Selling a car - what works best?

LongLensPhotography

LongLensPhotography

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I bought new one and was given 30d by the insurance to get rid of the old one. There is some time, but clearly not too much. I have listed on ebay and gumtree so far. That's £15 already spent and no interest after 2 days.

Do you find that autotrader or pistonheads or something else helps to sell faster? Autotrader is kind of totally overpriced - does it mean it works that much better than the rest?

Also would you start the price above average and let them haggle it down a bit more as there are little issues such as paintwork or start closer to the mark? E.g. If expected around £1.8-2k (or no less than 1.7k-ish) how would you best price it?

Finally, the car just decided to ask for an oil change despite having this done in Feb. Probably it didn't like the topup from a different bottle. Would you waste more time on this or just give some extra discount and let them do it as they wish?
 
daugirdas said:
would you start the price above average and let them haggle it down a bit more as there are little issues such as paintwork ......?
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Would not advertise above average price, people won't even bother to look at your advert. Going to have to be average, or below average to get people interested.

Even then people will still try and knock price down. In today's climate it's even difficult giving stuff away free !
 
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Autotrader lists all the write offs so deters the dodgy traders a bit more.

There is motors.co.uk too. I think that might be free for private sellers.

I wouldn't use gumtree as that is where the crud goes and it seems to attract the real rough buyers too.

Local dealers might be interested but having a service light on isn't a good sign. Get an oil change. If there is less than 6 months MOT on it get it re-MOT'd.

There's also BCA auctions or other auctions. They usually manage to off load anything with a decent amount of MOT that looks clean ie no write offs, dodgy mileages etc.

What is make/model age of car? Older ordinary cars have much less value these days as tax doesn't transfer.

If it is under £2k then it is in banger territory so ebay 99p start and no reserve is probably a good way of getting shot of it.

If it is an interesting car (but just cheap) then owner forums for that make/model is also a good place.

There are also the webuyany car types but they will knock you down a lot for any cosmetic issues. Buyers are also often silly and will pick an immaculate looking mechanical shed over a scruffy looking well maintained car a lot of the time.
 
srichards said:
Autotrader lists all the write offs so deters the dodgy traders a bit more.

There is motors.co.uk too. I think that might be free for private sellers.

I wouldn't use gumtree as that is where the crud goes and it seems to attract the real rough buyers too.

Local dealers might be interested but having a service light on isn't a good sign. Get an oil change. If there is less than 6 months MOT on it get it re-MOT'd.

There's also BCA auctions or other auctions. They usually manage to off load anything with a decent amount of MOT that looks clean ie no write offs, dodgy mileages etc.

What is make/model age of car? Older ordinary cars have much less value these days as tax doesn't transfer.

If it is under £2k then it is in banger territory so ebay 99p start and no reserve is probably a good way of getting shot of it.

If it is an interesting car (but just cheap) then owner forums for that make/model is also a good place.

There are also the webuyany car types but they will knock you down a lot for any cosmetic issues. Buyers are also often silly and will pick an immaculate looking mechanical shed over a scruffy looking well maintained car a lot of the time.
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MOT was done last week, and I got it valeted yesterday. A few marks just can't be sorted out cheaply, however none of them are indentations or anything beyond paintwork damage. It looks OK overall, but you'll see the marks as soon as you start looking for them. I'm not sure if there are many £2k 9 yo ordinary cars with no marks.

Oil change is not a big deal (£65 at independent) just time and hassle. I'll sort this out eventually by next week if not sold.

I'm pretty sure it would make an excellent taxi in my area as my neighbour drives '04 plate rusty Focus hatch (and there are still worse). I should really offer this to him.

Not really keen on 99p start right now. £2k is a new 100-400L mkII so I'd rather claim it back.
 
The colour magic polish with the chip wax thingy is quite good for scratches and light blemishes. There is also a product called Chipex which deal with actual paint chips reasonably.
 
