Wild car valuations
Discussion
Like most of us I've taken fairly big depreciation hits over my car buying lifetime. I'm having a particular problem trying to get out of my current car though.
There aren't many for sale but those on the market are retailing at around £32-34k, similar age and mileage.
The only decent valuaiton (estimate) I got was through Motorway - £28,950. I thought this was about right, 10% dealer margin and the car doesn't need any repairs.
The actual winning bid came in at £25,100.
I got a slightly better offer with a large dealer group at £25,400, so I was going to proceed with them but after appraising it on the phone (how is that possible) it dropped to £23,000. Apparently the estimates are AI generated, but what was intersting was the buyer said they work to a £2,000 margin. I was surprised at the honesty and queried how is this possible when the particular car I'm selling would retail for well over £30k, which he didn't have an answer for.
Do I have an unsellable car, is the market completely dead, or am I just looking in the wrong places?
There aren't many for sale but those on the market are retailing at around £32-34k, similar age and mileage.
The only decent valuaiton (estimate) I got was through Motorway - £28,950. I thought this was about right, 10% dealer margin and the car doesn't need any repairs.
The actual winning bid came in at £25,100.
I got a slightly better offer with a large dealer group at £25,400, so I was going to proceed with them but after appraising it on the phone (how is that possible) it dropped to £23,000. Apparently the estimates are AI generated, but what was intersting was the buyer said they work to a £2,000 margin. I was surprised at the honesty and queried how is this possible when the particular car I'm selling would retail for well over £30k, which he didn't have an answer for.
Do I have an unsellable car, is the market completely dead, or am I just looking in the wrong places?
Edited by resolve10 on Tuesday 3rd November 17:02
resolve10 said:
... the buyer said they work to a £2,000 margin. I was surprised at the honesty and queried how is this possible when the particular car I'm selling would retail for well over £30k, which he didn't have an answer for.
I'd be surprised if the "honesty" turned out to actually be honest. That sounds like classic used car dealer negotiating tactics.Very much depends on the car.
My motorway bid came in fairly close to the estimate. WBAC messed me around. Other cars might be retailing at £32k or so, but are they selling and if so, how much are they selling for?
Dealer groups are pretty sophisticated now, they'll buy according to demand, internet enquiries etc
My motorway bid came in fairly close to the estimate. WBAC messed me around. Other cars might be retailing at £32k or so, but are they selling and if so, how much are they selling for?
Dealer groups are pretty sophisticated now, they'll buy according to demand, internet enquiries etc
I think it depends on the car, there will always be winners and losers.
I am currently trying to exit a Nissan X-Trail ePower e4orce its a lovely car, 3 year 2 months old low mileage PCP closeout currently has it around £4k more than I'm offered and there seems no stability in quotes (fluctuating offers from webuyanycar etc) from people who buy cars with actually many dealers being on buying freezes.
None of this is really a big surprise, especially as I am trying to exit a year early so I can understand being a bit behind the curve, just didn't think it would be this much. Apparently there is concern over the novel drive train, a series hybrid. I also get that and understand just out of warranty isn't going to be good for some people.
So I was a loser this time. I bet there are some marques/models which are doing really good though
I am currently trying to exit a Nissan X-Trail ePower e4orce its a lovely car, 3 year 2 months old low mileage PCP closeout currently has it around £4k more than I'm offered and there seems no stability in quotes (fluctuating offers from webuyanycar etc) from people who buy cars with actually many dealers being on buying freezes.
None of this is really a big surprise, especially as I am trying to exit a year early so I can understand being a bit behind the curve, just didn't think it would be this much. Apparently there is concern over the novel drive train, a series hybrid. I also get that and understand just out of warranty isn't going to be good for some people.
So I was a loser this time. I bet there are some marques/models which are doing really good though
paul_c123 said:
Some cars are easy to prep and retail, others are a PITA. The latter have big margins. Let me guess Land Rover product? Big diesel?
No, it's a petrol Mercedes. They do stick around for a while on AT as quite rare but I've never struggled to get within 10-15% of average retail advertised pricing when selling/trading in my previous cars, even at this sort of price point. These valuaitons are coming in at 20-25% lower.resolve10 said:
No, it's a petrol Mercedes. They do stick around for a while on AT as quite rare but I've never struggled to get within 10-15% of average retail advertised pricing when selling/trading in my previous cars, even at this sort of price point. These valuaitons are coming in at 20-25% lower.
If you're not in a rush just sell it privately, is it an S coupe?resolve10 said:
Apparently the estimates are AI generated, but what was intersting was the buyer said they work to a £2,000 margin. I was surprised at the honesty and queried how is this possible when the particular car I'm selling would retail for well over £30k, which he didn't have an answer for.
£2k margin after preparation yes.Preparation can throw up many issues that may/may not cost more, that is their gamble, that is what they work on.
E-bmw said:
£2k margin after preparation yes.
Preparation can throw up many issues that may/may not cost more, that is their gamble, that is what they work on.
He didn't make that distinction but that's fair. Even so, it would likely go on a main dealer forecourt at £31k minimum. So based on the offer of £23k, they're budgeting for £6k of remedial work on a 5 yewr old car!Preparation can throw up many issues that may/may not cost more, that is their gamble, that is what they work on.
resolve10 said:
He didn't make that distinction but that's fair. Even so, it would likely go on a main dealer forecourt at £31k minimum. So based on the offer of £23k, they're budgeting for £6k of remedial work on a 5 yewr old car!
Sounds about right for a prestige, fairly new, fairly expensive car. There's lots of things which consume the dealer's money which people don't realise - delivery, VAT, advertising, some in the kitty for warranty/CRA claims, etc etc in addition to all the hands-on stuff on a car. And we don't know the actual sell price either (although many dealers don't/won't discount nowadays - but they might on a petrol Mercedes).resolve10 said:
E-bmw said:
£2k margin after preparation yes.
Preparation can throw up many issues that may/may not cost more, that is their gamble, that is what they work on.
He didn't make that distinction but that's fair. Even so, it would likely go on a main dealer forecourt at £31k minimum. So based on the offer of £23k, they're budgeting for £6k of remedial work on a 5 yewr old car!Preparation can throw up many issues that may/may not cost more, that is their gamble, that is what they work on.
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