Experience Selling Your Vehicle ??

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LadyDeath

Senior Marketing Officer
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Wanted to share my first experience in selling my first start up car which i have own less than 2 years. It was parked up more than it drove. It is not sold yet , as i took it off the market after i had this experience with this potential buyer.

RUN DOWN: My car is A VW Bora Licensed 2004 model. A PBM. I bought it from a Lady who had
the car in an original condition, however, the car had some work to be done.
My family and i take really good care of our vehicles and don't like to drive in
anything that looks/feels old.


WHAT I FIXED : I did a fresh paint job, installed fog lights, installed a lip spoiler , low profile tyres,
chrome rims, new driver console ( numbs for windows, door locks etc) , two new
roters, did 4+ car interior shampoos and always buff and polish when it goes by the
car wash. Imported from Amazon a new latch for the middle compartment.
Also new interior light switches.

MAINTENENCE: Brake Pads, Shoes ,Discs , We also put in a new transmission because the previous
owner didnot maintain that and when we bought it, there was a slight 'buck'
when you put it on the reverse gear. We did the regulars such as changing oil.
fuse, battery. etc.
Also did a full engine service after the transmission was done. This was
December 2014. The car was parked up from May 2014- January 2015.

WHAT I LEFT UNFIXED : 1. When i bought the car the rear view mirror was foggy which when
researched i saw that this is a common fault in all VW Boras.
2. The passenger side mirror was cracked but you can still see from it .
3. The original VW Grill was slightly broken but it held on with screws and
still looked great.
4. The middle compartment latch still needed replacing but it only needed
two little springs which cost less than 5 TT Dollars.
5. The bonnet strut fluid leaked out and the bonnet had no support.
We propped it up using a screw wedged between the strut.
6. The car had no A/C as the compressor kicked the bucket after 5months
of buying the car. HOWEVER, the person who i bought the transmission
from in Peter's field, wanted my old transmission in exchange for
a used original compressor.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THE CAR IS 10+ YEARS OLD !

1. So days after i advertised my car on Trinituner, Trinimotors and facebook i got a call from this man.
He agreed to meet me home and came to see the car alone. He spoke to my brother in which i then began to tell him all the problems the car came with and all the fixes i did. When i told him that the car had no A/C this was where the problem started.
He asked me the price again in which i replied it's 40k. If you look at TRINICARSFORSALE Website Boras are selling for much more without A/C .

He told me straight up that he had a problem with the car not having A/C and i told him the situation about the exchange we made with the transmission for the compressor and we have to wait until we got the call from the man to pick up one. He also told me he liked my car and that his friend owned one. I told him to bring his mechanic and see the car before purchase in which he scheduled for the next week.

2. The next days after he called me and told me he spoke to his mechanic and his friends and they told him that the right price is 39k , because he have to install the compressor on his part ( 1k less) and if i can ask my family to give him that. We initially agreed because my dad said if this man like the car so much then 1k less is alright.

3. I decided to not take the compressor from the man after he called me and told me they were not good and two people brought back theirs after purchase from him. The day after, one of our workers was driving the car and the ABS light came on. I called my mechanic ( which is the previous owner's
husband) and told him my light came on. He came and did the checks and said everything was working fine as the car is driving but it looks like the pump is not receiving power and it can be easily fixed by a mechanic.

4. At this time, the guy was only calling me to find out about the compressor. My brother then spoke to him and got so frustrated that he told him 35k and thats it, just for the car to sell and go. My family also have no time to even fix my car so that's why he told the man take it for the 35k. He told him about the ABS light and how we are not getting the A/C so if he wants it no problem . The man said he will call us back because he have to talk to his mechanic about the ABS light.

5. The Friday night now, he called and said he has two minds because of the ABS and compressor . He also said his mechanic cannot make it because he is busy and if i can get my mechanic to come and do a diagnostic on the car. WHAT THE FLYING F$#@%&*^$# !
He also said that if he have to come , we have to PICK HIM UP IN CHAGUANAS AND BRING HIM TO OUR HOME. At this point all of us was fuming MAD! We never had this kind of experience with a potential buyer EVER! I was not begging this man to buy my car! I left it there for that night not wanting to see this man again!


6. Saturday morning when i got up, my brother called @ 7am and told him that our mechanic has no time and he will come this morning to do a diagnostic at our cost and take a picture to show him. The agreed time he was coming here was @ 9am. The mechanic came and the disgnostic showed the results of the pump. The mechanic PERSONALLY CALLED THE MAN and told him the problem and said it can be fixed by a mechanic. He said he have to call us back to give us an answer because he have to again consult with his mechanic. He called me around 9am and ask me now IF I HAVE A RAMP TO JACK UP MY CAR? I replied " What you want to jack up my car for ? " He said to see the car. WTF! AGAIN!

7. I Spent Half of My Saturday Waiting for this man to come and he arrived at around 1pm with his brother in tow. No problem. My mother furious told him 35k and thats it , take it or leave it because we had two other potential buyers from before with their mechanics to come and check out the car.
They now asking us if we had a jack and a tyre place around here to carry the car to see the suspension. My mother then said my car is not going anywhere. They are welcomed to take a test drive . After the test drive he now asking "what is that noise" . So we told him thats the sound the car always makes since we got it . Mind it it's the noise the car makes when you press the brakes . It's an electric sound.

