Buying warning signals!

[sierraman]

What sort of stuff starts the alarm bells ringing when you are looking at a car for sale?

 

Mines usually a half empty bottle of oil in the boot and several milk cartons for the ever topping up of oil on a shagged engine

 

Thoughts and experiences of this?

[oldcars]

Better not sell you my reliant then. Boot has half tub of oil. two cut down drinks bottle to pour the oil and coolant in 

[Lukas]

Fresh underseal on the undercarriage/chassis of a car. Done only to hide a lot of rust! 

[DS20]

A steam-cleaned engine bay.  When I bought my Rover 820, the underbonnet area had been steam-cleaned; I wonder why?  T-series engine, would you know why that might have been necessary?  

[Junkman]

A non functioning cigarette lighter.

Never buy a car with this not working.

[Bren]

I usually buy my warning signals from B&Q.

 

Seriously, radweld in the expansion bottle, filthy oil but a very clean cartridge that has been wiped over.

 

Haynes manual in the boot? Have a thumb through it - oily fingermarks at chapter of gearbox etc tells you somebody has been messing.

 

Never, ever, buy a car photographed in front of a white background.

 

Never, ever buy a diesel vectra.

 

Never, ever consider an Audi S4 with a rebuilt engine.

 

My two 'pennorth.

[sierraman]

Missing advisory information from the MOT on the old type docs.

 

Recent replacement of items which are a symptom of something serious clutch cable etc...

[xtriple]

Dealers often/as a matter of course, steam clean engines... pretty for the forecourt!

 

But, as we are at that end of the market where we are buying from the general public, that doesn't really apply!

 

The seller is often the biggest warning as far as I'm concerned, some scruffy bod (nothing against scruffy bods as I am one) that knows nothing about the car beyond a few weeks back means to me, that he bought it from the scrappy has put a bent MOT on it and is after a fine profit on a car that may (or not) be hanging. Strangely, I have no problem with people making a shilling or two but detest it when anyone tries to pull the wool over the peepers!

 

Log book not in the sellers name/address.

 

Shiny new MOT on a car that obviously doesn't deserve one.

 

Oil stains all over where the car is usually parked.You can steam clean the engine but they often park it in the same spot even afterwards.

 

Rust.

 

I don't know really, it all goes on the car/seller individually. You can usually spot a 'wrong 'un' just by using the God given 'sixth sense' that all chod botherers should have.

 

I love to see a car that is at the registered keepers address, they've owned it for years, the paintwork is dull but straight and undamaged without scuffed corners on the bumpers, records of maintenance that are up to date - even if only by the owner, in fact, I prefer old cars to have been looked after by enthusiastic owners as garages don't give a fuck about old stuff and unless they actually know the model they will know less about it than the owner!

 

Anything with a 'lady owner' requires VERY careful checking as they tend to treat cars like a tip and never look after them mechanically (generalisation I know, but isn't everything?).

 

Anything with recent/frequent owner changes - why? Often it's because there's an underlying fault that is either pricey to repair of hard to diagnose, but sometimes it's because they are the type of car that looks appealing but is expensive to run or a convertible bought for the summer.

 

Rust.

 

Anything that looks ripply when viewed down the sides. Yes, I know, I want perfection for peanuts, but benders are easy to do up with filler and paint so worth looking at carefully.

 

Mismatched panels, colours that vary with no explanation, No problem with buying a car that's had accident damage so long as you know and can check it was minor/has been repaired properly. Bought loads of cars over the years that now would be cat C or D and the stuff insurance companies write off is obscene, pure cosmetic damage should never result in a write off really but as insurers insist on all new stuff, economics takes over.

 

Rust.

 

Look at steering wheels and gearknobs/seat bolsters to verify claimed low mileage.

 

We all know about the ones to look out for in the engine/gearbox so not going there but I once bought a 635 BMW with a 'blown head gasket' that genuinely was a bad rad cap. I didn't believe the HGF story and when I drove it knew they were wrong... garage had told them that was what was wrong with it.

 

I'll shut up now shall I!

[dollywobbler]

I rejected a Volvo last year because the brother of the person selling it waddled out of his house in just shorts to show the car to me. Which didn't start. There was also an England flag hanging out of a window of the house. Quite amusing that a scrap man came up and asked him how much while we were going over it...

 

I rejected a Rover 600 because the place selling it was one of those run-down buildings that makes you think of the poorer parts of Delhi, where it looks like giant mice have been nibbling the plaster from the walls. Also, the car needed a bump start to run and looked like it had been sat for months. Even the jump leads were falling apart. Then it turned out that the long MOT meant it WOULD be tested. No doubt by blind Barry. The final straw as a bald-headed company owner who spat words at me and refused to take his wrap-around sunglasses off even though we were in a very dingy room. I took this as my cue to leave.

 

Good grief. That means I turned down TWO cars in a year! Otherwise, I'm not fussy.

[JohnK]

The seller.