I have tried the likes of gumtree to sell 3 of our previous cars but got no where

When I placed an add on Auto Trader though each of the cars sold within the first week
 
Autotrader with a good honest write up and plenty of decent photos.
Has always worked for me.
 
Depends on the car, All my cars over the past few years have eventually sold on ebay, some making over the odds, some going for peanuts. Trouble is as soon as you start getting honest and mentioning the paintwork damage, people will instantly click back and find something else. Such things killed my last sale, brilliant car in great order but the paintwork was marked all over the place, had been before I had it. Took months to shift and went for a tear inducingly low amount eventually.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Trouble is as soon as you start getting honest and mentioning the paintwork damage, people will instantly click back and find something else.
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Do you imply that it is better to write less and leave this out? I suppose they have those ebay-ed low res photos to go by :)

I probably won't mention that cambelt is officially due in 5k miles. It can be done for around or under £200 if you know where to go (stealership - £350). I'm not sure I need to make an old banger all round perfect and then literally give it away.
 
I once advertised my car on youtube, bid mad really as I had enquires from all over the place. Just a bit of a laugh really, car did not sell! Found I got a lot of time wasters when I tried the autotrader. Used word of mouth in the end, told friends and relatives I was selling my car. Surprising how quickly word of mouth gets around. Obviously not a good method selling to a mate of a mate, if your car needs work done soon..
 
daugirdas said:
Do you imply that it is better to write less and leave this out? I suppose they have those ebay-ed low res photos to go by :)

I probably won't mention that cambelt is officially due in 5k miles. It can be done for around or under £200 if you know where to go (stealership - £350). I'm not sure I need to make an old banger all round perfect and then literally give it away.
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Can work, most people don't actually care or don't notice in the flesh, but if you say it in a written advert it puts people straight off unless they;re hunting for bargains, in which case expect zillions of messages offering £50 and half a pack of polos.
 
Been a few years since I last sold a car, but pricing it keenly and an advert in the local rag always worked for me.

If you'll accept £1800, don't list at £2k. Buyers will accept the price is what it is if they feel what you're asking is fair. Add something on-top intending to give away in a haggle and you're in it for the long haul.
 
daugirdas said:
I bought new one and was given 30d by the insurance to get rid of the old one. There is some time, but clearly not too much. I have listed on ebay and gumtree so far. That's £15 already spent and no interest after 2 days.

Do you find that autotrader or pistonheads or something else helps to sell faster? Autotrader is kind of totally overpriced - does it mean it works that much better than the rest?

Also would you start the price above average and let them haggle it down a bit more as there are little issues such as paintwork or start closer to the mark? E.g. If expected around £1.8-2k (or no less than 1.7k-ish) how would you best price it?

Finally, the car just decided to ask for an oil change despite having this done in Feb. Probably it didn't like the topup from a different bottle. Would you waste more time on this or just give some extra discount and let them do it as they wish?
Click to expand...

If you want £1700 then a dealer would probably tell you £1699 or £1695 looks more neat and tidy. Always annoys me when a dealer says you can have a brand new car for under £10000 and have a screen price of £9995 o_O
 
last car i sold was on gumtree a couple of months ago it was a 12 year old toyota previa which can vary wildly in price so i advertised it for what i thought it was worth and it sold in less than 24 hours
the first call was within 10 minuets of advertising which didn't get back to me, the second call was about 9:30am the next morning and it was sold to the second caller by dinner time

advertised for £3,200 sold for £2,800 took the 400 quid hit just in case there was an unseen fault and the air conditioning wasn't cold which was pointed out before sale

all in all my experience with gumtree has been pretty good over the years for the various bits i have sold on there
 
I've had best results selling on eBay classified ad but look to see what others have sold for and be realistic.

Gumtree used to be good a few years ago but now is full of wannabe car dealers.

Same with the groups on Facebook.

In my experience
 
Autotrader worked really well for my stepson. He got masses of enquiries and sold his car within a couple of days. I sold my last car via Facebook! Put a description and a couple of photos up and asked if anyone was interested. It sold it within a couple of weeks.
 
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