Ive stuck my sisters/dads Grand Vitara on ebay and it met its reserve within an hour which was a bit of a jaw dropper ( 6 days to go yet ) as I didnt think it would go much beyond the reserve.
It isnt a mint car or anything ( its pretty good but it was a city car so plenty of little scratches etc ) and it is nearly ten years old. What has struck me is the level of interest from people - its almost a full time job handling enquiries on it.
Why is a 1.6, base model, 9 year old 4x4 of such interest to anyone in the middle of a recession and when petrol is sky-high?
I really thought it would be a pig to sell but its looking like the total opposite. It seems totally at odds with what common sense would suggest.
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LQQKS like a tidy little mota to me comrade - is black unusual?
Only 1 bid @ the mo but as you say - 6 days left, right.
Good tyres, taxed & tested, low miles - you may well be surprised yet!
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Have we not seen this before on ebay?
Loads of initial 'interest' leading the vendor to think there will be a queue of buyers.
But not many prepared to put their cash where their interest was.
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Yeah ... I've just had another butchers and it looks like a little blinder mate,
only concern (for me) would be what's the critter been a'towing?
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To answer the question, yes they are. What other tidy little 4x4 can you get for that price?
If your lucky that will go to £1900.
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The previous owner before my sister was a woman who worked abroad alot, didnt sound like the type to go towing and you would imagine if someone ( the first owner ) was going to buy a car to tow, they would have bought the diesel rather than the weediest petrol.
I expect you could get a RAV4 for that money, maybe a Shogun Pinin or a Honda HRV - my sister looked at all these before she went for this GV. True, these were better value at the time, but values close up as they get older.
It is spot on mechanically though and they are stupidly reliable, the main reason my sister bought one. Maybe that is why people covet them.
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Stu, its quite common in the first day or so to have a reserve met - folk just bid up until the "reserve met" appears.
Its also not uncommon to then see that bid being withdrawn in the next couple of days.
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>> - folk just bid up until the "reserve met" appears.
If there's no reserve and you're the only bidder, increasing your bid doesn't change the item price ie. if the starting price is 99p and you bid £10, the price remains 99p because that's what you'd pay if you won the auction.
But it's different if there's a reserve? I don't think I've bid on an item with a reserve price before.
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>> I don't think I've bid on an item
>> with a reserve price before.
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I think that it just shows the highest bid that is made, but with the words "reserve not met" if the bid is under the reserve price.
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They are ideal for girlie girls because they are seen as tough but still small enough to park in t between lines at a supermarket/parking space
if it was a little older the off road boys/girlies like to play tonka toys in them so they rarely come up for less than a €1000 unless really nasty nasty
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>>
>> They are ideal for girlie girls
'Ere you !..................want the lads round ?
Ted
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So are they any good off-road then? I drove it three miles down the road and that was enough to convince me they aint made for the tarmac - short wheelbase equals bumpy ride and short gearing means anything above 40mph is a bit loud.
I suspect this does translate to good off-road qualities though along with the lack of the usual bodykit and silly wheels.
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Oh yes they are brill off road don't know if they're as good as the SJ though, with the right tyres on they'll go where many heavier ones won't.
Hope you get some good money for that.
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Over two grand....well done!
Last edited by: kb on Mon 7 Jun 10 at 18:14
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Ha, we shall see. They have a Malta address, seems a long way to come for an old Vitara! I wont hold my breath :-)
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Makes sense to me, judging by the state of Maltese roads last time i was there little chance of anything modern and European lasting more than a week.
Worse than Rockingham Road Kettering if that's imaginable.
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Maybe worth a polite (crawling) message to the other bidders asking if they'd be interested if the Malteser melts in the mouth?
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Nah, ill just relist to end on Saturday and ban overseas bidders. Its no biggie, should have done it before really.
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well I was wrong the good news on the low side.
The Malteser could be genuine, it would make a good hire car in malta.
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Oh yes, could be genuine, will have to see. Even so, the listing got enough interest so Im sure it will go one way or another.
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Well, ive had contact, its looking up. Dont know why people dont read this listing though, if I was doing payment thro paypal, id have put that on the listing. I never do paypal with cars because I want someone to see the car before they pay so theres no changing of minds after money has changed hands.
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watch his money dont melt in your hand
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A bit of detective work yielded results. A woman called Ruth, indeed lives in Malta and I know her birthday and where she works. Great tool Google. Even better when people are on social networking sites.
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Im happier now as she has confirmed that she doesnt want to do anything tricky like register it outside of the UK, my only real concern up till now.
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Just had contact from the relative who is collecting the car on the winners behalf. The car is going to be exported to Malta as was suggested, apparently getting good use cars there isnt so easy.
They sai dit was going via Heathrow - do they fly cars out then?
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Car finally went today. Apparently it will be in a container by the weekend on its way to a sunnier home.
The reason it was bought from the UK is apparently price. Good used cars go for serious money over there as there is a shortage and he reckoned that this Vitara would sell for around the £7k mark if you had to buy it in Malta. The import taxes are high, apparently around £2k for the Vitara but its still a massive discount on buying locally.
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Are Vitaras that sought after? - Dog
