[ghodlur]

It is always difficult to find out whether the interested party is an individual or a dealer's rep. When my building friend was selling his car(Spark) I had visited along with him to various dealers but apart from an usual look at the doors (for any accident marks) it wasnt a technical evaluation, more of a financial deal kind of. The look at the car from all sides and enter their AC rooms and quote a price which is totally non logical. No drives to check the engine performance at all or how was it being maintained?

[pradyblr]

What an unfortunate experience!!!

In the second hand market it is very rare to come across a vehicle which has been taken care of well by the owner. It is sad that in the name of professional opinion, people misuse the car. In my experience, a good professional can say a lot about the car just by looking at it and the way engine sounds.

Why don't you try the team-bhp classifieds? What was the price stated by the 'professional'?

[arunu]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

Ultimately what was the evaluation by this unprofessional professional?

I did not let these guyz complete their evaluation since I cut short their joy ride. I believe, the "Expert" would have given a negative report to the prospective buyer and said "sirrrr the car has lots of issue, hence, seller did not allow us to check the car, forget the deal" ... Logical isint it??

[arup.misra]

Thanks for highlighting this arunu

When I sold my Indica to Mahindra First Choice, two guys (a manager to seal the deal & the driver) came over at a pre determined time and place. They gave me copies of their driving license and a signed copy of a letter which indemnified me of any damage / loss of life or property during the test drive conducted by them.

They asked me if there were any specific things which were wrong with the vehicle i.e. lack of brake biting, low engine power etc. and even checked with me for a suitable road to do a small test drive. So much so that they even told me before hand that they would do a hard braking and rev it hard in a couple of gears.

Had a pretty nice experience with them. In fact they offered me a much better rate than what a dozen individuals had offered.

[noopster]

I am very careful whom I give my car to. Have had occasion to reprimand service advisors at A.S.S for driving rashly. I always tell any valet picking up my car to drive carefully (and in the case of the AT, check that they have AT driving experience).

In fact, had a disconcerting experience with a close friend of mine who didn't inform me that he didn't have AT driving experience and gave me a mini heart attack by panicking when the car started to move in D and he didn't know how to react!

So when someone new asks to test drive my car, I am going to tell him to drive carefully and within speed limit, no sudden jerks and braking and to warn me before he wants to test the braking etc.

[SAMUDRA]

My Share of experience comes from M&M first choice.

I wanted to sell my Indica V2 2003 Oct done 1Lac KM in very good condition before I could take XUV 5oo, so as part of deal took it to the M&M showroom for them to check my Indy.

I met couple of guys from the showroom and one of the guy see's the car and takes the key and starts the engine. while the other guy engages me with the talks, the guy checking tries to open the carpet near the front door, at this time I clearly told him this is an accident free car and has around 45% NCB and show him the insurence.
after this his antics begins, he opens the bonnet, revs the engine opens some pipe to check for back compression, sits in the car and asks for a drive in it for which I clearly told not without me.
he took the car out of the compound and drives like he is some schumi's relative. the car abuse started with him accelerating him in every gear, first takes till 25-30, 2nd gear till 50 Km and slotted to 3rd and was doing around 65-70 at this point I told him to stop abusing the car.
after this came back to the showroom and he told me that the engine and gear box was good and quoted the price as Rs. 90000 for which I clearly told "ashtakke engine bittu kodtini" (for that price I will give the car without the engine).
finally sold the car for 140K and also moved the NCB to my new XUV for which the insurence came to around 26K.

[revintup]

My neighbor had a very traumatic experience while selling his car. He is a retired NRI who was out of India for almost 30 years.

So 2 guys come, they negotiate a price and upon reaching an agreement, ask for a TD around 2PM.

He agrees to the TD and gives them the key and decides to wait at home while they do the TD.

Even at 5PM no signs of either the car or the men, neither any contact no, nor a definite idea of their residential address, uncle comes to our house and we decide to inform the police.

While we were getting into our car, they come back with the car. And with the agreed sum in cash, apologising for the delay in arranging the funds !

Anyway alls well that ends well, with uncle graciously accepting the apology and then offers them tea!!! Not sure if my offering would have been tea.

[rajoy123]

When a person sells a car, its a bit of an emotional roller-coster ride for him/her.

Shocking and stunning, how some people literally take others for a ride! let this be a lesson to all of us, and i am gonna share this thread with all my friends.

Sorry to hear about how your car was treated.

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I then then them I will gently lug the engine to assess clutch. The secret is to be open and give no shocks or surprises besides respecting other peoples property.

Totally agree with what you say, ajmat.

Can you please explain a little more about the 'lug' that you mentioned and how that would help assessing the clutch? Just an intent to learn this educated technical evaluation better instead of ripping the vehicle apart like a mad man and then pass a verdict with a YAY or NAY.

OT, I agree but would appreciate your comment.

[mayankjha1806]

When i sold my Indica, the test drive guy was told to take it easy and nice. Although he was from a used car dealership he followed as he was told and took a 20 min spin around the area in empty roads gradually building speed upto 80-90. Came back and bought the car.

I guess letting the folks know that its your property and needs to be carefully drives does the trick most of the time. In cases it does not, one can always ask them to get out of the car.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

Totally agree with what you say, ajmat.

Can you please explain a little more about the 'lug' that you mentioned and how that would help assessing the clutch?.

Well, I try and set off in 4th gear- car should stall. If it does not, the clutch is shot, if I cannot do this, I try and slow down as much as I can in 4th and accelerate

[arunu]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Well, I try and set off in 4th gear- car should stall. If it does not, the clutch is shot, if I cannot do this, I try and slow down as much as I can in 4th and accelerate

What I meant in my post as lugging - the guy was trying to drive at less than 10kmph on 4th gear and then the car starts to shudder and kind of chok and stall, at this point the guy starts to accelerate without downshifting putting enormous strain on the engine!!.

Originally Posted by rajoy123

When a person sells a car, its a bit of an emotional roller-coster ride for him/her.

Totally agree.. there is a lot of emotional attachment, especially with the first car bought with ur hard earned money.

[Equus]

Ajmat, what do you mean by "with a view to kill the engine"?
Kindly elaborate..

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Equus

Ajmat, what do you mean by "with a view to kill the engine"?
Kindly elaborate..

Cut off the ignition!!

[Omtoatom]

A most unfortunate incident Arun and sorry you had to go through the trauma of seeing your baby-ed car being abused like this.

I had a similar experience earlier this year during the sale process of my Esteem VXi. One of my first prospective buyers was this gentleman who was employed with a reputed banking institution in a senior capacity. The chap brought his "trusted mechanic" along and I was absolutely fine with that. After initially going through the paces, the mechanic started to push the car to its limits, almost colliding head-on with a public transport bus at a sharp corner. I was too shocked to react. My dad, however, reprimanded the banker in a firm but assertive manner only he can. Calmly he asked the mechanic to pull over, said "no deal" and walked away.

After that episode, for the Esteem and another car sold very recently, I made it a practice to set expectations and ground rules right at the beginning with my buyers. Also I don't deal with agents and brokers - they're generally a menace and try to tell you that they know more about your car than you do. So policy 1: sell it directly to the end user - even if you have to compromise a little on the dough. Gotta say it has helped.