A pretty useless term when applied to a road car. And really misleading. Might as well say buy a Good car .

 

Don't I know it...


Seth K. Pyle

 

Terms like this are subjective at best. Rob Edwards has had a few "well-sorted" cars, evidenced by the careful cataloging and storage of all those little fasteners that hold things together, for instance.

I've visited cars that were represented as "perfect" but really meant "'perfect' considering the miles and condition". Ummmmm... At other times, I've visited cars that included a detailed list of every item, scratch or other defect that kept it from being perfect. Most top-end sellers know that the shorter that list the better the car will sell, even if they get to invest in all the fixes needed to get closer to perfect.

For the most part, "well sorted" means that the major things that keep it from driving reliably are mitigated. How they are mitigated is of course another variable. For most cars in driver status, this description is most applicable. When you get into collector cars or claimed premium examples, the description can go either way; Folks pay a premium to a seller like Wilhoit because they fully inspect and verify the real condition of the car. Things that keep car from being top-tier are fixed, as are any cosmetic problems. I'd add similar weighting to a car PPI's by one of our gurus like Greg Brown, understanding that you still get to fix everything on the list he shares.

 

Well-Sorted is a term which is IMO, way too subjective.

I prefer more "standard" terms, like:
- Excellent
- Very Good
- Good
- Average
- Fair
- Parts Car

Terms like, "well-Sorted" also are lame and overused like, "well-bought" or "well-played"

2c.

 

Most for sale are, well, sordid.

 

Well said.

 

"Well sorted" means heavily used and therefore no surprises (because usage would have brought them to light). It's the opposite of a garage queen that barely gets woken up for its transport from one concourse to another.

Given those definitions, language works by mutual agreement of the masses, and therefore definitions can change over time. And any term can be used to mislead. Especially descriptive terms of things that cannot be readily verified.

However, in the case of "well sorted", I believe verification is pretty easy: take said vehicle for a good "shake down" run. If anything goes wrong, chances are the vehicle was not "well sorted".

 

Well, then my car is VERY well sorted.

 

The proper assumption about words in ads for used cars is that they are all lies. Effort is required to determine their accuracy, judging the integrity of the both the car and the seller. Uncertainty will remain about areas that cannot be easily inspected, and how clever the seller is about slanting or withholding information.

But I think the meaning of "well-sorted" is fairly clear. I bought a car that was not, but now it is approaching that condition - worn parts near the end of their useful life have been replaced (and numerous WYAIT parts) and most other parts have been inspected. There is an accurate list of things that should be done, but they are not mission critical. The car is driven often. There will still be many old parts that may (will) fail, but probably not without warning. The owner will still be wise to have a deluxe towing package.

 

In the listing for my Cayenne S instead of "well sorted" I am stating "well maintained." Meaning you will not have to address any deferred maintenance issues.

Well sorted to me would mean that at some point maintenance had been deferred and hopefully most of those issues has been resolved.

 

The term was originally British and used in motor sports to denote a race car that had been tuned adjusted and balanced so that it all worked well. Of particular sigsignificance in Spec Series where setup and adjustment was th he only real difference......note that mechanical reliability has little to do with being well sorted since " race cars" are ALWAYS. supposed to finish the race

 

James, I really appreciate insights of that kind. And, it even makes sense!

It reminds me of the word "professional." There are only 3: law, medicine and clergy.

Everything else is an overuse of the word professional. Just like well-sorted is way overused.

 

Right, because the "well maintained" descriptor shows a form of completion, in theory. "well sorted" leaves ambiguity

 

James Bailey showed up for the Christmas party in a well-sorted Santa suit.

 

Ha ha ha, you could describe a car as well sorted if all the various parts are in boxes and labeled.