Hmm, odd things are happening. I’m selling a 2010 VW Golf TDI 1.6 at present, advertised on the usual sites. You may have noted that I asked a question of the massive the other day on bank transfers for the sale, and whether it was worth doing.

Anyway- I seemed to be getting a solid offer in from 2 guys in Leeds. I’m in Scotland, but hey ho- some like to travel. Negotiations and discussion took place by phone and SMS, and we’d agreed on a price.

They had asked some questions about the general condition, as it has a couple of scratches that I’d mentioned. I’d said: ok, give me an email address, I’ll take more photos and send them to you. Fine, said they, but could you pass us the registration number first so that we can do some checks? (I’d blanked the plate in my photos.)

I passed them the plate details….and since then, silence.

Ringers?

not that likely, and a perfectly reasonable request. you haven’t supplied the VIN as well, have you? probably just haven’t got around to doing the checks yet. things seem to happen in very much an odd time scale in the world of car buying/selling. i’ve met some right odd-bods over the years too…

Hi Del- no, not supplied any VIN. You’re probably right and I’m just being paranoid!

Without the VIN they would be hard pressed to clone it. Probably just wanted to HPI it.

If I was doing a long distance trek to buy a car privately I too would ask for the plate so I could check more of its history etc.

FTR a while back I sold my 1 year old BMW to 2 bouncers who drove down (to Surrey) from Doncaster! I asked them to draw up the bankers draft in the bank with me present – which they did – but it had spelling mistakes and was declined! They apologised and raised another one that went through fine. Throughout the process I was convinced I might just end up in the boot or in a river 😯

They might have wanted the reg for an HPI check, pretty common nowadays,

HPI check. I wouldn’t buy a used car without doing one. Especially private seller.

if you call for an insurance company for a quote, they will ask you for the reg.
nowt out of the ordinary there.

Just remember that selling cars means dealing with mad people.
i’ve had a guy text me to say he was on his way to view the car with cash!
never arrived?
i’ve also had chap email me to ask if he could come the next day, fine. but no questions about the car. he arrives walks around the car once gives me the asking price! no test drive, no starting the engine, didn’t even open the door.
he even looked shocked when i offered him a brew 😀

I’ve travelled to buy cars before, if I know I’m going to buy it I’ll insure it in advance so I can drive away. Obviously you’ll need the reg to insure it.

I remember a few years ago a mate of mine finally sold a car he’d had up for sale for a while. The guy paid cash and drove off. 30 minutes later he called my mate to let him know that he had made it home safely… 🙄

There’s nowt as queer as folk.

I sold a little sports car to a bloke once, picked him up from the train station, drove back to my house, where he declined a test drive. He just handed over the cash and drove off.

An hour later he phones up to say that he’d just been done by the police and it was the car’s fault!!

HPI check. I wouldn’t buy a used car without doing one. Especially private seller.

I’d want solid evidence of the VIN number too.

chakaping – Member
HPI check. I wouldn’t buy a used car without doing one. Especially private seller.
I’d want solid evidence of the VIN number too.

Very true.

A few mentions of no test drive, etc. The Wife sold her Morris 1100 to a bloke from Isle Of Man. He flew over paid the full asking price in cash and drove it home. No test drive and only going from photos sent through the post. The days before the internet and digital photos.

I’m sure its all ok- its just odd that it went quiet after the reg query, and they were all mad keen immediately prior.

As you’ve all said, there are many reasons why they might have got cold feet.

No one is going to buy a car from someone who with holds information.

I bought a car from Bath privately (I live in Manchester) and I made sure I found out everything about the car first before committing to the long journey.

Conversely I was looking at a 95 2.3T Aero recently and the private seller refused to give me the V5 reference to enable me to carry out the online MOT check. From my hunch I’m guessing he had massaged its mileage (or had doubts).

I sold my Integrale to two chaps who had come over from New Zealand just to buy one, but happened to be staying a few doors from me. Only spotted mine when I was washing it, did the deal (cash) and that was that. I’ve often wondered if it got to NZ.

It is a risk, though, when you think about it: you’ll give up a lot of pertinent detail to someone you’ve possibly never met for a car sale, info that could be used to get up to all kinds of mischief.

Sold a car a couple of years ago to a bloke on a forum that I used without him looking at it. He was working in Bahrain at the time, paid me in full by bank transfer and then I kept the car for two months until he was home to collect it.

Moved it on the drive once and the clutch pipe started leaking so I changed that for him even though he said he’d sort it when he got home. Didn’t feel right letting him take it knowing there was a problem.

Loads of cars on autotrader have the reg visible.
I just sold a car on it and never bothered to blank the plates and had no trouble.
It’s a good way of getting a better idea of the value if you put the reg into a site like Glass.co.uk or similar.

Thanks all.

Just been out to give it a wash, get it looking at its best…..some ba$tard in the past week has opened a door onto the front O/S wing, making an admittedly small but still noticeable dent.

G1t$.