8. After we reached back home , the man said he will take the car finally but he had one condition to use our insurance for the weekend until he can get one during the week. I showed him the diagnostic results too. As i left him there to go inside and daft the invoice and a paperwork for the insurance , his brother, cousin/nephew and him started digging in my car. When i arrived with the printed paper work now he's telling me that he's not taking the car again because it have a leak in the power steering.
I MORE F#$%^%$# ANGRY TOLD HIM NO PROBLEM AND SLAMMED THE DOOR AND LEFT THEM THERE. IT didn't make any sense to talk again. At that point i was furious!

9. I know my car had no problems like that and there was no leak coming from my car. I called my mechanic the same evening and he came. Turns out it was old oil from changing the transmission a month ago and it was never wiped out. The mistake i did was not doing an engine wash to clean out the residue oil of all the repairs/maintenence that we did.
THE MEN BROKE MY BATTERY HOLDER TRYING TO LOOK INTO MY ENGINE AND LEFT! Now My Battery is shaking when it is driving and has nothing to keep it in place. I wanted to call him, but what is the use of dealing with this man again!!!!!!!!!



CONCLUSION : From my experience this man clearly took advantage of me as a girl. He wanted to break down price because he saw our living environment. I had no problem empathizing with someone but to go to this extent was MADNESS! I learnt my lesson and will never let someone do this to me again! The Mistake i made was LETTING THIS GET TOO FAR! I Should of told him off from point 2!
 
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wow that man on mess........you should of been more sturdy and tell him take it or leave it you done list out all your problems with the car.....what he did was waste everyone time and money
 
To start with, don't ever let someone come to your home to view a car. We live in a place with a lot of criminal activity where nobody is to be trusted.

Secondly, you were really generous, if he gave me all of those problems I would just blank him totally beyond a certain point.

Thirdly, why did you leave those strangers with your car unattended given the series of events?

Yeah he tried to take advantage of you because you are a girl but if you were more firm he could not have done so. Trinidad is filled with low ballers and scammers. Its hard to find people who are actually willing to buy your vehicle genuinely and pay your asking price or close to your asking price. Most people aren't serious at all, not sure what has happened but in the past ten years we have undergone a serious transformation where most people who call are not serious.

My family have had their own experiences from people setting us up at meeting points and to people barely being able to afford a vehicle and then want to try all kind of verbal schemes like talking about lawyer, etc... All of them are just lucky that its good people they're dealing with because I know people who won't hesitate to blow a fuse and give those type of little boys what they looking for.

People rarely know the quality of a properly maintained and well kept used car. They have 2 cents in the bank and want to buy a car for $140,000 that already $20,000 undervalued.
 
wow that man on mess........you should of been more sturdy and tell him take it or leave it you done list out all your problems with the car.....what he did was waste everyone time and money

Man that is too common in Trinidad. I have gotten fed up selling anything from even a cheap cell phone to a highly sought after tablet, its just ridiculous what people do with you sometimes and then turn around and say "I doh wah it again".... Selling used products personally is a huge frustration, something I have long wanted to voice my opinion on.
 
Thank you for all the comments..Like i said it was a HUGE MISTAKE on my part as it was my very first experience selling my car.
Trust me when i say that i will never ever let that happen again!

I am now in the process of ironing out the little fixes to atleast call back people who left their numbers because they really loved my car. I just don't want to go thru any small talk again. Add one battery holder to the list of things !
 
Nice to know about the sailing experience of the different people,its good to learn for the beginners in this field.I am a mechanic and also dealer of the cars. Different cars have different rates according to their model,condition and mileage.
 
Thank you for all the comments..Like i said it was a HUGE MISTAKE on my part as it was my very first experience selling my car.
Trust me when i say that i will never ever let that happen again!

I am now in the process of ironing out the little fixes to atleast call back people who left their numbers because they really loved my car. I just don't want to go thru any small talk again. Add one battery holder to the list of things !

Still puzzled as to how its possible to break a battery holder.... They probably did that intentionally.
 
My battery holder is made out hard plastic like a case to hold the battery. Steups .. I Just so vex but say what..it done happen and past .
 
Yeah these cover plastic bodies for teh abtteries are very efficient and save the battery from different hazards of leakage and warmimg.
 
True consider it a learning experience and that it didn't go worse. With every failure comes success.
 
Man i hope that mister keep on searching for a second hand car in a 40k rage that in mint condition steups! Some people cannot understand the concept of an old car that is 10+ years old . I Have alot of potential buyers so will i'm not worried . When i do my little fixes, i'll put it back up for sale
 
Yeah your strategy is so good and its really very good idea for the backup of the budget.i would like to apply it for mine job.
 
Man i hope that mister keep on searching for a second hand car in a 40k rage that in mint condition steups! Some people cannot understand the concept of an old car that is 10+ years old . I Have alot of potential buyers so will i'm not worried . When i do my little fixes, i'll put it back up for sale

Mint condition or a knocking engine some people just don't understand the true value of a car. They sometimes hang their hat where they can't reach.
 
Yeah no doubt in it that we make mistakes and then learn from these mistakes to make it perfect for the future.I did many mistake in my life and then learn from the mistakes.
 
Yup he even told me he knows nothing about Euro Vehicles. Was that my problem? He came to check out a car blindly ?
If i know i have to check out a car, i will do my research before hand and i'm a girl lol ! Even if i didnt understand the research at least i will know a few names or features !
 
By telling you he knew nothing about Euros he just validated that he's a waste of good time and energy. He's lucky you didn't come after him for the broken battery holder too.
Some people really disgust me, selling has to be one of the most annoying procedures nowadays.
 
There are many problems faced now a days in the dealing of the car because the purchaser not take seriously because he have many choices to choose the car.So i agree on it there are many problems facing now a days.
 
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