Walked away from a sale - was I wrong?

[triang]

Saw a A3 S Line Cabriolet 2.0TFSI for sale about 5 miles away - Price slightly higher than it should be.

Spoke to seller - had it a year - no faults - no problem to come round and he would take it for a test drive with me.

Reason for sale given - too small to fit kids in (my, they have grown a lot in one year!)

Looked up MOT record - last MOT expired January 2016....

Now.

1) He never mentioned lack of MOT
2) He was willing to conduct a test drive without MOT
3) So....he bought the car in July 2015...MOT expired 6 months later yet he failed to renew and now wants to sell? A bit suspicious to me.

Decided to walk because;

1) Seller Not Being open with facts (what else is he hiding?)
2) Seller a chancer to run around with no MOT
3) Why, after buying it did he let MOT lapse after only 6 months? Lack of money? In which case what else has he skimped on?

I bought a beautiful S Line 2.0 TFSI a few days later....but the seller above keeps texting me saying he has got the MOT now - like that was the problem not his lack of openness!

Was I right to walk? What Do you think?

 

[RAF_S7]

If it doesn't feel right, I'd of walked as well.

You did the right thing. Plenty more for sale elsewhere.

 

[Sandra]

Saw a A3 S Line Cabriolet 2.0TFSI for sale about 5 miles away - Price slightly higher than it should be.

Spoke to seller - had it a year - no faults - no problem to come round and he would take it for a test drive with me.

Reason for sale given - too small to fit kids in (my, they have grown a lot in one year!)

Looked up MOT record - last MOT expired January 2016....

Now.

1) He never mentioned lack of MOT
2) He was willing to conduct a test drive without MOT
3) So....he bought the car in July 2015...MOT expired 6 months later yet he failed to renew and now wants to sell? A bit suspicious to me.

Decided to walk because;

1) Seller Not Being open with facts (what else is he hiding?)
2) Seller a chancer to run around with no MOT
3) Why, after buying it did he let MOT lapse after only 6 months? Lack of money? In which case what else has he skimped on?

I bought a beautiful S Line 2.0 TFSI a few days later....but the seller above keeps texting me saying he has got the MOT now - like that was the problem not his lack of openness!

Was I right to walk? What Do you think?

Welcome to audi-sport.net. Yes you were right to walk away, you don't know what horrors were unseen. As for him texting you all the time, just block his number. It's good to hear the experience didn't put you off though. Any pics of your s line? Hope you enjoy the forum

 

[triang]

Thanks Sandra!

Yes a good piece of advice I was told was "When appraising a car to buy, you should also appraise the seller"

I.e. Does the selles story "add up"? Do they look confident or nervous and fidgety? If the car is worth a few bob - does the seller look like he could have afforded to rum/service it properly? ( I once went to view a car and the owners flat had dirty armchair surrounded by empty beer cans and a huge TV in the living room - nothing else and newspapers spread on the floor instead of carpet...,if that wasn't enough he said he had an argument with his girlfriend and she burned all the logbooks and service books for the car just to get back at him!!!

To top it all he wanted a high price for the car as well....needless to say I walked, if for no other reason than that he must have been incredibly thick to think his story would be acceptable to anyone!

Aruba Blue baby..
.
Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the colour of my car
Which I do drive
Blue, blue
David Bowie (sort of)

 

[TomL83]

You did the right thing to walk away.

The new one you have bought looks lovely.

 

[Scottyg]

Welcome along. As above, you did the right thing. If in doubt don't part with your cash.

 

[Jake 61]

Sounds very dodgy, but the blue one is nice.

 

[rum4mo]

Quite right to walk, what is it with some people, put a car up for sell without having an MOT, was that just in case it did not sell, so yes - correct, you could be naughty and get someone else to check up on it, purely out of badness, ie pay back.

At the other end of the car selling spectrum, I once went out to get my wife a runabout, using adverts, I ended up in what turned out to be bandit country and looked at a couple of Fiestas, had phoned the guy to arrange viewing, so he had my number, got there and discovered he never intended to be "on-site" that day, other guys around knew nothing about the stock they held, but said that if I paid particular interest to a specific car they would sort it out, ie get some almost legal tyres on it for me - I did not show any interest and took off. Next day or so got raging phone calls from he who did not bother to turn up when I said I was coming to view - claiming to have rebuilt the car that I had chosen - what a bottom! Luckily that wasted day, and I did see a lot more "scrap", stopped me looking at used car dealers and search the local evening paper adds which did provide a very nice and well priced private sale car with no problems!

 

[triang]

Phew Rum4mo - sounds decidedly dodgy and possibly violent...thank goodness you did walk.

I guess we should never underestimate the low-lifes out there!

 

[jdp1962]

Not buying a car you should have bought will never be a mistake, because your money is still in your pocket, and you'll find something else. The mistake is buying a car you shouldn't have bought.

 

[ScottishA4B9]

I would say you defo did the right thing by walking away.

 

[DJ_26]

As jdp1962 said. You did the right thing by walking away and shouldn't feel guilty about it at all.

 

[triang]

Thanks all.
Actually I'm glad I did because I'm so pleased with the car I bought in the end.

Saw some funny adverts for private sales whilst I was looking though. One seller had written "REDUCED ONCE ALREADY SO NO OFFERS" in bold shouty writing on the ad - trouble was the car was nothing special and the "reduced" price was still £££Mega and more than a dealers price = I can only think he wanted £1m in the first place .... and some sellers wonder why nobody calls them....he will probably get so desperate that he'll sell it to webuyanycar.con in October for £1067...