Private selling exp this year, Wizzle, M/way, WBAC, private
Discussion
So this year I’ve sold the following cars due to a combination of lockdown, extension funds and high prices. The experiences have all been fine but M/way and WBAC not as good:
LR Discovery 4
Posted on Wizzle in Q1 of the year and sold in a couple of days to a trader in Preston who was brilliant to deal with and even thanked me for the condition of the car. Wizzle was easy to use. I might have got more but selling at the £30k mark privately could have been hit and miss. Of course if I’d simply sold 6 months later I’d have made a big chunk more. I couldn’t get the Motorway app to work on my iPhone so didn’t bother with them.
Lotus Elise
Tried Wizzle and had one okay offer but not good enough. Again Motorway we’re too hard to deal with (for me anyway). The car sold privately via Pistonheads to a really nice bloke. I suspect we were both happy with the deal. A few emails from time wasters offering half what the car sold for but these were ignored.
Golf GTE
Simply sold as the price is more that I value the car at - 6 years old. Tried Wizzle but no offers, again couldn’t easily use Motorway and they didn’t answer the phone. WBAC offered what I wanted on-line but clearly had no intention of paying what they’d offered as they suggested £1000 less and part of this was a made up mark on the bumper that was going to cost over £400 to rectify! There is no mark. I suspect the lady thought I was a numpty and so the car goes this weekend to Cazoo who are paying more than WBAC and promise no haggling unless the car has serious marks that aren’t mentioned.
So overall positive experiences but Wizzle were great for an in demand car but less so for specialist or perhaps less attractive cars (although I think hybrids are in demand). Motorway was just too hard to get to work between the app and call centre not answering. WBAC did exactly what many have stated and simply tried it on. Cazoo were simple in that no pictures are required and they collect for £50. For niche petrolhead stuff Pistonheads were great but there is a need to filter out the fools.
So we now have one learner suitable car and will buy again as prices drop for 2nd hand cars (assuming they do).
LR Discovery 4
Posted on Wizzle in Q1 of the year and sold in a couple of days to a trader in Preston who was brilliant to deal with and even thanked me for the condition of the car. Wizzle was easy to use. I might have got more but selling at the £30k mark privately could have been hit and miss. Of course if I’d simply sold 6 months later I’d have made a big chunk more. I couldn’t get the Motorway app to work on my iPhone so didn’t bother with them.
Lotus Elise
Tried Wizzle and had one okay offer but not good enough. Again Motorway we’re too hard to deal with (for me anyway). The car sold privately via Pistonheads to a really nice bloke. I suspect we were both happy with the deal. A few emails from time wasters offering half what the car sold for but these were ignored.
Golf GTE
Simply sold as the price is more that I value the car at - 6 years old. Tried Wizzle but no offers, again couldn’t easily use Motorway and they didn’t answer the phone. WBAC offered what I wanted on-line but clearly had no intention of paying what they’d offered as they suggested £1000 less and part of this was a made up mark on the bumper that was going to cost over £400 to rectify! There is no mark. I suspect the lady thought I was a numpty and so the car goes this weekend to Cazoo who are paying more than WBAC and promise no haggling unless the car has serious marks that aren’t mentioned.
So overall positive experiences but Wizzle were great for an in demand car but less so for specialist or perhaps less attractive cars (although I think hybrids are in demand). Motorway was just too hard to get to work between the app and call centre not answering. WBAC did exactly what many have stated and simply tried it on. Cazoo were simple in that no pictures are required and they collect for £50. For niche petrolhead stuff Pistonheads were great but there is a need to filter out the fools.
So we now have one learner suitable car and will buy again as prices drop for 2nd hand cars (assuming they do).
WBAC are really bad for taking the piss. I am trying to get rid of my Saab 93 aero as it has done nearly 200k miles and is starting to play up and online they offered £340 for scrap. I went down to the place and after looking at it for 10 mins, asking about a second key and the service history (why they did this is beyond me as it was for scrap) the guy turned round and said we can give you £50 for it. TBH I’d rather burn it to the ground than let them have it. A few scrapyards have offered £350 for it so they can have it.
Inspectorclueso said:
On Motorway, which I checked out today, I assume that they present you with the highest bid and you can choose to accept or not i.e .there's no contractual commitment to sell to the highest bidder. I looked for info on this on m'way but it wasn't clear, possibly deliberately so....
That's how it played out for me. Highest bid was the same as the initial forecast. Collected within a week and money in the back during collection. Didn't try to chip me a penny. Well chuffed with the process. If your car is good nick and retailable then they'll not chip you much, if anything, if its been accurately described.
They don't want scabby old 200k mile Saab snotters to be Frank. Hence they offer you next to nothing. It ain't a car they can quickly move on for a profit is it? Same reason they bid low on stuff like TVRs, they dont really want them. They want normal run of the mill stuff.
I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
The Road Crew said:
They don't want scabby old 200k mile Saab snotters to be Frank. Hence they offer you next to nothing. It ain't a car they can quickly move on for a profit is it? Same reason they bid low on stuff like TVRs, they dont really want them. They want normal run of the mill stuff.
I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
They weren’t buying it to sell on, they specifically said it would be for scrap.I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
I that's strange, I used Motorway back in March to sell an X4. Highest bid was about 4k more than estimated (and 8k more than I bought it for 9 months prior) and it was collected and paid for in a few days. Really good service.
