I could do with some 2p's worth from anyone who fancies chipping in on this one
I did a deal on the QP from Superior Cars although it has taken a few weeks to get to this point for various reasons. I agreed a price of £17k with Steve when it was up for £17995 subject to a specialist inspection from Migliore and paid a £500 refundable deposit if the car wasn't as described.
Vic @ Migliore kindly went to inspect the car for me today. I have also found out that a previous buyer who pulled out of a previous sale in September had the car inspected by Migliore when they had the car in recently to have the variators done. The deal fell through so it went back on the market for £19k. Initially the car was up for £21k in the summer I believe then £18k before the variators then £19k after. Vic said the car is decent enough and has a few little cosmetic bits but for a 9 year old car with 57k miles is as you would expect. I am fine with this.
However he specifically mentioned that front tyres were cracked which was a bit strange. The brakes are not in great shape and although they are fine for the moment will need replacing soon but not immediately. Lastly the air con compressor was worn/noisy and is likely to be on its way out. It may last 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 5 years who knows but it was showing signs of wear and failure is likely at some point.
I went back to Steve and said I was fine with the tyres/brakes as I can replace those as consumables over time. Although on reflection I'm not sure I'm happy with cracked tyres now. It is/was well overdue its 2 year service which should have been done in Jan 2016 latest really and the air con compressor was an issue. Vic told me it is £600 for the a/c part and maybe £200 to fit. The oil/filter was changed when the variators was done so maybe £500 to do the balance of the service to get that up to date. Therefore I thought that is £1300 that needs spending so I offered to split that 50/50 with Steve so sale price at £16350.
Steve came back and didn't see it the same way and said thanks for the offer but no thanks. He will/has reduce the price on Ebay to £16995 until the end of the listing and see what he gets. If he sells it for more then fine if he doesn't he will let me have it for £16350 when the listing ends if unsold.
Now I don't want to renege on a deal and I don't want to seem unreasonable. However the inspection has thrown a curveball. Should I not worry about these things and continue with the deal at £17k? Should I walk away? Or should a fair point be somewhere in between?
The service now added to the listing on 01.09.16 @ 57,000 miles by a maserati specialist is not totally accurate as that was an oil/filter change only when the variators were done. Nothing else was done.
A penny for your thoughts??