Selling a car on motorway.co.uk
Discussion
No idea what section this should go in but I'm sure the mods will move this if necessary 
Anyone here sold a car via motorway.co.uk? They seem to be offering a relatively reasonable value for mine so am tempted. I gather that they'll put the car up for sale on a given day and accept the best offer over their estimate on your behalf, or come back to the seller with the best offer if none are above the estimate. What happens then though? It's dealers that are the buyers, do they arrive at your house and start knocking a few hundred off for every stone chip, alloy scratch etc. like WBAC or is that price effectively binding? Is the whole thing really as little hassle as the marketing would have me believe?
Anyone here sold a car via motorway.co.uk? They seem to be offering a relatively reasonable value for mine so am tempted. I gather that they'll put the car up for sale on a given day and accept the best offer over their estimate on your behalf, or come back to the seller with the best offer if none are above the estimate. What happens then though? It's dealers that are the buyers, do they arrive at your house and start knocking a few hundred off for every stone chip, alloy scratch etc. like WBAC or is that price effectively binding? Is the whole thing really as little hassle as the marketing would have me believe?
I didn't have a great experience with them - very low initial valuation (although I appreciate this isn't the case for you), clunky app and photographs, a number of phone calls that told me my expectations were way too high (although I sold for what I'd expected!).
Having said that, I did sell a previous car with Wizzle (now owned by Carwow it looks like) and that was same type of dealer bidding system - very good, no haggling when they came and inspected the car and money transferred before they drove away. Think the key to all of these is being really upfront and honest when describing condition.
Having said that, I did sell a previous car with Wizzle (now owned by Carwow it looks like) and that was same type of dealer bidding system - very good, no haggling when they came and inspected the car and money transferred before they drove away. Think the key to all of these is being really upfront and honest when describing condition.
My own experience wasn't great. Accepted an offer of £7300 from motorway and then the dealer arranged to come to my house. They missed the first appointment so had to re-arrange. When they came the second time, two of them arrived and started playing "good cop, bad cop". One of them saying how much they liked the car and the other pointing out tiny scratches etc. Took it for a drive round the block and tried to claim it wasn't getting warm quickly enough - we drove for 5 mins and it wasn't a warm day!
Anyway, long story short they offered me £6000, down from the original £7300. I politely asked them to leave and eventually sold to Cazoo who paid the exact same as the online price, £6500, no hassle, no haggling. Granted this is just my experience, not necessarily a Motorway issue, more down to the dealer you get.
Anyway, long story short they offered me £6000, down from the original £7300. I politely asked them to leave and eventually sold to Cazoo who paid the exact same as the online price, £6500, no hassle, no haggling. Granted this is just my experience, not necessarily a Motorway issue, more down to the dealer you get.
Well, I've bought a number of cars from Motorway, so can help hopefully.
The dealer is committed unless you have lied, basically. A dealer can't simply walk away without penalty; so it's in their interest to buy the car. However, if there is something fundamental (I once thought I bid and won what I thought was a manual car, when it turned out to be an auto), as a dealer you can then moan enough at Motorway to then back out. I think they likely give the next closest bidder a call on your behalf.
Once the car is "sold", the trader can see your details and give you a call. Like any other car auction, they should be in the mindset that it's sold as seen.
Given the turbulence of the market, they will likely want to pick the car up fast. Make sure there's no private plate on the car, and if you want the best money, put as much as you can in the description. It's amazing how poor sellers are in marketing their cars (i.e. service history, optional extras), especially those selling ones for £100k+.
Motorway fees for the buyer are up to about a £1000. If you get on with the buyer, you could cancel things with Motorway and split the difference. That of course is not advice, or anything I would dream of doing...
The dealer is committed unless you have lied, basically. A dealer can't simply walk away without penalty; so it's in their interest to buy the car. However, if there is something fundamental (I once thought I bid and won what I thought was a manual car, when it turned out to be an auto), as a dealer you can then moan enough at Motorway to then back out. I think they likely give the next closest bidder a call on your behalf.
Once the car is "sold", the trader can see your details and give you a call. Like any other car auction, they should be in the mindset that it's sold as seen.
Given the turbulence of the market, they will likely want to pick the car up fast. Make sure there's no private plate on the car, and if you want the best money, put as much as you can in the description. It's amazing how poor sellers are in marketing their cars (i.e. service history, optional extras), especially those selling ones for £100k+.
Motorway fees for the buyer are up to about a £1000. If you get on with the buyer, you could cancel things with Motorway and split the difference. That of course is not advice, or anything I would dream of doing...
sold my FiL last month.
Tried various sites and Carwow put it in the daily auction and min level was not met.
Waited a week and tried MOTORWAY, and it was so much better.
Took loads of photos (they guide you on them, have online templates).
The car went into the daily auction and was above the min level set.
Dealer called up (before I was informed by Motorway of the sale price) and basically they arranged a day to collect it.
Promptly arrived on said day and all went well, no haggling, no sucking in of breath, no hassle (my MiL was dealing with it so I made sure all the paperwro was sorted.
Only problem was that they forgot to take the V5 and resulted in my MiL having to post it. No great issue, but annoying.
Money was in the bank before the keys were given for him to drive away and no issue whatsoever.
Different to the above posters, but the car didn't have a mark on it and the description matched the photos....
Tried various sites and Carwow put it in the daily auction and min level was not met.
Waited a week and tried MOTORWAY, and it was so much better.
Took loads of photos (they guide you on them, have online templates).
The car went into the daily auction and was above the min level set.
Dealer called up (before I was informed by Motorway of the sale price) and basically they arranged a day to collect it.
