I can understand why barely no one sells cars private anymore.

I got a call from a guy within an hour of my ad going live. He sounded genuine, asked the right questions and then proceeded to negotiate saying he's only got so much, and would have to borrow a bit to get my car etc etc…

He negotiated down a bit, I was hoping I'd sell the car quick so left a bit of wiggle room in the price. Guy lived 200 miles away but said he would come up tomorrow. I met him at the train station and it became apparent on the drive back he was not the same guy I spoke to on the phone. The guy I picked up said that the guy on the phone was his good friend who found him my car and now he's come to look at it and hopefully buy it.

He looks at the car for all of 2 minutes and says 'right, what's your bank details?"…..So I say that something isn't right here, no one buys a 22-23k car like this, without asking to see any paper work or go for a drive.

But whatever, he does look at some paperwork and then I give him my bank details and his mate on the phone does a transfer, his story is his mate on the phone is arranging the finance etc. At this point I'm fully expecting to call the bank and be told the money isn't there as I think I'm being scammed. However, bank assures me the money has gone through and cannot be reversed.

It's at this point where I realise what's happened. The money has been paid by a prestige car dealer and it's the car dealers name going on the registration form. So basically they've been lying to me the whole time pretending as though the guy collecting the car was buying it for himself. I said to the guy with me, 'this car is gonna be on the dealer's website next week isn't it?'….he said it won't be and assures me it's for him but it's BS.

So that was it, what a shitty way to do business. In hindisght, as soon as I realized they were lying I should have said, right I'm refunding your money and you can fuck off back down south on the train. I knew I would have sold the car to the next person, probably for more.

I know I've got my money but the way it happened just left me bitter. 10 years owning a car that I loved. I instantly regretted selling it and today wish I hadn't. No idea what to get now to be honest.

Although my car was expensive in terms of running costs, petrol/tax etc. It had lost all it's value and had stopped depreciating.

I paid £49k for it in 2007, I sold it for £22250 and no doubt the dealer will have it up at £25k+….. Of the 40 cars like mine that were up for sale when mine was, only 1 other was a private ad and it seems like the same thing for most cars upwards of £20k nowadays.

What's the problem, you agreed on a price, guy came down and bought it, total hassle free sale, sounds pretty ideal? But you're sour because a business might sell it for more? What's the difference between that and you PXing it and a dealer putting it on their forecourt for more money?

bill got finessed

Did you even read post? It's been 10 years since I sold a car. I spent the best part of 2 hours trying to work out if I was being scammed, or going to be robbed as it was *obvious* I was being lied to. I've had people try and steal my car 4 times, so please forgive me for thinking Mr Obvious Lying Cunt standing in my kitchen might have tried to rob the car at any moment.

Because I was so occupied thinking about being scammed/robbed I couldn't see the wood from the trees, I was expecting the bank to say the money was not there, it was only when it went through that I realised what actually was going on, maybe that's naive but I haven't sold a car for 10 years. By that time the penny dropped had the money in my account.

I have ZERO problems selling to a dealer, Zero. I also have zero problems negotiating with a dealer. I had my bottom line. I priced my car to sell and it sold. If the guy on the phone had been honest and upfront from the start, I would have felt totally at ease during the whole thing because I would have known I was dealing with a VAT registered "legit" company and there would be no doubts in my mind regarding the money and who I was dealing with. The reality was they came up with some half arsed story for the sake a few hundred quid and continued to lie, even after they had the keys. I had no idea this is how a prestige car dealer with millions of pounds worth of stock would go about buying their cars.

I don't care what anyone says, it's a shitty way to do business and completely unnecessary.

Did you decide on a replacement Bill? Interested to hear what you went for and why as I've still not made my mind up

Couldn't agree more

My car insurance is due renewal in the next few days. Currently with Churchill but my premium has gone up by £300 even with no claims. Interestingly if I get a new quote for Churchill through one of the comparison sites then it goes back to what I was paying before, however, there are even cheaper options with the AA, More Than etc. so I'm minded to go elsewhere rather than call and haggle with Churchill.

I've now got 5 years NCB and previously never bothered to get it protected but now thinking I should. The only competitive quotes I got when I select NCB protection is with Tesco & Sainsbury's.

Is it worth protecting and anyone have any experience with the insurers mentioned please?

My insurance on the soot chucker TDI was £640. I was only paying £300 for the RS4.

Just ring Churchill and see if they'll do the comparison price if you stay, they might even discount more if you are getting cheaper quotes from other insurers and tell them that. If not just go elsewhere.

2006 MX5 with 93k on the clock. Good or Bad idea? Looks to have been well serviced with plenty receipts and MOT certs all included with logbook. Fancy it for the summer months and doing the NC500/west coast of Scotland a few times over Summer.