F430 Selling Privately??

[finmac]

A friend is thinking of selling his low mileage 06 plate F430 F1. He would normally just trade the car in but I wondered if it was worth trying to sell it privately? Do people buy such expensive cars privately?

[The_Doc]

take a look at the back pages of The Sunday Times motoring section.

There's a whole market for delivery/low miles cars at 110% of list price. Mr Cash Buyer can easily skip the waiting list at the dealer and get that new car tomorrow. And Mr Deposit Down 12 months prev can: make a profit, drive a brand new supercarcar for a month or two and keep the dealer happy with sales volumes.

If I had 30k deposit to play with, and could be bothered with the hassle, I'd do this on every new supercar. (in this market)

Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 27th May 09:06

[Bund]

There is no one out there achieving premiums on 430's or driving a new one for a month and even getting close to what they paid. Yeah i own one but im not living in fairy land. Its worth him trying to sell privately but he will get a few stupid offers, depends how quickly he wants out.

If its black it will sell a lot easier

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 27th May 09:44

[Wanta996(Gotta)]

Note that Ferrari dealers are selling 2005 Manuals at £95-97k with F1's at £105K so i guess allot depends on what he is looking for but there are a few Private ones in theclassifieds.

Also try Chris at Zerone performance - http://www.zero-onecars.com/stock.php
Good guy and has offered good money for a few of my friends performance cars previously.

[Webber3]

Bund said:

There is no one out there achieving premiums on 430's or driving a new one for a month and even getting close to what they paid. Yeah i own one but im not living in fairy land. Its worth him trying to sell privately but he will get a few stupid offers, depends how quickly he wants out.

If its black it will sell a lot easier

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 27th May 09:44

I think he meant the Scud when he said new supercars. As you say there's no money to be made on the old 430. It would be interesting to know if this has worked for every new supercar and whether it will continue to work in the current economic climate. Sounds like a bit of a gamble to me.

[Bund]

Webber3 said:

Bund said:

There is no one out there achieving premiums on 430's or driving a new one for a month and even getting close to what they paid. Yeah i own one but im not living in fairy land. Its worth him trying to sell privately but he will get a few stupid offers, depends how quickly he wants out.

If its black it will sell a lot easier

Edited by Bund on Tuesday 27th May 09:44

I think he meant the Scud when he said new supercars. As you say there's no money to be made on the old 430. It would be interesting to know if this has worked for every new supercar and whether it will continue to work in the current economic climate. Sounds like a bit of a gamble to me.

I did think that after i posted, didnt mean to jump if that what he meant.

Im picking up an M3(e46) csl next weekend, so there may be a Black f1 spider on the market soon.

[neil-f]

finmac said:

A friend is thinking of selling his low mileage 06 plate F430 F1. He would normally just trade the car in but I wondered if it was worth trying to sell it privately? Do people buy such expensive cars privately?

Yes people do buy expensive cars privately. I have just sold 360 Spider to private buyer and bought a Challenge Stradale from a private seller and we are all happy

[kryten22uk]

I think it depends. The 360's are low enough in price now to entice private buyers. I still think that £100k is too much to chance on private. However for specialist cars, like the CS, its different, as the sheer rarety of the cars mean that the seller can do what he likes!

I never even contemplated buying my 430 privately when I was looking a month ago. There are a whole bunch of concerns that are dealt with if you buy from a main dealer:

You get full Ferrari warranty
You get a full mechanical check of the car b4 sale
They have to fully replace brakes and clutch if >40% wear
They have to fully respray panels with chips, as opposed to touching-in.
You dont have to worry about it being a scam and you losing your cash.
You can go back to them with any and all little oddities that pop up.
etc

I reckon the numbers of private adverts heavily overestimates the levels of private sales. I think that most chance it for a few weeks then go back to the trade/part-ex route.

Incidentally, my dealer mentioned that Ferrari main dealers will soon not be allowed to sell cars that are not officially "Approved", hence is this the end for Sale-or-Return cars in franchises?

Edited by kryten22uk on Tuesday 27th May 13:43

[neil-f]

kryten22uk said:

I think it depends. The 360's are low enough in price now to entice private buyers. I still think that £100k is too much to chance on private. However for specialist cars, like the CS, its different, as the sheer rarety of the cars mean that the seller can do what he likes!

