Selling Roomster 1.9

[miffy88]

Long time lurker but first time poster here. Selling my Roomster TDI and thought I'd share an experience.

Car has 136 000 km on it. I'm second owner. Bought it in June 2012 with 48 000 km. Have had a trouble free run so far ensuring all scheduled maintenance is done on time. Only selling because I want to do the Telegraph Track and other tracks in FNQ and obviously the Roomie is not suitable.

I was a bit weirded out by a call yesterday, just want to see what others think about potential buyers being aggressive on the phone. I've only ever sold one car before (a mid 90's 323 to Irish backpackers haha) so am being cautious.

After sending a couple of messages saying he loved Roomsters and used to have one but sold it but wants to buy another and that petrol's are gutless yada yada yada we arrange a time for him to call me and he does. He asked a few general questions which confirmed what I have in the ad (history of the car, highway or city driving etc). But then;

1 - He very aggressively asks whether something to do with injector timing or positioning (can't remember exact words) was looked at when the timing belt was changed. I said I had no idea and that if its scheduled I'm sure the mechanic would have done it. He was using a lot of very specific terminology as well as being a bit disparaging of my mech ("do they really know what they're doing" attitude) I think perhaps to make me feel insecure? I took the car to the mechanic because I had no idea how to change a timing belt or what was involved. I thought it was weird because a lay person on the street would have little idea what he was going on about.

2 - He asks whether the seats are in "brand new condition" I was like, "um, well I've sat in the drivers one and there's a couple marks", front passenger seat has had people in it but is clean and rears are very clean. I just kept getting a vibe of attitude!

3 - "How is the clutch". Again, "I was like, um.. working, fine!" Its just a Skoda Roomster for god's sake, does he think I take it to the drags on Friday nights. More and more attitude bubbling! "How's the body, any scratches and dints" to which I replied there is one small imperfection caused by a friend having sunscreen on his finger but that everything else is good. I took many pics using a 18 mp SLR which are very clear, so its not like I'm hiding something. In response he gave more attitude, groaning "ugh, that'll never come out ugh!"

And it went on and on. Quite a few questions with a bit of an accusatory tone thrown in which made me very wary. To add injury to insult his screaming child was in the background the whole time, his gives me a sob story about how his partner just had her appendix out, and best of all he wants to meet me in Goulburn! He lives in Syd and I'm in CBR! Combine this with me getting the feeling he wants to lower the price a lot (since he got a bad price for his old car since his partner forced him to sell cause they couldnt get the dog smell out!) and it all just seems a very unprofessional way to go about buying a car. I don't think driving from Syd to CBR to see a 2nd hand car is unreasonable. Heck, I'm considering going to Adelaide to look at Patrols!

Do you think I am I just being paranoid? I can understand he wants perfect information about the car, but I've tried being as honest as possible, and feel that every question he has is just another attempt to trick me.

[woofy]

Looney, you are probably best to avoid or he may well continue to pester you if he does buy it. You get all kinds selling cars. I've avoided it for years but suspect I will be reminded soon when our Octy comes up for sale.