said no worries il jump in with your dad, so i get in his dads car and we follow the corsa across the street into the petrol station where he throws some petrol in and we head towards the motorway (middle of marching season) right down albertbridge road we headed next thing back wheel comes off the corsa and bounces right across the road with people everywhere, we pull up behind the corsa the 2 girls get out along with the young fella from the corsa screaming we could have been killed etc etc and then the dad chimes in sayin wtf, then it dawned on me **** i bet i never tightened the 2 back wheels back up properly after dropping her off the jack i put my hands up and apologised right away it was my fault i was at it til late last night and just wanted to get to bed, next thing police car right over, who was driving here? young lad points to me without hesitation and says him, i said what? then the gf says aye him he was driving, they young guy looked at the dad and he said aye nothin to do with us and they all tried to head for the dads car, i said listen a minute i wasnt drivin nothin and they all started shoutin and ballin in their best west belfast accents "aye ye feckin were"

cop said to the fellas da right who was driving and again the dad points to me and i started laughin, cop said its far from funny this is serious i said i know it is(i knew they were diggin a hole) cop said right one last time im gonna ask who was driving, the young lad again said him and pointed to me, i said are you sure about that, he said aye, i said are you very sure, aye he says ive never drove the car as ive no licence yet or no insurance it was one or the other, i said right so how did the petrol get into it ? the look on his face was priceless when he remembered he just put petrol in and went in and paid for it in front of all the cameras the tit.

could only find 2 wheel bolts and a scissor jack what carry on gettin a wheel back on on my own and a corsa back up through the streets of the east in the middle of a parade, he was cryin im gonna get banned before i get my licence or he had already points that would take him over and get him banned and was blamming me over on a thread on jon44 til i logged in and told them the full story the wee sh1te, no doubt hes probably on here.

I always get paranoid as fck driving a new car home, ill get half way down the m1 or whatever and think hmm...I wonder if these wheels are tight. Always been fine until about 3 weeks ago I drove a van home for a mate, awful noise from the front of it but I thought it was driveshaft related, 70 down the motorway to lisburn from ballyclare, drove out to the maze and literally pulled through his mechanics gate when this happened.......

Easiest sale was probably 2 fellas buying a passat off me there, 1 named "janty" apparently...looked at it and started handing me money, I said sure take it a drive first, at this point I realised they were both completely fcked lol, all over the place, we met at sainsburys sprucefield and he ended up half way up the sliproad to lisburn on the test drive, and reversed back down it when I said thats the wrong turn mate.. Got back, agreed on the price I said over the phone, told me to save his number incase i got anything similar again, no problem what will I save it as? "Emm..paul.....ats nat my name like but save it as aht anyway" handed me the money and abandoned their car which they possibly didnt own and away on they went.

 

[Coog]

Went with a friend to lift an old corolla saloon. He was the sort to spend maximum £200 on a car and it would last about a month before he'd wreck it.

Didn't even drive the car or look at it too carefully as there was a fairly good chance we'd be pulling it out of a hedge in a few days anyway.

So he paid the man the money, hopped in and gave it a couple of thumps off the rev limiter just as the previous owner was waving us goodbye. Next thing he rolls off the driveway and tries to 'light her up' outside the poor old duffer's house in the street, only for one of the driveshafts to break in the hub.

Had to **** about with tow ropes to get him home and remember the auld lad saying something under his breath about "two f&&king morons" to his Mrs lol

 

[AMG]

Strangest one was a cat c Golf GTi I bought of a fella in work. Came in asking me how much it was worth, I told him what I thought. Came back to me a few hours later saying webuyanycar offered him £1k and that he was leaving it round to them that evening! I thought about it, said I will give him that.
Went up that night, handed him the money and drove home.
Gave it a clean up, advertised it. Fella landed out in an S4, looked round it, left a £500 deposit, said he would be back the next weekend to collect. Never heard from him again, tried for ages to contact him and had no joy!
Readvertised it, another fella and his mechanic came out, spent ages looking at it, plugged it into VCDS etc, couldn't find fault, so left me a £50 deposit. Contacted me a week later to say he wasn't taking it and to keep deposit for the hassle.

