Fecking chancers, is it just me?

[sierraman]

I've never been asked this. I've been asked to 'shift that bag of shit' plenty of times though.

[Hertz]

Think yourself lucky you don't live here Des....

 

 

[lesapandre]

My problem with the notes is they make a car look more abandoned. If I don't spot a note on one of mine for a couple of weeks makes it look like no one cares. Ummmm...also thiy ooar ofin very badli spellt - which in my view indicates a lack of seriousness. When I once did call one I just got a daft offer of £100. I just throw them away these days as soon as I see them. But in rebuffing people I suppose it pays to be polite to discourage bad behaviour.

[Floatylight]

I remember that from about 10 years ago, used to drive past it every morning.

There is a mk3 Transit in the front garden of a large but tatty house Wednesbury, right off junction 9. It's been there as long as I can remember. It used to have a 'not for sale' sign on the back door, probably due to them being pestered. They have now hacked off the cab part so it's clearly just a shed now

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[Floatylight]

I put a note on a 2007 plate 207 a few months ago which is in a shared parking area at the end of our street, been out of tax/not for a year and thought it had been abandoned as covered in algae outside and mold inside. Got a call about 15mins after leaving the note, offered him £200 if it runs, sent backwards and forwards a few txt , he wanted £600 but would of taken 4 Still not moved months later although he did blow up a flat tyre.. I'm in no rush...

 

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[Talbot]

I used to get these all the time on my Disco. Something about a slightly older land-rover that seems to encourage this behavior. I always just binned them.

 

On a couple of occasions I got people coming into my office where I used to work, asking who owned "that blue discovery". When they found it was me, I got several quite pushy people almost insisting that I sell it to them. On one occasion, the guy just would not take No for an answer, so I said yes, sure, it's for sale: Ten Grand. "Don't be fucking stupid" he says.

 

At which point he was advised to piss right off. Honestly. Arrogant twat.

[lesapandre]

Use what we used to call the broken record technique when I working in business negs.

 

Punter: Is the (whatever) for sale? I really want it.

 

You: The vehicle is not for sale.

 

Punter: I really want it - I will give you whatever you want -how much do you want?

 

You: The vehicle is not for sale

 

Punter: I will give you cash

 

You: The vehicle is not for sale 

 

Etc etc. It does work every time. We used it a lot in negotiating deals in business. Its a recognised psychological technique. Dont go off script - or get drawn in. Just use the same sentence pleasantly each time. 

[Faker]

I actually forgot about the van driver who practically did an emergency stop... turned and came back to my house when I was polishing the samba rallye outside. He wanted it... there and then.. name my price sort of thing.. "not for sale mate, but thanks for stopping" sort of reply is what he was getting. He kept on and on. Sell it to me, I'll get you a deposit now... I told him it was my pride and joy... that and the fact it was only built at that stage, and was never going anywhere. Seriously after about 20 mins I said, ok... 6 grand and it's yours... "fuk I'm not paying that"! Got rid of him though!

[DodgyBastard]

I have chapped a couple of doors asking about cars but it's not something I'd do regularly.

I spotted this crusty 340 in a drive around the corner from me.

 

Another one bites the dust by srblythe, on Flickr

 

The owners pretty much gave off the impression that it was never going to be for sale so I left it at that.

 

It appeared in my local scrapyard a year later.

 

DSC_0779 by srblythe, on Flickr

 

 

Another one inquired about was this.

 

Only room for one by srblythe, on Flickr

 

I left my number with the owners who called me a few months later wanting a couple of hundred for it.

It was fucked but I bought it anyway.

[theshadow]

if your not cheeky,ways to talk to them part cheaply 8) 8)

[Guest Hooli]

I think this thread proves that Des' notes are from other shitters.

[Eddie Honda]

the broken record Paxman-Howard technique

FTFY

 

oooh, a bit of politics there

[lesapandre]

Is that what its called. It foes work a treat - but you have to stay on script.  Try it sometime.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Happens a lot here in Brussels - there's a large contingent of 'exporters' by the canal where I first lived. First one left a spares card for the SAAB and I thought it wa so I could buy from them - his reply - why the fuck do you want to waste money on that?

 

I recently got back my Spitfire and 2500 saloon from one of their warehouses after a police raid....... so I don't bother with calling any of them any more.

 

I do get accosted in the older motors though...... not many used in anger around here.

[anonymous user]

Old lady in the house behind me died years before we moved in and her 53-plate Punto diesel has sat there ever since, the interior thick with mould.

 

Even that has had a "call me about your car" card!

She's not still sat in it I hope

[Guest Hooli]

If yu wnt 2 sell dis fred then cal me 0891 ........

[chaseracer]

I put a note on a 2007 plate 207 a few months ago which is in a shared parking area at the end of our street, been out of tax/not for a year and thought it had been abandoned as covered in algae outside and mold inside. Got a call about 15mins after leaving the note, offered him £200 if it runs, sent backwards and forwards a few txt , he wanted £600 but would of taken 4 Still not moved months later although he did blow up a flat tyre.. I'm in no rush...

