Private sales dying out
Discussion
I’ve bought my last few cars via dealer. Am Elise Final Edition which I subsequently PX’d for an Emira.
I’m looking for a new daily. Ideally something with under 20k miles, petrol, north of 150bhp and crucially, interesting. I try to buy cars from their original owners at 3-7 years old.
I’ve got a lot of saved searched both on AT and here. Over the past few years private sales seem to have dried up.
Are most people only selling to WBAC or Motorway these days? Selling privately used to be the norm but it seems to have massively fallen out of favour.
Having checked the values of a fair few cars via WBAC I’m surprised anyone wants to entertain them at all
I’m looking for a new daily. Ideally something with under 20k miles, petrol, north of 150bhp and crucially, interesting. I try to buy cars from their original owners at 3-7 years old.
I’ve got a lot of saved searched both on AT and here. Over the past few years private sales seem to have dried up.
Are most people only selling to WBAC or Motorway these days? Selling privately used to be the norm but it seems to have massively fallen out of favour.
Having checked the values of a fair few cars via WBAC I’m surprised anyone wants to entertain them at all
Chubbyross said:
I used to love selling my cars privately but it's a miserable experience these days. Too many scammers, idiotic callers and questions. I gave up and now do sales or return, part-ex or sell straight to dealers. Yes, I lose out on money but it's much less stressful.
Is that even for decent cars? I get it for £5k cars but Elises and Emiras?All valid. What worked well for years was selling your car a for a bit less than dealers were asking for a similar car. Based on age,
Mileage, spec and provenance.
That seems to have shifted with private sellers routinely seeking more than similar cars retail for. Covid seems to have been the tipping point.
I’ve been checking classifieds daily now for a while. JCW Clubman, Audi S1/S3, 340, Golf R something practical with 5 doors that isn’t entirely dull. The landscape doesn’t change.
When advertising my last few cars, it’s only been dealers calling as well.
I know scare stories abound but selling and privately used to be the norm. I enjoyed it as well. Selling search now widened to include trade.
Mileage, spec and provenance.
That seems to have shifted with private sellers routinely seeking more than similar cars retail for. Covid seems to have been the tipping point.
I’ve been checking classifieds daily now for a while. JCW Clubman, Audi S1/S3, 340, Golf R something practical with 5 doors that isn’t entirely dull. The landscape doesn’t change.
When advertising my last few cars, it’s only been dealers calling as well.
I know scare stories abound but selling and privately used to be the norm. I enjoyed it as well. Selling search now widened to include trade.
I’ve just sold my SLK.
I used Facebook and that seems to work for £3k cars but for higher value stuff people seem to need finance and they seem to think dealers are the place to go. People take the easiest option rather than the most cost effective. Time poor cash rich sort of thing.
I used Facebook and that seems to work for £3k cars but for higher value stuff people seem to need finance and they seem to think dealers are the place to go. People take the easiest option rather than the most cost effective. Time poor cash rich sort of thing.
Hoofy said:
Is that even for decent cars? I get it for £5k cars but Elises and Emiras?
Sold an S1 111S whilst covid was still a thing to a Belgian guy. I didn’t even try selling my Elise 240 privately. Many seem welded to the classifieds for seasons. Cups do better but you need to be patient indeed if you want £40k for a late Elise. The dealer PX worked well with that sale.
I think as other posters are mentioned, too much risk and hassle nowadays, especially if you have anything nice
I used to own a C63 and there was no way I would have sold that privately, would have been a series of "innit bruv" characters looking for a free test drive, or worse.
On the purchase side, it means you can't do finance, and PX is unlikely, so limits the options there too.
I used to own a C63 and there was no way I would have sold that privately, would have been a series of "innit bruv" characters looking for a free test drive, or worse.
On the purchase side, it means you can't do finance, and PX is unlikely, so limits the options there too.
It’s madness really I sold my car to a dealer he had already sold it before he bought it. I spoke to the new owner I’d of sold it straight to him and we both would have got a better deal.
I saw a nice R8 advertised privately. I was going to go look at it but now it’s at a garage at an inflated price.
I saw a nice R8 advertised privately. I was going to go look at it but now it’s at a garage at an inflated price.
Is it that we’ve become lazier?
It takes effort to sell a car. Prepare it, photograph it, list it, deal with a variety of potential buyers.
But the return is sometimes 20% of a reasonable sum.
People have also lost social skills. There are some who can’t cope with even picking up a phone to talk to someone so it’s a stretch to expect them to have meaningful dialogue.
I’ll sell a car maybe once every couple of years so I’m not sure how relevant my experience is but scammers are usually easy to spot and not as common as some believe.
If someone is offering me £5K less than listed, well perhaps that’s all it’s worth but if a dealer has already offered me £2K less then the private buyer has just under estimated the value of the car. It’s nothing to get upset about. It’s not as if they’ve upskirted my mother.
