How far have you travelled... then NOT bought it?

[CortinaDave]

Did a 150 mile trip on the train to look at a shite car tonight, within 2 minutes knew I wasn't buying it - seller seemed nice enough. but had neglected to mention details like the screaming power steering rack and that the bumpers had more crack than ozzy osbourne.

 

C'est la vie. Beer and a burger in a local pub and train back home, and its been a fun jolly.

 

Made me wonder though... how far have you travelled to view a shite car.... and then walked away?

[vulgalour]

I don't understand the question.

[CortinaDave]

basically... have you travelled miles to buy a car... then not bought it!

[Pete-M]

Dresden.

 

Barkas B1000-B. One of the water cooled ones. It was knackered.

[Broadsword]

I'm not afraid to travel far to buy a good car. I get the feeling most punters are not of that opinion. Stick to traveling by rail and book the return ticket regardless. I tend to do this, and that way the pressure to buy is less. I usually go back later for the car at any rate so that I can get my affairs in order. More travel, but you make fewer mistakes. I've done 300 mile trips before and knocked back the car.

 

Another trick is to incorporate viewing a car into a trip you were going to make anyway. I did this yesterday. There was a car in Reading I wanted to see. I live near York. Making the trip just to view a car on the day would not have made sense. Lucky for me I was traveling to London anyway so Reading suddenly wasn't a problem. This time round luck was on my side as the car is an absolute peach and the seller is very flexible. I can go back to collect at the end of the month which just things more relaxed.

[captain_70s]

I've never not bought a car I'v been to view. Indeed I've actually bought some cars without seeing them before hand at all.

 

/shitelyfe

[Tamworthbay]

Tamworth to Southampton. Annoyingly it was a car I knew and had requested first refusal on if it came up for sale. Sadly the guy who bought it before me had done zero maintenance in two years and driven it all year round with no rust protection. It amazed me how bad a car could get in two years and how the owner was convinced it was in the same condition as before. It wasn’t a wasted day though as I had a nose through the autotrader and ended up buying a one owner from new mini from a lady in Chandlers Ford, I drove it back through torrential rain and it never missed a beat.

[Pete-M]

Buying a return ticket is a must-do.

 

I flew to Prague, got a bus, then the metro, then a coach to Liberec, borrowed a banana LWB high top, non-Turbo Transit, hired a car transporter trailer, dragged it for seven hours in the middle of summer (no ac in a P reg Transit..) to a small town near Frankfurt-Am-Main to buy a Mk2 Escort.

 

It was far rustier than described (although the seller gave me a detailed sales contract with everything listed correctly.. far more accurately than his advert).

 

I was fuming, haggled €300 off, shoved it on the trailer and headed back to Czech with it. Got back to Liberec at 3am after driving for five hours through a mid-Summer lightning storm.

[Fat_Pirate]

158 miles EACH WAY to look at a CLK for Mrs Pirate.  Took us less than 2 mins to spot the hastily painted over rot (some of the masking tape was still there, in fact).  That was in the Jag of many shitters too... nice way to travel though.  Also had to pay Severn bridge toll.

[howe]

I've only had one, was in Bridlington from Carlisle.

 

1999 Suzuki Jimny, bodywork looked nothing like the pictures, the silly offroad wheels caught on the bumper while you were turning and the gear knob slapped up and down drastically when I took it on a test drive around a local industrial estate..

 

He wanted no less than £1800

[RayMK]

Peugeot 205 in Brighton, a round trip of about 250 miles.  The car was not as described, overheated/blew its coolant out within 10 minutes of starting and the clutch did not work.  The seller was drunk and was not surprised by our rejection of his rubbish.  I had seen better cars balanced on a pile of others at a breakers.  We went to the beach and had an enjoyable ice cream in the sun instead.

[garbaldy]

Fuck that if I'm going to the trouble of traveling any sort of distance I bloody sure as hell ain't coming home empty handed,

[Jazoli]

Kendal to Norwich to buy a FZR1000R, it was fucked, the amount of blue smoke it generated when running was unbelievable, the seller words 'TADT', fuck off! ended up sleeping in a bus shelter and hitching a ride home, took me 18 hours to get back, as I was young and foolish and didn't consider hiring a van.

 

And Kendal to Bristol to buy a 'mint' 200SX, it was rotten, the seller was a cunt, fortunately I was wiser by then and it was just a long drive with a mate, these days if I can't find the car I want within 20 miles I buy something else and just buy new bikes

[Lord Sterling]

Istanbul to look at a Mk1 Sierra. Mind you, I did go there to see family as well...

[Ohdearme]

Most was 55 miles to Manchester as a youth to look at an Omega GL bit in the end I ended up buying a 2.0 Cav CDX because air con.

 

Apart from that, I’ve bought every car I’ve ever gone to see and then just dealt with the aftermath.

[Wack]

I went somewhere in Lincolnshire to look at an Alfa seller neglected to mention the football sized dent in the door even though I'd asked about body damage before I set off

 

Ah yes I thought we could negotiate on that , twat

 

He lived in a village so had picked me up , dead chatty all the way in , not a fucking word on the way back

[GeordieInExile]

You know, I've never been to look at a car and not bought it...

