Saturday, 31 October 2009
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Selling the car
So, the old car went wrong and we wanted to sell it. We thought we'd try "Webuyanycar.com" because, well, they said they buy any car. What an odd experience that was.
You go to their website and put in your postcode and they tell you your nearest branch. Ours was in Bristol. then you phone and make an appointment. When we got there, it wasn't a garage, or place of business, but a rented room in a conference centre. The people outside looked pretty disgruntled and were driving away in their cars, so they obviously hadn't sold them
We'd looked up the price of our car on Auto Trader and they said £1,800. obviously, that wasn't taking off the cost of the work it needed doing to it.
So, we waited for our turn and a kid salesman type in a suit, who obviously knew nothing about cars, had a quick look, (didn't even lift the bonnet) and offered us £400 quid, minus £20 for their processing.
Now bear in mind, at this stage we hadn't told him about the work the car would need doing on it, he was basing that estimate just on a quick glance assuming it was in running order and trying to offer us less than a third of the actual street value. I suppose they must trade on people being desperate for the cash. In fact, that was probably all the car was worth but we were so indignant about the attempt to rip us off that we said no. At no time did they ask about the mechanics of the car, just not interested.
And now, exactly a week later, they have phoned us back and asked what is the minimum price we would take. I guess that's how they work? offer a ridiculously low price in the hope some may accept and then negotiate later with the others, in the hope the 7 days in between will make you more anxious to sell?
We said £750 and he said he would call back in 15 minutes, but he hasn't. Maybe the price is still too high for them but I think it's more likely they allow another 'delay' in order to make us more likely to get anxious and accept their next offer.
We are just going to take it t a local garage, tell them what's wrong with it and accept what they give us. Should have done that in the first place but we thought this lot might be quicker.