14 January 2010

The ball is rolling!

Finally!  There is a genuine interest for my -03 Ford Focus and the process of selling has now started.

Back in 11th December a person called "J" texted me asking for my final asking price of the car.  I said £3500 and she said it was too high but would discuss with her daughter.  On 31st December "J" came back and offered me £2800.  I said minimum of £3000 before I will let the car go because I had spent so much money on it already AND had taxed the vehicle until May 2010 recently and had not added it onto the price.  A few days later, 3rd January, "J" said they could not go any higher than £2950.  At this point I literally laughed out, cos I felt they were trying to haggle with me and keep the price low.  Fair enough if you were buying from a dealer, or even if the car was a bad condition in any shape or form, but those who know me would know I looked after my car very well.  It had only done 28,300miles in it's lifetime and the body work is mint condition, brand new tyres put on them and the engine is ever so reliable.  So for me to sell it at £3000 only it really hurt my wallet.  I was def making a loss.  But hey, I had put it down from £3500 to £3200 on my ads due to the current finacial climate, knowing that it was hard for anybody to come up a high amount of money at this time of the year.  Also, having the car parked on the street each day would decrease it's value whilst increasing the chances of it getting vandalised or damaged in any way.  As long as the car goes into safe hands I am willing to let it go.  "J" must have been local and must have caught sight of my car and the A4 ads I had up on the rear windows.

So... on Tuesday (12th Jan) "J" texted out of the blue saying they could offer £3000 if that's ok and they'll make arrangements for a mechanic to have a look at it.  Of course I said it was fine.  After all, I had nothing to hide.  I called "J" in the evening and it turned out to be a mother who was looking for a car for her daughter.  She passed the phone to her husband who is called John.  I introduced myself and told him a bit more about the car.  He told me about a bum deal their daughter got on an Alfa Romeo from a dealer and that case is now involving Trading Standards and lawyers etc.  So they want a reliable car.  I reassured him realiable is something they can expect off me and off the car.  I have had no troubles with it at all.  We made arragements for a test drive and chat the following day.

Yesterday (13th Jan) I met with John at 1:30pm.  Had the chance to give the car a wash at Foam n Away before drying off some parts and got all my lever arch of paperwork and receipts and even brought the original Ford radio cassette unit down with me.  I drove to Forge Shopping Centre carpark and along the way I told John about the car and that the reason I was selling it was cos I had a driving school car to drive so there was no point in taxing and insuring two cars at the one time.  Letting him know I was a driving instructor and giving him the real reason for selling my car helped to reassure him of my genuine-ness and it started winning his trust.  He had a shot of the car around the big car park as well as driven it back to our meeting place.  He loved it!  The deal is 90% done and all that was left was this mechanical check at Gordon's Garage which is local to me.

I took the car up to Gordon's Garage at 1pm today and took it back at 2pm.  The mechanic commented on how "minted" this car is, absolutely not issues with it, good new tyres on it, looks great etc.  He did note that the starter motor seemed a bit weak to him.  I said I feel a slight one or two second delay occasionally in the recent cold weather and it might have been to do with the car being parked unused for prolonged periods.  He said he wasn't sure that was the case, but the starter might go in a few day or in a few years, it's impossible to tell.  I told him I'd pass that message on to John and that John would call him anyway.  This evening before the gym I spoke to John who was delighted with the report and was not concerned with the starter motor concern.  I assured him it has NEVER given me any trouble at all in the time I've had it.  He said he trusts me and won't be play me around either.  I told him that I am messing him around either.

So, two genuine people with a common point of interest - the Ford Focus.  We're going to seal the deal on Saturday.  I suggested we meet at our local library where we have tables we can use to look through paperwork and to fill out the V5 registeration document.  Also I asked him to bring ID with him as I need to know if the car will be registered to him or to his daughter.  He should know by tomorrow night he said.  Ah, one thing I forgot to ask him about is insurance.  Will he have sorted out insurance for the Focus before driving it away?  Hmm...

The deal is 95% completed until Saturday when I get cash in hand :)

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