And if we’re only talking about £2K between a dealer offer and a private sale, they just see that as a small proportion of the overall amount but in reality £2K is a months take home pay for some but they still don’t want to spend what probably amounts to a couple of days spare time to earn that £2K.
Regarding finance, I don’t see the issue of getting a bank loan. Some people do.
The situation is though that private sales are diminishing and I feel the car buying selling experience is worse for it.
It takes effort to sell a car. Prepare it, photograph it, list it, deal with a variety of potential buyers.
But the return is sometimes 20% of a reasonable sum.
People have also lost social skills. There are some who can’t cope with even picking up a phone to talk to someone so it’s a stretch to expect them to have meaningful dialogue.
I’ll sell a car maybe once every couple of years so I’m not sure how relevant my experience is but scammers are usually easy to spot and not as common as some believe.
If someone is offering me £5K less than listed, well perhaps that’s all it’s worth but if a dealer has already offered me £2K less then the private buyer has just under estimated the value of the car. It’s nothing to get upset about. It’s not as if they’ve upskirted my mother.
And if we’re only talking about £2K between a dealer offer and a private sale, they just see that as a small proportion of the overall amount but in reality £2K is a months take home pay for some but they still don’t want to spend what probably amounts to a couple of days spare time to earn that £2K.
Regarding finance, I don’t see the issue of getting a bank loan. Some people do.
The situation is though that private sales are diminishing and I feel the car buying selling experience is worse for it.
Advertised my TVR Chimaera on Autotrader for a few months. No scammers since it's a type of car that isn't for the "Innit bruh". It has to be someone who knows a little about TVR.
I had three viewings by middle aged men. All were timewasters for different reasons.
Number 1 - wanted to see if during his break and drive from Brighton on his way to the office in London.
Number 2 - drove from Norfolk, 3 hours away with his son in a EV to view it on a Saturday at 9 am and wanted to do a full respray. It definitely didn't need that. Presumably they went on to a day out in London.
Number 3 - wanted to view it and was saving up for a Tuscan. I almost convinced him that Chimaera is the right entry into TVR ownership and he said he would think about it.
Ended up as PX with a E92 M3 with a very reasonable dealer. I swapped one 4 litre V8 for another 4 litre V8, albeit one that's Ulez compliant.
He put it up on his website and of course didn't do a full respray.
I would deal with that dealer again. Very trustworthy, knowledgeable and the kind of person we would all like to deal with.
He had sold TVR's previously and fits well with his premium cars like Porsche, Aston, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes etc in the 15-20k range. Also no Ulez there so he will sell it quick and good on him.
I like buying cars and can do it on a whim but never really liked selling cars. The process is different these days to the years of Loot newspaper / local newspaper / AutoTrader, Exchange & Mart and you're lucky if there was a picture.
Nowadays despite 100 picss and videos, people rarely turn up to view a car. As for me, I want to turn up to view a car and do a Hpi check beforehand which has all the info that I will ever need. If it's all good, then I'm more than happy to buy from private.
All my cars except two (Ferrari 360 and newly acquired M3) have been from private sellers.
I had three viewings by middle aged men. All were timewasters for different reasons.
Number 1 - wanted to see if during his break and drive from Brighton on his way to the office in London.
Number 2 - drove from Norfolk, 3 hours away with his son in a EV to view it on a Saturday at 9 am and wanted to do a full respray. It definitely didn't need that. Presumably they went on to a day out in London.
Number 3 - wanted to view it and was saving up for a Tuscan. I almost convinced him that Chimaera is the right entry into TVR ownership and he said he would think about it.
Ended up as PX with a E92 M3 with a very reasonable dealer. I swapped one 4 litre V8 for another 4 litre V8, albeit one that's Ulez compliant.
He put it up on his website and of course didn't do a full respray.
I would deal with that dealer again. Very trustworthy, knowledgeable and the kind of person we would all like to deal with.
He had sold TVR's previously and fits well with his premium cars like Porsche, Aston, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes etc in the 15-20k range. Also no Ulez there so he will sell it quick and good on him.
I like buying cars and can do it on a whim but never really liked selling cars. The process is different these days to the years of Loot newspaper / local newspaper / AutoTrader, Exchange & Mart and you're lucky if there was a picture.
Nowadays despite 100 picss and videos, people rarely turn up to view a car. As for me, I want to turn up to view a car and do a Hpi check beforehand which has all the info that I will ever need. If it's all good, then I'm more than happy to buy from private.
All my cars except two (Ferrari 360 and newly acquired M3) have been from private sellers.
The last car I sold privately was a BMW 325i in 2020 and it was a stressful experience although I did get a reasonable price. Last year I moved on my Fiesta ST3 and went for part exchange. It probably cost me a grand against a private sale but I couldn't face trying to sell a car like that privately.
