Selling privately, avoiding the deadheads and scammers...?

[Jonny_]

Just interested in the approaches that PHers have found effective in avoiding the usual morons, scammers and con artists when selling a low value (<£5000) car privately.

The age and cosmetic defects of the car I'm looking at selling mean that it's not worth going to WBAC or similar, as they'll offer a pittance. And it's a mundane vehicle, certainly not a PH type car, unlikely to generate much interest in the PH classifieds. So I'm going to have to run the gauntlet of gumtree, ebay, Facebook marketplace etc.

Anything that deters the typical idiots (e.g. "best price m8" merchants, people who think a private sale of a cheap old car works the same way as buying brand new from the dealership, the type that rock up mob handed and try to distract you while they pour oil into the coolant, etc) will undoubtedly be useful to know!

Cheers.

[Pistom]

I've found vetting them on the phone before allowing them to view has always worked.

In reality, I've found there aren't as many private buying deadheads and scammers as car traders would like us to believe.

[PHZero]

Jonny_ said:

Just interested in the approaches that PHers have found effective in avoiding the usual morons, scammers and con artists when selling a low value (<£5000) car privately.

The age and cosmetic defects of the car I'm looking at selling mean that it's not worth going to WBAC or similar, as they'll offer a pittance. And it's a mundane vehicle, certainly not a PH type car, unlikely to generate much interest in the PH classifieds. So I'm going to have to run the gauntlet of gumtree, ebay, Facebook marketplace etc.

Anything that deters the typical idiots (e.g. "best price m8" merchants, people who think a private sale of a cheap old car works the same way as buying brand new from the dealership, the type that rock up mob handed and try to distract you while they pour oil into the coolant, etc) will undoubtedly be useful to know!

Cheers.

Any reason why you wouldn't use Autotrader? It's not just all high end cars for sale.

I've sold lower value cars on Autotrader with no problems before. I usually price then competitively, and don't knock any money off.

I would imagine that if using Fleabay and Gumtree, you might attract more timewasters and scammers.

[corno]

I'd go with Autotrader, you'll get the most serious enquiries. The thing with FBMP, is it far too easy for anyone to waste your time and send a message. Gumtree and Ebay are probably as bad as each other.

[vikingaero]

Word your advert correctly.

Highlight the fact that this is not a new car and has age related marks and defects. If they want a new car please visit your local new car dealer.
Filter out the ones that aren't interested and don't read your ad - "Low offers will not be responded to".
Do not click "Is this still available?" as I will not reply.
If the advert is still live then the car is still available.
No more than 2 persons to view the car at any one time.
Give a reasonably exact location so they can't bullst on it being too far - postcode or something like "1 min from Tesco Superstore, Anytown"

[alabbasi]

You can't stop them from contacting you but you can filter out who you engage with. I usually state that the price is firm in the ad and when I respond to "is it still available?"default message, It's with 'yes, price is firm'. This kills a lot of wasteful conversations right away.

I also never respond to messages that sent between 10pm and 4am. Those are typically stoners with plenty of time and no money.

If they want to see the car, find out if they're coming to look or are they ready to buy and decide accordingly.

You'll find that this approach will drive away a lot of people so it's not selling. It's a method of not burning hours dealing with people who have no intention of buying. Always be polite so that you don't turn away a real buyer.

It's painful. Good luck

[Superflow]

Have never used autotrader to sell before but I think you have just put me off for life!

[InitialDave]

I think the "several grand" part of the market is not as rife with utter donkeys as the sub-£1k part is.

[Krikkit]

piddy44 said:

My Golden Rules are:

• Similar to the above, I just ignore text or email enquiries; even more so if it's the "Ow much fer kersch mate?" type. Real interested buyers would, in my eyes, always phone. I also ignore withheld numbers.

• 90% of buyers who want to bring their 'mechanic friend' round to check it out are full of st. Even more so if that so called 'mechanic' wants to plug in some cheap code-reader they bought from Aldi, brings a trolley jack with them, or wants to disassemble anything. No way José! I'm of the opinion that for any mainstream normal car, any car guy who knows cars should be able to spot a decent car from a wrong 'un through visual checking & a test-drive.

You may want to reconsider these two points (aside from taking something apart of course!) - I always message where possible, and would take a code reader to anything reasonably electronically complex. You'd write me off as a timewaster in error.

InitialDave said:

I think the "several grand" part of the market is not as rife with utter donkeys as the sub-£1k part is.

