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Buying a car blind


Bradders59

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Even the actual listing itself aside, E bay is helpfull in terms of being able to drill into the feedback history. The numbers look good but is that from buying household items and paying promptly or actual previous selling of cars as that’s the only useful feedback really.

You’ve got to think - if there are issues that might be lurking is it through ignorance or deception? Both could leave you in trouble. Are they honest? And do they know how to assess a car? Both need affirmative answers unless the price is rock rock bottom and you don’t mind the drive back potentially ending up cut short. Been there, done that!
 

Buying at distance in some ways leaves you unable to assess the person themselves so you’ve just got to use what you have. Perhaps a phone call. Even looking at other items they might be selling descriptions (cars, or whatever) can give you more to go on. On more than one occassion the vendors response posted about negative feedback received, and not the feedback itself, has stopped me buying at distance.

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2 hours ago, HMC said:

Even the actual listing itself aside, E bay is helpfull in terms of being able to drill into the feedback history. The numbers look good but is that from buying household items and paying promptly or actual previous selling of cars as that’s the only useful feedback really.

You’ve got to think - if there are issues that might be lurking is it through ignorance or deception? Both could leave you in trouble. Are they honest? And do they know how to assess a car? Both need affirmative answers unless the price is rock rock bottom and you don’t mind the drive back potentially ending up cut short. Been there, done that!
 

Buying at distance in some ways leaves you unable to assess the person themselves so you’ve just got to use what you have. Perhaps a phone call. Even looking at other items they might be selling descriptions (cars, or whatever) can give you more to go on. On more than one occassion the vendors response posted about negative feedback received, and not the feedback itself, has stopped me buying at distance.

I usually treat a long distance purchase as a day out. I take the train, go round the local town - sights, lunch and charity and bookshops - and then a road trip home. Seen some nice places and some interesting things. I was sad to see Stoke so poor for example.  

Most hair-raising drive - a total shed AX from deepest S. Wales to London (I won't buy in S. Wales again - I was even heckled on the M4 🤣) and a £200 XM from Stoke...down the M1. Both made it. I had to spend an hour on the AX in a car wash to get it even a bit legal looking - what japes 😂

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I bought a Lada Niva blind once in 2008. Careless Ebay bid and when I won it I had to quickly scramble a means to collect it.

I had it delivered to Holyhead with the intention of getting the next ferry back immediately afterwards.
Car arrived and a storm blew up, I was young, broke and stupid (clearly) and the car wasn't really running right and I wasn't insured so I was afraid to drive it anywhere. Spent a day parked up in an Aldi waiting for the weather to break and trying not to draw attention to myself

Eventually got on the ferry, it broke down while driving it on, I can't remember what exactly, but I got it going again pretty fast and drove onto the ferry.
Halfway through the ferry journey we were informed that the weather was to bad to get into Dublin so we steamed up and down the coast for fucking ages.
Eventually we got into Dublin the next morning and I was half dead, went down to the car the and battery had gone flat. Luckily it must happen fairly often and they got me going again with a booster pack.
I drove off the ferry and decided not to go any further without a support vehicle in case of a further break down. Unfortunately my dad has always been supportive of my stupid decisions and agreed come up all the way from Cork. I parked up in another car park and spent another few hours sleeping in the Lada while I was waiting for him.

I followed him back down to Cork until I ran out of petrol and he towed me to the next petrol station.

When I eventually got it home I realised I had bought an unsalvagable shit heap. I made some efforts to get it going but I just didn't have the money or the time. I hadn't really done my research and it turned out the Vehicle Registration Tax was going to be almost double what I had paid for the car.
I actually arranged to collect two gearboxes from a guy in Wales, I sent him on the money and was getting ready to go over on the ferry to get them when reality hit me that I was just in to deep and what I had wasn't worth the effort. I messaged him the night before and cancelled, I even let him keep the money.

I made some money back by selling off the interior and eventually the whole car to a guy locally who had one in better condition. I still have the transfer case for some misguided reason.
P907SCW taught me some valuable life lessons, that I'm probably going to forget as soon as another Lada takes my fancy

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This advert didnt even have a phone number, so all I could do was hope he would see the messages I was sending. I imagine he had a look Sunday morning and the message at the top of his list was someone local who could turn up at a half hours notice and drive the thing away.

The only Boxster S Ive ever seen at that price before was the Wheeler Dealers one, and that may well have been a TV script rather than a genuine deal.

Someone got a real bargain. Im beyond gutted that it wasnt me.  I just never seem to have that kind of luck in life Im afraid.

