Cars that sit on autotrader forever

[NiceCupOfTea]

What's with this?

I've been idly looking for an e63 BMW 630i for 2 or 3 years, and some cars seem to sit there forever. Sometimes they are slightly odd specs, or something with alarm bells ringing.

There's a black one with a private plate that has been there well over a year, and was on there for a while before that with different pics. The fake M badge, M6 plate and a few other things rang alarm bells.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312114...

Are they dodgy? Dealers who will claim "It's just sold but I have another one just like it coming in"... I can't believe people just sell them and leave the direct debit going...

[Macneil]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410034...

This one hasn't sold for some reason...

[Chris_91]

NiceCupOfTea said:

What's with this?

I've been idly looking for an e63 BMW 630i for 2 or 3 years, and some cars seem to sit there forever. Sometimes they are slightly odd specs, or something with alarm bells ringing.

There's a black one with a private plate that has been there well over a year, and was on there for a while before that with different pics. The fake M badge, M6 plate and a few other things rang alarm bells.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312114...

Are they dodgy? Dealers who will claim "It's just sold but I have another one just like it coming in"... I can't believe people just sell them and leave the direct debit going...

How do you know it's not sold? What about if the private seller paid for a "list until sold" add, sold the car but didn't login to AT to mark it as sold...?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Chris_91 said:

NiceCupOfTea said:

What's with this?

I've been idly looking for an e63 BMW 630i for 2 or 3 years, and some cars seem to sit there forever. Sometimes they are slightly odd specs, or something with alarm bells ringing.

There's a black one with a private plate that has been there well over a year, and was on there for a while before that with different pics. The fake M badge, M6 plate and a few other things rang alarm bells.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312114...

Are they dodgy? Dealers who will claim "It's just sold but I have another one just like it coming in"... I can't believe people just sell them and leave the direct debit going...

How do you know it's not sold? What about if the private seller paid for a "list until sold" add, sold the car but didn't login to AT to mark it as sold...?

The car has literally been on autotrader for two and a half years, with those pics at least a year. Are AT just leaving the ad up indefinitely for free? Or is the seller just paying for the ad every week?

[Sheepshanks]

Chris_91 said:

How do you know it's not sold? What about if the private seller paid for a "list until sold" add, sold the car but didn't login to AT to mark it as sold...?

Last V5 issued was Nov 2017.

[Chris_91]

Sheepshanks said:

Last V5 issued was Nov 2017.

And last MOT a month ago.

So he paid for a "list until sold" advert, ended up not selling it, but didn't log back into AT afterwards. Not rocket science

[NiceCupOfTea]

Chris_91 said:

Sheepshanks said:

Last V5 issued was Nov 2017.

And last MOT a month ago.

So he paid for a "list until sold" advert, ended up not selling it, but didn't log back into AT afterwards. Not rocket science

OK, I've never sold a car on AT so didn't realise you could do "list until sold" - isn't it ridiculously expensive? As I say the car has been up there for years. They can't want to sell it that much! I don't think it's a ridiculous question personally. Either you want to sell your car or you don't...

[WonkeyDonkey]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021112699...

When I was browsing for Giulia's years ago this one kept popping up, used to be the cheapest in the country but I guess the seller put most people off....


Can't be many cars on AT that have been on there for over three n a half years now.

[Djtemeka]

WonkeyDonkey said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021112699...

When I was browsing for Giulia's years ago this one kept popping up, used to be the cheapest in the country but I guess the seller put most people off....


Can't be many cars on AT that have been on there for over three n a half years now.

It’s Motorhub. That’s all we need to know..

[Driver101]

There is a yellow series 2 Lancia Delta that has been on since February 2022.

The advert has been updated for things like MOT dates.

It is double the price of the others that have come up for sale. I guess they are hoping to find that one buyer, or trying to push prices up.

[GTEYE]

This one looks a bit odd and has been there for a couple of years. MOT ref is to expiry in 2022, but it’s clearly been MOT’d since but with very few miles.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023072600...

[Sheepshanks]

Chris_91 said:

Sheepshanks said:

Last V5 issued was Nov 2017.

And last MOT a month ago.

So he paid for a "list until sold" advert, ended up not selling it, but didn't log back into AT afterwards. Not rocket science

It hasn’t sold so far, but why would you think it isn’t still for sale?

[griffter]

These puzzle me too. I guess it’s want to sell rather than need to sell. I do wonder whether for very rare cars, odd over-priced adverts affect the Autotrader good price algorithm.

[Abc321]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Chris_91 said:

Sheepshanks said:

Last V5 issued was Nov 2017.

And last MOT a month ago.

So he paid for a "list until sold" advert, ended up not selling it, but didn't log back into AT afterwards. Not rocket science

OK, I've never sold a car on AT so didn't realise you could do "list until sold" - isn't it ridiculously expensive? As I say the car has been up there for years. They can't want to sell it that much! I don't think it's a ridiculous question personally. Either you want to sell your car or you don't...

I think it based on the cars value but I do know that a £10k car it is roughly £50 for a 3 week ad, £65 for a 6 week ad or £80 for a infinite ad.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Macneil said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410034...

This one hasn't sold for some reason...

Mercedes - refined over decades by the boffins in Germany before being bought by a bruv and having loads of ste slapped onto it from Temu. I've had my C Class for 3 years now and struggle to leave a car standard but there definitely seems to be a thing amongst Merc owners from what I've seen in the FB groups that sticking on a grill and the biggest splitter known to man from China is the absolute best way to modify them.

[Crudeoink]

Chris_91 said:

How do you know it's not sold? What about if the private seller paid for a "list until sold" add, sold the car but didn't login to AT to mark it as sold...?

According to my AT price tracker the seller upped the price by 500 quid just a few days ago:

05/01/2024 £5,995.00 0% / £0
07/07/2024 £5,499.00 8% / £496
18/06/2025 £5,999.00 9% / £500

[123DWA]

WonkeyDonkey said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2021112699...

When I was browsing for Giulia's years ago this one kept popping up, used to be the cheapest in the country but I guess the seller put most people off....


Can't be many cars on AT that have been on there for over three n a half years now.

Pfftt.. Thats ones only just arrived compared to this one https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/201310049...

12yrs!

[andburg]

are some of these not just some weird finance or tax avoidance schemes?

Get £x value of cars "for sale" then secure loans based on the value of stock, maybe just some nonsense i half heard somebody say

[limpsfield]

I did a "list until sold" for my Boxster. Was one of the lowest price, service history, straight car.

It took the best part of a year to sell, and there were a few others that had similar durations.

I bought a car a year ago and that had been on the site for a few months+

[macron]

A lot of the time this is just a hook- don't forget that first one went on in 2023 (the clue is in the URL), when the dealer probably got a dirt cheap "ad until sold" option, and why bother killing the ad when you can just keep it there for no additional cost and your business doesn't have to spend any more?

And virtually no-one buys these, even though they are good value and definitely the looks are improving with age!