Do people not sell cars privately anymore?
Discussion
South tdf said:
Never had a problem selling cars privately, I can honestly say apart from one idiot on a Cayman S I have sold every car to the 1st person who viewed.
Example being I sold my mother’s 2011 Audi A3 TFSI Quattro a couple of weeks ago for the asking price of £10,500 after a WBAC value of £8650 and a well known Audi specialist verbally offering £8500. To be fair I might of undersold it as I had 9 calls on it within the first 48 hours with the first a caller driving half way across the country to put a deposit on it. It was a hassle free sale, the buyer did not even drive it but I guess it was helped by a no expense spared Audi service history and extended Audi warranty.
Sub £2k spread on WBAC does seem cheap, even at £10k.Example being I sold my mother’s 2011 Audi A3 TFSI Quattro a couple of weeks ago for the asking price of £10,500 after a WBAC value of £8650 and a well known Audi specialist verbally offering £8500. To be fair I might of undersold it as I had 9 calls on it within the first 48 hours with the first a caller driving half way across the country to put a deposit on it. It was a hassle free sale, the buyer did not even drive it but I guess it was helped by a no expense spared Audi service history and extended Audi warranty.
Also A3s seem incredibly rare for some reason.
i only buy and sell privately. wouldn't use a dealer. I like to see the person I'm buying from ( this can give a good impression about the car you are looking at ). also, you do get more money for what you are selling ( all depends on the type of car and the desirability though ).
only problem is, they do take a bit of searching for the right car and I have often not even got out the car when pulled up at some houses. gut feeling most the time.
only problem is, they do take a bit of searching for the right car and I have often not even got out the car when pulled up at some houses. gut feeling most the time.
Sold my Mazda in October privately. With some help from this forum, I priced it correctly and sold it to the first person who viewed it.
I think the issue is a lot of private sellers price their car too high. Yes, we all want to get the maximum amount of money from our sale. However, you get to a point where people simply aren't interested.
The golden rule is to be sensible. If you want it sold, price it accordingly. If you want a lot of money for it, it has to be special, has to be desirable and you need to find the right buyer. This can take time.
There are a lot of people who buy on price alone. They could see something much better for a few hundred more, but would go with the cheaper option because it initially costs less.
Funnily enough, when I put my car on AutoTrader, it told me to price it higher than I wanted to. This put it in the bracket of diesel private sales (mine was petrol). I didn't do this as I wanted it gone. I wanted £2k for it and got £1950 in the end.
People do sell and buy privately. The pricing just needs to be sensible.
Oh yes, there are indeed a lot of shady dealers attempting private sales on AutoTrader and the like.
I think the issue is a lot of private sellers price their car too high. Yes, we all want to get the maximum amount of money from our sale. However, you get to a point where people simply aren't interested.
The golden rule is to be sensible. If you want it sold, price it accordingly. If you want a lot of money for it, it has to be special, has to be desirable and you need to find the right buyer. This can take time.
There are a lot of people who buy on price alone. They could see something much better for a few hundred more, but would go with the cheaper option because it initially costs less.
Funnily enough, when I put my car on AutoTrader, it told me to price it higher than I wanted to. This put it in the bracket of diesel private sales (mine was petrol). I didn't do this as I wanted it gone. I wanted £2k for it and got £1950 in the end.
People do sell and buy privately. The pricing just needs to be sensible.
Oh yes, there are indeed a lot of shady dealers attempting private sales on AutoTrader and the like.
Hate selling cars privately. My Honda Accord luckily sold to the 2nd viewer, the 1st one was a 'Honda Technician' despite knowing f
k all about the car and told me it was over priced, why come look at it then?!?!
When we sold the wife's Fiat 500 Autotrader was flooded with them, the ad was up for 4 weeks, only had 1 phonecall, but again luckily that person bought it, otherwise that would have been a WBAC jobby.
She wantss to upgrade her Fiesta to a Cmax, I think I'll be taking the hit on a PX value tbh.
k all about the car and told me it was over priced, why come look at it then?!?!When we sold the wife's Fiat 500 Autotrader was flooded with them, the ad was up for 4 weeks, only had 1 phonecall, but again luckily that person bought it, otherwise that would have been a WBAC jobby.
She wantss to upgrade her Fiesta to a Cmax, I think I'll be taking the hit on a PX value tbh.
Depends on the car and if I know it has faults. If it does have faults or is an unpopular car I'll try trade in and WBAC, otherwise its always via a private sale. Mate had a DS4, took him 5 months to sell it privately and in the end he could have had slightly more from the revised WBAC offer right at the start. I put it down to the DS4 being an unpopular car as he'd had it valeted, wheels refurbed, it was average mileage but good spec, adverts were well done, etc. I sold my S-Max in less than 24 hours for more than the WBAC as a comparison point.
Dr Doofenshmirtz said:
To be honest - if you've got >£3k to spend on a car, chances are you'd be happy to spend a little more and buy from a garage for reassurance. If you buy privately and it turns out to be a lemon, £3k+ is a lot to lose and you're stuffed. And the seller's probably don't care that they're loosing so much money...they just can't afford the time and hassle of selling privately.
