Has my Step father conned me??

[MumOfOne14]

So I was selling my car, about 11 year old clio. Was hoping to get around £1200 for it as low mileage & good condition. We just paid £300 for MOT, but engine light still left on because of heater plugs need changing. Which only cost about £20 to change.

So my step dad offers to sell it for us, cos he loves this kind of thing. So we said, anything u spend u can take out of final sale.

A week later after insuring it for the second time, he decided he wants to buy it for my brother (who's an idiot & will wreck it) & is only willing to pay £700 for it. Now I couldn't say no because he's already sanded down the paint on it ready to re-do & then started listing other problems on it.. Scratches on wheels, lights need buffing. I don't care about these things & would've been willing to go down to £1000 if those things were gonna hold me back from selling. But to be knocked down to £700 saying he'll have to spend £250 to have it painted!!! It wasn't even that bad!! Grrrr I'm so annoyed, but AIBU???

NO NO NO!! There, problem solved coffeemark... If I'd said no I'd still be out of pocket because of putting back what he had done. It wouldn't have made sense to say no. He should've have taken the paint off before asking us first!!

OK practice saying 'oi you gis me money back'

Lol! Coffeemaker, that's more like it!!

If I'd said no I'd still be out of pocket because of putting back what he had done

But you said in your OP.....

my step dad offers to sell it for us, cos he loves this kind of thing. So we said, anything u spend u can take out of final sale.

Why didn't you just say you wanted to stick to the original agreement?

I thought he was just going to change the heater plugs... Not pimp it!! I would've reimbursed any costs to make it right.. Not go above and beyond.

Well, I guess all you can do is put it behind you but take it as a lesson learned and not involve family or friends in similar situations in future. I can see why you feel a bit miffed OP, but I think your were definitely over estimating how much your car is / was worth. And I think your Step father is too, if he expects to get £1500, or anywhere near that for it.

Thanks Lottie, I appreciate your help. I do want to forget about it now. I just needed a rant I suppose. It's out of my hands now. Thanks everyone!

You never get as much as the initial estimate from WBAC.

I'm sorry, but if you think you'd have got anything near £1000 for your car you're deluded. There's a reason why the scrapping scheme paid £1000 for a 10yr old car - they're never worth that much, so there was the incentive for people.

Sorry but, city or not, there was never much chance of you getting a grand for a 11 year Clio, let alone £1500. £700 is a very good deal, just walk away and be pleased with the deal.

Maybe do some research on Autotrader and if you still feel aggrieved talk to your stepdad about how you feel short changed.

I think it is bloody rude of him to have sanded it down before asking your permission - it did make it harder for you to refuse his offer.

YANBU.

WBAC may have quoted you £850 but you won't have got £850

I still don't understand why you said yes to the £700 if you didn't want to. Did you say anything? You could have said that it sounds a it low and you would like a bit more.

Your step father probably thinks you were happy with the deal as it sounds like you readily agreed.

I recently part exchanged my 2003 renault megane sport in decent condition. Only reason i got £2k for it was because it was px for a 2 year old ford focus at a garage. Otherwise i was looking at around £800-900 for it. You would not have got £1000 for a clio.

Why didn't you just say 700 is a bit low, I'm not happy with that. he might've offered more.

We buy any car will not give you the quote they say on the internet. You take it to one of their people who look at it and tell you they can see minute dents, scratches, bumps or dirt and they take off money for every imagined flaw, then you end up with half what you thought you were getting, but you're already there with the car ready for a no hassle sale, so you sell it anyway. They'd have ripped you off more than your step dad for sure ime.

Well looking on gumtree in the area I live, Clios matching mine, with more mileage are ranging between £1100-£1500. So I'm not crazy!! My DH did tell him £800 after hearing he'd already messed the paint work up, but he just huffed & said it was too much!! I felt I needed to keep the peace & just let him have it.

Thanks TRexing.. Won't bother with WBAC again!!

Well looking on gumtree in the area I live, Clios matching mine,
with more mileage are ranging between £1100-£1500

I'm not doubting that's true, but the question isn't are they on Gumtree, the question is, have they SOLD? I'm guessing not!

I did a quote on WBAC and they quoted me around £850

Yes, and if you had agreed to a viewing for them to make the FINAL OFFER, you would have been closer to the £700 mark. I say this from experience having helped an elderly friend to 'get rid' of his car last September.

WBAC nearly always offer far less when they've seen the car.

Trade are selling the 3dr for about £1000 near me. So £700 - £800 isn't far off

Lesson learned then OP. Be wary of him next time.

You told him that anything he spent he could take out of the sale. You knew that he liked this kind of thing (ie was therefore likely to over egg it).

Having set no parameters whatsoever it seems on what work he should or should not do, YABU to then object to what he did do.