Take a look elsewhere
03/15/2025
It's a familiar scenario: a rainy Sunday, the computer is on - or the cell phone is in my hand - and the usual places for used cars are called up. Of course, I visit our own marketplace first. It always provides us with inspiration for stories and topics, even if you're not a "buyer", as an old Swiss-German salesman expression describes it. But sometimes you don't feel completely satiated. That's no mean feat, we browse through our offers every day. That's when I like to think outside the box and look beyond the language barrier, preferably to places where you never know exactly what to expect because there's a colorful hodgepodge on offer - a digital flea market.
One site that I particularly like in this respect is www.leboncoin.fr.
I was originally interested in looking for old caravans. I'm a big fan of classic caravans from the French manufacturer Notin and especially Hénon. There will be a story about this remarkable caravan builder from the northern French town of Albert one day, I promise!
But back to leboncoin.fr! The site is relatively easy to navigate, even if you don't speak French. However, it helps, especially when it comes to making contact, if you know the language. Admittedly, I've never bought anything there and sometimes contacting the sellers is rather difficult; the great thing is that most sellers are non-commercial, the downside is that some don't even respond to an inquiry from abroad. Nevertheless, the interested party is shown the percentage of advertisers who can be expected to respond. To make an inquiry, you have to set up a free account, which should put a stop to the usual nonsense. Ultimately, however, it is a classifieds platform on the Internet - with all its advantages and disadvantages, and you use it at your own risk.
As already mentioned, I have never bought anything there. But rummaging through it also has a highly informative purpose. The surprisingly diverse, yet very regional world of French caravans, for example, can be explored wonderfully with the help of the classified ads. Do you know Mettmann from Alsace, the caravans from Val de Loire or a Baillou? Does a Fleurette or Chollet mean something to you? Studying classified ads is extremely interesting for this reason alone. What's more, many of the pictures give you a voyeuristic look inside these caravans, one of which you may have come across on a campsite or behind an old farmhouse somewhere in the French Pampas. And the content, which is often pre-filtered and correctly priced by dealers, enthusiasts and insiders, is largely absent from this veritable pinboard.
On leboncoin.fr, those who simply want to get rid of their goods, empty the barn, the backyard or the garage advertise. What I have forgotten: Of course, there are also tons of cars on leboncoin.fr. First-hand purchases are definitely possible. What I personally like is that the French are generally quite open and honest about their used cars. What you see in the pictures usually corresponds to the prices asked for them. C'est trés sympa!
By the way, this somehow fits in here: If you have time, you might do it like an old friend of mine, without the Internet. He used to park his classic French Simca or Traction Avant in front of a bistro with outdoor seating in the French provinces, sit down and wait for someone to start a conversation with him - about the car, of course. Sometimes these conversations led to an old garage, a barn or a workshop where this or that exciting object was still parked because the local conversation partner knew about it or knew someone there. But that just takes time.