 

Have you STILL not hooked that thing??!?

 

[Floatylight]

Have you STILL not hooked that thing??!?

 

Moved on, now considering alternative chod projects..

 

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[Angrydicky]

Left a few notes over the years, the only one that I had a response from was one I left with a very deaf old lady who lived in a house that had a very rotten Triumph Acclaim sinking into the driveway. About a year later her son rang up (it was his car) and tried to sell it to me for a £250 (because that's what I've been offered by the scrapman). It was too much for me at the time (2009) the cars were worthless and the price of scrap high.

 

Had two notes left, one on my Austin 1100 and one on the Somerset. I lost the note on the 1100 which was annoying as it was a sod to shift when I wanted to sell six months later. I phoned up the guy who left the note on the Somerset and had a chat with him, he was an old giffer who's dad had one in the fifties and he wanted to 'do it up'. I politely informed him it wasn't for sale but would keep his note in case the situation changed. To be honest though, if I was going to sell it I'd want it to go to someone who would keep the patina intact.

[Timewaster]

If I was going to sell it I'd want it to go to someone who would keep the patina intact.

I was just imagining an episode of Car SOS where a well meaning family arrange for a shitters heap to be restored and the big reveal where the shitter blurts out "WHAT THE F*** HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CAR?! - WHAT'S THIS SHINY SHIT?"

[mk2_craig]

That would be me. "And where have my original dealer plates gone?"

[ProgRocker]

I feel so dejected not having any such notes on my 14 year old Nissan. 

[Rusty_Rocket]

If I leave my (very average but road legal) Series 1 Discovery in the same place on my drive for more than a week or so, I get a knock on the door, asking if it's for sale.  Always the same type of person, usually polite-ish but 'eyes everywhere' while I'm fending them off.  Mind you, the last pair called it a Jeep, which is not a good way to ingratiate yourself to a Land Rover person.

[chatsharris]

Theres a nice Nissan Sunny Coupe I spot on the way to Bristol and I always fancied doing the same.

 

Won't go for it though, she'd have me knackers.

[CortinaDave]

I got a knock at the door about my cortina 2.0S, which was sitting parked up in my mothers drive for a while, but was very tidy. Offering me £100 for banger racing. "its more than anyone else will give you for an old cortina mate"

 

I swiftly decided it was better to pay for a garage to keep it in.

[Skizzer]

Never had any notes, but I’ve had a few knocks at the door about my mk1 Golf, some of which have resulted in a friendly chat but it's not for sale.

 

I sold my Triumph Street Triple to a parcel delivery guy who asked if I might be interested in selling it. I was.

[Cavcraft]

There's no real harm in them (those 'do you want to sell' notes) to be honest. I'm sure a lot are chancers, but I expect a couple of 'shiters have had success with them. I deliberately left one of my cars so it could just be seen from the road in a storage place to attract buyers without actually advertising it. It sort of worked and didn't work, as (due to where it was) people seemed to think some harmless old duffer wouldn't have a clue as to it's value, and it pissed any number of 'experts' off who tried to get it cheap. 

[vulgalour]

I reckon most of the time it is chancers.  Folks looking for cheap 'scrap' or something they can flip online as a B*rn f*nd.  Rusty looking old hot rod stuff?  Bound to attract these sorts.  Not much to be done about it either other than hiding everything from view.  There's probably a forum somewhere bemoaning how much of a waste it is that you're hoarding all this stuff and how you're a weirdo that never sells anything.  Maybe it's actually a Facebook group now I think about it, one of those that still thinks the internet charges for punctuation and syllables.

 

When I had the Mk2 Polo, which admittedly had been sat around seemingly not doing anything for ages before I did the big push to get it back on the road before passing my test, it did get regular notes and door knocks from folks who wanted to "take it away for scrap".  Reckon that was mostly chancers who saw a knackered old car on a driveway and wanted away with it.  We did leave a big note on the dashboard and people still asked if it was for sale, I assume they couldn't read.  It got to the point where it felt like things might go missing so the car was moved and any further enquiries were told a variety of stories about the car's fate, none of which were true.  Then of course I did craploads of work on it and it was my first daily driver.

 

The only car I've left a note on to purchase is the Princess, which I still have.  But it wasn't so much a "CAR FUR SYLE M8??!!" as a properly written letter with my contact details in full and a small "sorry about sticking a note through your letterbox" line.

[New POD]

I cycled part a be 3 series coupe the other day that had a big sign in the window saying that it wasn't for sale.

Must putt a note through his door.

[Angrydicky]

My girlfriend's Mini (the one that got nicked and subsequently found) apparently attracted a couple of "is it for sale" notes and enquiries a week, in the last few years before it went AWOL from the road outside the house.

 

There's a '79 T reg Jag saloon on a drive in Southend, that's had the back end minus wheels on axle stands for as long as I can remember, has a big 'NOT FOR SALE' sign taped into the back window. I imagine it attracts plenty of knocks from banger racers.