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Is it possible to lose money on a Boxster S at a grand ? Honestly, looking at the house, you would need to be worth millions to live there. I Imagine his local Porsche dealer told him it would cost thousands to bring it back up to standard and he decided it wasnt worth the bother, so just flogged it for a grand to get it off the drive.

 

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47 minutes ago, Bradders59 said:

Is it possible to lose money on a Boxster S at a grand ? Honestly, looking at the house, you would need to be worth millions to live there. I Imagine his local Porsche dealer told him it would cost thousands to bring it back up to standard and he decided it wasnt worth the bother, so just flogged it for a grand to get it off the drive.

 

But the advert was trying to portray exactly this, would you have been quite so trusting I it was parked on a dodgy council estate. It may be one of those ads where it's that too good too be true that you put a deposit down as you have nothing to lose.

Only that the car may or may not exist in the first place.

Only this week on gumtree I have seen a 3 door cosworth resto project for £1500, come on I bet they had loads of folk leaving a £1000 deposit on it. A mean seriously is there anybody silly enough to sell one of these for £1500!!

As mentioned above you could have dodged a bullet, so stop kicking yourself.

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They were also my thoughts at first, hence my initial question about ownership etc. Original plan would have been to transfer a deposit and the delivery driver pay the balance on collection, but once Stanky offered to pop down and take a look at the car and buyer for me, I didnt have to worry about that side of things. Just needed contact from the seller, which never happened unfortunately.

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7 hours ago, Bradders59 said:

Is it possible to lose money on a Boxster S at a grand ? Honestly, looking at the house, you would need to be worth millions to live there. I Imagine his local Porsche dealer told him it would cost thousands to bring it back up to standard and he decided it wasnt worth the bother, so just flogged it for a grand to get it off the drive.

 

it depends how deep you go with it. If you want to take a risk,drive it until something big expensive breaks and cut your losses than no. But if you intend to keep it and use it than it could get expensive very quickly.  My Mrs has one and every year she is relieved of over a grand come service time for bits and bobs that need doing. She had six years and I couldn't even tell you what the engine looks like as its buried so deep in the car so anything to do on it is a nightmare..  Plus that comment about rear axle alignment might mean the tracking is out, or might mean its had a shunt and bent something expensive.

However nice the house is, I would still be very suspicious. Quick and painless sale is 20/30/40 percent off. Almost giving it away on Gumtree of all places seems too good to be true

so yes it could be the bargain of the century , or it could need 4k spending on it to even safely get you home. Better to assume the odds are its the latter and chalk it up to experience

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The lowest these seem to be for is about £2000 on Ebay. Given the complexities I'd not see them as a budget buy unless you have a decent garage, tools and skills. By budget I'd mean having a couple of thousands to spend. They do look very nice - but for the amateur spannerer I'd not myself attempt it. I bet parts are pricey? The CLK and SLK Mercedes seem to make very little and may be a better bet if you want a punt on something prestiegey. Get one with a MoT.

Best time to buy cars is in December - especially sports stuff and soft tops. With the current economic situation I'd see a lot of stuff on the market soon.

Keep that £1000 somewhere handy - something else always turns up.

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14 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Most hair-raising drive - a total shed AX from deepest S. Wales to London (I won't buy in S. Wales again - I was even heckled on the M4 🤣) and a £200 XM from Stoke...down the M1. Both made it. I had to spend an hour on the AX in a car wash to get it even a bit legal looking - what japes 😂

This sort of stuff is what it's about!!! 😁  

But a grand for a Boxter? Nah. There's cheap then there's cheap, and that sounded like a scam to me

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1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Given the complexities

They're not really and it's this misconception that makes them cheap to buy for what they are. Only the engine internal mechanicals are a little on the complicated side. Rest of it is pretty ordinary and parts bin. 

Even the engine isn't hard to work on. Anything you need to deal with in normal scenarios is either available on top through an access panel, underneath or in the access panel behind the seats. 

e.g. Water pump, aux belt, alternator, etc are through the back seat access panel and underneath. Air filter, throttle body, MAF, etc are through on top access panel. Plugs, coils and the like can be done by taking a wheel off. 

Anything more major on the engine then you are best to drop it. At which point you're at a garage or a well equipped workshop with a lift. Then it's a bunch of bolts and the engine drops down from underneath. 

Yes parts are expensive. Doesn't help that many have 996 written on them. Plentiful though and many more reasonably priced aftermarket alternatives exist. 

