Lesson 1: do your research

That Honda’s slipping through my fingers, you know.

Turns out the guy selling it hadn’t considered a Mini until I contacted him and, at first, was quite keen to hear more. I supplied all of the relevant information, but made the mistake of not double-checking the market value of my car first. Had I done so, I could have made a far better offer than a near-swap. Mine’s worth about a grand less than I thought, if you look privately i.e. ignoring stupid dealer prices. He might have even bitten at the first contact. As it is, the opportunity’s almost dead now.

Now, I could go back to him and tell him, “Actually, I could drop my car’s price by a grand,” but that might appear a little too desperate — too big a first move. The bargaining power would be firmly back with him. That said, since I enquired, he’s dropped the price of the S2000 by another £250, so he must be getting twitchy too. God, it’s a delicate business, this.

In fact, I think I’m gonna have to sleep on it before I send the next email. I might need a Horlicks, though.

Update: so much for playing it cool. Just 15 minutes after typing the above, I sent the email. I’ve offered to drop my price by “almost £1000” Let’s see how that goes down. :)