Would a garage buy my car (not as a trade in)?

[flippin' ec!]

Hi

 

Trying to sell my car but having absolutely no luck whatsoever! Does anybody know whether a garage would buy a car - not as a trade in but just to add to their stock? I dont have much experience n this area and have tried selling on gumtree, autotrader and ebay but have not had a single call..(despite plenty of web views).

 

Not sure what I'm doing wrong - don't think the car is overpriced and it's in good condition with FSH and some fairly major work just done - new clutch and timing belt. However I don't live in an area with a big "catchment" and it might just be time of the year...

 

Please save me from webuyanycar.com!

 

thanks

[chr1staylor]

You'll most likely get a better offer from WBAC than a dealer.

[nigelz]

An independent or small garage may buy your car but they will generally offer you much less than it's worth, as an example I traded in a 2007 Golf GT with 35k miles a few months back at a main dealer, they then advertised it for £1k more than they gave me PX. I still managed to get £1700 more than WBAC were offering though.

 

Also WBAC will give you a price online and then when you actually go to their site they offer you less.

[nigelz]

Also to help sell your car via classifieds I would suggest that you do searches for what you are selling, work out the average price of the other cars up for sale and then knock a few quid off, £100 - £200. You need to get the buyers attention so things like low miles and options are things to play on, as are long MOT's, TAX and FSH.

[flippin' ec!]

Thanks Nigelz - good to hear that you can potentially get a better price from a dealer than WBAC. TBH I've priced the car quite a bit lower (over £1,000) than most I've seen on ebay or autotrader ,miles are ok for year (2006), has a FSH and 9 months tax (3 months MOT) - but still no interest!

 

Probably the issues is that it's a 2.0FSi Elegance hatch - had it been an estate, vRS or diesel I'm sure i would have had a few calls...

[ethos]

Can you link us to one of the adverts you have up? How long have you had the car for sale?

[flippin' ec!]

Hi ethos

 

Link attached - i've had the car up for around 3 weeks now and have already dropped the price by £450 - really need to seel it on as quick as i can due to buying a newer Octy.

 

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/skoda-octavia-20-fsi-elegance-83800-mies-2006-55-plate-rare-high-spec/1044870067

 

Hopefully this won't get stopped by the moderators ...

[brad1.8T]

I'd reword the ad a bit  - use dot points if possible & point out the benefits of some of the features - eg: timing belt done at 83k miles  = nothing to do until 160k (or whatever it is).  Done 84k miles - very low for age (it is for AUS).  Just sya it's got "tyres with plenty of life" (something like that).  I wouldn't worry about mentioning the 2 owners either.

 

The photos don't get me in at all - silver car on a dull day?.  We all have a mate with an excessively big camera that thinks he can take photos.  Get him in on the job - preferably on the 1 sunny day a year that you get in the UK. :-)

 

Also, send emails out to all your friends & workmates & post it on fb etc.  People are often looking for a cheap car but don't tell their friends.

Edited 17 January, 2014 by brad1.8T

[flippin' ec!]

Thanks Brad - good tips! Alas Scotland in the winter ....there is no sunny day !!

[brad1.8T]

I think we stole them all.  35c every on the drive home every afternoon this week.  40+ in the Southern part of the country.  Everything has turned brown

[flippin' ec!]

Sounds nice - although a little too hot for me! Lucky if we get above 5 here until about February...and wiki tells me we have 37 hours of sunshine for the whole month

[Jonners_GTI]

Thanks Nigelz - good to hear that you can potentially get a better price from a dealer than WBAC. TBH I've priced the car quite a bit lower (over £1,000) than most I've seen on ebay or autotrader ,miles are ok for year (2006), has a FSH and 9 months tax (3 months MOT) - but still no interest!

Probably the issues is that it's a 2.0FSi Elegance hatch - had it been an estate, vRS or diesel I'm sure i would have had a few calls...

Cheaper isn't always better. If it's cheaper people may think there's something wrong with it.

[gadgetman]

The 2.0 FSI isn't a popular choice for buyers.

Trade in, our 07 elegance hatch with lots of extras was worth only 2k.

[octavrskoda]

Maybe don't mention the mpg in the ad? Although it's good for a 2.0 petrol it will not sell the car. I had trouble selling my 2.0 TFSI a few years ago and same last year with my 2.0 petrol mondeo. There's a really limited market for 2 litre petrol cars these days. 

 

Also January not the best month for selling a car as many people skint after Christmas. 

[mikey vrs]

Its worth joining "freedom" on here & trying to sell it in the classifieds.