The car that was never meant to be

Posted on 2010/04/30 13:37:25 (April 2010).

[Thursday 29th April 2010]

After two years of my car being stolen I have finally got my act together to look for a new vehicle. After all I am monopolising Chiara’s car and that is not fair, despite my monthly payments to her as a sort of a “rental fee”.

So I started looking around and I thought I had found a car, the cousin of one of my friends was selling a 2005 Opel Corsa 1.3 Diesel. Not a new car by all means but it seemed fit to the job and the price tag was apparently “negotiable”.

So I set up an appointment, tried the car, and found out that there was a strange noise, the owner said that was the alternator’s belt that needed to be changed. After the trial I was quite happy with the car itself, so I started the negotiations, but my spirits were suddenly cooled by the fact that the lady did not want to drop the price by a penny, and the sum that was asking was more or less 1000 euro higher than what I started with.

I was expecting a little more flexibility, also considering that the car needed some repair (albeit minor, listening to her), so I did something that I would have never done, and that I have to do again in the future for sure. I did not trust the potential buy and asked her to take the car together to the mechanic to have it checked.

Well it turns out yesterday that the problem is not the belt but a pulley inside the alternator, there is a faint thudding sound on the right hand side of the car (shock absorbers maybe?) and the mechanic told me that the car is worth AT BEST 4000 euro (what I was prepared to pay), and not 5000 as she was asking.

Of course the situation was pretty “awkward” at times, especially when the mechanic told her about these points in front of me, which resulted in a bare faced lie (“the dealer gives me 4500 euro”) and a quick retreat with the promise of “calling each other in the future days”.

In the end, not trusting 100% someone resulted in me not being forced to buy something overpriced and faulty. I have to say that the lady is a very nice person and she did not seem like the one that was trying to dump some junk onto me, but her way of dealing was a bit too strange for me, and that rung a bell in my head.

Now I have to look again, maybe I will spend more and get a used car from a dealer, at lest I can get 1 year warranty that is not too bad in these cases…

So near ... But a good result in the end!

Private buying a second-hand car is fraught with danger. :-(

I keep my car as long as I can. The Toyota I have now is worth practically nothing now, but it's reliable!

Posted by Nigel at 2010/04/30 19:19:04.

And I am quite bad when I buy, because I want to get over quickly with the deal. Oh well, I guess it will serve me as a lesson for the future! :D

Posted by Lox at 2010/05/01 10:24:14.

You're a bachelor! You can afford a ferrari!

Posted by Sheri at 2010/05/01 13:39:29.

Sheri: Probably, but I really don't like cars and don't care about them as long as they take me from point A to B. Once I become a real bachelor again I will consider buying a motorbike, that's for sure.

Posted by Lox at 2010/05/01 14:27:50.

Yes, I know the feeling. I hate changing cars and the getting used to a new one. I held my breath all day on Tuesday as my 7yr old car Daewoo Matiz was in for its MoT. It passed last year with flying colours, couldn't possibly do so again, could it? But it did! Such a relief in a month where I have had to get a new laptop then later on a new printer.

Strange to say, John has bought a printer this week as well.

Posted by John's Mum at 2010/05/24 17:36:06.

JM: I guess we are part of the same "team". Some of my friends actually love to change cars, to me it's just another waste of my precious time :(... Still, "you've gotta do what you've gotta do" and getting from point A to B to work seems to be so normal this days...

Posted by Lox at 2010/06/07 05:15:13.

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