Part ex or selling to a car buying site is quick, easy, painless and safe. That's probably worth more to people than the potential profit of a private sale.
Part ex or selling to a car buying site is quick, easy, painless and safe. That's probably worth more to people than the potential profit of a private sale.
It's been a couple of years but I've sold a few cars privately and I've not experience anything awful.
I think it can also depend on the type of car you're trying to sell. When I was looking to sell my old E-Class, a sub-£2k car I had several people try and offer me a quarter of the price to collect today, as if they're doing you a huge favour. Eventually sold to a guy for a reasonable price who was planning on taking over to the Czech Republic, had found a forum thread on the car etc. Proper car guy.
Sold my other half's old Merc CLS to a chap via Facebook and stayed in touch with him, he was top bloke too.
The only experience I wasn't impressed with was a couple of young Asian lads who came to buy my old S Class. They were nice enough but caught me off guard wanting to take the car same day. Transferred cash no problem, but I didn't think to do the V5 online and posted it on the Monday. What followed was 5 ULEZ fines and a parking ticket. All of which I contested and got cleared but was a pain in the ar$e!
So I don't mind selling privately, and it's more likely as I'm not fussed by buying anything particularly new. But you do hear some horrors. I'm planning to sell one of my Saabs soon, I'm hoping being a bit of a niche car I'll not get too many muppets in touch haha
I think it can also depend on the type of car you're trying to sell. When I was looking to sell my old E-Class, a sub-£2k car I had several people try and offer me a quarter of the price to collect today, as if they're doing you a huge favour. Eventually sold to a guy for a reasonable price who was planning on taking over to the Czech Republic, had found a forum thread on the car etc. Proper car guy.
Sold my other half's old Merc CLS to a chap via Facebook and stayed in touch with him, he was top bloke too.
The only experience I wasn't impressed with was a couple of young Asian lads who came to buy my old S Class. They were nice enough but caught me off guard wanting to take the car same day. Transferred cash no problem, but I didn't think to do the V5 online and posted it on the Monday. What followed was 5 ULEZ fines and a parking ticket. All of which I contested and got cleared but was a pain in the ar$e!
So I don't mind selling privately, and it's more likely as I'm not fussed by buying anything particularly new. But you do hear some horrors. I'm planning to sell one of my Saabs soon, I'm hoping being a bit of a niche car I'll not get too many muppets in touch haha
I’ve looked at a couple of interesting cars advertised privately. A 10 year old 340 with under 25k and another decade old Audi A5 cab, again with very low miles.
Both entered in WBAC for a baseline. No more Glasses Guide. The 340 is valued at over £10k less than the seller is asking. The A5 is valued fully 1/3rd under the sellers ask.
I’m puzzled why anyone would accept lowball offers like that? In these cases the sellers are understandably trying to achieve more but having researched, both cars are effectively retail money but without the comeback.
Curious times.
Both entered in WBAC for a baseline. No more Glasses Guide. The 340 is valued at over £10k less than the seller is asking. The A5 is valued fully 1/3rd under the sellers ask.
I’m puzzled why anyone would accept lowball offers like that? In these cases the sellers are understandably trying to achieve more but having researched, both cars are effectively retail money but without the comeback.
Curious times.
ChrisH72 said:
The last car I sold privately was a BMW 325i in 2020 and it was a stressful experience although I did get a reasonable price. Last year I moved on my Fiesta ST3 and went for part exchange. It probably cost me a grand against a private sale but I couldn't face trying to sell a car like that privately.
Part ex or selling to a car buying site is quick, easy, painless and safe. That's probably worth more to people than the potential profit of a private sale.
Agreed. I sold my 2019 Fiesta ST3 this time last year to a dealer in Sheffield, a long way from me. He was polite, knowledgeable and professional. He arrived as agreed, he loved the car, he paid and drove off. The end.Part ex or selling to a car buying site is quick, easy, painless and safe. That's probably worth more to people than the potential profit of a private sale.
I probably got a wee bit less than if I'd sold privately but he didn't rip me off. I have found that private sellers often ask for dealer money, whereas private buyers often make laughably low offers. The buyers seem to think that WBAC is the market price and offer that amount, sometimes less. Or they don't turn up when they say they will. Or they're fusspots who quibble about a MOT advisory ten years ago. Or are dismayed that a 12 year old vehicle has a couple of stone chips on the front bumper.
TLDR: I agree with the OP's thread title.
It always amazes me how much people are willing to lose for the convenience of webuyanycar. Selling a car really isn't that difficult, idiots and scammers are usually easy to identify and ignore.
People will happily lose thousands that they could have spent ln a nice holiday, better spec'd car etc
People will happily lose thousands that they could have spent ln a nice holiday, better spec'd car etc
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