 

Gobby twats who just constantly yap away whilst I'm looking over a car says to me they are trying to distract me from unearthing the fundamental problem which is the reason it's for sale.

[Asimo]

Postcode if it is a private sale. Google Street view is a boon for this.

Seller - I'm maybe buying your car, not your pit bull terrier.

If the inside of a car smells of damp or armpits, fags or dogs , forget it.

Scotchlok connectors.

"cam belt just done" when the car doesn't have one.

Four new cheap tyres

[bub2006]

I went to view a polo advertised on Gumtree cold evening and a good few miles away. Ten minutes after leaving the seller started ringing asking where I was. First time he did it I told him about an hour. He then rang twice after too. That rings alarm bells but I thought screw it anyway is cheap. Pulled up at address to find a burly bloke,a skinny dirty fella and a youth who looked like he just stole push bike he was riding Standing in the street. He said here's the keys and handed me a ford key. I said I here about polo,apparently he misheard me and thought I said focus as polo had gone. Seeing as I'd gone all that way I thought I'd look it over. Rust galloping freely,2000 on clOct,no heater and a ghia trim inside a cl model car. Asked how much and he said 400. Told him it's over budge, handed keys back and walked off. No sooner had I put my belt on he was knocking on window asking how much I had. Apparently he lives at the house he was stood in front of but likes to wait outside for folk. Yea ok,3c outside and raining and you rather be here? No logbook or papers either. I politely made excuse and left. As for lady owners,a work colleague is a single mum aged 29. Drives an 08 plate Peugeot 308. Wheels scuffed,passenger side trim missing and mirror smashed. She told me she had issues and could I look it over. 2 bald tyres,1 on limit,handbrake non existent, clutch biting in the roof,engine oil like tar and breathing heavily at the top end. Exhaust ready to depart and car only has 55k on it. Her excuse is she is single and hasn't a man to fix car or maintain it.

[JohnK]

^^ that post had just reminded me how much I hate over eager sellers.

 

I had a guy offer me a swap proposal on swapz for his MG ZS and then continued to constantly message me. I didn't even look at the car I just presumed it was fucked and that's why he was so keen to get rid.

[vulgalour]

If it came up for sale I'd avoid the black Ford Fiesta that parked next to me as I was loading the Xantia at Lidl.  The noise of my tailgate closing seemed pretty loud, that's when I noticed she'd pinballed off the metal bollard at the end of her parking bay at the same time.  Plastic bumpers hid it well and the now cracked number plate blended in to the other paint scuffs on the front.  Must be her way of parking I guess.

 

So... cracked number plates is my tip there.

[jakebullet]

Sellers who say it has an insurance valuation of £loads from the owners club.

[RayMK]

Recent respray, fresh or overly thick underseal, bubbles coming in to the expansion bottle (or an empty bottle), and any advert that proudly states 'fortune spent.'   Obviously, it still doesn't work, hence the sale.

[Spiny Norman]

When I'm looking on Scumtree I'll always Google their phone numbers, it's surprising* how many private* sellers who are just selling because the wife doesn't like big/small/manuals/automatics or the dog won't fit in etc, have a list as long as your arm of other motors they've sold recently.

That weeds out about 80% of the ads on there right away. Then there's the pictures. If it's taken in the arse end of some industrial unit or surrounded by scabby Transit vans or caravans then I'm oot.
I once beat a hasty retreat when I discovered the address the seller of a Jag I'd gone to see was in fact a pikey encampment.

Beyond that it's just the natural cynicism of someone who'd bought one too many turkeys over the years. Keep your eyes open for signs of bodgery and shenanigans and trust no-one.

[sierraman]

People who are adamant what a bargain this car is, then when you ring up are aggressively defensive about the car.

[Tartan58]

Dealers who won't let you test drive it unless you put down a deposit

 

Dealers who clearly know nothing about the car they are seling and talk shite (or rather shit) pointing out things such as how good the stereo is etc.

 

On a related note I remember going to test drive a couple of year old Renault 25 with my Dad at a dealer in the early 90s (I was about 12) and the guy clearly didn't know much about it, we had a Renault 21 at the time with the 2.0 engine and the 25 was also a 2.0 and my Dad asks if this has the same engine as the 21 to which the salesman replied yup - I pipe up from the back something along the lines of "actually it doesn't the 21 has single pont injection and this has multipoint" it being the later 'run-out' Executive model. The salesman looked a bit embarrassed but was probably thinking "what a cocky little suirt!" Dad ended up getting an ex demo R19 diesel which was a never ending string of problems. He moved on to Saabs after that.

[I_am_Diesel]

Usually if the advert is peppered with obvious or stupid spelling mistakes, this tells me the seller is a mongtard so I proceed no further. This might be construed as snobbery but if the seller can't be bothered to put some effort into a coherent advert, I can't be bothered to look at their car.

[willswitchengage]

Being sold by a bloke that says he "knows a lot about cars"

[RayMK]

Usually if the advert is peppered with obvious or stupid spelling mistakes, this tells me the seller is a mongtard so I proceed no further. This might be construed as snobbery but if the seller can't be bothered to put some effort into a coherent advert, I can't be bothered to look at their car.