Whilst the law might be on your side, trying to get anything out of the sort of garage that sells £3k cars in the event that something has gone wrong with your £3k car is more than likely to be an enormous ballache. Plus, how much of that £3k is just their profit margins? You might as well either save a bit of money and buy the same car privately, or spend the same money and get a slightly newer/nicer condition/lower mileage version privately. But yes, as said, that does mean people actually need to offer them up for sale privately, which seems to be a dying art nowadays!
IMO it depends on what you're selling/buying. We bought our S-max from a dealer for £16k and px'd the Skoda as it was a shed. Nice and easy. I would need to really want the car to spend £16k privately.
Trying to sell the Saab privately for what it owed me in repairs (£1250) over the previous 4 months was impossible so I kept it. An honest description on eBay led to the usual "lowest price" and "how about £500 cash?" questions which are predictable and dull.
Trying to sell the Saab privately for what it owed me in repairs (£1250) over the previous 4 months was impossible so I kept it. An honest description on eBay led to the usual "lowest price" and "how about £500 cash?" questions which are predictable and dull.
Howard- said:
Whilst the law might be on your side, trying to get anything out of the sort of garage that sells £3k cars in the event that something has gone wrong with your £3k car is more than likely to be an enormous ballache.
Very true.Never ceases to amaze me how many buyers assume the sort of sub £3k cars you are referring to here are genuinely good buys when most have been bought at c35% of the sticker price at auction as previous owners discarded tat with all the usual expensive to fix problems.
andy-xr said:
In many cases there's nothing to sell at this price range, easier to trade it in and stick a couple of grand into the deal than go through the hassle of '£1k today cash, will set off now' dheads that I assume must land something with their efforts. I've never seen it work though. And the ones who call, go through every detail, arrange to come and see it and never turn up.
"Give me a ring or text me when you're on your way as I've got some errands to run and won't be at home, but I can get back easily enough if I know you're enroute" has always worked for me. No call or text? Carry on with life as normal and if they turn up out of the blue (they never have for me) and you're not in then that's their own stupid fault.heads that I assume must land something with their efforts. I've never seen it work though. And the ones who call, go through every detail, arrange to come and see it and never turn up.South tdf said:
Never had a problem selling cars privately, I can honestly say apart from one idiot on a Cayman S I have sold every car to the 1st person who viewed.
Same - last 12 cars sold privately but all £10k plus - first buyer every time - the key is the ad and the qualifying - there is a small hardcore population of people who insist on selling/buying privately (like me) and that's not gonna disappear. If anything, now there are less time wasters than before so things are even more seamless. You just need to describe the car fairly and precisely inc history. And make it clear that you won't tolerate time wasters.
If priced right, there will be 1 call and 1 buyer, which is all what's needed. If not, lower the price by £200 every week until you hit the sweetspot.
The saving against trade in for me must be in the 10s of thousands over the years, vs very little effort. As I don't earn £1,000/day, it's well worth it.
Edited by nickfrog on Friday 9th December 13:07
I've sold many cars privately but I really cant be bothered with the hassle anymore. The last few I've either sold to WBAC or directly to a dealer. Like most things these days, I'm happy to pay a bit extra for an easy life.
The constant spam calls/texts/emails, viewers not turning up, silly low offers, fees to sell on eBay, the risk of people coming back moaning about faults and demanding their money back. I'm done with it.
The constant spam calls/texts/emails, viewers not turning up, silly low offers, fees to sell on eBay, the risk of people coming back moaning about faults and demanding their money back. I'm done with it.
I've always sold privately and never PX'd anything (13 of my cars plus a couple for family members). The prices have ranged from £300 to over £7000, usually they have gone to the first person to view (with a couple of exceptions) and it usually has taken 2 weeks to 2 months from posting the first advert to sale. I've had all the moronic texts etc but I've yet to have anyone who's bad news turn up in person.
The rules that I've developed over the years are:
The rules that I've developed over the years are:
- Ignore text messages, serious buyers call or email.
- Never change your schedule to accomodate viewings. Make them work around you, that way you can't be let down.
- Vet your buyers on the phone. No doubt I'd be called several colours of 'ist' if I listed them out but it's plain common sense to avoid those who will be out to scam you or just a tiresome waste of time to deal with. Just say the car is sold if they ring.
- Remember your negotiating position. Someone who's travelled 200 miles on the train or flown to see the car is not going to turn back over £200 here or there.
- Watch them closely when they're looking round the car (particularly the engine bay).
- Start the car yourself, only give them the key for a test drive when you're sat in the passenger seat and get it back before getting out.
- Get the money before filling in the V5C not after.
I would definitely agree its depends what you're selling. I've generally sold all my cars privately in the past and haven't had any issues until this year. Due to a growing family we decided to trade in both cars and lease instead. First car a BMW 118d was on autotrader for less than 24 hours. Buyer called in the morning, viewed the same evening and left deposit to collect the next day. Very nice policeman.
Second car a Civic type R was 8 weeks of frustration, countless emails, messages and phone calls. People arranging to view and not showing, people asking for a million extra HD images and people just making silly offers.
