Test Drive Tests Credibility
I’m selling a large 1300cc motorbike. A keen buyer has arranged to come and have a look at it, so I’m wheeling it out of my garage for her.
Buyer: “Oh, it’s gorgeous. I’ve been riding big bikes for years. Can I take it out for a test ride?”
Me: “Can I see your insurance?”
Buyer: “I don’t have any yet.”
Me: “Well… then no. It’s an expensive machine. But I can take you as a passenger, show you how it runs.”
Buyer: “I know what I’m doing. I won’t damage it, not on a short ride, just to the end of the street and back.”
I hesitate, but she perseveres, and her enthusiasm gets the better of me. So, against my better judgement, I hand her the keys. She climbs on, fires it up, moves forward—and immediately drops it. Hard.
The metal scrapes, some paint chips, and my stomach sinks.
Me: “…Right. That’s exactly what I was worried about.”
Buyer: *Flustered.* “Sorry! Sorry! I’ll buy it. Don’t worry, I’ll buy it.”
Inside, we sit down while she pulls out her phone to sort insurance, at my insistence. Despite the damage she’s caused, I still want to make sure she know what she’s doing.
Me: “So you have riding experience with big bikes like this?”
Buyer: “I’ve been riding for years!”
Me: “Big bikes?”
Buyer: *Avoiding eye contact.* “Well… 125s. Back home.”
Me: “Back home?”
Buyer: “In [Different Country]. I’ve only just got my licence here. I rode my friend’s 600 a few times!”
Me: “You do realise this is a 1300? Ten times bigger than what you’re used to?”
Insurance quotes flash up on her screen, and due to her lack of riding history, each one is more astronomical than the last. Eventually, by some miracle, she gets it insured. She leaves, texting later that she’s “so happy with the bike.”
Two days pass. My phone pings again.
Buyer: “I want to return it. It’s too big for me. You should have told me it wasn’t the right bike.”
Me: *Remembering the chipped paintwork.* “You dropped it before you even rode it. You insisted you’d been riding big bikes for years. No refund.”
Buyer: “But it’s too big! I’ve almost crashed twice!”
Me: “It’s a good thing you have insurance, then! Good luck!”
I ignore her after that, and she reports me to the online selling page I used to sell the bike. Since the page doesn’t get involved in user disputes (it’s social media, not eBay), nothing comes of it, but I’ve stopped using that page to sell anything else because of experiences like this.
