Ladies and gents. I'm after some help.

Been thinking about changing cars already..don't know why but fancy a change after only 6 months.

The dealer trade in prices are awful so thinking of selling private and paying off the balance of the 0%. Someone at work is interested so was after some professional opinions on what the motor is worth. Spec as follows.

2013 - 63 plate Octavia VRS Hatch.

Race Blue.

3500miles.

Immaculate condition and been looked after by my own OCD hands.

Options when ordered.

Black pack.

Columbus nav

Keyless

Cruise

Sunset glass.

I think that's it. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Ben

If you know what the dealers are selling them for (must be some on tinterweb by now) and what you've been offered trade, private will probably be about 1/2 way between the 2.... unless its yellow LOL. The options are unlikely to add much if any value to it though.

IIRC you can get a valuation on what car

WhatCar, Parkers, Glass's Guide, CAP - These are all the websites I looked at before swapping my car, although I would put more faith in Glass's and CAP than WhatCar and Parkers - I think the majority of dealers use CAP these days. For less than a fiver you can tailor the quote to include options, exact mileage etc.

 

Considering the value of a nearly new vRS I'd think it was well worth a few quid to buy a valuation.

One thing's for sure, it'll have lost 20% VAT once it was driven off the forecourt so I would value it probably at a maximum of 80% of what you paid, then allow for use, mileage, condition, etc.

Unfortunately, whilst some cars with long waiting lists appreciate in value as people are willing to buy nearly-new at an inflated price to avoid the wait, I don't think the Octavia vRS is one of them.

 

You're looking at a substantial loss if you sell a 'normal' new car after 6 months - as devonutopia says, you'll lose 20% the moment you buy it, and then the depreciation curve is going to be near vertical for the first six months.

 

The other problem you've got is that it doesn't matter that there is no/very little discount on list with the finance deals - if you're a cash buyer you can still get a good couple of thousand off.  So, personally, if I'm a cash buyer looking for a nearly used vRS, then I'd be looking to pay < £20k (quite possibly a lot less).

£18K.

Petrol or diesel?

 

Check the cheapest new prices (DtD, Orangewheels, etc.) and compare to your trade in value and as someone else said, privately you might get the mid point between the two. The other problem is a new buyer may need to finance it and unless they look in the right places, a straight bank loan might make the monthly payments seem too expensive.

 

And also, private buyers might regard you selling a newly new car privately as a "bad sign".

I wouldn't take the chance of paying so much for a private car, you have zero buyer protection plus as above, I'd be wondering why on earth someone is selling such a new car privately. Is it stolen, so badly broken the dealer can't fix it and wont take it, etc. If the person you know won't take it, then you're not going to have an easy time selling it.

 

For price, find the cheapest similar one from a dealer on Autotrader and its half way between that and your trade in.

Is it TDi or TSi?

TDi will be worth a bit more than the petrol.

Going by my local dealers a car of that age, spec and mileage would likely go up in the region of 23-24k if diesel, maybe 22-23 for a petrol. The estates are probably about a grand more than equivalent hatches.

They'll offer you as little as possible of course as the less they pay you the better margin they'll have (and therefore make on the car). I reckon you'd probably get offered anything from 18 to 20k for it depending on the dealer and whether youre looking to do another deal (buy another car). If you try to sell it to a non Skoda franchise they'll really pull your pants down unless they have a Skoda dealership within their group, have some means to guarantee moving it on or are desperate to make a sale to you. Id suggest they'd be looking to make at least a 15 to 20% margin on your car/deal all in if possible if selling it on themselves.

An example - my dealer gave me about 16750 for my year old Blackline DSG estate which I didnt think was bad considering I only paid about 20k for it new. I was however buying another car from them so think the part ex value was strong on account of that. They put it up for 19k and reckon they would have got that for it so made a good margin on that, plus a reasonable margin on the new purchase which i estimate would have come in at approx 18/20% total profit from the deal.

selling privately would likely achieve the greatest value out of the sale but people may question and be deterred from buying such a new car privately as others mention.

