We Buy Any Car - Selling a GTi

[carparkno1]

So I need to sell my MK5 Golf GTi - love the car, but new commute requires a white goods diesel automatic. Don't want to spend more than 5k and the dealer offers for my GTI are ludicrously low, circa 3k-3.5k for my 69k gti. WBAC have offered £4200 - the car probably needs £500 spending at the next MOT in a few months (cv joint, discs all round), and I wanted £5k privately. The market up in Scotland is a lot quieter than down south, so I figure 4200 is not bad at all, and I really don't have time to do a bunch of private showings, my weekends are worth more than that to be honest.

So... aside from a 1p ding in the boot and a scratch on one alloy, it's in extremely good condition.

What are people's experiences of WBAC chipping you down? How big a test drive and cosmetic examination is done? If they offer 4k and over I am fine with it, anything less and frankly I'd rather garage it until the summer for some fun down in the borders. Anybody had any relatable experience? I have searched the forums but wanted to get an up-to-date view now that they are owned by BCA.

Cheers!

[carparkno1]

I want to buy privately, hence avoiding going to a dealer to trade in. It's v quiet up here and way less choice - down south I wouldn't have much of an issue selling it for 5k. I'm not going to lose sleep over a £500 difference, but at the same time I don't want my Saturday morning wasted as the other half won't be impressed

[carparkno1]

To answer the commute question, it's very very slow stop-start, and it's hilly as hell for the first part. My clutch foot is knackered and the mpg is through the floor. I also need something with a bigger boot for my little one, so looking at insignia/mondeo etc.

I have listed the couple of small cosmetic things (and they honestly are small). After a valet the car looks really good, and it has things that WBAC I am sure aren't interested in (2 owners, FSH, very low mileage for age, totally unmodified, passed last MOT with no advisories).

I'll head down and see what happens. We're talking a max swing of £500 here vs private as I would need to spend that to get things done before the next MOT, or reduce for a buyer if they were doing it themselves. Also, the market is just quiet, and I don't have the driveway to have 3 cars. Could garage it but would prefer not to.

Have tried EH - they offered £3700 but they promise to beat the quote so will book and see for the same day!

[carparkno1]

Booked in at a couple now, all seems to be offering 4000-4200. First one to stay over 4k will get it unless someone buys it privately this week. Will report back thanks everyone!

[carparkno1]

g7jhp said:

OP a little more information may help.

What colour, how many doors, which interior (tartan or leather), which wheels, any other extras?

Where are you in Scotland?

Edinburgh, 5 doors, shadow blue, heated leather Vienna (crème), and an upgraded VW touchscreen with Bluetooth, standard 17 Monza wheels

I have had to cancel the valuation this morning as I have been called into work which is a right pain.

[carparkno1]

Vocht said:

I can recommend WBAC. Yes they'll offer you a little less than you may want or could get from a private sale but they will save you a lot of time and a lot of hassle.

I spent ages cleaning my car, taking photos, creating ads (Ebay, PH, Autotrader, all of which cost), for prospective buyers to not turn up and waste even more of my time.

It could take weeks to sell and most likely not even for the price you want. Take it to WBAC or Evans Halshaw and save yourself the hassle.

Yup, got it valeted, did the photos, spent £ on AT and did ebay as well - have had to deal with timewasters so far and nothing else. I don't have the time for it so WBAC or EH appeals - rescheduled for next week now. Gives me a bit more time to search for something I want to replace it.

[carparkno1]

daemon said:

carparkno1 said:

So I need to sell my MK5 Golf GTi - love the car, but new commute requires a white goods diesel automatic. Don't want to spend more than 5k and the dealer offers for my GTI are ludicrously low, circa 3k-3.5k for my 69k gti. WBAC have offered £4200 - the car probably needs £500 spending at the next MOT in a few months (cv joint, discs all round), and I wanted £5k privately. The market up in Scotland is a lot quieter than down south, so I figure 4200 is not bad at all, and I really don't have time to do a bunch of private showings, my weekends are worth more than that to be honest.

So... aside from a 1p ding in the boot and a scratch on one alloy, it's in extremely good condition.

What are people's experiences of WBAC chipping you down? How big a test drive and cosmetic examination is done? If they offer 4k and over I am fine with it, anything less and frankly I'd rather garage it until the summer for some fun down in the borders. Anybody had any relatable experience? I have searched the forums but wanted to get an up-to-date view now that they are owned by BCA.

Cheers!

Have you said it has a full service history? If so, does it really? ie, the service book may say 12,000 miles or every year. They will then expect to see a stamp for every year. Evidence of belt done? Is that in the service schedule and was it done on time?

Stone chips - they will go round it with a fine too comb.

Parking dings, tiny scuffs, marks on alloys....

Does the car come with two keys? If not, have you marked that down?

yup yup and yup, have been honest about it as best as possible. As you say they will undoubtedly see things or argue over tiny imperfections, I expect that - I guess it's about gauging how far from the offer they will then still try and stray. It's a bit of a moot point today as I can't take it in but if I do next week I will report back. I may even keep it for the summer as it is good fun but it's just about driveway space more than anything and WBAC offers a fast way to sell it - seems a lot of people here have had decent enough experiences contrary to what I expected.

[carparkno1]

neil1jnr said:

No commute requires an automatic white goods diesel.

Cracking contribution. Shall I get an Elise instead?

[carparkno1]

neil1jnr said:

carparkno1 said:

neil1jnr said:

No commute requires an automatic white goods diesel.

Cracking contribution. Shall I get an Elise instead?

