Share your most "amazing" experience when selling a car on the internet

[mike.bmw]

"Amazing" quoted to denote sarcasm. Maybe I'm a pessimist. Maybe I'm a jerk. Maybe I'm a hypocrite. Selling a car (or anything) on the internet is generally a horrible experience. The idea for this thread spawned from a post by mjweimer . Post your most aggravating and horrible experiences when selling a car on the internet, whether it be via craiglist, BaT, FB marketplace, or any other site.

Share your story!

[mr2peak]

Just went through this

[Staszek]

Just went through this

Would you take 1000 bananas? I would be interested :)

[ForcedFirebird]

Lol. I was selling a Mitsu 3000gt for a friend who was out of the country. Good running manual car, some clear coat coming off, but otherwise a reliable car, everything worked and was presentable. I put it up for sale for $3k figuring the owner wanted $2.5 this would allow me to negotiate. Worst offer was a used X Box 360 and $400 cash. Gotta love CL!

[mike.bmw]

I've become numb to ridiculous offers. I've had a few terrible car selling experiences and some decent ones as well.

The most annoying car selling experience was when I sold my 2008 Subaru STI, which I had owned since new for 7 years. I posted a detailed add (forum, CL, cars.com, etc) to include detailed photos, a link to a journal/build thread, the VIN number, all the specs in text format, etc. After leaving the office early to accommodate a buyers schedule, he shows up 30 minutes late. He then proceeded to tell me the car wasn't the color he thought it was and he didn't like this color, so I should sell it for less and I've wasted his time. I think I was in shock. I ended up selling it to Carmax because I was tired of dealing with people.

The most annoying FURNITURE experience I've had was selling a rather large TV armoire. It was probably 4 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and 6+ feet tall. It weighed a ton. I listed it for something cheap like $40. I included photos and measurements in the ad and said to bring a large truck or moving van to take this away. A buyer reached out and asked for the measurements (red flag #1). I directed him to the ad, but also provided the measurements via email. At the time I asked him to bring someone else to move it as I had hurt my back. We schedule a time, he shows up an hour late. He didn't bring anyone with him. I just wanted this thing out of my place so I agreed to help him move it across the apartment building to the loading area. Before we moved it I asked if he brought a vehicle large enough to move it. Mind you, at this point he's standing in the room with the armoire so he can actually see it in person. He says yes. He paid me the $40. We spend 20 minutes moving it to the loading area. My back is on fire the entire time. We get out the door and all I see is a late 90s sedan with a family inside it. Yep, that was his. With his family inside. I just about lost it. I said, "Dude, there's no F'ing way that's going to fit in there. Even without people." He started to say it would fit and I told him he was on his own at that point. Leave it outside, go get a van, I don't care anymore. 3 days later I saw my neighbor across the hall moving the armoire into his apartment.

[e30davie]

I was interested in a diesel turbo ute, specifically didnt want a non turbo as they are too slow. The photos of the car in the advertisement were good but there wasn't an engine bay photo and for whatever reason couldn't see the bonnet scoop to confirm if it was a turbo one. The guy said it was turbo in the advert, i rang him up and he told me it was definitely turbo. gave me all these stories about how he used to have a turbo, but it was slow so he bought this one. So i drove the ~1hr to go check it out. No turbo. The guy was still convinced it was turbo. Turns out he didn't even know what a turbo was.

My most amusing selling item is similar to the TV armoire story. We have an old piano, it is a little tired cosmetically but it still played ok. Listed it up for free with a few photos with buyer to organise their own transport. I noted in the advert the size and the fact that it was a piano and that it took me and 3 other guys to move it, i guesstimated the weight to be around 200kg, maybe more. I noted the location and removal requirement (ground floor with a single ~200mm step). first buyer "can you deliver" - answer no. Second buyer "can the legs be removed and will it fit in my hatchback" - message ignored. Third buyer announced that he would be there within the hour with help. he actually arrived 4hrs later. he had driven over an hour, and he arrived with 1 friend and a 1999 Toyota Camry Sedan. I showed him the piano and told him forget it, he measured the piano with his hand, then measured the Camry and realised it wouldn't fit, I told him do not come back unless he had a truck or a trailer and 3 friends. I never heard from him again. Piano is still available.

[ForcedFirebird]

A piano is like a Mercedes Benz. They are expensive to purchase new, look beautiful in black, but they always are worth 10% of new cost in just a few years - a lot of people end up giving them away for almost nothing.

Always amazes me when I do an infrequent trip to the junk yard (back in the time of "Cash for Clunkers" there were tons of e30's). Seeing I have been occasionally visiting a JY here and there since the early 90's - to this day am still amazed as to how there's entire rows dedicated to MB, and mirroring that with American cars --- Camaro/Firebirds. It's almost like there's a huge crowd of people running around buying half dilapidated used MB's and running them into the ground. One time saw a really clean AMG E55 and the only thing I could find majorly wrong with it was the rotors were worn to the vents. If you ever priced E55 rotors, they are about $200/ea for the cheapest Chinese blanks you can find. It appeard to me that the owner just kept replacing pads until the car couldn't take it anymore lol.