Often accompanied with just one or two photos which are either blurred or taken from the owner's window (in a tower block).  Tax excempt really irritates me.

[New POD]

Lets look at the evidence of my last few purchases.

 

2009 - wife tells me we are buying her friends MX5.  Louise has had the 1997 car for 6 or 7 years, and gives me a list of faults, like the fact that the electric windows don't work, the hood is ripped, she's sold the hard top, it won't idle properly and there's rust in the sills.  And to cap it all it's a MONZA which is poverty spec (the electric windows turn out to be not standard) I look on ebay, autotrader, mxowners club and mx5nutz and there are better cars for less. I am told to go and buy it and not to haggle. I reckon we paid £1500 for a £700 car, and have spent £600 making it into a £1200 car. 

 

2010 - I write off an astra in Derby at 6 am and by 2:30pm the same day, a bloke I sit near is giving me a lift to look at a 130K 51 reg V40 Sport VVT 1.8 that a woman he used to work with is selling.  It's covered in 3 inches of bird shit, is pink instead of red, and has been sitting for 4 months since she bought an MGTF.  I take a drive, one of the rear wheel cylinders is binding the brakes. She reckons she has a full service history, but I need a car so I pay £350 as it has an MOT.  The massive file of history is not a full service history, more of a tale of woe. I only bought it because it was cheap and the risk was low.  So low that when the gearbox failed later in the year I got £350 for it.

 

2010 - I wanted a mini.  I went to view 14.  I made offers on 3. I offered someone the asking price and he refused to sell, because he needed me to wait until he'd found a replacement so he could get to work. Fucking teenagers.  Most of the owners could be split into 2 groups.  1 set who had no idea about the A series engine, had never checked the oil or coolant, and had paid through the nose for the repairs.  and another set, who did understand, had bodged the car through an MOT and now wanted top dollar.  One bloke wrote off the front end of his neon between me agreeing to buy it and coming back the next day with the balance.

 

2011 - Decided to sell mini (998) and buy a Honda Accord icdti - There were hardly any for sale, and I rang up loads of people with weird accents, who couldn't answer a straight question. The guy I bought it off was a 'gentleman dealer' selling an ecelectic range of cars from his house in the welsh country side.

 

2013 - I'm standing next to my wife looking at a Yellow BINI saying "the rear lights are chavy, and it's a walk away car" ----we bought it.

[captain_70s]

The biggest warning bell is that if I both want the car and can afford the car it is in no way a viable prospect as I don't have the sort of bank balance that can buy good motors.

[greengartside]

I've bought a few cars in my time and I can only echo the previous posts on here. I usually have a "checklist" of detective work on a car. I'll check their phone number out on Google and also Facebook - put the phone number in the search bar at the top and 9 times out of 10 it will show up the owner of the car. Google street view the area if postcode is available. Also I use a website called ukvehicle.com - put the reg number in and it may bring up previous Gumtree/Autotrader listings of the car, very handy if it's recently been punted on.

 

Things to be wary of: 'only got the green part of V5' - why? Obviously something wrong with the car and doesn't want to hang on to it. 'Drives mint' - I'll be the judge of that one. Any person who won't let you test drive it for any reason - walk away immediately.

[Uncle Jimmy]

A Shirley Bassey tape on the passenger seat.

[Uncle Jimmy]

I've bought a few cars in my time and I can only echo the previous posts on here. I usually have a "checklist" of detective work on a car. I'll check their phone number out on Google and also Facebook - put the phone number in the search bar at the top and 9 times out of 10 it will show up the owner of the car. Google street view the area if postcode is available. Also I use a website called ukvehicle.com - put the reg number in and it may bring up previous Gumtree/Autotrader listings of the car, very handy if it's recently been punted on.

Things to be wary of: 'only got the green part of V5' - why? Obviously something wrong with the car and doesn't want to hang on to it. 'Drives mint' - I'll be the judge of that one. Any person who won't let you test drive it for any reason - walk away immediately.

I have a checklist. The night before. The next day, when I view a car the heavens automatically open and I shuffle gormlessly around the motor before buying it. Despite this I've never been majorly arse raped.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

K Series with OMFGHGF? In an auction?

 

Remove oil/gunge filled header tank, wash it right out. Plug hose with a cork, refit hose to tank and refill with bluecol. Looks great.

 

Not that I've ever been party to a disgusting trick like this on a K reg 214Si.

[Cavcraft]

Absolutely nothing.

[sierraman]

I probably take as much notice of the background as I do the car. I'm a bit dubious when the photo suggests a car parked in the front of a deprived looking house, with various household tat strewn around on the 'garden'. There's always some bum in the background raking his bollocks in a pair of what my wife calls 'jog legs'. Inevitably the advert will upset any confidence you had in it with the sellers claim the tappets just want adjusting, that's why it sounds like a bag of nails.