Believe in fiction: how resellers manage to buy cars for pennies
- October 11, 2023
- 0
When selling a used car, the owner of the car is almost guaranteed to encounter resellers who brazenly lower the price. For this reason, it is extremely important
When selling a used car, the owner of the car is almost guaranteed to encounter resellers who brazenly lower the price. For this reason, it is extremely important to “know by sight” at least the basic dirty tricks of unscrupulous traders.
Resellers are smart guys and generally technically savvy. And they use this knowledge not only to find real problems with the car, but also to psychologically condition the owner-seller so that he can reduce the price as much as possible.
A powerful tool in such an attack is a thickness gauge, an electronic device for examining paintwork. With its help you can detect traces of body repairs. But the device can also be calibrated in such a way that it shows ‘thick putty’ under the paint of a car that has actually never had an accident.
If the car is not sold by the first owner, a buyback using a “twisted” thickness gauge will attempt to convince the person that their car was allegedly in an accident and was owned by one of the previous owners. And a broken car is a cheap car…
The second gadget that is sometimes actively used by resellers when negotiating with the car owner is an electronic scanner. For example, by connecting to the vehicle’s diagnostic connector you can deliberately select the wrong engine in the device menu. In this case, of course, many different errors will appear on the device screen. Or they do it even more simply: the reseller, with a slight movement of his hands, shows on the laptop monitor with a running scanner program a previously saved screenshot of checking another car – of course with errors. And problems with the engine, gearbox and other serious components and assemblies are also a good reason to reduce the price of the vehicle.
There are also less sophisticated “arguments”. So, a cunning buyer can run his finger over the brake disc and sigh sadly: they say that it is (allegedly) already thin and needs to be replaced almost immediately. That’s why we need to lower the price of the car! But the fact is that the drive is a consumable item. Just like brake pads and oil filters! That means one thing: the condition of the brake discs has no influence on the price of the car. But this technique works on ‘blondes’ of both sexes.
An equally ‘smart’ way to reduce the price is to discover some sort of ‘motor problem’. Perekup unscrews the oil filler cap on the valve cover and examines it with a shrewd eye. Be aware that if there is an emulsion on it, this is a sign that antifreeze is getting into the oil – a result of a failed cylinder block gasket. But on some perfectly serviceable engines, over time a small white coating appears on them, which has nothing to do with the emulsion. The dealer, who sees him, widens his eyes and announces that the engine is almost dead and that he can only buy such a car very cheaply and only out of great condescension towards the seller.
A good dealer has other methods in his arsenal to find non-existent problems with a car he wants to buy at a low price. It is impossible to list everything. The seller must keep his ear to the ground and know: if his car works normally and he is confident in its accident-free history, all the new technical “styles” that the buyer suddenly discovers in it during the inspection are nothing more than a fiction. and a “scam” aimed at driving down the price.
photo globallookpress.com
Resellers are smart guys and generally technically savvy. And they use this knowledge not only to find real problems with the car, but also to psychologically condition the owner-seller so that he can reduce the price as much as possible.
A powerful tool in such an attack is a thickness gauge, an electronic device for examining paintwork. With its help you can detect traces of body repairs. But the device can also be calibrated in such a way that it shows ‘thick putty’ under the paint of a car that has actually never had an accident.
If the car is not sold by the first owner, a buyback using a “twisted” thickness gauge will attempt to convince the person that their car was allegedly in an accident and was owned by one of the previous owners. And a broken car is a cheap car…
The second gadget that is sometimes actively used by resellers when negotiating with the car owner is an electronic scanner. For example, by connecting to the vehicle’s diagnostic connector you can deliberately select the wrong engine in the device menu. In this case, of course, many different errors will appear on the device screen. Or they do it even more simply: the reseller, with a slight movement of his hands, shows on the laptop monitor with a running scanner program a previously saved screenshot of checking another car – of course with errors. And problems with the engine, gearbox and other serious components and assemblies are also a good reason to reduce the price of the vehicle.
There are also less sophisticated “arguments”. So, a cunning buyer can run his finger over the brake disc and sigh sadly: they say that it is (allegedly) already thin and needs to be replaced almost immediately. That’s why we need to lower the price of the car! But the fact is that the drive is a consumable item. Just like brake pads and oil filters! That means one thing: the condition of the brake discs has no influence on the price of the car at all. But this technique works on ‘blondes’ of both sexes.
An equally ‘smart’ way to reduce the price is to discover some sort of ‘motor problem’. Perekup unscrews the oil filler cap on the valve cover and examines it with a shrewd eye. Be aware that if there is an emulsion on it, this is a sign that antifreeze is getting into the oil – a result of a failed cylinder block gasket. But on some perfectly serviceable engines, over time a small white coating appears on them, which has nothing to do with the emulsion. The dealer, who sees him, widens his eyes and announces that the engine is almost dead and that he can only buy such a car very cheaply and only out of great condescension towards the seller.
A good dealer has other methods in his arsenal to find non-existent problems with a car he wants to buy at a low price. It is impossible to list everything. The seller must keep his ear to the ground and know: if his car works normally and he is confident in its accident-free history, all the new technical “styles” that the buyer suddenly discovers in it during the inspection are nothing more than a fiction. and a “scam” aimed at driving down the price.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
