10 Of Your Best Car Buying Stories

1. WRX calamity - Zack Harkness

I was looking at trading a powerstroke and a motorcycle I had for an ‘05 WRX STi. I test drove the STi first, and asked if the seller cared if I left the car idling while we looked at my truck and bike (to make sure it wasn’t going to overheat). So, as we were getting out, my elbow bumped the lock button without me realizing. Then I turned and shut the door. Then he turned and shut his. Then I realized I had left my phone in the cup holder and went to get it. That’s when we realized I had locked his keys in the ignition with the car running. So I asked him if he had a spare, he said he did not. So we ended up having to call the cops to come jimmy the door open for us. Took the police almost three hours to show up and the car nearly ran out of gas.

2. It's a small world - José Ignacio Torrealba Florio

I looked for a new truck for about two months until an ad came up. It was a Brazilian 2001 Chevrolet S10 with a 4.3-litre V6 and 42,000 miles on the odo. When I called the guy he told me that it was already sold to his cousin. I was in love with the truck so in the following days I insisted until the guy put me in touch with his cousin. After one month of harassment he gave me a call and told me he would sell. We agreed to meet. And the meeting was in a different city, my home town! When I got there I found it was also my old neighbour selling the car. And when I got there I found this was a truck that I’d known since I was a kid; first owner was a friend of mine’s grandfather, who sold the truck to his nephew, who sold the truck to his cousin, who was the first owner’s son and therefore my friend’s father. He was remarried to my sister’s childhood best friend… links were everywhere. The truck was mint, the price was lowered, we had a good talk and the truck… I’ll never let it go.

3. A moron just bought my car - Paul-Lewis Nunn

I once had a Renault Megane, 150bhp diesel. I kitted it up like an RS, plus wheels etc but had to sell it to fund the arrival of my daughter. This young lad came to look at it with his mummy. He had a Peugeot 206 GTI 180 bought for him as his first car. He got caught at 100mph+ a week later and banned. His parents sold the GTI and bought him a basic 1.1-litre 206. He apparently threw a massive strop so they said that he could pick something else. The Megane was only about a month out of the paint shop so looked great. The wastegate used to get stuck and make a racket but the kid loved it. Deal done, full price paid.

He left with a load of wheelspin (that abuse guts you when you’ve cared for and spent 1000s on a car). 10 minutes later he’s on the phone. He’s come off of a roundabout onto a dual carriageway with full beans, the boost has caught him out and he stuffed it UNDER the back of a lorry in the slow lane, damaging everything up to and including the windscreen. I didn’t even want to go and look.

4. Hidden gems - Mattalia

When I bought my Fiat Coupe somewhere out in the country near Bristol, I spotted the nose of a BMW 8-series sticking out from a huge barn. I said to him, “Nice 8-series hidden away there.” He asked me if I wanted to take a look. I said “sure.” We walked into the barn, he turned the lights on and not only was there a BMW 8-series there, this barn was PACKED with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, extremely rare Aston Martins and some crazy modded Japanese cars. I was in petrolhead heaven. I spent the whole afternoon in there with him looking at the cars. Turned into a great day out! Turns out he stores cars for collectors. What a great job!

5. Most expensive three miles ever - Race Shelton

I bought a 2002 Diahatsu Cuore for €300, drove it three miles and the steering rack broke. The place wouldn’t give me my money back and it would have cost €350 to fix, so I junked it. Needless to say it was the most expensive three miles of my life…

6. A very 'Murican trade - Cstegg

Once upon a time I had my old Kia Rio delivery vehicle for sale. I made an appointment with someone via text to show the car in a grocery store parking lot. After showing the guy the exterior/underbody/under the hood he asked me if I would consider a trade. I was open for it so while I was closing up the hood and putting back the spare tire in the trunk I turned around and the guy was walking up to me holding an AR15 Rifle. He had it pointed down but it definitely startled me. I really thought I was about to get robbed in the Walmart parking lot!

His offer was the custom made AR15, a chainsaw, and an unopened iPhone 5. I accepted the deal since the value of the items in total were worth significantly more than the car.

After that he test drove the car and we drove into the middle of nowhere to do some target shooting to confirm that the rifle was in working order. He was a pretty cool guy. Everything went better than expected.

7. A chance bargain - Ryan C. Lawson

When I was 17 years old, I was babysitting for a family. I usually went through the front door, but this night they asked me to go through the garage. I walked in, saw a red convertible in the corner of the three bay garage. I thought, “I’ll go check that out when the kids go to sleep.” After the kids fell asleep I went back into the garage and I sighed as I saw in the front of the car, pop up lights… I went to the rear end and it said 240SX. I was so dumbfounded by seeing a car let alone a 240 with 53,000 miles on it.

When they came home I ask him about the car. He said because of the kids he never gets to drive it any more. He asked if I would like to buy it. I asked him how much it would cost. He said he would sell it to me for $500. Immediately after I drove up to the ATM and withdrew the cash, went back to the house and bought the Nissan. What an experience and bargain that was! I’ll never forget seeing that red convertible in the corner… I may never have known, and it might’ve slipped away.

8. Extended test drive - Gabz

I was 19 and was looking to buy my first car. Before I even had the money, I started going to dealers to test drive MX-5s. One time the dealer simply gave me the keys and let me go for a test drive on my own. It was a 1.6-litre first-gen Miata and I loved it! Unfortunately, it was a dealership in a part of town I didn’t really know and my phone’s battery died during the test drive (#datiPhonelife). I was completely lost in a car I didn’t own with no driving license (had to leave it at the dealer). Anyway, after 45 minutes of hooning / trying to find my way back, I got back to the dealership somehow. The guy laughed it off and gave me my papers back. Lad.

I eventually bought a 1.8-litre version (pictured)

9. When test drives go wrong - Matthew Price

About a year ago I quit my job to go to university and had to sell my Mk5 Golf to pay off the loan I had taken out on it and use whatever I had left to buy a replacement car. Needless to say I had a pretty tight budget. While looking for new cars I came across a 2001 Ford Focus Black Edition.
Looked pretty tidy on the pictures and had decent mileage for a car its age, when i went to have a look at it the alloy wheels were kerbed beyond repair, the passenger wing mirror was held on with Sellotape and the rear view mirror was missing, but i thought ‘what the hell’ I can’t be too picky with what I’m planning to spend and I might as well start it up. It started at the first turn of the key and seemed to idle really well.
So I set off down the road, all was well, put it into second gear, yep fine, put into third gear, and snap… the gearstick came off in my hand and the car was stuck in second. I looked at the guy and asked what the hell is going on and without even looking at me mumbled “that’s never happened before.” I then had to drive his car back around to his place stuck in second, he was staring out the passenger window and refused to make eye contact with me. I parked up gave him his key and his gearstick and walked away without saying a word.

10. My car's famous! - Dan Carter

I was selling my old K-reg Nissan 100NX cheap and some guy was desperate to buy it, so he rushed round. I tried to give the usual sales patter but he didn’t take in a word. Barely even looking at the car, he just handed over the cash, signed the log book and drove off. I got inside and looked at his details. He signed it as Cliff something or other, but he was about 20, so I looked up the address, to find it was fake. The next day on the news I found out that it was used as a getaway car in a Post Office robbery.

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