Edited 9 July, 201411 yr by pipsyp

...also just as another example I briefly looked into what my 2014 63 plate 2.0 Elegance manual estate with 4.5k miles was worth a month or two back as am faced with doing alot more mileage for work so considering going back to a company car when the time is right.

was told the 4 month old car in immaculate condition booked at 16k trade, as a valued customer they'd have given me 17k for it. Quite a large initial loss (but not unexpected) for a 4 month old 23k car but dont doubt it'd have retailed for 20k+ on their forecourt had I sold. Naturally ive kept the car until its equity position improves.

You're going to take a big hit. I would say £18k for a private sale as well.

It's the equivalent of buying a car for £5k then taking it to a scrapyard 6 months later and asking them to crush it.

You'd be mad to sell it inside six months IMO given the depreciation, unless you're director of a FTSE 100.

 

Best guess, you'd be lucky to get >£18k out of a private sale, even less (which I guess it is given the omission of Winter Pack) if it's the petrol variant.  Added to that there are ex-demos available, buyers might be cautious about buying nearly new from a private sale.

 

Personally, I'd stick with the car another 18 months and revisit the selling idea then.  Let's face it, there is no car available which comes anywhere close to the Octavia vRS - anything else will be a cheap immitation.  The Bentley Continental GT is not a bad substitute, but it's a lot more expensive and nowhere near as pretty....

Edited 9 July, 201411 yr by fiisch

I bought a Kia Sportage (don't ask why) back in late February 2013 at a cost of £26K and agreed a part exchange with my dealer of £20K in December 2013 for the vRS TDi DSG estate (which i'm picking up on the 18th July).

 

On the dealer invoice, £18.5K of this is showing as part exchange value plus £1.5K 'allowance' on the vRS (i.e. discount), so my effective loss in 8 months was £7.5K (gross) and £6K (nett).

 

Work that back and we're talking a loss of £937.50 (3.6% of new value) per month by selling to the dealer, and £750.00 (2.9% of new value) per month based on having bought another car from them - remembering also that we don't have VAT @ 20%, but have an equivalent called GST @ 5% over here.

 

So… I'd say you're looking at about a 2.75% (on new value) loss per month for the first 4 months, a 2.25% (on new value) loss per month for the next 4 months, and a 2.00% (on new value) loss per month for the next 4 months (so about 28% for the year), and after that the depreciation tails off significantly to about 40% after year 2 and 50% after year 3, which is pretty average nowadays from my past car buying experience.

 

Edit… have you tried WeBuyAnyCar(ButNeverActuallyGiveYouTheQuotedValue).com?

Agree with the above posts. I would run it for at least another 6 to 12 months then reassess unless you have money to burn or dont particularly care about taking a hit on it.

Sad fact initial depreciation on any new car is v heavy and for most people buying a new car it becomes a necessity to hold onto it for at least 12 to 18 months before it becomes feasible to consider a change.

£18k sounds fair, would even consider buying it myself off you for that. If it was an estate then i would be all over it ha ha

Just ran it through CAP, standby for a raping.

With your extras accounted for a Oct (63) and if a Tsi then;

Clean: £16100-£17150

Ave: £15350-16350

Below: £14600-£15550

If a Tdi

Clean: £17950-£19100

Ave: £17250-£18350

Below: £16450-£17550

Just ran it through CAP, standby for a raping.

With your extras accounted for a Oct (63) and if a Tsi then;

Clean: £16100-£17150

Ave: £15350-16350

Below: £14600-£15550

If a Tdi

Clean: £17950-£19100

Ave: £17250-£18350

Below: £16450-£17550

 

Wow, thats very low! How on earth are the GMFV's for at 3 years are so close to those figures? Just goes to show how much you lose when driving off the forecourt, compared to the following 30 months!

One thing's for sure, it'll have lost 20% VAT once it was driven off the forecourt so I would value it probably at a maximum of 80% of what you paid, then allow for use, mileage, condition, etc.

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand this logic. VAT has nothing to do with used car pricing. Demand and condition of the vehicle are the only factors.

P.S. By condition I mean the whole spec, mileage, colour, not just its appearance.

