The first message to a seller: questions that save you trips

A viewing costs half a day, a whole one for a car in another city. A good enquiry costs ten minutes and weeds out the cars where the papers, the history or the seller already do not fit.

It has a second effect: it shows the seller that someone here is seriously interested and has looked into the car. Such enquiries are answered first and in more detail than a “Still available?”.

A good first message has a simple form: a greeting, a note of which car it is about, three to five questions, when you could view it, and your name. That is all it needs, and less is not enough.

What does not belong in it is the question about the lowest price. No seller answers it sensibly before someone has seen the car, and it puts you in the queue of people who never turn up. You talk about price once you know what you are looking at.

The first message is not meant to settle everything, only what would make a trip unnecessary. Those are the questions about papers, ownership and history — everything that cannot be answered by a look under the bonnet.

Not all questions are worth the same. These weed out the most:

How the answer is given matters as much as what it says. A seller who sends the chassis number without fuss, attaches a photo of the service book and says where and how damage was repaired has little to hide. One who dodges, wants to show the number “at the viewing” or answers only in generalities has their reasons.

Put the answers next to the listing. Contradictions — a different mileage, a different year, an accident on a listing that says “no accident damage” — are the point at which you ask again or stop.

Not everything can be settled by message, and it does not need to be. How the engine starts from cold, how the car drives, whether the original papers match the number on the car — that belongs at the viewing. The enquiry only decides whether the trip is worth making.

Say what you intend to do: cold engine, test drive, a look underneath. A seller who knows that in advance and agrees is a good sign; one who already hesitates at the announcement saves you the trip.

With a dealer the questions shift. Papers and ownership are usually settled; what counts is what the price includes: reconditioning, a fresh roadworthiness test, a service before handover, registration, a warranty beyond the statutory one. Ask explicitly — “included” means something different at every dealer.

Also ask whether VAT can be shown, if you can reclaim it as a business, and whether a trade-in is possible. Then get the offer in writing, with every item. A dealer who refuses is telling you something too.

There is an enquiry form on the listing. You do not need an account, just your name, your email address and the message. The seller sees exactly that, together with the listing in question — no address and no phone number unless you write them in yourself.

You get a confirmation by email, and the seller's reply lands directly in your inbox; Carvexia does not sit in between. Your account does not collect sent enquiries, so keep the confirmation email. And bear in mind: your email address is the way back and therefore visible to the seller.

Most sellers reply factually, some briefly, some at length — that is temperament, not a warning sign. Pay attention to replies that try to steer the conversation off the normal route: away from the car, towards payment, urgency or another channel.

Some replies end the conversation before it has begun. How these patterns fit together is set out in detail in the guide on car-buying fraud; the most common ones show up in the very first reply:

If the answers fit, suggest two specific slots, in daylight and at a time when the engine will be cold beforehand. Ask for the original papers to be ready, and check the exact address. Coming as two people means seeing more and being pushed less.

What to check at the viewing, and in what order, is in the guide on the twenty-minute viewing.