[eifion]

About 30 miles to go and look at an XM at a dealer in 2002. Things didn't start well when the salesman walked towards it while saying "You'll have to go in via the passenger side door as the driver's side doesn't open." Since then, like others here, I've bought everything I've been to look at.

[Mrcento]

I've never not bought a car I'v been to view. Indeed I've actually bought some cars without seeing them before hand at all.

 

/shitelyfe

 

This was me until a few days ago. Pretty sure i'd bought anything i went to see and, for the most part, have got away with it. If i want a car enough to go an look at it, i'm most likely willing to take on a few extra jobs, almost expect them in fact.

 

Only really dodgy one i've had was the CRX's rear brakes seizing and catching fire....which made stopping on boiled brake fluid very interesting.

[Mrcento]

This was me until a few days ago. Pretty sure i'd bought anything i went to see and, for the most part, have got away with it. If i want a car enough to go an look at it, i'm most likely willing to take on a few extra jobs, almost expect them in fact.

 

Only really dodgy one i've had was the CRX's rear brakes seizing and catching fire....which made stopping on boiled brake fluid very interesting.

 

Actually, scratch that, i just remembered going to look at an uglybug Fiat Multipla about 8 years ago and didn't even get out the car once i arrived to it. It was an absolute shit tip with every single panel covered in rust of some sorts, the pics used were clearly about 6 years old.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

In the days before the Internet or even pictures in adverts , it was very common to drive a couple of hundred miles , only to not even get out of the car. Especially when you can see that "genuine" Mexico or RS was nothing of the sort from 200yds away. I blame Motoring News, it helped that I had company cars and free fuel but it still amazes me that my Mrs was never suspicious of all the nights I dissapeared till the early hours and came home empty handed.

The furthest from memory was Hawick to look at Mark 1 RS2000 that turned out be a 1600 Pinto with a GT logbook that had just had the capacity changed to 2.0 from 1.3. The seats in it would be worth more than the £800 I wouldn't pay, now...

It wasn't all lairy Escorts, I went to Dorset to look at an "immaculate" A110 Westminster one night after work, it was up for £750 in 1990, the engine used more oil than petrol on the test drive , it certainly wouldn't have made it back to Milton Keynes and I didn't take it even when he said he'd take £300- again another missed opportunity.

[Matty]

Haslingden to Doncaster and back. To look at a 528 sport. Spent ages on the phone with the fella to ascertain that it wasn't rotten on the sill ends. This was true. What he failed to mention was that there wasn't a panel on the fucker that wasn't damaged in some way. Even the roof. Walked away within 2 mins. He then rang me 5 times on the way home offering to sell it for less and less. Twat

[Split_Pin]

Polmont to Northampton to look at an Astra Coupe Turbo in 2009. Hired a Nissan Note and had a mini-break in Chester on the way down. My girlfriend and I had only been together for 3 months back then, it can't have put her off as she's been my wife for nearly 8 years now!

 

It had was an 02 plate with 40,000 miles and was in good nick. However it had no boost, white smoke was billowing out of the exhaust and the radiator fan was cutting in and out all the time. Someone else I knew bought it and subsequently regretted it.

 

The seller was polite to my face but when I left he began texting me and saying I had wasted his time. Fanny.

[The Moog]

I've never not bought a car I'v been to view. Indeed I've actually bought some cars without seeing them before hand at all.

 

/shitelyfe

Absolutely this.

 

Never not bought.... Made a silly offer once on a V40 estate that had loads of rubbish in the back (because I had delivered scooters bx to Kinross) then walked away only to have the guy chase me down the street.

 

Only a couple have been proper dogs .. out of 88 (ish) and counting

[PiperCub]

About 250 miles round trip to see a 'Fully restored' MG Midget. Yes the bodywork was good, as was the paint, shame nothing else had been done properly so still required a couple of grand spending on it. They seemed totally dismayed when I walked away! 

 

These days I tend to buy locally - as in, within a 30 mile radius or so (I'd make an exception if I was really sure and really wanted the car though but that hasn't happened for ages). People bullshit even more than ever they did in pre-interweb days IMO. I blame all the 'car-flipping'-type shows on TV.

 

I just can't be arsed travelling across several counties only to be disappointed any more. 

[straightSix]

I've never not bought a car I'v been to view. Indeed I've actually bought some cars without seeing them before hand at all.

 

/shitelyfe

 

Pretty much same. Last few have been bought without viewing beforehand. Even managed to miss the subtly* different shade of paint on the drivers door of one...

[rantingYoof]

Supernaut won a Honda Accord coupe on eBay which was in Manchester.

 

He drove there to view it after going to a job interview in Edinburgh (?) and I met him there from Northampton (going by train) as I was going to take his Xantia home to sell it from my driveway (as he was having no luck in Aberdeen).

