Selling - dealer commission or private?

[wef]

Apologies if this has been asked before. Any views on whether the commission paid to an official dealer on sale or return is worthwhile, compared to selling my maserati privately? It's in warranty so the dealer is not offering a prospective purchaser anything other than the peace of mind that it is official maserati used etc. For me, there's the reduced hassle factor but £3k - £4k is a lot to pay for that and I'm not sure that a private purchaser would expect to pay £3k less to me than if they purchased the same warranted car through a dealer. Any thoughts gratefully received.

[A1]

Was thinking along the similair lines but opted to go privately intially and managed to sell the car 5k more then dealer was offering on a SOR last weekend.

It is a little hassle but i dont care how rich you are, 5k is 5k.

Hope that helps

[Craig]

If the car is still under warranty then I would sell private. Make sure this is in the ad headline though!

I think a lot of people like to meet the owners of these cars as well.

More hassle it's true but £5k of hassle - no

Craig

[wef]

Thanks. Very helpful.

A1 - how did you deal with test drive? And how long was your advertisement up before you sold?

[A1]

Took 4-6 weeks i think to sell.

He didnt ask to drive the car, took him for a spin. Had look around it and then good chat over a cup of tea.

Pretty easy to be honest.

If he did want to drive it, i would of asked for some valid insurance otherwise hes just covered third party i assume which is a no no.

Edited by A1 on Wednesday 11th November 10:55

[Craig]

Personally I wouldn't let anyone test drive the car regardless of insurance.

I have never had a problem with this in the past and most people do not have a problem with it.

[A1]

Craig said:

Personally I wouldn't let anyone test drive the car regardless of insurance.

I have never had a problem with this in the past and most people do not have a problem with it.

If you were advertising a car and refused to let anyone to test drive it, how you expected to sell it?. Me personally that would put me right off

[Craig]

A1 said:

Craig said:

Personally I wouldn't let anyone test drive the car regardless of insurance.

I have never had a problem with this in the past and most people do not have a problem with it.

If you were advertising a car and refused to let anyone to test drive it, how you expected to sell it?. Me personally that would put me right off

quite easily - as I said I have sold lots of cars without anyone test driving them

if the buyer insisted on it then tough - they can go elsewhere IMO

if you are happy to let people test drive your car then great - that's up to you

[AndrewW-G]

Downside to selling privately is that unless the buyer has their finance (if not buying with cash) in place, there may be delays with paperwork etc, the dealers will normaly have a finance bod either in house or dangling at the end of the phone

[ianqv]

I used Dion at Elms collection, hassle free and found me a buyer in a very Niche market.!

[sone]

I sold my GT3 privately, the eventual buyer was a gent the first prospective buyer bloke was a Pratt of the first order and cost me a couple of weeks of anxiety.
Firstly trust no-one no matter how plausible, get a reasonable none refundable deposit if you are selling privately don't let anyone drive your car until you've got a deposit and insurance cover paid by the buyer.
Personally next time I will either px or sell thro a dealer, as previously mentioned dealers give prospective buyers reassurance and the buyer does have the right to take the car back to them if there is a problem I'm told regardless of warranty or not for the first three months. Also the facility for finance and the ability to settle outstanding finance must be an asset.

Steve

[jonny5]

I used Dion @ Elms for all my cars. To date he's sold my Carrera GT/SLR/Diablo/Murcielago/Superleggera/355/Gallardo/M6 . My view is this - a good broker|dealer is worth his weight in gold. He gets a better price than private (offsetting commission), deals with the dirty unwashed public so I don't have to. Puts together the finance deal (harder albeit not impossible privately) and has underwritten part-exchanges and has sold the cars quicker than I ever could have. Has full trade insurance to cover any eventualities on test drives etc.

Edited by jonny5 on Wednesday 11th November 15:50

[RVVUNM]

I wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. I once bought a Golf GTI privately many years ago but not after leaving the full asking price in cash because the chap wouldn't let me drive it. He was still not willing to let me go when the cash was on the table, and he thought there was a catch like I was going leg it with his car, "but hold on a minute I've got the blokes cash" it clicked and he let me go.

[Keith-P]

I've never had much luck selling privately and end up trading in. I would be tempted to use someone like Dion (if he was interested) to sell my SL when the time comes though.

Off topic but what you driving these days Jonny?

[jonny5]

Keith-P said:

Off topic but what you driving these days Jonny?

An Azimut Leonardo 98, In Miami.

[POORCARDEALER]

jonny5 said:

I used Dion @ Elms for all my cars. To date he's sold my Carrera GT/SLR/Diablo/Murcielago/Superleggera/355/Gallardo/M6 . My view is this - a good broker|dealer is worth his weight in gold. He gets a better price than private (offsetting commission), deals with the dirty unwashed public so I don't have to. Puts together the finance deal (harder albeit not impossible privately) and has underwritten part-exchanges and has sold the cars quicker than I ever could have. Has full trade insurance to cover any eventualities on test drives etc.

Edited by jonny5 on Wednesday 11th November 15:50

As he said, just make sure it is someone other people have used in the past and recommend.

[wef]

Thanks all. Really helpful. Just have to decide now whether I really want to sell! Heart says no, head says yes. Thanks again

[NarrinRad]

This is and interesting thread, I have a Black 328 for sale but I really dont want the aggro of putting it on PistenHeads or Auto Trader from past experiance.

I have contacted a few dealers for SOR prices and they range from 2-3K, they are desperate to sell it, good cars a quite rare, but I guess it all depends on if you need that money you are losing on the sale to help you purchase your next car, the dealer themselves may be able to put you in the car you want for a good deal.

I also contacted Elms, he is without a doubt one of the most helpful dealers you will have contact with.