That's my experience as well.

Sold quite a few cars in this price range in the last couple of years, and although you do get some hagglers, an honest advert (warts and all) and a detailed advert is a good start.

eBay is great for this, as you can have them message you first without disclosing a phone number etc.

Edited by Krikkit on Tuesday 5th July 14:23

[MisanoPayments]

Reactivated my eBay account last month to advertise my MK1 TT V6 man. Got three messages of interest of which two were decent. Phoned them both up to chat through questions. Car was up for £5K.

One vote for eBay.

[Shaoxter]

piddy44 said:

Hi Krikkit. I probably would write you off. Messaging to me is (family & friends excepted) usually the electronic equivalent of verbal diarrhoea or spam emails.

Text/whatsapp/email is so much easier than calling, you don't need to find a mutually convenient time to discuss things and you have a written record of what was discussed.

If you have a policy of never replying to any messages (even genuine/politely worded ones), then you're cutting out a lot of your market.

[lb3nson]

piddy44 said:

Hi Krikkit. I probably would write you off. Messaging to me is (family & friends excepted) usually the electronic equivalent of verbal diarrhoea or spam emails.

On plugging in a code reader, I'd tell any prospective buyer to go find another car to buy. Without knowing the standard of equipment they've brought or their ability to use it meaningfully, there's no way I'd let a random person plug in. I appreciate they're a piece of cake to use, but if someone wants that then they can go see if they can find a dealer that'll humour them instead.

Selling a car is a PITA but I think you’re being very narrow minded about how people like to buy cars nowadays.

Back to the OP, I actually quite like Facebook Marketplace - you can easily ‘vet’ someones FB profile to see if they look like a complete tool before having to engage with them!

[alabbasi]

Nothing wrong with wanting to scan codes. First thing it would tell anyone is if the codes were recently reset. If you don't like them plugging in their own scan tool, then have yours ready for when they arrive.

[Llew]

Jonny_ said:

Just interested in the approaches that PHers have found effective in avoiding the usual morons, scammers and con artists when selling a low value (<£5000) car privately.

The age and cosmetic defects of the car I'm looking at selling mean that it's not worth going to WBAC or similar, as they'll offer a pittance. And it's a mundane vehicle, certainly not a PH type car, unlikely to generate much interest in the PH classifieds. So I'm going to have to run the gauntlet of gumtree, ebay, Facebook marketplace etc.

Anything that deters the typical idiots (e.g. "best price m8" merchants, people who think a private sale of a cheap old car works the same way as buying brand new from the dealership, the type that rock up mob handed and try to distract you while they pour oil into the coolant, etc) will undoubtedly be useful to know!

Cheers.

What car is it? That will help give us an indication of the demographic it'll likely appeal to...

I've sold ALOT of cars, mostly private (easily over 100 as I used to dabble in trading as a hobby income up until a few years back)... I'm used to dealing with a range of "types" from absolute scum to very wealthy customers spending big money, up to 50k ish). I've found my own way of vetting who I want to deal with and who I don't. There is a skill to it which takes practice and experience. Here is my advice.

This may sound counter intuitive and contrary to most peoples advice but I would advertise on Facebook and Pistonheads and here are my reasons:

Pistonheads - I've been a member for so long I get unlimited free ads. I am not sure if this applies to you but I just think you get a better class of buyer on PH. I have had fantastic success on PH and have never had a bad selling experienced. Autotrader is another option but it's so dear to sell on there I never bother, I am way too tight.

Facebook - For me this is a great way to get free exposure. Some cars don't require a "timewaster" caveat but for the ones that do I will usually write something like this at the bottom of the ad:

"Timewasters won't be tolerated, so any last price, best price etc type enquiries will be ignored. I don't need to spell it out, you know who you are."

I find that works as a good initial filter but what I really like about selling on Facebook is that you can essentially stalk anyone who expresses an interest and make your own mind up whether you want to deal with them. It's an excellent vetting tool. My golden rule on Facebook is to simply ignore whoever you don't want to deal with, it is always tempting to comment back but trust me ignoring is the best approach.

If it's more of a specialist car I tend to find I have less timewasters contacting me but for regular stuff or anything a bit council and it can be hard work!