Next guy came out, done a lap of the car and handed me the full asking price in cash and drove off, never to be heard off again!

 

[Ollie]

Had a car up for sale with a short mot. Ended up an old friend wanted to view it so that was fine. He said he'd take if I stuck a full years test on it. (No talk of money so I stupidly assumed full asking price)

I tested it for the year and let him know it was ready. When he called up to collect it, he decided that was a good time to start haggling.

Probably not my worst selling experience but a bit of a sickener as it was a "mate"

 

[Lyons]

I haven't really any stories as such, touch wood I've been very lucky with all cars I've sold. They've either gone to the first or second person that had come out to look.

The most annoying was when I sold the A8. An older guy came for a look and a test drive, told me he was taking it and he shook my hand. A couple of days later he wanted his son to look at it and drive it, so we met again for another viewing and drive. All was well and he said he'd be in touch. Never heard from him and he didn't answer my calls. **** bag.

Easiest was probably the Octavia 2x4. I was convinced it was going to be the hardest too seek given the issue. However I advertised It with the fault listed, a guy turned up and gave me the full asking price. I actually got more for it than I paid!

 

[Lappintyre]

I'll need a cup of coffee to list every one, but last Saturday night, guy puts up a wanted ad on fb for a 600 sports bike at 7pm, come 10.30pm bike is sold and in the back of a van for the asking price.

If only they were all that simple....

 

[roverspeed]

What could have been the worst turned out to be the best.

I used to have a Mondeo roundabout and I still had my mk2 golf that was SORN.

If them both for sale as I'd just got my roadster.

Fella came, bought the Golf for asking price, he lived literally 2 minutes away so we towed it round.

He knew it needed a lot of work to get back on the road, but he was rather impatient and decided to take a spin down the upper newtownards road past Stormont the day after buying it. Long story short, the front right wheel was loose and fell off!

So he comes to my door, I thought looking trouble, he came and bought my Mondeo to use whilst he was getting the Golf ready for the road! Ha

 

[Jason]

I could write a book of stories lol

Last week I had an old 206 trade in, couple from Belfast ring me, we are on way to you now to buy it. i said OK dead on.

They rang me 45 mins later, here m8 we have a problem our cars just broke down could you lift us.

So off I went to Applegreen where the 206 they were driving had cooked itself.

They threw me the keys and asked me to dispose of it.

Took them to the yard, bought my 206 and away happy as larry.

 

[StephenMcC]

Easiest sale:

Mondeo a few weeks ago, got a call with an offer, was happy with that, guy posted money through my letter box as he was working nights, came up that weekend and collected it

Although turns out it threw a leg out of bed on the way back from mot (which it thankfully passed!)


Easiest Purchase:
My Mk5, drove up on xmas eve to meet @JTDi went for a spin handed him the cash and away back down the road with a very angry missus lol

 

[Eager]

Advertised my red R34. Got a call 10pm from a Scottish accent. Willing to send me a few grand without seeing the car and it be a few months before he was 'free'
He was in a submarine under water somewhere and wasn't due shore leave for a few months. Money was sent and I sat on the car until he got leave when he flew over and paid the rest


Also sold a s15 to a young London fella, turned up with his at a guess 60 year old mum at the airport. He walked round it once. Paid me. Tried getting insured which he couldn. In end he wanted it that bad he asked me to drive it over then and there and he would sort my transport home and a hotel for the night, and that's exactly what happened lol. Drive it to London, owl doll and him taking turns about front seat back seat, next to no room in the back lol.

