Selling privately - some advice

[crazy about cars]

I would very much appreciate some advice in selling my car privately as I have little to no experience. The last time I've sold privately was 10 years ago and it was a bad experience. I've since p/x my car in.

I'm thinking of selling my E92 Comp Pack M3 to free up some cash. I was offered 29k from Audi as p/x value a month ago. My car is a 60 reg M3 Frozen Grey Comp Pack with around 1 year left on AUC warranty. New front bumper and new rear tyres.

I have a few questions:

1) Valuation : How do I value my car? Looking on AT the closest car I can find to mine are selling for around £35k trade.
2) Payment : Let's say the car does sell for 35k how do I go about ensuring payment is made? Do I go to the bank with the buyer to arrange for an instant transfer and finalise V5 after transfer is verified? Never sold anything so expensive so don't want to risk getting no money for the sale.
3) Test drives : Can I insist test drives only available if proof of insurance is made available? Not to sound mean but I really cherish my car and wouldn't want to risk tyre kickers

Edited by crazy about cars on Tuesday 2nd September 21:39

[crazy about cars]

Lordbenny said:

1) £34k

2) Cash or go to bank to arrange transfer with buyer

3) You drive it unless they have fully comp on your car...they won't!

Wow! Thanks for the quick reply!

I would prefer cash but doubt anyone would bring that amount of cash with them. Plus there is a risk of fake notes? If arranging transfer in the bank would it be instant?

Good call on fully comp requirement. Is there a need to call the insurance to verify?

[crazy about cars]

Yes, car is finance cleared. I bought it with cash.

£25k to shift it private does sound disappointing ...

edit: one in your link has 51k miles... mine is only 27k.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[crazy about cars]

Apologies as I'm not sure how to multiquote but thanks for the links in regards to valuation!

It seems I should be realistically expecting around 30k which I'm happy with.

Well I say happy but that's still a depreciation of nearly 7k in less than a year of ownership :P

[crazy about cars]

TooMany2cvs said:

Normally, I'd be quite happy to flog a car privately.

But something like £30k+ of M3? If ever there was going to be a magnet for scammers, tealeaves and daydreaming testpilots... The hassle factor would put me RIGHT off.

This is basically my primary concern as well. I've not tried approaching BMW directly nor any of the BMW specialists mentioned - perhaps it worth a try.

[crazy about cars]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Don't think SoR will work for me as I need the cash from the sale to get myself an old banger for commute.

[crazy about cars]

Thinking out loud here but what if I list the car on eBay with Buy It Now @ £30,000. To prevent time wasters I can enforce a deposit of say £500 within 24 hours of winning the auction.

Disclaimer here is that I've never sold any motor on eBay before ...

[crazy about cars]

Muzzer79 said:

I've sold a lot of cars privately with zero hassle, but I wouldn't go there on a £30k M3

Too many test pilots, dreamers and people wanting finance, etc

I'd go sale or return or swallow a part ex personally

Why do you want to sell? Is part ex not an option? You sound like you'll only get £1k more selling private anyway

Agreed that return in selling privately and p/x is very close.

I don't mind p/x but would like around 20k my way. So as an example I'm buying a car retailing at £7k and p/x valuation for my car is at £27k. I don't think any dealer would do that deal though...

[crazy about cars]

Swoxy said:

I suggest that you check that your insurance is in force, valid and covers your car being stolen whilst on a test drive.

My fully comp insurance is all valid but I've never checked if it covers car being stolen whilst on a test drive... good point! You learn new things everyday...

[crazy about cars]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Can you restrict bidders like you can on normal eBay?

[crazy about cars]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

No worries mate

[crazy about cars]

Well I'm sort of put off with a private sale now. It seems that unless you know the buyer there's no guarantee the full funds will be in your bank.

I will contact my local BMW dealership directly to see what they offer.

[crazy about cars]

Well decided to put car up for sale on owner's forum for £28,000. Words can't describe how gutted I am but a must is a must I guess...

[crazy about cars]

Billyray911 said:

You're probably well aware,but don't let any potential buyers plug anything into the obd under the guise of checking fault codes.
Quite a few cars are being stolen without the original keys,via this method-usually a few days after they have been viewed and a blank key coded to the car.

Thanks so much for the tip; I'm actually not aware of this! In my mind it will be perfectly normal for a prospective buyer to try to verify any hidden faults via OBD.

More I think about it more I don't think I'm in the position to sell privately... I've contacted my local BMW to see if they will be interested in a purchase.

[crazy about cars]

Thanks for all the offer of p/x but unfortunately I'm looking for a straight sale. I've been in contact with BMW and awaiting for a valuation.

[crazy about cars]

LeoSayer said:

Tyre kickers are the least of your worries when it comes to not being insured.

If you allow someone to drive your car who isn't insured then both you and the uninsured driver can get 6 points.

If the test driver crashes and does a runner then it's more than likely that you will be paying the bill. Not just for your car but for anything it has hit.

I'm happy to be corrected on the abovem, but that's my understanding.

wow...definitely food for thought.