Edited 11 July, 201411 yr by stevehg

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand this logic. VAT has nothing to do with used car pricing. Demand and condition of the vehicle are the only factors.

P.S. By condition I mean the whole spec, mileage, colour, not just its appearance.

 

When you buy a car from a business, they charge you VAT. When you buy a car from me (or the OP) he doesn't charge VAT. Therefore he can't recoup that 20%, it's an instant loss on the initial car purchase, even if you sell it 35 seconds after buying it, you can't recoup that 20%.

When you buy a car from a business, they charge you VAT.

 

Only applies to new cars.  Used cars from businesses don't attract VAT either.  It's "Value Added Tax" - the value add is turning the components into a car.  There is no value add after that, despite what car modders would have you think! 

When you buy a car from a business, they charge you VAT. When you buy a car from me (or the OP) he doesn't charge VAT. Therefore he can't recoup that 20%, it's an instant loss on the initial car purchase, even if you sell it 35 seconds after buying it, you can't recoup that 20%.

Sorry, but I don't agree with this.

 

If I buy a car from a dealer for £24k (of which £4k is VAT) there is nothing to stop me selling it the same day to a private buyer for say £23500.  The private buyer is £500 better off (ignoring the fact that technically he would be the second owner...) and I haven't lost the £4k in VAT.  The VAT is completely irrelevant to the consumer (other than we have to pay it on the initial purchase). The private buyer only looks at the fact that he can either buy from dealer at £24k or he can buy a one day old car privately at £23.5k.

 

(Obviously there are lots of other factors come into play but in principle the car is worth what someone will pay)

When you buy a car from a business, they charge you VAT. When you buy a car from me (or the OP) he doesn't charge VAT. Therefore he can't recoup that 20%, it's an instant loss on the initial car purchase, even if you sell it 35 seconds after buying it, you can't recoup that 20%.

I'm not lacking in brain cells and know how VAT works. Hence my point.

If I buy a car from a dealer for £24k (of which £4k is VAT) there is nothing to stop me selling it the same day to a private buyer for say £23500.

 

There's nothing to stop you selling it for £100k, if you can find someone willing to pay that.

 

It doesn't alter the fact that you've actually only paid the dealer £20k for it in the first place, and you've paid £4k in tax to the government (indirectly).  So if you tried to sell it back to the dealer, they're not going to give you £23.5k for it, as that would mean they will have made a loss of £3.5k.

 

(my point being that a dealer won't pay that much for it, so you'll struggle to find anyone who will, as it isn't worth that much)

There's nothing to stop you selling it for £100k, if you can find someone willing to pay that.

 

It doesn't alter the fact that you've actually only paid the dealer £20k for it in the first place, and you've paid £4k in tax to the government (indirectly).  So if you tried to sell it back to the dealer, they're not going to give you £23.5k for it, as that would mean they will have made a loss of £3.5k.

 

(my point being that a dealer won't pay that much for it, so you'll struggle to find anyone who will, as it isn't worth that much)

 

 

Clearly the dealer won't pay you £24k but if for whatever reason you did need to get shot of the car immediately AND the dealer had someone else they could sell the car to there is nothing to stop them buying it for £23k and selling it for £23.5k... then they have the profit from the first sale and another £500 from the second....

 

The bottom line is that the VAT is a one off cost to the first purchaser. After that the car is worth whatever anyone will pay and VAT becomes irrelevant. A day old car might still be worth £24k to someone who is keen to get one instantly without any delays... To the second purchaser it is still a car worth £24k but maybe less a little for the fact that they are the second person on the V5, nothing else has changed!

I don't disagree with anything you say there... but where a Skoda Octavia (or any other normal car) is concerned, no-one is going to pay more than the list price ex. VAT for a pre-registered car, even with a 6 month wait.  Why would you buy that car for that amount, when there are plenty of other cars that are slightly used going for a lot less than list.  It's all down to supply and demand.

 

Where you have an 18-month waiting list for an Aston Martin or something else where there are not that many of them, then yes, people will pay more than list inc. VAT in order to skip the queue.  But then they have more money than most and can afford to do so!