Make Rattle an offer for his Corsa. It has had more or less everything replaced or fixed !
Or you could have my Mondeo estate but that would be subject to a candidate suitability interview by my son ( aged 9 ).......he wouldn't let "Betsy" go to anything other than a very good home and even then........
;-)
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This is my personel take on my own buying and selling.
I tend to have a few phone calls with the person im thinking of buying the car from first, I generally get a good idea if they are honest about the car and how they have looked after it. I always take money with me or i will see how far away the local branch of my bank is from them and go and get the cash out if i like the car. Cash in the hand is always - in my opinion - the best way to buy a car private (obviously depending on how high the price is - dont fancy turning up to a unknown are with X amount of thousands in hand)
Majorty of the time, selling is a pain in the rear. The majority of cars i have had have been Mk3 golfs, E36 BMW and these generally get enquires from the "woz ur lowest price bruv" idiots. I am more than happy to spend 10 minutes on the phone to a prospective buyer and talk about the car but these morons are total timewasters and it really infuriates me. Anyway, the people i like are the ones that are generally interested in my car and ask me lots of questions. They turn up, have a good look round and if they like it they have the cash there and then or they have a decent deposit (£100 / £200) and they are willing to take the car away in a few days.
So in answer to your question - take the cash with you and start your first offer at 20% below asking price with a view to getting between 10-15% off the car.
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I think you are in a risky position, as it appears you have virtually no mechanical knowledge (not a criticism, just an observation).
This makes you incredibly vulnerable to dodgy 2nd hand cars, where the sellers will lie through there teeth to sell a pile of steaming rust as if it is perfect.
Just read most ebay adverts to see this in action.
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I've only ever bought a couple of cars privately, but sold many.
I wouldn't expect someone to turn up with cash in hand and I doubt it would make any difference to the price I would accept. When selling I would expect say a 10% deposit and the commitment that the buyer will return within the next day or two with the balance and take the car away. This can be stated on the receipt, along with 'non-returnable deposit'. They would need a day or so to arrange insurance. If I were the buyer, I wouldn't pay for a car without first arranging cover. What if it gets nicked between paying over your cash and arranging cover?
Keep the Volvo completely out of the deal. It will be more trouble than it's worth to the trader. If you can't sell it on ebay, take it to the scrapyard and hopefully get a few quid.
As for a discount, that depends on what you think the car is worth that you are looking at. If you do your research and it's worth £1,500 and the buyer is asking £2k, you have a bit of negotiating to do. Most sellers will be trying to maximise what they get although some may be more realistic. If you find one in great condition with new tyres, exhaust, 12 months MoT, some tax, then it's worth a bit more than one without. You have to play it by ear.
Don't get hungup on finding a car with tax though, you will have to arrange insurance cover and once you have your cover note it's easy to get the tax from the PO.
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Having owned in excess of 40 cars, and driven for 36 years, I have only ever bought two cars, and one van, from a garage. My very first car, a Mini Clubman estate, from my next door neighbour with whom I played squash. He was a car salesman and had taken the Mini in p/ex and let me have it cheap before it went to the auctions. My second was an Elise, ordered in '95 and taken delivery of in '97. The only problem I have ever had selling privately was my last Legacy estate...it was the wrong colour & spec so my fault for buying it.
I always buy from friends and contacts, and have (touch wood) never had a duff car yet, although some have not been the most glamorous ie Marina 1.8TC, Avenger 1600 and a Fiat 128!
Having worked in retailing for most of my life, I am a fairly good judge of character, and when I accompany friends to look at private sales, take more notice of someone's house than the car. If the back garden has dog poo scattered around, or the front door is peeling and faded, we walk. It reflects directly on the vendor and I always use these criteria as a rule of thumb. Crackers I may be, but it serves me well.
You should have no problem finding a good, reliable car locally from a private seller. Just use common sense and walk away if anything causes doubt.
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Sell the Volvo on eBay. List the faults honestly - as you have above - and you will get between 200 and 500 pounds (admittedly a complete guess, but somebody will put it back on the road). Sell it in a 10 day, no reserve £1 start auction. £100 start price if it makes you feel happier.
If you try selling it autotrader my guess is that it will take forever.
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Having worked in retailing for most of my life I am a fairly good judge of character and when I accompany friends to look at private sales take more notice of someone's house than the car. If the back garden has dog poo scattered around or the front door is peeling and faded we walk. It reflects directly on the vendor and I always use these criteria as a rule of thumb. Crackers I may be but it serves me well.
Not crackers at all. I work to similar criteria, and haven't bought a duff car either. I buy from people I like.
The other, often overlooked indicator of a good buy is a low number of long term owners on the V5. A car owned by a handful of owners for a long time is not only likely to be a good one (people don't hang on to bad examples of cars), but is likely to have been looked after if the car was a long term ownership prospect. A car with lots of short term owners is likely to either be a Friday afternoon job, or to have been neglected as it was always intended to be moved on quickly. Neither are good for you as a buyer.
Lots of other little indicators too - are the tyres matched sets, and are they a decent brand? If they've put cheap tyres on it, they are likely to have skimped elsewhere. Is all the paperwork tidily filed together, or are there bits missing? You can't really expect a main dealer history at this price (although they can be found), but are there parts receipts. Stamps are easily forged and worthless, but invoices, particularly if they have the credit/debit card slip still stapled to them are much harder (invoice numbers can be verified with the establishment with a simple phone call).
Always HPI the car, and always take the serial numbers of the V5 and MOT certificates and check those too. Again, gauge the seller's reaction when you mention this. If they've nothing to hide, they won't mind. Quite the opposite actually, as it shows you're not just a tyre kicker.
If you have a mechanically minded mate, take them along though. Apart from the additional knowledge, two pairs of eyes are always better than one.
But above all, trust your gut feeling. Any niggling doubts whatsoever, or if anything doesn't add up, just walk. There are thousands of other cars out there.
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WOW DP
you may care to buy one of these too then?
Paint thickness tester
Gunson says its new tool tests the amount of body filler or sub-standard repair on a vehicle. "It's an ideal tool for checking the state of a car, van or truck before you buy", says Linda Tueton from the firm's marketing team. "Simply hold the tool against the vehicle's bodywork; a green LED will show if the paintwork is to an acceptable standard and a red LED shows substandard paintwork or body filler." The Gunson Paint Tester costs £7.99.
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