2022 Sucks

[sandydandy]

Man it's so hard trying to sell a car. Too many people playing games. Too many lowball offers that keep getting lower after I agree to their first offer. Fuck's sake. Legit buyers make arrangements to come to see the car then don't show up. Got a guy coming tomorrow, hopefully he shows. Worst case I'll put new tires on for myself and just keep the car. Major problems appear to be dealt with, knock on wood.

Maybe I'll re-list it after a month or so. Such a pain in the arse.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I thought this would be a great time for selling cars…

[sandydandy]

So did I.

I made the mistake of negotiating with people online via the app's chat. Even my mechanic neighbor was telling me don't do that, it's a waste of time. Tell people what the price is and if they want to see the car then come by. That's it. Then negotiation can be done in person. It would weed out those who are jerking me around. Something I'll keep in mind when I list the Santa Fe, or if I re-list this one. Clearly some people are using multiple accounts to try to bid the price down. I have to avoid that trap.

Oh well, my first car selling experience. Gotta learn somehow.

[Leon]

Yep, don't start negotiating with people who haven't inspected the car.

[CudaMan]

I always like to have a phone call with prospective buyers (or a seller if I'm buying). And I hate talking on the phone. I just feel better being able to get some kind of impression of the individual I'm dealing with, plus if they're not willing to take a few minutes for a call they may not be someone I want to deal with anyways. Messaging is no substitute for real human conversation. [Cue rant about modern classified ad mediums that appeal to minimum effort and lowest common denominator]

[sandydandy]

Ugh man, this Acura TL is making my life a living hell.

Where did I last leave off? Oh yeah, trying to sell this car and dealing with people wasting my time. Nothing really eventful happened in the month of August. Was regularly getting inquiries which led to one guy showing up to test drive it. He passed on it. Fair enough.

September rolled around and more inquiries. Had one 20-year-old kid come by with a couple of his buddies last Monday the 5th. They took it for a drive and did extensive checks on it, inside and out. They liked it and made an offer that sounded reasonable. Might as well use some real numbers. I was first selling it for about $15K, hoping for an offer in the $12-13K range. Then I dropped the asking price to $14.5K, then 14K, and now recently as low as $13.8K. This offer was for $11.5K which, while not the greatest, was adequate enough for me to make a deal. So we agreed on the price and the kid said he needed me to sell it certified. I said no, it's selling as-is, but he insisted on certified for his peace of mind. During the week I spoke to both of my mechanics who flat out refused to do the safety on it. They told me the reality of the scams going around where a buyer demands you sell it certified, then after the sale they go to their own shady mechanic who then finds problems related to safety, and the certifying shop is liable and has to pay through the nose for like next six months. My mechanics had both been burned in the past and didn't want to engage in this type of thing again. I told the kid the reality of the situation and that the car needed to sell as-is, and that his own mechanic can do the safety and certify it after the sale. I told him I'll take the car to any mechanic of his choosing to get it certified, but only after he signs the bill of sale and I receive full money. He kept squirming and then tanked the price down to $10K, at which point I told him I wasn't interested anymore. Then he came up with a halfway solution. I take the car to his mechanic on Saturday so he can do an inspection, and if satisfied he'll buy the car as-is. I took it there yesterday afternoon, and the mechanic looked like a friend of his. The guy put it up on the hoist and gave it a detailed look. He found some minor issues, but nothing that would disqualify it from passing a safety test. I even asked him point blank: based on what he's seen, would this car pass safety? He said yes. I looked at the kid and said ok let's make the deal. Fucking kid kept squirming and STILL insisting that I sell it to him certified for his peace of mind. Uh hello, your own fucking mechanic just told you it would pass safety. If you can't trust your own mechanic then who are you going to trust? So I said ok let's do the safety now, since I was already there. Then the excuses came out, "oh he's busy for the rest of the evening, you find another mechanic to do the safety then I'll buy". I reiterated that that was not going to happen. I don't know 15 mechanics, and even if I did I guarantee none of them are going to do the safety. I asked him if he was still interested and he said no. I said let me know if you change your mind, and I left. Fucking waste of my afternoon yesterday. I had to drive across town to see his damn mechanic. Clearly his game was to go after my certifying shop after the deal, and get more repairs done for free. Just didn't want to do that to his own guy. Fucker.

So that leads to today. I had another buyer interested, a young 21-year-old girl. She came with her mother and they inspected the car and took it for a drive and loved it. They agreed on a price of $11K and had no issues with buying as-is, as they understood that they would take it to their own mechanic to get the safety done. I related the story of the previous guy to them, which perplexed them as much as it did me. They committed to the point of giving me $100 deposit in cash. I was happy. I gave her the maintenance history and a used vehicle information package from the government. All she wanted was the Carfax report, to which I said okay and absorbed the $45 or so cost for it. I went to my computer and bought the report and to my absolute horror saw THREE police reported accidents showing up. All in 2022, the last of which was August 24th. I was like what the fuck??? Plus it showed service records out of the state of Georgia in 2021. I haven't been to the US since 2014. This car hasn't been outside of Canada since I bought it, something seriously fucked up was going on. I shared this information with the girl and she was disappointed, as was her mother. I assured them that these incidents absolutely did not happen with this car under my ownership, and that I was going to get to the bottom of it. They had their father on speakerphone and he told me he believed me, but also that I needed to clear this up with Carfax before they bought the car. They gave me time to clear it up, and asked for a receipt for the $100 deposit. It was a conditional deposit, which would be returned if they didn't buy the car. I agreed to all that in writing. They left and I immediately emailed Carfax. Their automated email said it might take up to 7 days to get back to me. I'm going to look for their phone number and call them tomorrow to see if this can be investigated quickly. I did some digging around online and learned about VIN cloning, and I think my car is a victim of it.

So fucking close to selling and this happens. I swear this fucking car doesn't want to let me go.

[Cam]

Oof.

[FaultyMario]

VIN cloning

Man, oh man. WTH?

[sandydandy]

I am hoping this is a clerical error that can be removed quickly. FFS.

Found this online: What can you do when Carfax reports a crash that never happened on your car’s report?

[Crazed_Insanity]

I’m thankful for carmax so I never had to go thru what you went thru… they typically pay better than dealer trade in values… and I save a lot of hassles like that!