Do most private buyers simply go on price? Car not selling.

[funkyrobot]

Trying to sell my car at the moment (2007 mazda 3 sport petrol). However, I don't seem to have any interest.

I've taken good pics, written a detailed advert, thrown in a set of winter tyres and given a genuine reason for sale.

I've priced the vehicle based on the fact it has full mazda history, has nearly a year of mot left and has just been serviced. Yet, despite many views, nobody has been in touch.

Pricing is difficult as I don't expect mega money for it,but i dont want to give it away. I think I need to drop it a bit. But it is a rare example amongst other similar cars due to history etc.

Is it simply a fact that I have priced too high, or are people brain washed into wanting diesels nowadays? Or, is it because nobody wants a 9 year old mazda.

I've not linked to my ad due to posting rules etc. Anyone have any ideas why the phone isn't ringing?

[funkyrobot]

OK. Ta.

I'm dropping the price to sub £2k in a few days. If it doesn't go then, maybe ebay auction route is the way to go.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks.

Yes, I shall be pricing it more aggressively. On reflection, I originally set it too high. First time I've sold though so you learn as you go along.

Difficult thing for me though is that there aren't many examples of my car for sale privately. Dealers will have higher prices and I thought that around £1k less would be OK from a private perspective.

The last few weeks have given me a clear indication that the market for my car isn't massive.

[funkyrobot]

The Spruce goose said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-3-sport-2-0d-2007-...

this is a diesel and leather around 2k. i think your car would have to be cheaper than this. But ph is not good for selling normal cars i would try ebay.

Yes, that was recently reduced.

However, it has non working aircon and more mileage than mine. Diesel though, so should be priced higher.

I'll make mine cheaper.

Its on ebay, Gumtree and PH.

Thanks.

Edited by funkyrobot on Sunday 2nd October 22:25

[funkyrobot]

Ozzie Osmond said:

If you were a private buyer and are looking at 20 similar cars, which one would you buy?

A. The most expensive?
B. One from around the middle price?
C. The cheapest?

IMO unless your car IS the cheapest, or at least looks decent value, it simply won't sell.

I agree.

It needs to go, so I need to price it to go.

[funkyrobot]

waterwonder said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...

I assume this is your car?

Looks and sounds like a nice car! But to my earlier post there are two broadly similar cars on autotrader from £2750. I personally would be matching or undercutting these and advertising on autotrader as well. Pistonheads is a bit hit and miss on stuff like this in my experience.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Edited by waterwonder on Sunday 2nd October 22:35

Yes, that's mine at the top.

Thanks for the links. Puts the pricing into perspective.

I'll give AT a go.

[funkyrobot]

ANJ91 said:

I assume that you have reduced the price to £2300.

It should sell especially from reading your advert you know you could buy it and run it with basic maintenance for a long time.

Before deciding on a lease car I was considering buying one of those although prefer the blue colour.

Yes, reduced to £2300.

It should sell, but it isn't.

It needs to go as it is just sat on my drive not doing a lot.

I'm going to review the price and pop it on AT. I left AT out as it seems more expensive than other advertising means.

[funkyrobot]

Momentofmadness said:

Parkers suggests a private good price of £1000 (crazy I know!) and I'm not sure of how sought after they are, so it might be a tough sell to a non-PH'er with the dearer road tax etc.

Much cheapness below, I'm afraid

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-3-SPORT-2-0-/25254...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mazda-3-2-0-sport-manual...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-3-Sport-2-0L-Bose-...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-3-sport-/142118732...

The only thing going for me is that they are older models.

Seems to be an undesirable car. I think I'd make more taking it over to North America and selling it there.

[funkyrobot]

Momentofmadness said:

They are great cars, but undervalued to non-enthusiasts - it's still worth a go at £1995 or £1895 though, yours looks like a cracker and you only need the right buyer to turn up

Good luck with the sale whatever you do !

Thanks. It has been looked after.

The prices you have suggested are what I shall be aiming at.

[funkyrobot]

My car has had nearly 300 views on ebay. Something is putting people off.

Will see how re-pricing goes.

[funkyrobot]

Trabi601 said:

Yup, sadly, a petrol Mazda 3 in resale silver is always going to be a minority interest car.

I guess the only thing I can make it attractive with is the price.

Ironic that resale silver doesn't sell.

Only reason I originally got it was because I had a choice between silver or black. The black car had no sunroof.

[funkyrobot]

rxe said:

Other point - you're in Lincolnshire. The vast majority of your buyers aren't in Lincolnshire, and are pricing up the trip to come and pick up the car. If I'm looking for a commodity car, I'll pick the one this is close to home - indeed, the one that is close to home can be more expensive.

It's like buying cars in Scotland - you can get much better value up there, but you have to be there already, otherwise you pay a fortune to get it home.

Yep. Lincolnshire seems to be quite rubbish for car buying and selling.

As the public transport is so terrible here, cars always seem to cost more, from buying perspective. Selling wise, I guess my car isn't mainstream enough to warrant a good price (not that it is anything special).

[funkyrobot]

C70R said:

Sadly, this is almost always the case. If you can afford to wait, then a 5-10% premium for a better-than-average car might pay dividends. But, if your car is nothing special (e.g. no FDSH, crazy options or colours) then you're better off just aiming for the middle and generating some interest.

Thing is, it does have FDSH. It also has MOT for nigh-on a year, and very, very good tyres (front two were put on in May and have done hardly anything).

However, the market is proving to be difficult, so I'll just need to price to sell. I want rid of the car really as it is just costing me money sitting on my drive.

[funkyrobot]

fivepointnine said:

Really sad, as anywhere else in the world and this car would be snatched up instantly for that price. Sometimes less is more in the ad. I have had more luck with a very simple description in the past.

When thinking of my ad, I thought it would help to give as much detail as possible.

When you look at some ads though, they do seem very thin on the ground.

Personally, I like a bit of detail as it gives the impression the seller is genuine and not some trader posing as a private seller.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks.

Market for my car seems very fickle.

[funkyrobot]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get it edited.

[funkyrobot]

Advert and price updated. I hope it reads better. Price is now reduced, so should generate some interest and hopefully sell.

Someone did text me about the vehicle last night. However, they seem quite hung up about the condition of the bodywork. Saying things like 'how bad are the scratches, I guess they aren't that bad if they don't show up on the pictures?'. I have told them to come and view the car or call me for details. I don't mind discussing anything about the vehicle, or letting people take a look. I'm not going to spend ages texting details though.

Oh yes, I had the old 'what is the price of the car?' query. I have told them to come and take a look and we'll discuss.

I'll see about using AT over the next few days.

[funkyrobot]

PositronicRay said:

Good luck.

Bare in mind any potential buyer won't be looking for a Mazda per se. But the best car for their needs at that price point, in the locality.

Yep.

It's now priced to appear when someone looks for a sub £2k car.

I've also knocked up a photo bucket album with loads and loads of pictures of the car on. I've just sent it over to the person texting me. Should help.

[funkyrobot]

Noted and sorted. Thanks.

[funkyrobot]

No worries and thanks.

This model of 3 is actually a Focus underneath. Mazda took the platform and fettled it. My one is the revvy 2.0 litre. It is n/a, but when the revs hit around 4k the timing is changed. Its like a small turbo kicks in. It isn't that fast, but noticeable.

They are fun pointy cars. They do suffer from naff fuel consumption, rust in some cases and high ved cost. They aren't that popular and my model seems to have been bought by a lot of old people.

Chain timed engine too, so no need to mess around with a cambelt.