Buy a car, they said. It’s easy, they said.
I’d like to think I’m a bit of a Carsales.com.au professional, self-proclaimed any way. There isn’t a car advertised on that website I don’t know about, and I’ve figured out all the crucial keywords to find exactly what I’m looking for. The typical internet user spends time on the usual sites; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube for example. But me, I’m normally kicking back and cruising through Carsales. There’s just something so relaxing about looking at what’s available, and the daydream of owning something you’ve stumbled upon.
It’s a bit of an addiction, but more so a curse! It’s come to the point that I’ve recently started a group on Facebook called The Great Aussie Caryard just to share all my (I think, awesome) finds with the greater public. Why not? If I can’t have them, somebody else should, and I always feel like I find cars that deserve great owners. The circle of life!
From once an enjoyable hobby of just browsing, it’s a little daunting actually using it to look for a new car. You would think, being a professional car hunter and all, that I’d find a new car in less time it takes you to say ‘sesquipedalian’ (FYI: sesquipedalian means someone that uses big words) Well, you thought wrong.
It’s easy enough searching for a car when it’s nothing but a daydream. It’s where your inner six-year-old self can fantasise about those perfect examples found in motoring. Whether it be cruising down the highway in your ‘69 Camaro SS, or thrashing through the touges in a heavily modified MX-5. It’s all so easy to find a car you will probably never own.
In my mind, Carsales is just a community of people who are trying to sell a product that they are unsure of most of the time. Somewhere deep down inside, they don’t want to let go of a car that’s worth more in sentiment than in currency. There seems to be a bit of hesitation. It’s come to a point where I feel like a buyer has to convince an owner to let the car go, instead of the owner just wanting to let the car go for a reasonable offer, whatever it may be.
I am in the position to buy. I have currency, I have a short list of cars I’m considering and I’ve met with sellers who want to tell me stories irrelevant to the sale, sellers who don’t want to make an effort to have the car available for viewing, sellers who don’t even answer their phones or contact back! I have money, isn’t that why you’ve put your car up for sale?
It shouldn’t be this hard to buy a car. When has it become a seller’s market?