If it were in your budget then maybe...I'd keep the GTI or spend slightly less than your budget on a car you will enjoy and use the left over cash to offset the higher cost of fuel vs boring 4 cylinder diesel.

I've had 2 diesels, one a shed and the other a boring, quick-ish, white goods, automatic diesel. I got bored quickly and that was doing 90-100 miles per day which I still do. I'd potentially look for a nice 3 litre petrol BMW for around £3K, or a 3 litre turbo diesel BMW if you are doing a LOT of miles.

I'm happily looking for a boring diesel, it's only there to serve the A to B purpose in horrible commute traffic. I would keep the Gti but it's stiff, manual and not big enough anymore, plus really poor mpg when you are in 1st gear half the time sadly.

[carparkno1]

johnnyBv8 said:

RZ1 said:

What year is the golf.

I'm guessing 2006!

I think the cream interior may be why you've struggled to sell it. For those that like it, it'll be very desirable but I expect most people looking for a Mk5 GTI either want grey/black leather (or tartan). The trade offers don't sound bad tbh.

I think you're absolutely right there on the interior colour. Tartan or black leather is more desirable. It's a shame because the creme colour makes the car feel more spacious. I'm taking it down next weekend to sell it. Went for a drive this morning and it's such a good all rounder but just not what I need anymore.

[carparkno1]

Welshbeef said:

Why does OP need to change his car?

He is stating that he will look to buy what will be an old diesel sub £5k. Better the devil you know.

How many miles extra are you going to do? The miles in your car is nothing - it’s a tool to get you from a to b.


I’d say changing as per he original post is the worst possible option.

Alternatives are
1. Run GTI until it dies maybe 20 years hence.
2. Don’t buy an old cheap diesel likelyhood you’ll need to replace consumables which are more pricy on he diesel.
3. Keep GTI and lease a cheap Golf R.

Need something bigger, especially with my kid now in a bigger car seat. Boot space isn't any good for all the paraphernalia plus my golf clubs and trolley that normally sit in there. Also I need an automatic as my new drive is very very stop start, very uphill, lots of clutch footwork and it gets tiring. Am covering a lot more miles now. Plus the ride is stiff and the mpg is through the floor. 5k will buy a decent mondeo or insignia or mazda 6 which will tick plenty of boxes for the foreseeable future.

[carparkno1]

Welshbeef said:

Benjijames28 said:

I was going to use we buy any car as a last option when selling my BMW F10. I tried selling private before Xmas, cheapest in country and I only got time wasters that time of year. We buy any car would have probably ended up giving me about a grand less than their online valuation, so about 8700.

I actually sold it to a Toyota dealer who found me months ago through the website tootle. He paid me 9750 for it, which is a grand more than other traders were trying to have my pants down for.

The transaction was very smooth, he sent a collection company to get my car, money went straight into my account. Everyone happy.

It's currently on the dealers website for 12k, which is more than what I paid for it last summer with 5k more miles on the clock. Not bad for a basic spec manual m sport 5 series.

Why change your car only months after buying it?

1. easywaytolosemoney

Because maybe his circumstances changed? Maybe he can afford to do as he pleases?!

[carparkno1]

993kimbo said:

OP, there is a Golf GTi on Ebay at the moment with 63,000 miles, short MOT, Part service history and it's reached £5500 in bids with 6 hours to go.

This makes yours look very good value. Worth a go on Ebay? I've had reasonable results in the past. As long as you carefully vet the knuckle-draggers and refuse them entry, you might get lucky?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-Gti-MK5/3230192...

Thanks for this. I'd ignored ebay as an option due to non payer on a car years ago. Actually does make mine look competitive.

[carparkno1]

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volkswagen-golf-gti/25339...

I put it on just to see what happens really. Have had three conversations with what sound like knowledgeable people so here's hoping. I guess with ebay it's always that concern that the winner is a time waster and the previous bidders were genuine. I didn't know the rules of advertising so didn't want to link on here if it is against forum etiquette

[carparkno1]

I did say I have little to no time these days but I could improve the advert thanks.

Bonnet shut is fine. It's a bad angle for some reason! I'll change that pic. If there was a problem with that I'd disclose it immediately.

[carparkno1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Valid points, I just haven't had much time.
Not sure about the cleaning comment as the car had just been valeted! Couple of parking tickets from that day and a water bottle shouldn't be a huge issue to a serious buyer I would hope.

[carparkno1]

limpsfield said:

carparkno1 said:

Valid points, I just haven't had much time.
Not sure about the cleaning comment as the car had just been valeted! Couple of parking tickets from that day and a water bottle shouldn't be a huge issue to a serious buyer I would hope.

But you do need your ads to stand out and it’s not a good one. First impressions and all that but if I see a poor ad I do tend to think they are properly a bit slap dash with everything, like the car.

Point taken, I've just been short on time. I'm going to edit it later today at lunch. Many thanks.

Ebay won't let me edit from my phone which is annoying!

[carparkno1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I've actually jsut noticed the trackie pic. Christ that makes it look council. Ring is tiny, it makes it look hideous. Right I'm going to redo a load of this. I tried to show it as it is and highlight imperfections but at the same time I just expected the "wots best price" brigade to look at it.

[carparkno1]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yeah I have someone at a local vw getting back to me about the locking. Honestly I am still in two minds about keeping it hence the shoddy ad. Turns out I can't edit it now because someone has bid to reserve price. I'm half tempted to end it and start again and inform the bidder. I only want to add a lot of additional information and pics!

[carparkno1]

And to top it off the current bidder has 30 positive feedback but when you look almost all of them are complaining that they don't pay. How can eBay allow it to be positive feedback? This was my worry, that I would just get dreamers and total idiots.