I then recommended them to my brother who then used them in June to sell a Zafira, again got strong money although took a few days to be collected, but ultimately I think that's more down to the 'winning' garage arranging it.
I then recommended them to my brother who then used them in June to sell a Zafira, again got strong money although took a few days to be collected, but ultimately I think that's more down to the 'winning' garage arranging it.
Tycho said:
WBAC are really bad for taking the piss. I am trying to get rid of my Saab 93 aero as it has done nearly 200k miles and is starting to play up and online they offered £340 for scrap. I went down to the place and after looking at it for 10 mins, asking about a second key and the service history (why they did this is beyond me as it was for scrap) the guy turned round and said we can give you £50 for it. TBH I’d rather burn it to the ground than let them have it. A few scrapyards have offered £350 for it so they can have it.
I agree and was only selling as they quoted a price that made selling sensible. I’d not go near them ever again as the woman clearly thought I was an idiot and that my bumper was falling off. I can’t understand their positive feedback as the car is showroom ready (6 year old car). Makes me think most are just trade ins and the seller is happy as even a chipped price beats trading in.I went down the WBAC route a few weeks ago to offload the wifes Mokka, There was a small scratch on a door and a dent on the edge of the bonnet from a stone, both of which i put down on their website.
Got there, bloke looked round it, agreed the valuation with no fuss and I was walking home shortly afterwards. Money to me came when promised and the finance was paid off the following day.
I was surprised how quick and easy it was TBH, I was expecting them to try and spend ages messing me around.
Car is up for sale for £1200 more than they gave me. So once BCA have made a small profit, there can't be much in it for the dealer who bought it off them,
Got there, bloke looked round it, agreed the valuation with no fuss and I was walking home shortly afterwards. Money to me came when promised and the finance was paid off the following day.
I was surprised how quick and easy it was TBH, I was expecting them to try and spend ages messing me around.
Car is up for sale for £1200 more than they gave me. So once BCA have made a small profit, there can't be much in it for the dealer who bought it off them,
Shinyfings said:
Tycho said:
WBAC are really bad for taking the piss. I am trying to get rid of my Saab 93 aero as it has done nearly 200k miles and is starting to play up and online they offered £340 for scrap. I went down to the place and after looking at it for 10 mins, asking about a second key and the service history (why they did this is beyond me as it was for scrap) the guy turned round and said we can give you £50 for it. TBH I’d rather burn it to the ground than let them have it. A few scrapyards have offered £350 for it so they can have it.
I agree and was only selling as they quoted a price that made selling sensible. I’d not go near them ever again as the woman clearly thought I was an idiot and that my bumper was falling off. I can’t understand their positive feedback as the car is showroom ready (6 year old car). Makes me think most are just trade ins and the seller is happy as even a chipped price beats trading in.Tycho said:
The Road Crew said:
They don't want scabby old 200k mile Saab snotters to be Frank. Hence they offer you next to nothing. It ain't a car they can quickly move on for a profit is it? Same reason they bid low on stuff like TVRs, they dont really want them. They want normal run of the mill stuff.
I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
They weren’t buying it to sell on, they specifically said it would be for scrap.I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
You can't seriously have expected them to better the offer of £350 you'd already had from a scrapyard?
They have to live to up to their of 'buying any car' hence they bid you very low for a car they simply don't want.
I'm unsure where the surprise is in that scenario - they aren't a charity, or a car recycling centre.
The Road Crew said:
Tycho said:
The Road Crew said:
They don't want scabby old 200k mile Saab snotters to be Frank. Hence they offer you next to nothing. It ain't a car they can quickly move on for a profit is it? Same reason they bid low on stuff like TVRs, they dont really want them. They want normal run of the mill stuff.
I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
They weren’t buying it to sell on, they specifically said it would be for scrap.I aren't employed by them! You just need to be realistic about what you're selling.
You can't seriously have expected them to better the offer of £350 you'd already had from a scrapyard?
They have to live to up to their of 'buying any car' hence they bid you very low for a car they simply don't want.
I'm unsure where the surprise is in that scenario - they aren't a charity, or a car recycling centre.
Not sure how you are not understanding that they specifically said on the site that it was for scrap and not resale so they are actually a recycling centre.
I sold my 420i GC to WBAC, it was sold within 10 minutes after the guy doing the inspection had to ring his boss to authorize no reductions. My sister in law also sold her Tiguan to them without issue and reductions as damage to wheels was declared.
I tried Motorway but they never got back to me and when I chased the estimated price went down a couple grand and I was getting my new car in a couple days so just went with WBAC who's price was the same as Motorway initial quote.
I tried Motorway but they never got back to me and when I chased the estimated price went down a couple grand and I was getting my new car in a couple days so just went with WBAC who's price was the same as Motorway initial quote.
I tried selling my car to WBAC. Original offer £6k. The car was in his words “a clean example and only had a few stone chips on the bonnet” so he knocked £750 off the offer. I told him to do one(though in much more polite words), and he said it was also because of the “scuff on the bumper”, there isn’t a scuff on the bumper. 
Mirrors my experience. Wizzle easy and effective, but ultimately didn’t get the offer I wanted. Motorway rude, unintuitive and awkward to use the online tools. Got nowhere. WBAC made the best offer, chipped for one wheel which was fair enough. The guy said “it’s not my money, I’ll give you as much as I can!”
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