Autotrader - SELLER is not serious?

cowtown · 08-06-2003, 07:33 AM

Warning: Ranting and Raving ahead. You hear about non-serious tire-kickers all the time when you post a car on autotrader.com, but I've run into the "tire-kicker SELLER".

My wife and I have been shopping for a good used X5 4.4 for her. It's the only SUV we could agree on because I generally hate SUVs and she hates not being up high on road. So we narrowed it down to this one model, which is not exactly scarce, but also not run-of-the-mill.

We found a promising ad for a car located about 80 miles from us, and took an entire Saturday to go see it. We liked the car and told the seller we wanted it if we could come to a price.

The seller was asking too much (over book), but said he would negotiate. But every offer I made was greeted with "no." That's it, no counteroffer, just "no."

Finally we walked away, telling the seller "this isn't a one-way street, we need to know where you stand on the price. Are you negotiating or not?"

We called back two days later with our final offer, which was just a little under asking, and surprisingly, he accepted right away. He said he would smog the car tomorrow and we could come down with a check.

Then, after we got the cashier's check, three hours before we were to come down, the owner calls back.

"I need to take my family to Los Angeles next week, so you can't buy the car until we get back. You're still getting a good deal."

Uh, no. What are you thinking, guy? That's 1000 miles on the car and a week's delay.

"Well then I can't sell the car. I need it for the trip."

So long, you idiot.

So, was I wrong to assume that the Autotrader.com ad and our verbal agreement indicated that the seller ACTUALLY WANTED TO SELL HIS CAR?

Argghhh. I hate people sometimes.

Sarah · Sarah's Garage

Seems to me like the guy just really did not want to sell the car yet. Did he say what his reason was for selling?? He obviously was not in any hurry. Kind of odd he advertised it at all if he wasn't ready to unload it. Sometimes it is just hard to know what some people are thinking.

Hopefully you guys will find another one you like & the buy will go more smoothly.

Good luck.

tabs · 08-06-2003, 08:41 AM

Well thats the BAY AREA for U....Jerry Brown and Willie Brown Land

TSNAPCRACKLEPOP · TSNAPCRACKLEPOP's Garage

go get the car next week, stop pay on the check, drive it 5000 miles on a nice vacation and trash it, return the car, tell him you just aren't ready to buy yet!!!

jyl · jyl's Garage

Why spend so much time on one seller and one car? Searching "X5" in www.sfgate.com's vehicle classifieds turns up 89 ads, many for the 4.4. You can probaby go to Sonnen BMW (Marin) and see 20+ of them, lease returns with low miles, certified used cars with warranties and financing. The SF Bay Area is a buyer's market for used BMWs right now, X5's included. Not sure I'd be paying over book for one.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Exactly. I would not have wasted one minute with this guy, or driven down the street to look at the car if he acted like that. And yes, I have seen sellers act strange like this before, but I just go the other way. There are tons of these vehicles around, especially for top $$. Good luck!

cowtown · 11:23 AM

I think Sarah hit the nail on the head when she said we just don't know people's motivations. I have to remind myself that not everyone acts logically and we never know what's really driving people. Maybe he just doesn't want to sell.

jyl, not sure what you mean about spending so much time...we looked at the car, made an offer, made a deal, then...the seller wigged out. As to the selection, there are many at dealers, but there is a huge premium on the V8 X5s at the dealerships, even in this "buyer's market". Trust me on this - we've been to 3 dealers and have been looking for several months. We offered book value on one 4.4 at BMW Roseville (asking was book+10K!), and the sales guy wouldn't even take our phone number. Basically told us to take a hike.

speeder, he didn't start acting wierd until after we looked at the car, and the "drive to LA" thing only came up after the deal had been made! But youre right, it's a waste of time thinking about this guy any more. This rant made me feel a little better anyway.

Thanks for the responses guys. Time to get back to installing my RSR bumper. Ahhh...Porsches

Colin

350HP930 · 08-06-2003, 11:29 AM

Concidering all this talk about book value, lets not forget what most of us would think if we were selling our beloved Porsche and someone offered us 'book' value.

The X5 is a coveted beemer SUV. In this auto market that is as good as it gets and finding such a vehicle for book value may be a bit overly optimistic.

If your seller had just put the car on the market and has some time to kill before he gets rid of it he is just probably adjusting his selling price to what the market will bear.

cowtown · 08-06-2003, 11:59 AM

350HP, I agree that this car seems to be in high demand. I might actually have better luck if I wait until closer to the end of this year:
With an X5 restyle due for '04 and the Toureg and Cayenne sitting on the lots, we'll see what happens to the values on the older X5s.

To me as a buyer, it seems silly that the asking prices on 30-40K mile '02 X5 4.4s is about the same as the price of NEW Toureg V8s. No, they're not the same car, but they are both hulking German SUVs with impeccable engineering. They've got to be competitors in this area.

Or maybe I'm just not appreciating the value of that Roundel logo enough, and I'm not cut out be be a "BMW guy."

MarkP · 08-06-2003, 12:11 PM

Believe it or not I've just been through the same thing trying to buy a house that has been on the market for 7 months. We come in with our 3rd offer at near full price and the the seller then wants 3 1/2 months to close because they haven't decided where they're going to move to!