If you want to buy it - make me an offer...

[Palfrem]

I live on a busy main road. My E36 AMG lives in the garage.

Yesterday, I had been charging the battery on the car, had the garage door open and was just starting up the engine.

Next thing I knew, someone had parked on my drive and was wandering in to my garage and asked if they could have a look at my car.

Seemed a nice enough chap and genuinely interested in (older) cars so we started chatting.

He wanted to buy the E36 but when the talk came to money he was unwilling to make an offer.

Kept asking what I would want for it??. What price I had in mind??

Now it's not actually for sale but it seems to me if I wanted to buy something I would name my best offer price to the seller??? Especially if I had just wandered onto his drive?

Spent 10 minutes trying to make me give him a price and wanted to know what I had paid for it? How rude.

If you want it that bad - make me an offer.

Thoughts?

 

[mct_cars]

Sounds like a "he who blinks first" moment.

The best at it are motor traders......

 

[Bryan Allman]

If you haven't already, fit a burglar alarm to the house, or at least an additional lock on the garage. I would think 10 minutes would be plenty of time to case the doors and windows for locks

 

[MCFastybloke]

He could have been a messer with no idea where to start.
He could be a crim and casing the job
He could be a weirdo.

 

[Ted]

Two words.
Tyre kicker.

 

[markjay]

To be fair to the chap... if it was a chance meeting, you can hardly expect him to know off hand the going rate for an E36 of your model year? It is not unreasonabe to expect that you - as the owner - might have some idea.

 

[Palfrem]

House and garage well protected by visible and discrete alarms.

He was a cab driver for a respected local cab firm.

Gave me his card, name and mobile.

 

[MCFastybloke]

House and garage well protected by visible and discrete alarms.

He was a cab driver for a respected local cab firm.

Gave me his card, name and mobile.

I am paranoid.

 

[Palfrem]

To be fair to the chap... if it was a chance meeting, you can hardly expect him to know off hand the going rate for an E36 of your model year? It is not unreasonabe to expect that you - as the owner - might have some idea.

I don't think my car has a "going rate" as such. WBAC offered me £350.

I suspect it may be worth a touch more than that.

Just struck me as odd that someone who was so keen to buy it didn't want to float a price.

 

[markjay]

I don't think my car has a "going rate" as such. WBAC offered me £350.

I suspect it may be worth a touch more than that.

Just struck me as odd that someone who was so keen to buy it didn't want to float a price.

I thought it would fetch a bit more than that....:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/31/e36 amg/

 

[Dee James]

I tend to agree it is odd he didn't make an offer if he was interested, although maybe he had an offer in mind on the low side and didn't want to offend you.

 

[Liquid silver]

It is your job to say want you want for your own car, it's the potential buyers job to negotiate on that. He cannot be expected to be the buyer and the seller.

 

[brucemillar]

Two words. Tyre kicker.

That's four words.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[brucemillar]

Had this with a proper Mini Cooper. Wife's car. Bloke left note on windscreen asking if I would call him as he wanted to buy the car.

I didn't call him as I didn't want to sell the car.

Next week, repeat performance. So I called him. Told him my price. He laughed called me dreamer etc. I sold the car at my price six months later. Bloke then asks why I wouldn't sell to him. Eejit.

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[Will]

He probably wants to get it cheap.

It wouldn't have hurted to suggest a high price, if he was genuinely interested he would have made a counter offer.

Take what you paid as a guide, add/subtract a bit if needed and see where it goes?

If you don't need to sell and want to keep it for the time being then start high.

I would also be cautious though. Keep an eye on your security.

 

[Stratman]

It is your job to say want you want for your own car, it's the potential buyers job to negotiate on that. He cannot be expected to be the buyer and the seller.

Not if you want to persuade the owner to sell a car which up until then wasn't for sale.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Should have asked him for five grand over top money...

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

I don't think my car has a "going rate" as such. WBAC offered me £350.

I suspect it may be worth a touch more than that.

Just struck me as odd that someone who was so keen to buy it didn't want to float a price.

£350 from WBAC , what an absolute insult. I would have gone to £375

 

[MD5]

It is your job to say want you want for your own car, it's the potential buyers job to negotiate on that. He cannot be expected to be the buyer and the seller.

Only if he was offering it for sale. But he wasn't, he was changing the battery!

 

[Howard]

£350 from WBAC , what an absolute insult. I would have gone to £375

£500 from me.

I'll even bring a box of liqueur chocolates and a bottle of mulled wine to sweeten the deal.