The most frustrating thing I found though was how everyone wants to nail down a price before even viewing it, even though you know they will try again when they arrive.
Leasing now so don't have this problem next time but think I'll be part exing in future.
Second car a Civic type R was 8 weeks of frustration, countless emails, messages and phone calls. People arranging to view and not showing, people asking for a million extra HD images and people just making silly offers.
The most frustrating thing I found though was how everyone wants to nail down a price before even viewing it, even though you know they will try again when they arrive.
Leasing now so don't have this problem next time but think I'll be part exing in future.
After nearly three months of being mucked around something chronic I sold my '73 XJ6 privately yesterday. I had plenty of interest after the first few weeks, but three people didn't turn up having agreed on a time and date to come and have a gander at it. I had two calls from Ireland which didn't pan out (''would ya bring the car to Liverpool for me to have a look at mate...''), two lots of emails from Germany which gave the impression they'd be coming over to see it then all contact ceased and finally, the one which bore fruit was a call and several very nice emails from a Norwegian TV producer who paid close to my asking price, had it collected by a classic car transport company, ready to be shipped out on Monday. I must admit, when he first got in touch I thought 'here we go again' but patience and good will won the day. It may well end up having a Scandinavian grand piano dropped on it from a great height, but having looked at the buyer's online presence it's more likely to get some proper use, he already has a S1 automatic which he's used for his 'Top Gear' style escapades but was specifically after a good manual version to tool around in.
Almost half of the money has already gone on car parts today so I'm a happy chappie. Might be a while before I sell another one privately though!
Almost half of the money has already gone on car parts today so I'm a happy chappie. Might be a while before I sell another one privately though!
I'm trying to buy a snotter (£750 ish) Focus at the moment as a stopgap until a new car is delivered in a few months, and of the 37 cars that fit my criteria on Autotrader, 32 of them are being sold by traders. Now I have nothing against traders as such, but at this end of the market, the car will have been bought for little more than scrap money, and the consumer protection aspect of a dealer purchase when you are talking about cheap snotters is very, very limited. I can't help thinking a private buy would be much better, but people just don't seem to be selling the things privately.
For cheap cars I expect having to deal with the general public is far worse than the potential saving of a few hundred £££.
For more expensive cars I guess people tend to need finance to buy so will require the services of a dealer.
Together with the fact that most people do not own their cars due to leasing is the reason for the low number of private sales.
We all hate the one man band shoddy dealers and we all hate private sales that are not at a significant discount to an equivalent dealer listing.
Luckily I only buy normal cars once every 10 years.
For more expensive cars I guess people tend to need finance to buy so will require the services of a dealer.
Together with the fact that most people do not own their cars due to leasing is the reason for the low number of private sales.
We all hate the one man band shoddy dealers and we all hate private sales that are not at a significant discount to an equivalent dealer listing.
Luckily I only buy normal cars once every 10 years.
Always sold privately. Sold my e46 BMW 3 Series last week after 8 days live on PH. I pitched the price at near the top end of equivalent advertised cars. Had 3 callers. The first was a well informed chap, up to a point, who then politely told me it was overpriced by c£1300 according to his research. Then next day had a buyer at £1000 above the first callers advised price. This chap pulled out at the 11th hour and lost his deposit. It then sold the next day to a delightful chap who had done his homework, knew exactly what he was looking for and paid near asking price. The eventual buyer and I are both really happy with deal which is the way it should be.
Limpet said:
I'm trying to buy a snotter (£750 ish) Focus at the moment as a stopgap until a new car is delivered in a few months, and of the 37 cars that fit my criteria on Autotrader, 32 of them are being sold by traders. Now I have nothing against traders as such, but at this end of the market, the car will have been bought for little more than scrap money, and the consumer protection aspect of a dealer purchase when you are talking about cheap snotters is very, very limited. I can't help thinking a private buy would be much better, but people just don't seem to be selling the things privately.
You are making the mistake of being too picky for your snotter.AT has 778 Focus' within the £500 to £1000 price range on the mobile site. What are you after?
I agree with traders at this price. Although some have said on here it doesn't really matter. Main thing to beware of though is traders selling via private adverts.
funkyrobot said:
You are making the mistake of being too picky for your snotter.
AT has 778 Focus' within the £500 to £1000 price range on the mobile site. What are you after?
I agree with traders at this price. Although some have said on here it doesn't really matter. Main thing to beware of though is traders selling via private adverts.
To be honest, I haven't looked at any yet - going out in anger tomorrow. AT has 778 Focus' within the £500 to £1000 price range on the mobile site. What are you after?
I agree with traders at this price. Although some have said on here it doesn't really matter. Main thing to beware of though is traders selling via private adverts.
Not being too fussy. Ruled out anything with less than 6 months MOT, a diesel or 1.4 petrol engine, 3 doors, visible damage (you would be amazed how many this eliminates), or more than 20 miles away. Unless everything I look at is crap and then I will widen my search area.
Got high hopes for one (at a dealer) tomorrow which looks to tick all the boxes at £700 ono. Going to grab it if any good as I don't want to waste too much time on this.
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