Is it a bad time to sell car ?

[UK345]

I have recently been given a company car which i can use for personal use so my personal car is for sale. It has been for sale for the last month and the only bite i have had is someone offering me half my asking price. The car does have highish miles 110k to be precise but it has a good history. The car is an eight year old Fiesta.

I am surprised noone has bought it yet and just wondering if the car buying market freezes at this time of year or am i trying to sell a car noone wants ?

[steveo3002]

make sure you ad has plenty of quality photos showing all of the car , make sure its clean in the pics

list out the good points and mileage , dont put stuff like average miles

if its priced right it will sell

[UK345]

Thanks for the reply it is much appreciated. I have pictures from all angles of the car. It is priced at £1650 but would snap someones hand off at £1500. Its in good enough nick bar a slight scuff on the rear bumper and surface rust at the bottoms of each of the front wings (common ford problem). I still like the car and have the space to keep it but want to move it on so someone else gets the benefit.

[Bungleaio]

Not just you, I've had mine up for a month and no calls. I've got good photos, ad is well written and the price is only just the lowest for a none cat C or D car on auto trader.

I will be part exchanging it on Thursday which is a shane but at least I've had use of it for the past few weeks, it would have been tricky if I had sold it straight away.

[anonymous-user]

Are you advertising it in a good place for that sort of car, e.g. Autotrader or are you relying on local/free ads?

If your advert is good with decent pics and its in a popular place for buyers then that just leaves the price.

[UK345]

Its advertised on a free ads website at the moment. I have sold some price cars ive had on there at this sort of price. There is some competitors but my car seems to have more goodies than the ones they are advertising. Again they all seem to still be for sale. I was thinking of putting it on autotrader but it is £56 for 6 weeks advertising.

[gizlaroc]

I put my 2006 2.0T A4 S-Line Avant up on Gumtree of all places, it is 105k miles on a 55 plate.

I put it up for £3950 and have been unindated with enquiries.

I was offered £3800 which I said OK to, but the car I was meant to be collecting yesterday the guy decided he was no longer selling.

So I would say if a car is not selling, it is simply priced wrong, or advertised poorly.


Edit: I sold my Merc ML 2 months ago, again, sold in 3 days for full asking price and had over half a dozen people standing by in case anything fell though.
Just be realistic with price, honest with the description and take decent photos.

[zapbranny]

Don't think so. Sold one on Ebay 7 day sale, got a price I was happy with and the buyer was genuine.

[BuzzBravado]

steveo3002 said:

if its priced right it will sell

This is all it comes down to.

[fivepointnine]

I think it is, I have our car (58 plate Cadillac BLS v6 turbo) on ebay, gumtree and autotrader with one offer of a swap and one offer of half my asking price (im considering the swap, its a high mileage petrol A8). I have high res photos, well written and am priced 1k less than the only other comparable car (and that one has more miles and no sat-nav) within 200 miles.

I have also been trying to sell my immaculate, yet high mileage Civic Type R with one offer that was way low.

Maybe I just suck at selling cars lol.

[TokyoRich]

I think the market has bifurcated, if its a late model diesel or hybrid then things seem to be selling if not its sticking. My wife has stock of around 10 imports and nothing is really shifting recently. Usually the market goes quiet between November and Feb / March so I would push hard now and accept your lowest price or hold it till the spring if you don't mind paying the tax / MOT.

[TokyoRich]

fivepointnine said:

I think it is, I have our car (58 plate Cadillac BLS v6 turbo) on ebay, gumtree and autotrader with one offer of a swap and one offer of half my asking price (im considering the swap, its a high mileage petrol A8). I have high res photos, well written and am priced 1k less than the only other comparable car (and that one has more miles and no sat-nav) within 200 miles.

I have also been trying to sell my immaculate, yet high mileage Civic Type R with one offer that was way low.

Maybe I just suck at selling cars lol.

I like these, but not many people look for them as they are quite rare.. If I were you I would try to poke around a few private ads and see if people would look at a PX, you may get a much better price than a straight trade sale. Out of interest, what are you looking for? Feel free to PM me, if you like anything that my wife has in stock (all Japanese imports) then I am sure I can persuade her.

[Challo]

Mine was up for a month. Plenty of messages about is it for sale or whats your best price but only 2 people came to look at the car.

Mine is cheaper than most, does need a little bit of work but overal in good condition.

I think just luck on who is looking at the time.

[SteveSteveson]

UK345 said:

110k...eight year old Fiesta.

I suspect that may have something to do with it. For most people in the market for a Fiesta 110k is a car about to explode or something. People on here may look at it and say "Not bad. Only 8 years old and been run. Should be worth another 50k no problem as long as I budget for a few suspension bits". Your average Fiesta buyer will look and go "110k! It must be almost dead! Why would I buy that when I can buy this one for the same price that has only got 60k on it and its only 4 years older, and only driven to town and back by one lady owner!"

[UK345]

I suppose it is a waiting game and finally someone somewhere will crawl out the woodwork and bite the bullet. I think it is well priced but have since seen some lower mileage examples for about £200 more. Two competitors I currently have there cars priced at £1295 and one £1600. These cars are either finished in undesirable colours or don't have the same specification as mine. I am tempted to put it on autotrader or maybe even try out eBay.

[Easternlight]

UK345 said:

Its advertised on a free ads website at the moment. I have sold some price cars ive had on there at this sort of price. There is some competitors but my car seems to have more goodies than the ones they are advertising. Again they all seem to still be for sale. I was thinking of putting it on autotrader but it is £56 for 6 weeks advertising.

Could be the best £56 you've ever spent.

Just ask yourself this question
Where's the first place you look for another car?

Edited by Easternlight on Tuesday 13th October 20:44

[Mr Gear]

UK345 said:

I have recently been given a company car which i can use for personal use so my personal car is for sale. It has been for sale for the last month and the only bite i have had is someone offering me half my asking price. The car does have highish miles 110k to be precise but it has a good history. The car is an eight year old Fiesta.

I am surprised noone has bought it yet and just wondering if the car buying market freezes at this time of year or am i trying to sell a car noone wants ?

What did the last 110,000 mile 8 year old Fiesta sell for, and was it better than yours?

If you're in the market for an old Fiesta, there are loads of low-mileage granny-owned cars to choose from, so unless your car is mega-cheap, it won't sell any time soon.

[Bungleaio]

You get some back through quidco for listing on Autotrader.

Typically after having my car advertised for 4 weeks I get a call this evening however I have arranged to part exchange it in against my new car on Thursday morning and he couldn't view until the weekend.

[klunkT5]

Easternlight said:

Could be the best £56 you've ever spent.

Just ask yourself this question
Where's the first place you look for another car?

Edited by Easternlight on Tuesday 13th October 20:44

Ebay

[anonymous-user]

If it is not selling its down to pictures and price, to be honest even bad pictures would not matter if it was priced low enough.

If its not selling the price is too high.