Do people buy cars privately anymore?

[LemonTart]

Do people buy cars privately anymore?

I have always considered private sales preferable, you get to see the car cleaned but not beautified and you can see if the owner is an enthusiast plus you have the bonus they don’t have a slick sales patter.

But am I out of step? I have one for sale at the moment so far the responders have been;
1 knowledgeable person who sounded genuine wanted to leave a deposit then went all quiet on me (was he just after my bank details).
1 decent trader who is clearly very knowledgeable
A number of other traders emailing me with brokerage options or what look like 2 line ramsom demands - accept this and I will pick it up tomorrow...

Am I just out of step with what people do now?

Cheers
Ed

[EvoSid]

Yeah, I bought my 981 GT4 privately and it was a great smooth deal.
I still keep in touch with the seller as well
I feel we both got a good deal as he got more form me than dealer and I paid about 7-8K less than at a dealer

[Trevor555]

Many people are still not prepared to travel looking at cars.

Next month I'm sure it'll all come alive and private buyers will be out and about again.

[LemonTart]

Yes good on you.

I bought my Spyder several years ago now, I also say Hi to the seller every now and then and it was deal we were both happy with, no dealer mark up.

I mean how much does hoovering stripes in the carpet really add? maybe I need to have a go.

[LemonTart]

Trevor555 said:

Many people are still not prepared to travel looking at cars.

Next month I'm sure it'll all come alive and private buyers will be out and about again.

Yes good point.

I thought the sun, a bank holiday weekend and a bit of vaccine confidence might bring people out.

[Andyoz]

I always do but have noticed Porsche etc seems to scare some people off buying privately.

I don't understand as a good PPI can really settle most of the unknowns. These are generally solid cars.

What's the car?

[Trevor555]

LemonTart said:

Trevor555 said:

Many people are still not prepared to travel looking at cars.

Next month I'm sure it'll all come alive and private buyers will be out and about again.

Yes good point.

I thought the sun, a bank holiday weekend and a bit of vaccine confidence might bring people out.

Yes, I think it's starting.

The dealers I do a bit for are now almost out of stock even before the opening on April 12th.

I can forsee a rise in used car values again for a bit.

Some main dealers are predicting a stampede of buyers in two weeks time. Edit, one week away,, 12th April

It's going to be an interesting couple of months for prices.

[LemonTart]

Andyoz said:

I always do but have noticed Porsche etc seems to scare some people off buying privately.

I don't understand as a good PPI can really settle most of the unknowns. These are generally solid cars.

What's the car?

Hi Andy

It’s a 987.2 Boxster Spyder, immaculate just serviced and MOTed.

[mactrack]

LemonTart said:

Hi Andy

It’s a 987.2 Boxster Spyder, immaculate just serviced and MOTed.

Remove the message seller feature from your Autotrader advert as you will only likely get scammers and (time)wasters emailing you. Any genuine interest that can't pick up the phone isn't going to buy it unless you are prepared to give in to their "ransom" demands. That being said I do think buyers of Porsches are more willing to pay dealer mark ups for their peace of mind.

[LooneyTunes]

The other element surely has to be finance? In spite of the weird thing PH seems to have about finance, it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of cars of that ilk sold via dealers are done via PCP. Selling privately you’re limited to people with/able to raise the cash without a dealer involved.

[Andyoz]

Is it a fairly new listing. I think 987 Spyder values might have got a bit ahead of themselves (just my opinion). It's a very small potential buyers pool remember.

[MitchT]

Depends on the car.

Something really special like an '80s Italian supercar - buy privately from within an enthusiast circle or owners' club, or from an independent specialist. Pay for a comprehensive inspection.

Something modern for daily driving purposes - buy from a decent dealer with a warranty and comeback if anything goes wrong.

[LemonTart]

Thanks for all the responses, really helpful.

I sounds like I just need to be more patient than I am naturally inclined to be.

Yes it’s a small pool of potential buyers and those that do want one will probably want the three things I wanted, Manual gbox, Carbon buckets and the Spyder alloys I also don’t like cars needing a service or short MOT so I have done those so I suppose it’s as desirable as it is.

