Facebook marketplace

Not seen one for a while, but I live the ads with petrol forecourt and Halfords coolant bottles littering the boot sometimes even “bonnet catch broken - easy fix

Peoples lives seem so chaotic that they can’t even cover up that the thing is borked

New car bought 'cos this one's knackered.

It's actually a question that works surprisingly well and can save you a lot of time. I always ask it on private sales and it's a good way to weed out driveway traders who aren't ready for the question, and private sellers often fluster, making up some obvious lies from the way they are talking and giving you an overly complicated story about it being a family member's car, they are moving abroad etc, which instantly translates as the car is fked, we hope you'll come buy it without a test drive so the EML doesn't come on.

Even worse when they say they have the parts to fix whatever the "issue" it has is. Usually a warning light that they swear just need the sensor replacing.

Can't help read those and feel if it really was the sensor you'd have done it by now and sold it without the issue...

No, "My dad is in hospital and I need a car to go and visit him today?", or "My children live with the mother in Manchester and I need a car to visit them today" or "My car was written off today and I have a disabled child. Would you be able to hold this for me until pay day?" offering half the money sob stories yet?

Good luck with that! You get the same time-wasters but you have to pay c.£50 for the privilege, and they still won't offer you more than 2 grand for it, then begins the arrangements to come view it only to never hear from them again.

Yes, that is exactly it. The FB crowd in particular have this belief that everyone selling a car is a trader and will provide them with finance facilities and full back-up if/when it goes wrong a year later and will also give them their money back if they change their mind. I've had it several times when selling vehicles across the platforms where they expect you to bring the car to them to view, like they are doing you some sort of favour! And they are genuinely offended and shocked when you decline their bold suggestion. I am convinced that there is another dimension to this world where all these people reside - particularly FB users - and they drift through life getting absolutely nothing done to change or improve their lot because they believe the world revolves around them and people will do everything for them, for free.

I used to know a coded welder, who definately would give you a guarantee on his work, provided you paid £1000 to have it x rayed

I believe this is the world my ex wifes family live in. All of them are on benefits and have never done a days work in their life. They have made their lives infinitely more complicated by having loads of children and animals. They have been given a brand new Motability car in the past but moaned about it as the seats "hurt my back" and it is "rubbish on fuel" (It was a 1.6 Astra).

Only one of them has a driving licence and none of them have a passport or have ever been abroad. Constantly moaning about their situation and going on about how "lucky" I am.

Always saying how busy they are "doing housework" yet the houses are an absolute dump and there are piles of junk lying around. Somehow their clothes are absolutely ruined after a few washes and look like they are from a jumble sale.

Her sister came to visit our house once and went on about how lucky we were. I think she believes that the council should be handing out nice houses to people like her who just stopped going to school at 15 and started breeding.

They constantly moan about every thing as if it is someone else's fault, yet don't understand they how lucky they are that they don't have to work and have all the time in the world to improve their situation.

Spot on, the car would always have the fuel light on. If they needed to go somewhere they would put £5 in at a time. They would only ever drive on local roads as why would anybody ever need to leave the town they were born in? We lived 60 miles away but they never came to visit us in 7 years as nobody could drive that far in a day, it was too far and the motorway is too scary.

Not that they would drive it anywhere as the only one with a licence hated driving anywhere and "it gives me a bad back". He had an ingrown hair on his back that got infected and he was convinced the car caused it.

I borrowed it for a couple of weeks when my shed died, it had 110 miles on the clock and was filthy inside. I filled it to the brim with fuel and thought how lovely it was to drive compared to my shed. This is a car given to them that they moaned about, whilst I am working full time driving a shed.

Anyway, these are the people who are constantly on Facebook going on about what great mums they are, how much they love their grand children and posting up constant posts about having depression or borderline personality disorder.