I never even contemplated buying my 430 privately when I was looking a month ago. There are a whole bunch of concerns that are dealt with if you buy from a main dealer:

You get full Ferrari warranty
You get a full mechanical check of the car b4 sale
They have to fully replace brakes and clutch if >40% wear
They have to fully respray panels with chips, as opposed to touching-in.
You dont have to worry about it being a scam and you losing your cash.
You can go back to them with any and all little oddities that pop up.
etc

I reckon the numbers of private adverts heavily overestimates the levels of private sales. I think that most chance it for a few weeks then go back to the trade/part-ex route.

Incidentally, my dealer mentioned that Ferrari main dealers will soon not be allowed to sell cars that are not officially "Approved", hence is this the end for Sale-or-Return cars in franchises?

Edited by kryten22uk on Tuesday 27th May 13:43

Ferrari main dealers will take car on SOR and can sell it as Ferrari approved if it passes the inspection Graypaul had a CS on SOR and it was the same sale as the rest of the stock full 12 mth warranty etc.
My Spider was cheched by main dealer for the buyer and he could if he wished add the Ferrari warranty as it passed.
Although I bought my CS private it had a Ferrari Dealer check with SD3 readings.

[CJ.OK]

Theres always a market for exotics with private buyers/sellers.... I for one like the opportunity to meet the previous owner and suss them out a bit - With a dealer its so much harder to know whether the cars been looked after from day one, they are the kings of 'polishing a turd' lets face it!

I personally establish what car i want and a budget.... shortlist say 5 cars privately and then give them all a call, keeping a pre-written list of questions to one side so not to forget anything.

I think its reasonably easy to get a feel for whether the persons an enthusiast or not.... I haven't been wrong yet. Touch wood!

Saying this... i've only ever spent up to £40k on a private cash purchase to date but i'd be prepared to pay up to around £80K for the right Gallardo privately.

[Jules360]

The_Doc said:

take a look at the back pages of The Sunday Times motoring section.

There's a whole market for delivery/low miles cars at 110% of list price. Mr Cash Buyer can easily skip the waiting list at the dealer and get that new car tomorrow. And Mr Deposit Down 12 months prev can: make a profit, drive a brand new supercarcar for a month or two and keep the dealer happy with sales volumes.

If I had 30k deposit to play with, and could be bothered with the hassle, I'd do this on every new supercar. (in this market)

Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 27th May 09:06

Works in theory, but you just try getting anywhere near the top of that list!

[Jules360]

kryten22uk said:

I think it depends. The 360's are low enough in price now to entice private buyers. I still think that £100k is too much to chance on private. However for specialist cars, like the CS, its different, as the sheer rarety of the cars mean that the seller can do what he likes!

I never even contemplated buying my 430 privately when I was looking a month ago. There are a whole bunch of concerns that are dealt with if you buy from a main dealer:

You get full Ferrari warranty
You get a full mechanical check of the car b4 sale
They have to fully replace brakes and clutch if >40% wear
They have to fully respray panels with chips, as opposed to touching-in.
You dont have to worry about it being a scam and you losing your cash.
You can go back to them with any and all little oddities that pop up.
etc

I reckon the numbers of private adverts heavily overestimates the levels of private sales. I think that most chance it for a few weeks then go back to the trade/part-ex route.

Incidentally, my dealer mentioned that Ferrari main dealers will soon not be allowed to sell cars that are not officially "Approved", hence is this the end for Sale-or-Return cars in franchises?

Edited by kryten22uk on Tuesday 27th May 13:43

Buying privately you can still get the warranty, get it checked professionally including brake and clutch wear. Getting scammed is possible, but not likely if you are sensible. You can see chipc and negotiate the cost of a re-spray if thats important to you. This leaves taking it back for any niggles not covered by the warranty. I'll take a chance on this for the £10k i saved by buying privately.

[kryten22uk]

Jules360 said:

Buying privately you can still get the warranty, get it checked professionally including brake and clutch wear. Getting scammed is possible, but not likely if you are sensible. You can see chipc and negotiate the cost of a re-spray if thats important to you. This leaves taking it back for any niggles not covered by the warranty. I'll take a chance on this for the £10k i saved by buying privately.

So if you get it checked and the brakes and clutch are 40% worn, and the tyres are low on tread, the seller will pay for complete replacements? I doubt it.

[F.C.]

kryten22uk said:

Jules360 said:

Buying privately you can still get the warranty, get it checked professionally including brake and clutch wear. Getting scammed is possible, but not likely if you are sensible. You can see chipc and negotiate the cost of a re-spray if thats important to you. This leaves taking it back for any niggles not covered by the warranty. I'll take a chance on this for the £10k i saved by buying privately.