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If anyone sees a Boxster S on ebay for 2 grand please let me know immediately. 2.5 project cars can be had for 2 grand, but 3.2 S.

Im not overly concerned about massive bills, because I have always done my own work on my cars, so its a matter of sourcing parts in the best way without always walking into a dealer and bending over.

I was initially suspicious of it being so cheap it was a scam, but even after the event, Im convinced it wasnt.I m reasonably convinced It was a rich bloke that wanted rid quickly.

Stanky could probably comment more accurately as he lives close by and knows the area. He sent me a google image of the house complete with big old swimming pool out the back. The garage was twice the size of my house.

 

The house with the kidney shaped pool.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hook+Park+Rd,+Southampton/@50.8408841,-1.2962751,118m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48746ff9eb1e6951:0xbf41cc3d08e95ee5!8m2!3d50.8426342!4d-1.2899478

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Some of the wealthiest people I've bought cars off have also been some of the dodgiest.

 

Probably best rule of thumb is to see it like a casino: only gamble what you can afford to lose.

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1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Thanks SIC.  Probably beyond my modest skills/budget.  Interesting though. I can't believe those SLK's  are so cheap.

Same reason. Reputation of being expensive to run and parts being pricey. Also less desirable when it's aged (most potential target market buyers aren't interested in an old one) than a Boxster (more of an enthusiasts car because that badge and driving dynamics), so worth even less. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/13/2020 at 1:58 PM, Bradders59 said:

If anyone sees a Boxster S on ebay for 2 grand please let me know immediately. 2.5 project cars can be had for 2 grand, but 3.2 S.

Im not overly concerned about massive bills, because I have always done my own work on my cars, so its a matter of sourcing parts in the best way without always walking into a dealer and bending over.

I was initially suspicious of it being so cheap it was a scam, but even after the event, Im convinced it wasnt.I m reasonably convinced It was a rich bloke that wanted rid quickly.

Stanky could probably comment more accurately as he lives close by and knows the area. He sent me a google image of the house complete with big old swimming pool out the back. The garage was twice the size of my house.

 

The house with the kidney shaped pool.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hook+Park+Rd,+Southampton/@50.8408841,-1.2962751,118m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48746ff9eb1e6951:0xbf41cc3d08e95ee5!8m2!3d50.8426342!4d-1.2899478

Well, as I thought it looks like the car in question has popped up on ebay. Bought for a grand, put it on ebay 6 weeks later for£3250. Nice work if you can get it. Very basic description which makes me think it hasnt even had a tidy up since it was sold last time.

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  • 1 month later...
Ive bought pretty much all of my cars blind. I bought a Morris 1100 estate from the south coast for £750 delivered and this turned up! The right way round of course!
new.thumb.jpg.39adc815d4cbc6d7ff8352cb6f477546.jpg
 
post-20764-0-66777800-1535753919.thumb.jpg.48bf6e5ccb4cfc58f07fcdd8178952b2.jpg
Was that recently? Looks an absolute bargain! Love the colour too.
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[mention=20071]SiC[/mention] within the last few years, sold it for 3k. regretted it ever since....hence chasing a replacement. 
Its a none standard colour the interior gad been redone by Brownstrimming and it was stunning!
Apparently the owner didnt like it for some reason so started breaking it.
I've noticed this on both 1100 I've owned and many others, but why is the offside right headlight slightly lower on the wing than the left? The offside has a small lip at the top while the nearside is flush against the top. Was the initial pressings buggered up?
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2 minutes ago, SiC said:
10 minutes ago, sharley17194 said:
[mention=20071]SiC[/mention] within the last few years, sold it for 3k. regretted it ever since....hence chasing a replacement. 
Its a none standard colour the interior gad been redone by Brownstrimming and it was stunning!
Apparently the owner didnt like it for some reason so started breaking it.

I've noticed this on both 1100 I've owned and many others, but why is the offside right headlight slightly lower on the wing than the left? The offside has a small lip at the top while the nearside is flush against the top. Was the initial pressings buggered up?

shit pattern parts the top wing profile is wrong

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10 hours ago, sharley17194 said:

Ive bought pretty much all of my cars blind. I bought a Morris 1100 estate from the south coast without seeing any pictures for £750 delivered and this turned up! The right way round of course! It arrived without an engine as the owner had started to break it.

new.thumb.jpg.39adc815d4cbc6d7ff8352cb6f477546.jpg

 

post-20764-0-66777800-1535753919.jpg

Were you stood on your head when the second picture was taken? 🤣

 

Only joking 🤣

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