The UK’s go-to online car buying service, webuyanycar, has revealed some of the weird and wonderful items its customers left behind after selling their car in 2022.
With over 500 branches nationwide, it’s no wonder the webuyanycar branch managers encounter a few interesting items left behind by motorists, with branch managers saying they come across around five misplaced items each week – that’s almost 130,000* forgotten items a year! From the understandable to the downright shocking, the list includes a lot more than the typical wallets, spare change and charging cables.
Perhaps the most astonishing discovery was a baby, which both mum and dad thought the other had taken out of the car – thankfully the webuyanycar branch managers in Cumbernauld, Glasgow, was quite happy to babysit until the panicked parents were able to return!
Similarly, manager at webuyanycar’s branch in Kingston Retail Park, Newcastle, was surprised to find man’s best friend in the back of a car purchased last year – the dog was swiftly collected by his frantic owner a short while later.
Other belongings abandoned in cars include a bottle of ketchup, a ‘lucky’ hardboiled egg, a photo of a llama, athletes foot cream, champagne, a kebab, a passport and a wheelchair.
Richard Evans, head of technical services for webuyanycar, said: “Having bought more than 3 million cars over the years, it’s really no surprise our team comes across a few misplaced or forgotten items in cars. Webuyanycar strives to go above and beyond for our customers and sometimes that involves reuniting them with the strange things left behind by motorists.
“We do have a golden piece of advice for future customers: If you’ve just sold your car, have you checked to make sure you took everything out?!”
The manager at webuyanycar’s Cambridge branch were certainly surprised to find £2,000 in cash left in one car, alongside the keys to a pub, while a buyer in Milton Keynes was amused to find a suitcase full of fancy dress costumes.
The most common items left behind are cables and chargers, with 85 percent of webuyanycar buyers saying they’ve come across these after a sale. Next on the list are CDs or cassettes (72 percent), spare change (70 percent), dashcams (57 percent), keys (56 percent) shopping bags (54 percent) and child car seats at 31 percent.
Webuyanycar branch managers also revealed that 69 percent of customers celebrate when they complete the sale of their car, with the majority (92 percent) going in for an enthusiastic handshake, while some 15 percent will whoop or cheer, seven percent even break out into a little dance or jig and another 5 percent go wild with an air punch.
The most unusual items left in webuyanycar vehicles in 2022
- Dog – Kingston Retail Park, Newcastle
- A baby – Cumbernauld, Glasgow
- Photo of a llama – Southend Branch, Essex
- Children’s toys – West Bromwich, Staffordshire
- Bottle of ketchup – Beckton, London
- Lucky hardboiled egg – Fleet, Hampshire
- Wheelchair – Hornsey, London
- £2,000 and keys to a pub – Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
- A rat – Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Passport – Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Loose cat litter – Milton Keynes, Bucks
- UPVC Window – Bridlington, North Yorkshire
- Athletes foot cream – Birchwood, Merseyside
- A single wellington boot – Aldershot, Hampshire
- Christmas presents under the spare tyre – Hinckley, Leicestershire
- Child’s car seat – Imperial Retail Park, Bristol
- iPad – Imperial Retail Park, Bristol
- Bike – Imperial Retail Park, Bristol
- Champagne – Truro, Cornwall
- Floppy disc – Milton Keynes, Bucks
- A kebab – Folkstone, Kent
- A bible – Pontypridd, Wales
- A set of golf clubs – Andover, Hampshire
- Suitcase of fancy dress costumes – Andover, Hampshire