So if you get it checked and the brakes and clutch are 40% worn, and the tyres are low on tread, the seller will pay for complete replacements? I doubt it.

Then you don't buy it.

It's a buyers market.
All Ferraris from early 2007 carry a four year warranty so if you do your home work (HPI etc.) and pick a good condition low mileage example with ffsh you should be ok.
F.C.

[Jules360]

kryten22uk said:

Jules360 said:

Buying privately you can still get the warranty, get it checked professionally including brake and clutch wear. Getting scammed is possible, but not likely if you are sensible. You can see chipc and negotiate the cost of a re-spray if thats important to you. This leaves taking it back for any niggles not covered by the warranty. I'll take a chance on this for the £10k i saved by buying privately.

So if you get it checked and the brakes and clutch are 40% worn, and the tyres are low on tread, the seller will pay for complete replacements? I doubt it.

If they are both worn to such an extent that a main dealer would replace as part of prepping the car, then point it out to the seller and negotiate a lower price. Or, if the difference in price between a private and dealer car is such that you can fix this and still make a big saving, then just buy it. Not that difficult, is it ?

Edited by Jules360 on Wednesday 28th May 14:50

[kryten22uk]

Jules360 said:

If they are both worn to such an extent that a main dealer would replace as part of prepping the car, then point it out to the seller and negotiate a lower price. Or, if the difference in price between a private and dealer car is such that you can fix this and still make a big saving, then just buy it. Not that difficult, is it ?

I suppose so. I guess its more the intangibles (peace of mind) which gets me to dealers. But I do appreciate the deals to be had via private.

[Jules360]

kryten22uk said:

Jules360 said:

If they are both worn to such an extent that a main dealer would replace as part of prepping the car, then point it out to the seller and negotiate a lower price. Or, if the difference in price between a private and dealer car is such that you can fix this and still make a big saving, then just buy it. Not that difficult, is it ?

I suppose so. I guess its more the intangibles (peace of mind) which gets me to dealers. But I do appreciate the deals to be had via private.

That i understand, but dealers do not have a stock of perfectly maintained cars that they buy to put on their forecourt. They buy from the public and subject them to exactly the same tests you could.. thorough examination by a pro, HPI check and most will even look on their computers and tell you about the service history, recalls done etc. I believe that the money you save far outweighs the risk that a fault is missed and not covered by the warranty. This is also assuming the dealer is willing to put it right at their own expense, doesn't always happen ! Horses for courses, i guess.

[ns1]

I bought the 360 spider privately last week. It was both the first Ferrari I have bought and the first time I had bought privately. The process was very smooth, and just required some common sense. Inspected the car at the owners house, after he picked me up from the station in the spider. FFSH and documentation was crucial and all logged / recorded. Everything tied together with ownership, addresses etc and it was clear the car had been carefully maintained by an enthusiast. Even saw the heated garage and pics of previous ferraris! The main dealer provided commentary on previous weeks service.


To make double sure; back for full 191 point check at local main dealer (the same check they carry out for the dealership Sales Team on all their own vehicles). It was sub 300 GBP and was even kindly discounted due to the aforementioned service. After passing the inspection they would have sold a warranty, should I want it.


Purchased the car the next week and was very kindly served tea and biscuits again back at the owners house whilst we waited for same day CHAPS payment to clear - thanks Neil. Seems as long as your sensible, have found the right car and both seller and buyer know what to expect from each other then there is no pressing need to cross extravagant dealer bid / offer spreads at the top end of the market.

Then a 5 day trip to the Monaco Grand Prix. 2200 miles and the pedal to the metal (glorious heat on way down and torrential rain on way back). WOW, what a car, what a driving experience - absolutely amazing. Cant believe its taken me the best part of 35 years to get here!

[Jules360]

More people with that attitude and supercar ownership becomes hugely more affordable, once the 20% bid/offer spread is taken out.

[qureshia]

finmac said:

A friend is thinking of selling his low mileage 06 plate F430 F1. He would normally just trade the car in but I wondered if it was worth trying to sell it privately? Do people buy such expensive cars privately?

i would say it is only worth it if he is willing to sell well below dealership prices (£10k plus) which i imagine will give him aprox £5k - £10k more than a trade in price ???