Another great sales tool is to do a walkaround video, it doesn't have to be well edited or flashy but a 5-10 min walk and talk (commentary is important) and then a Youtube link on the ad will massively boost the appeal. If you're a decent sounding bloke which I am sure you are this will stand you in good stead to a) move it on and b) get enquiries from normal people. Another useful thing about doing a video is that you can divert them to the video if they have any questions. Then the "viewing" becomes a simple process of verifying that your advert is accurate and the car is as described. This usually bags me a sale to the first physical viewer every time.

Here's an example of one of my vids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ3RSeDk7Bg&t=...

Good luck and I hope this helps!

[Jonny_]

Thanks all, some excellent and detailed advice there! Much appreciated.

I had dismissed Auto Trader as being more geared toward dealers, but think I'll reconsider that.

Good point re the code reader, I have the OBD cable and software for this car so I'll use that if asked. Certainly don't trust anyone else using their own kit on my car.

Car's getting a good wash and polish this weekend ready for photos, and I'll get a detailed description drafted.

ETA: I've avoided mentioning precisely what car it is as I don't want to be accused of trying to advertise it via the forums. In terms of demographic, it's a diesel MPV, so I'm unlikely to be inundated with teenage test pilots; dodgy minicabbers are the most likely source of trouble!

Edited by Jonny_ on Tuesday 5th July 15:52

[Jamescrs]

Anyone using text speak, asking how much for cash (how else will they pay??) or trying to low ball from the outset just gets ignored,

I prefer to sell on eBay, but as a classified ad rather than auction, have also used Gumtree and never had any issues.

Have used PH classifieds once and that worked well too but it was more of a specialist car

[cwis]

piddy44 said:

Even more so if that so called 'mechanic' wants to plug in some cheap code-reader they bought from Aldi.

Bit of a snooty attitude?

I'd want to learn about about turbo overpressure events logged on any PSA group diesel, the O2 sensor out of ranges or the Vtec oil pressure warnings logged on a Honda petrol, the state of the traction battery on any Hybrid... the list goes on and on.

My code reader is an industry standard EML327 chip based bluetooth reader. It cost a fiver. Frankly if you've bought anything more expensive than that to read faults with on a moody motor on some snooty twerp's drive, you're a bit of a mug.

Or you think you're a "proper mechanic".

[InitialDave]

piddy44 said:

I still maintain that someone who knows cars should be able to spot a good 'un from a wrong 'un without the need for tools.

A lot of the time it's based on what the seller's like as much as the car itself.

[cwis]

piddy44 said:

Cwis, I wouldn't care if your £5 code reader is 'industry standard'. Without knowing you or what quality of equipment you're using, I don't know if you're alright or if you're some ham-fisted nugget who's going to bend the pins on my car's diagnostic port by shoving in some cheap ebay rubbish code-reader. If someone was respectful enough to ask at the time of arranging a viewing if it would be ok to do that then perhaps I would be ok with it, but if someone pitched up with £5 code-reader & trolley-jack in hand then they've had a wasted trip. A couple of friends in the trade have all the horror stories about Mr KnowItAll expert mechanic pitching up to 'inspect' potential purchases before attempting to jack a car up mid-sill or under the sump-plug. If that's being snooty then I'm fine with being snooty. I still maintain that someone who knows cars should be able to spot a good 'un from a wrong 'un without the need for tools.

Maybe snooty is a bit strong - sorry.

The pins are on the reader, not on the OBD2 port. You stick the delicate bit on the £5 bit, not on the £30K motor when you're designing an interface. The motor industry is strewn with hamfisted nuggets (your friends seem to have met a few) so the designers try and minimize the damage they could cause during routine maintenance.

No matter - cars are usually sold for a reason and if it's all lovely and shiny why are you getting rid? Refusing to allow the codes to be read (if any) would make any reasonable person think you've got something to hide.

If it's a classic then if it runs, doesn't smoke or rattle and looks fine then I agree with you - no tools required. Have a peek at the oil maybe?

On something more modern I'd want to read the codes - electrical issues can write one off, depending on what box the magic smoke has come out of...

Someone with a code reader is an enthusiast - someone who knows a little about cars. They may well have a realistic expectation of what condition and reliability they can expect from a used car - the perfect person to sell to because they're not going to expect it to be in like new condition or to ask you for their money back if it develops a fault 18 months and 20000 miles later.

But the trolley jack - that's a nope, for sure.

[griffter]

I’d suggest getting it as good as you can and pricing it towards the top end. In my experience that normally attracts more serious buyers, but appreciate it may not always be feasible.