Many people group BMW with MB (and even VW), but we know better as e30 owners. ;)

[e30davie]

yer we go the piano for free, so happy to pass it on for free. another week or two and im going to have great fun cutting it up with an angle grinder and taking it to the dump.

I think there is something to be said for ebay as at least the interaction is non-personal to a degree.Jjust someone clicking buy it now if they want it, commitment and payment is made up front. But i personally haven't ever sold anything on there, I probably should.

[ForcedFirebird]

Like Mike's experience, I too sold a custom entertainment center my wife's ex-boss had custom built for their house. We bought a lot of their furnishings when they were moving, but the entertainment center was just too large for our liking, plus it was a long time ago and engineered around CRT 4:3 TV's and we had just bought a plasma flat HD screen. Put it on eBay, pick up only and it sold in a few days surprisingly. The buyer showed up after a 3.5hr drive, transaction was smooth, but he had a rinky-dink extended cab s10. I helped him disassemble it enough to fit in the bed and all the pieces went in the cab of the truck and was so crowded he had to drive back with his seat all the way up and parts even sitting on the center console.

You're right, though. EBay is an easy way to sell things without being haggled, commitment and semi-protection is built into the system. I sell on eBay occasionally - just a pain to sit and create new listings when you have a large number of small items.

[AndrewBird]

This one was just annoying. I bought a small bar cabinet off Craigslist. Drive the 40 minutes to pick it up in my wagon. Everything looks good, go to load it and it is 1" too wide to slide between the rear shock towers. Tried tipping it up or something, etc. No dice. It's volume is probably half the size of the interior, but due to its shape, will not fully fit in. Had to drive back with it hanging 6" out the back, in the rain. Worked ok though and I found a bottle of whiskey the previous owner missed inside.

[AWDBOB]

Privately selling cars has gotten so bad over the past few years. I'm not sure it was ever enjoyable, but the pain and suffering one endures selling a vehicle nowadays is pathetic.

I write highly detailed ads, take 50+ HD photos, upload them to a shareable photo album, etc etc, and folks will quite literally go down the line and ask you for every detail you have already listed (when most of they time, they have no intentions of purchasing anyway).

I don't want to throw the younger generations under the bus here as I'm a millennial, but WTF is wrong with young kids and buying cars. Communication is unbelievably poor (ie, instead of "hello I'm interested in your item", the first communication I receive is but a number that is 80% less than what I am asking, to which I respond with a different, unrelated number), everyone wants you to finance the car, etc etc

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That white iX that I sold last year was a really nice car. Selling that thing was miserable.

-1st folks to come look at it: old couple that liked E30s. Drove it, asked questions, didn't like the iX as they hadn't driven one before, moved on. 100% understandable, pleasant experience.

-2nd: dad and son came out to buy sons first car. Son test drives car AND DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE MANUAL. HE IS LEARNING ON MY CAR IN MY DRIVEWAY. Dad watched too many VinWiki videos and uses his sons lack of ability to drive stick to shrewd negotiate (lowball) me by $4K stating the car isn't easy enough for his son to learn to drive on in my driveway. This was all after weeks of questions, photos, communication, and even agreeing on an exact price, working out finances, etc. Dad was shocked his negotiation didn't work when I laughed heartily and pulled the car back into my garage.

-3rd: another youngin wants the car. States he has 3 other cars that he financed to buy, and has a good job in Indy. He asked if I would finance the car (which is the new thing to do with 30 year old cars, I've learned). I said no, but would work with him on price to get the car gone. He spends the next few weeks sending me lowball offers, to which we finally agree on a price. Youngin refused to come to my area to look at said car (despite him working 20 minutes away). I finally got so sick of dealing with the situation I offered to drive the car up to him. He brings out the car bro to do the full inspection, both pleasantly surprised about how nice it is. Go inside to do paperwork and magically his pile of dollar bills is $500 less than the price we had just agreed on. I was so worn down at this point I just said thanks and signed over the title. He proceeded to list the car for sale less than a month later for $2500 more than he lowballed me for it, and sold the car. Next day I get a message from a local shop asking me to help their client out with info on the car because the seller didn't provide any. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG

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Selling that Delphin 24v sedan that was sold on R3V for "cheap" the year prior was also miserable.

That car was purchased for $6K shipped. It ended up needing $4-5K in work after getting here. I listed it up for sale with everything repaired, fixed, etc (not even remotely a flip), and half of you jackasses on here sent me hanus messages on here and Craigslist because ya'll were personally offended I was selling it for whatever reason as if I was hurting your child.

I ended up selling it to an awesome guy in CA who appreciated all of the work that was done, so it ended up going to a good home and was overall a pleasant experience despite the non-interested parties that couldn't sleep without messaging me.


-Heidi the '88 iX was a pleasant sale. Guy read the ad, came to look at it, settled on a fair price for both parties, he took the car home.
-Black betty the '87 325i was a pleasant sale. Son read the ad, I talked to Dad over the phone to verify. They test drove, loved the car, took it home.


I also have an '07 Forester Sports XT 5sp that I have yet to sell. I already tried to sell it once last year, and was so annoyed at the insane responses I got that I pulled the ad. Wish me luck on that front.

All that to say, I completely understand why someone would trade their car into Carmax.

I probably would've sold the M3 by now instead of letting it sit, but I legit just don't want to go through the hassle of selling it.