Promptly arrived on said day and all went well, no haggling, no sucking in of breath, no hassle (my MiL was dealing with it so I made sure all the paperwro was sorted.
Only problem was that they forgot to take the V5 and resulted in my MiL having to post it. No great issue, but annoying.
Money was in the bank before the keys were given for him to drive away and no issue whatsoever.
Different to the above posters, but the car didn't have a mark on it and the description matched the photos....
Used them 3 times, all without hassle, although a couple of times the dealer collection was a bit annoying in terms of logistics (had to collect driver from the train station etc.). All paid full amount before they left.
Latest car last week didn't meet reserve on Motorway so is now going through a Carwow sale (first time using them, so will be interesting to compare).
Motorway remains my first port of call, but I only sell clean <30k miles, <5 years old cars on there so no idea how they deal with more "worn" vehicles.
Latest car last week didn't meet reserve on Motorway so is now going through a Carwow sale (first time using them, so will be interesting to compare).
Motorway remains my first port of call, but I only sell clean <30k miles, <5 years old cars on there so no idea how they deal with more "worn" vehicles.
Another thumbs-up here. It took a while to get the photos to their satisfaction but once that was done it was all very easy. Got a few hundred quid over their estimate, collection was quickly organised and bang on time, and the guy collecting wouldn't leave the drive until I'd confirmed the money was in my account.
Thoroughly recommended.
Thoroughly recommended.
I tried them last week.
I found that I couldn't add some of the very desirable options that the car had. They offered a reserve of £13,500 and I got the impression that I had to let it go for that if a dealer bid for it. I said no thanks and sold it privately and very quickly a few days later for £16,300.
I have a lovely Jaguar XFR for sale but don't think I would get a sensible reserve quoted.
I found that I couldn't add some of the very desirable options that the car had. They offered a reserve of £13,500 and I got the impression that I had to let it go for that if a dealer bid for it. I said no thanks and sold it privately and very quickly a few days later for £16,300.
I have a lovely Jaguar XFR for sale but don't think I would get a sensible reserve quoted.
we've sold 2 cars in the last month. I found Motorway to be off-puttingly clunky to use in the end I went and searched through a list of about 6 different "we'll buy your car" companies (and for our SLC the main dealer). In both cases the companies turned up inspected the cars, paid (and waited for proof of funds to clear!) and drove off. Interestingly the company who took our Skoda refused the even quote on the SLC (wrong time of year etc) and so a local company took it 
Spoken about my experience before. It worked out fine in the end, and their offer was more than any other online trader. However, it took 4 days after the car was picked up to get my money! Which was a bit of an anxious time.
To be honest the guy in my experience wasn't picky at all... I named 3 issues with the paintwork, and he came back saying there were only 2! My son noticed a dent in the bonnet after I named the 3, so I was bricking it a bit, but the guy didn't even notice it.
The only other annoyance for me was when you take the photos, they have to be 'live' - i.e. I spent hours polishing the car, and then took photos from all angles etc. I didn't have time to upload them at the time so looked again a few days later. But they won't let you upload photos, they have to be done via their app/website at the time, and it was already looking mucky by then being winter. I think that's a terrible system personally.
To be honest the guy in my experience wasn't picky at all... I named 3 issues with the paintwork, and he came back saying there were only 2! My son noticed a dent in the bonnet after I named the 3, so I was bricking it a bit, but the guy didn't even notice it.
The only other annoyance for me was when you take the photos, they have to be 'live' - i.e. I spent hours polishing the car, and then took photos from all angles etc. I didn't have time to upload them at the time so looked again a few days later. But they won't let you upload photos, they have to be done via their app/website at the time, and it was already looking mucky by then being winter. I think that's a terrible system personally.
CrippsCorner said:
I'm sure you can understand my annoyance though!
I get that it makes them current... but if you were trying to hide something, you'd get found out when the inspector came anyway.
But there isn't an inspector, that's the point. They use the photos to drive the auction. One of the reasons they're so successful is that condition is well understood before the sale is agreed which avoids the difficult conversations afterwards.I get that it makes them current... but if you were trying to hide something, you'd get found out when the inspector came anyway.
Sold a couple of cars through them recently, fairly decent service although I've just had a message from the guy coming to pick up the car tomorrow that he expects enough diesel in it to get him home (175 miles), is that taking the piss a bit ?
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Bluedot said:
Sold a couple of cars through them recently, fairly decent service although I've just had a message from the guy coming to pick up the car tomorrow that he expects enough diesel in it to get him home (175 miles), is that taking the piss a bit ?
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Yes he is taking the piss lol They will claim the fuel back anyway Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Dan W. said:
Bluedot said:
Sold a couple of cars through them recently, fairly decent service although I've just had a message from the guy coming to pick up the car tomorrow that he expects enough diesel in it to get him home (175 miles), is that taking the piss a bit ?
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Yes he is taking the piss lol They will claim the fuel back anyway Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Bluedot said:
Sold a couple of cars through them recently, fairly decent service although I've just had a message from the guy coming to pick up the car tomorrow that he expects enough diesel in it to get him home (175 miles), is that taking the piss a bit ?
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
As mentioned below, the driver will have priced and taken the job at a fixed rate and is trying it on. There is no stipulation for Motorway sellers to provide fuel, or collect the driver from the station etc.Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Bluedot said:
Sold a couple of cars through them recently, fairly decent service although I've just had a message from the guy coming to pick up the car tomorrow that he expects enough diesel in it to get him home (175 miles), is that taking the piss a bit ?
Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
That is taking the urine.Told him to sort it out with the dealer that bought the car, never heard of anything like that before!
Make sure you pass that message onto Motorway themselves.
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