Sold two cars today and nearly sold another.....
Customer no1. Regular customer changes his car every 12 to 18 months, Decent chap his part ex is always spotless and in fact I always move it oin within days and sometimes it is sold before the deal is done. Came to change his motor, no prob, gave him a good price for his and chipped a few quid off the new one. He'd decided to swap his wife's grey import for a new supermini. Now this was a dilema. I had no proper base for assesing its value and then would have to move it on, in the trade so to speak. Anyway a few calls later we agreed a price and I got two sales out of it. I am now lumbered with a k plate Subaru that was never sold in the UK. Anyway goodwill maintained.
Customer No2. Local but never dealt with him, came in witha low mileage N plate 1.7TD
Astra (not my particular franchise). Car was in good nick with a bundle of receipts. Problem was the paintwork. Its original Bannana yellow had faded horribly and was not a car easily shifted and worht next to nowt in an Auction. Offered him a price which reflected the condition minus a few quid (well quite a few quid in fact) which he refused. He phoned me at the end of the afternoon to say the local Vauxhall dealer had offered him £500,00 less against a new one ! Was my offer still open ?! Some people cannot take no for an answer can they !
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what do you expect from someone who drives a banana coloured car...
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It really brings home the phrase "He has bought a lemon"
Every manufacturer that decides to splash a bit of zany colour on their new model always choses bright lemon yellow -
Volvo T5R
VW Corrado G60
BMW M3 in Dakar Yellow!!!
Honda something Jordan-esque & horrible
The above Astra
Fiat Cinquicento "Sport" (now that *is* a laugh)
Ferrari F355 Spider - oh, maybe that is OK in *any* colour
I don't know why they do it because it inevitably knocks 20% off used price.
Volkswagen Bright Blue Metallic - now there's a paint that *adds* 20%.
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What about the multi coloured Golfs of a few years ago? I actually saw one the other day, first time in ages. Did VW buy them all back for a respray, or did their owners quietly bury them in a field somewhere. The used value must have been zilch.
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Ah, the much hated Colour Concept models designed by someone in the parts dept of VW trying to get shot of a number of "odd" panels - bit like a patchwork quilt but made out of body panels not old pants.
Best use for those is some kind of "novelty" application such as "Kiddies Corner Creche" or "Craaaaaaaazy Kids Theme Park"
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What about all those Pugs in French post office yellow due to a cancelled contract by Postman Pat and his noir & blanc chat!
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Well, thanks to posting this thread I sorted the Astra. Phoned the guy up offered him the car he wanted at a good price for cash, providing he sells the mobile lemon. Told him to tidy it up (paint wise) and he can place it on "the other place" (my part ex, MoT etc etc site) as a private sale, no warranty for a price both of us feel is reasonable. then bingo he can buy the car he wants and still have it on a new plate for September. Have directed him from info posted on this site on how to conquor the fading paint. He is keen.....
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wasn't it the VW Polo that had the coloured panels? - I think it was called the 'Harlequin' For a cheaper effect in our street one Nova has a blue and a red wing on the vauxhall 'Parchment' colour.
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Talking of cars with different coloured panels, didn't plod do this with Henry's Anglebox. Dark blue with white doors on some - and White with dark blue doors on others. Or is this another urban myth?
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Certainly did it with Minors - the classic 'Panda cars'. White doors on a light blue car. I have heard that the reverse combination was used, but it's rare, so it was usually a paint job, not a door swap.
On the other tack, yes it was the Polo Harlequin that was produced, and I used to see one until a while ago. Wasn't there also a 2CV produced with a similar paint job?
regards
john
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Well I LIKE yellow motors.
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How many of them have you got then Andrew?
Cheers
john
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Lets be fair, a yellow Mondeo looks plain naff. But could you imagine anything else on a Lotus - any lotus?
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Lotus (any Lotus including an Europa I once wrote off..) in Yellow = Cool
At least you never see a yellow Vectra, there must be a God.
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Guy and Tom got it all a bit wrong about those Colour Concept Polos. What they did was paint the complete shells as per normal in the Pamplona plant, then swap doors, bonnets, hatchbacks, etc. Big mistake because the only two Polo colours people really want are silver or metallic bottle green.
HJ
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I see one of those VW Harlequin thingies around the north side of Leeds (Adel)on a regular basis. It so visually offensive it makes you wonder about the mental state of the person who actually signed up to it.
Well, would you hand over hard earned cash for one of them, and then drive around in it?
Simon
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