Sold my black s14a to a French police officer who turned up paid asking and left. We shared a pizza in the S14a before led him out of Antrim onto the motorway. Took it back to France on the boat out of Dublin or whatever port sails to France down there. Keep in touch. That was 6/8 year ago. He was back a few month ago and bought a dc5 from @Gemma bf sam. Cool guy

 

[David Patterson]

Easiest sale: Sold my FN2 a few years ago. Advertised it at a fair price. Guy appeared with mate, and took it for a test drive. Mate was the more knowledgable on type r cars, and had obviously encouraged his mate to check the car out. Basically told his mate how to drive it properly. about honda reliability, and it was big enough to suit the family. Mate sold the car for me to his mate although the buyer's eyes lit up when the car came to life after he put the foot down. Knew I had a sale there and then. No haggling at all.

Worst sale: Was selling a celica a few years ago. Young guy from east Belfast. Initially turned up with gf, took car for a drive, haggled a bit and then agreed a price. Job done I thought. I had to keep the car for a week until I got another car sorted, but during that time the engine warning light came on. First time the car had an issue in 4 years, and I had just sold it. Got the issue checked out, and long story short it was going to cost about £200 to fix. Gave the buyer a call and let him know. Asked him if I got it fixed would he be happy to wait and pay agreed price. Guy turned into a complete p****k and started demanding that I drop the price by a grand. I tried to suggest he was being a tad unreasonable, but he continued to act like a d**k. I told him the deal was off, and hung up.

Guy turns up with his mate, and dad about 30 mins later. Dad accused me of trying to rip off his son, and that I was trying to back out of deal on which we had shook hands etc. This was happening on my doorstep. I said I would speak to the father in the house if the other two went and sat in their car. After a bit of a discussion they agreed. Luckily when I explained what had happened the father cooled down, and said his son just really wanted the car.

I don't think the son wanted to leave without it so I knocked a £100 off the price and the dad paid for it in cash (obviously intended to buy it). They took it that night. Never heard another thing about the car, although saw it a few times on the road.

 

[Rover Repair]

Years ago I was selling my mazda 323f. Nice we car, just needed a diesel sadly.

Young lad comes out to view, likes it, rings insurance company and they say no. Off he heads home.

Same fella rings later and says his mum is coming out and if she likes it she's gonna insure it for him (standard for us all at 17 odd).

So boy gets out talks to me and then his mum gets out of the car.......

Oh dear.

I'd bucked her a few weeks before hand having met her in Bar7, gotten drunk and figured why not. To be fair she was a very sexy 40 year old woman (kinda had that American newsreader look about her, fake tits and all) and I Smashed her fanny in all night.

So it couldn't be more awkward for her, so I said take your mum for a test drive and see if she likes how it rides and handles. At which point she says the line that sticks with me to this day.

"If it was anything like you I'm buying the car right now"

Lol. Son looked so confused and by time they had gotten back she must have told him because he turned into the biggest tool to me.

Told his ma to call me sometime, she waved getting into his car and he sped off spinning the wheels the entire length of the road in a diesel Peugeot 106 5 door.

Lmao. Sure. These things happen.

 

[Shaun]

Sold my sierra to a man just before the big price boom
Met him about 10pm in a carpark. Took a test drive in it which consumed of several donuts to test everything lol
Bought it with no haggling.

Few days later police phone asking do i still own the car.
Few days passed again they land at my house asking the same thing.
Told them its sold and didn't have owners contact details. They said the car was stolen the night before and they are trying to return it.
Contacted the guy and he was like aye fu*k them they chased me a few times lastnight

About a week later met a guy he goes aw you crashed the car lastnight sorry i couldn't stop. Turns out he seen it in a ditch upside down in Derry

Also got several letters from DVLA about tax and crap aswell.
Thought it was gonna be an easy sell turned out to be the worst ive had.

 

[WSM]

Easiest:

M4 to JF Group. Amazing. Literally guy looked at it for about 8 seconds. "Yeah. Deal". Done.

Worst:

So I had this white M4......