 

The seller had politely yet determinedly goosed the wiring for the CD headunit he was trying to fit, and had naughtily understated the amount of clutch slippage. Supernaut was very decent about giving the guy enough time to sheepishly say that he could back out of the deal, and Supernaut couldn't have driven away any more hastily (listening to Highway to Hell, quite aptly).

 

The only catch was, I had to be back home in Northampton for a family event the next day, so I ended up driving Supernaut from somewhere just north of Huddersfield around 140 miles south to my home, where he kipped the night. The next day he began the 490 mile drive back north (doing it in two stages, I believe).

 

Me singing the praises of the Xantia after a wonderfully relaxing two hour cruise down the M1 rather late in the evening seemed to have an effect, as he then kept it for a good long time after this. 

 

I'm sure he'll be able to go into the whole day in more detail at some point. All I remember is him pulling onto the hard shoulder of the M62 convinced the car's power delivery was wrong or the clutch was playing up. I then looked at him swaying on his feet and realised that actually the problem was because he'd driven nearly three-quarters of the way from Aberdeen to Northampton in one day (as well as doing a job interview) and was quite close to keeling over...that's when I said 'get in the passenger seat, you're no longer driving'.

 

That was an interesting day!

[strangeangel]

200 miles round trip to see a fucked 205CJ that the Police Officer owner assured me was an absolute minter. I hope he's more truthful in the pursuit of his day job... amongst other huge swathes of bullshit, he told me that the water swilling around in the footwells was the result of it having been recently valeted and it not having quite dried out yet. The fact that the car was filthy inside and out - it looked like he'd been keeping ferrets in it - contradicted this somewhat.  I made my excuses and left.

[Skut]

Drove from Coldstream in the Scottish Borders to Glasgow to see a 95 M reg Panda in about 2004. The seller enthused over the phone as to its condition and that it had no rust.

 

In person it looked pretty dreadful. The doors were obviously holed at the bottom and I felt holes made the no rust claim a bit fibby. The rear archs inside the boot was so heavily dented they looked like they'd been crushed by rubble. The owner took to the wheel with a permanent fag dangling from his gob and an overflowing ashtray. I made the mistake of being honest when he asked what I thought it was worth by replying fifty quid.

[Supernaut]

Supernaut won a Honda Accord coupe on eBay which was in Manchester.

 

He drove there to view it after going to a job interview in Edinburgh (?) and I met him there from Northampton (going by train) as I was going to take his Xantia home to sell it from my driveway (as he was having no luck in Aberdeen).

 

The seller had politely yet determinedly goosed the wiring for the CD headunit he was trying to fit, and had naughtily understated the amount of clutch slippage. Supernaut was very decent about giving the guy enough time to sheepishly say that he could back out of the deal, and Supernaut couldn't have driven away any more hastily (listening to Highway to Hell, quite aptly).

 

The only catch was, I had to be back home in Northampton for a family event the next day, so I ended up driving Supernaut from somewhere just north of Huddersfield around 140 miles south to my home, where he kipped the night. The next day he began the 490 mile drive back north (doing it in two stages, I believe).

 

Me singing the praises of the Xantia after a wonderfully relaxing two hour cruise down the M1 rather late in the evening seemed to have an effect, as he then kept it for a good long time after this. 

 

I'm sure he'll be able to go into the whole day in more detail at some point. All I remember is him pulling onto the hard shoulder of the M62 convinced the car's power delivery was wrong or the clutch was playing up. I then looked at him swaying on his feet and realised that actually the problem was because he'd driven nearly three-quarters of the way from Aberdeen to Northampton in one day (as well as doing a job interview) and was quite close to keeling over...that's when I said 'get in the passenger seat, you're no longer driving'.

 

That was an interesting day!

 

Yup. It seemed like a nice car in principle too. 150hp 2.0 manual with nice leather seats and a massive sunroof.

The job interview was in... err... somewhere west of Edinburgh. It was fucking grim anyway.

 

The problem with the Accord was indeed the clutch, first and foremost. The test drive revealed epic clutch slip at 20mph in second gear on a flat road. That wouldn't have got me as far as the border, let alone over the hills!

The seller also mentioned that he would put a radio in it with a USB socket. I would have happily kept the stock radio then sorted it later at my own leisure, but no. The seller also had no adapter loom and no electrical aptitude. He butchered the radio wiring. Then he tried plugging the stock radio back in, and it still didn't work. I even briefly took the radio out of the Xantia and tried it in there! Nothing.

 

At that point, with the clutch much much further gone than the seller let on, and the radio inoperative (and probably very difficult to repair) we decided to leave it.

 

We then hopped into the Xantia and headed even further south so RantingYoof could indeed attend the event he had the next day. I recall that moment on the hard shoulder, yes. That's because I'd genuinely had a leak from the fuel filter housing earlier that day and was still wary of it (although I fixed it first time by clipping hoses back on tightly).

 

The next day I drove as far north as Durham and kipped over at a non-AS mate's house, then the day after I finally got back to Aberdeen. Still with the same car I left with, but with somewhere north of 1,000 miles more on its odometer.

 

I don't buy anything worth more than about £10 on ebay any more. Not worth the risk.