“I had a coworker who was selling an older car, Great shape! What maintenance and things have you done, brakes and fluids etc., angry response “WE HAVEN"T HAD TO DO ANYTHING I TOLD YOU IT WAS IN GREAT SHAPE!””
Anytime I’ve been on the used market that one has always cracked me up. A lot of people really do think that way.
I went to look at a 30 year old Oldsmobile that was about 35 miles away. The seller assured me by phone that is had no rust. When I got there the whole interior was filled with small trees that had grown up through where the floor used to be.
@london
" . . . if there aren’t verifiable service records I’m not interested."
Then don’t ever buy from a mechanic
He’ll do all the work himself, and there won’t be an repair shop invoices for you to see
speaking of leather upholstery . . .
Benz used to equip many of their models with vinyl upholstery. It was high quality, but it was still vinyl. No escaping it
Yet I often see these cars for sale on Craigslist, and the seller often mentions the leather seats . . .
It would be sad if the seller truly didn’t know their error
@db4690
A smart mechanic, with a mind to the future ie. his market of potential buyers would at least keep a log of what was done plus parts invoices, don’t you think? That would be good enough to keep me interested. Heck I’m nothing but the barest sliver of a shade tree mechanic and I’ve always written down any repairs/maintenance I’ve had done or done myself plus kept all the bills for the stuff I’ve had to buy. Then again maybe I’m all turned around on this and there are just not enough people for whom mechanical history and record keeping are, if not essential then at least material to a private sale anymore.
I am not a mechanic but DIY most of the stuff. I have everything on an excel spreadsheet. This is 1st for myself and then I always show it to the buyer if needed. What I have found interesting is that the buyers so far have only barely glanced at the list. They either trust me or don’t care much.
I have seen my share of crappy cars falsely advertised. Over the last 10 years as I have grown older and “wiser”, my rule is not to drive more than 40-45 minutes for any used car.
karl
Apparently, I’m not so smart . . .
When working on my own cars, I only save some of the receipts, such as for batteries, because they are warranted for a certain time period
I change my oil every 5K, and I rotate the tires at that point. I change the wiper blades twice a year. I buy Chevron conventional and Mobil 1 synthetic oil at Costco, when it’s on sale.
For me, there’s no point hanging on to wiper blade, oil filter, etc. receipts
Perhaps somebody will therefore lowball me when it’s time to sell my car down the road, but nobody says I have to accept a lowball offer.
When I’m looking to buy a used car, I pay just as much attention to the customer, as to the car itself. If the customer rubs me the wrong way, or he seems like a whining cheapskate, I usually assume the car wasn’t properly maintained. Sometimes when shooting the breeze with the customer, they start talking about where they get the car serviced, what they’ve done recently, etc.
If I start hearing stuff like Pepboys oil change specials, or cut-rate brake shops, I politely nod my head and decide I’m not that interested in the car, after all.
Not only do you have to weed out the “bad” cars, but it goes for the owners too
No offense intended to anybody
“grate” shape.
“WE HAVEN"T HAD TO DO ANYTHING I TOLD YOU IT WAS IN GREAT SHAPE!”
That reminds me of a woman with whom I used to work.
Her philosophy was apparently that cars needed no maintenance, and so, whenever my car was in the shop for routine maintenance, she would say something along the lines of…Your car is in the shop AGAIN? Mine never has to go to the shop!
A couple of months later, the engine in her Buick seized as a result of her no-maintenance policy.
@london - very rare to get records now from any dealer. Too many privacy issues. Not sure I want all my receipts in somebody else’s hands…
There are also a number of mechanic owned cars that should be avoided like the plague. Some mechanics get so sick of having their nose under the hood and having to put up with all of the aggravations that life provides after work that they will neglect their own vehicles.
Not saying this is true of the majority but does apply to a certain segment anyway.
There’s only one vehicle I ever maintained a religiously kept log on and that was a BMW motorcycle purchased new.
Everything else gets a pass…
I do most of my own servicing so there is no way the dealer would have my records. I used to record it on the on-line sites but since I keep my own service and repair diary, its just too much of a hassle and of no benefit. I haven’t sold many cars but I just photo copy the pages of my diary which has everything that was done, the date, mileage, and cost. I keep any major receipts and also receipts for oil and filters for any warranty issues, but I never give them to anybody. I would have welcomed a call from a buyer of our last car since some things were done way ahead of schedule but alas, no one called. I don’t think they give that information out anymore.
I guess we can say the majority of mechanics are as good with their own cars as the majority of doctors are with their own health.