It’s been up since last Friday so the weekend before and over this weekend and when I renew the advert people will be free to travel more and I think I will take the email link off.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Cheers
Ed

[Royal Jelly]

Absolutely, yes. I’ve only bought privately.

I purchased my Cayman privately - the dealer prices were some 7-8k higher. It was thoroughly pleasant throughout.

A little background knowledge sets you off on the right track. After that, I had 2 cars PPI’d and the third (that I bought) had a recent 111-point done and 21 months of extended warranty. This adds a lot of piece of mind. For 180 quid or so, a PPI is well-worth doing. A good one will give you a good overview of, and chat about, the car.

Lastly, I like private buying because it actually lets you engage with the previous owner a bit. Usually you can get an inkling about them - and whether they’re petrol heads/enthusiasts, and those are usually always pleasant to chat cars with and more open and transparent, because we all know that cars have niggles and issues..

As a seller, I’d advise being candid and transparent. Good buyers aren’t going to nickel and dime about trivia. Also, allow a PPI if asked. I’d be (and have been) put off immediately if there were any quibbles over that. Again, little things aren’t going to deter the type of buyer you want to deal with.

All my very humble opinion, of course.

[Wilmslowboy]

EvoSid said:

Yeah, I bought my 981 GT4 privately and it was a great smooth deal.
I still keep in touch with the seller as well
I feel we both got a good deal as he got more form me than dealer and I paid about 7-8K less than at a dealer

I paid about 7-8K less than at a dealer

Afraid this is normally the answer.

If it is the one on AT then I would also suggest the price might be the wrong side of a max price setting for some searches.

[Koln-RS]

Private sales can work, but it needs a bit of effort to give buyers confidence:

- The car needs to be properly prepared
- First class valet/detailing
- Recent Service and MOT and 111 point check
- Rectification of any defects
- Settlement of any Finance, if possible
- Full and neatly presented Service History
- All documentation, keys, tools, accessories etc
- A really well worded and presented advert
- Lots (at least 10) high quality photos in a nice location
- Sensible pricing!!!

And, an important one for me is the Extended Porsche Warranty. That gives both buyer and seller some security, and adds much of its cost in value.

Just my thoughts wrt to Porsches I have bought or sold privately.

[esuuv]

As with anything for sale - it's all about price.

People are going to pay a lot less than from a dealer in order to take any risk from a private sale.

If it's the one on AT I'd also think people paying that kind of money for a 11 year old car, that will know about rev ranges etc etc will want original - not a fan of the aftermarket stereo - even though I'm sure it works much better.

[LemonTart]

esuuv said:

As with anything for sale - it's all about price.

People are going to pay a lot less than from a dealer in order to take any risk from a private sale.

If it's the one on AT I'd also think people paying that kind of money for a 11 year old car, that will know about rev ranges etc etc will want original - not a fan of the aftermarket stereo - even though I'm sure it works much better.

Thanks I am sure I can sell it at a low price very quickly, had a few offers lower than I would prefer already. I think I have priced it about right with compared to others. The top priced one at £4700 more than mine doesn’t have the Spyder wheels but the Carrera S wheels but in fairness it does have some other nice bits mine doesn’t have.

The car came with the cubby hole rather than PCM, I guess i could revert back to that to be fully original but the unit is ok and at least you can link your phone to it so I have left it as is. It was quite expensive and the bill is in the file but it’s not a quiet car to listen to music in...

I guess I will have to be patient and have an offer from a knowledgeable trader to fall back on, or just keep it.

Thanks for your views.

[Andyoz]

Lack of PSE and aftermarket stereo are factors here.

I'd redo the photos at better location and not in direct sunlight

Edited by Andyoz on Monday 5th April 15:09

[jimmy p]

I am the previous owner of the car, and have owned another 987 spyder since. Both took a bit of selling tbh, they are a niche car within a niche but I managed to sell both privately eventually after discounting my original asking prices.
The aftermarket stereo did seem to put some people off which I thought odd as surely this is preferable to a cubby hole, and if not, could either be returned to a cubby hole or a cheap second hand porsche unit (non pcm2) could be installed for the oem look if required.

Hope you get a sale soon!!

Edited by jimmy p on Monday 5th April 17:58