From what I can see most advertisers are struggling to sell their cars, ads gets lots of views and thats about it. Discuss !!

Personally, I think alot of people buy the car then find this forum as apposed to checking the forum for cars for sale first.

Alot of the 'researching' posts seem to be from people buying the cars new choosing between say a mondeo/octavia/vectra.

A couple of thoughts from me -

The used car (and in fact new as well) market is slow at the moment.

The for sale section is not immediately visible to non Freedom members.

I think the other problem is a lot of people on here already have Skodas which kind of limits the potential buyers. I tend to have a window shop through the ads every once in a while but no intention of buying....

Chris

I bought my car off the forum, but then I was an established member and skoda owner looking to buy a fabia vrs.

If I was looking to change to an Octavia for instance I would certainly look on briskoda almost exclusivly.

I sold my last Octy on here

Most sellers find that 'their' forum is usually the hardest place to find a buyer for all of the above reasons.

It's amazing to see Post Views exceeding 300 and 400 and not a single peep from the viewers.

Hence Autotrader, PH, ebay and other sites are also used. I gave Briskoda the first dibs, but quickly realised there were no serious people interested.

One 'buyer' was so interested he told me he would wait til the weekend was over then get back to me with his original offer. I took him at his word and when I called to honour his deal - he told me he had bought another car (but didn't bother telling me).

The other guy was 'very interested mate' and within a day decided he wasn't interested in buying my car at all. I've learned to be very wary of total strangers calling me 'mate' - never turns out well, chum...............

Window shoppers or tyre-kickers or time-wasters - all twigs on the same shrub really. Although window shoppers, (I'm one too) don't get peoples stress levels revving into the red!!

I joined looking for a Fabia VRS(black poss silver low mileage) but not buying till about Feb 08 hint hint

I got one guy very interested withing a day of putting my car up for sale. He offered a decent price (based on whatcar.com) but a little lower than the market in Sussex. Thats been the only contact on the forum. Ebay is not bad, had one person interested in 2 weeks. Got a call from the autotrader ad within hours and am hoping that sale will go through.

Sites like ebay, autotrader, friday-ad ect reach many more people than a forum will

I sold my MR2 in less than 24hours thanks to autotrader Well worth the cash imho.

Whilst I was looking around, I did think some people where a bit too hopeful with their pricing!!! (sold my immaculate Y octy vRS with 52K on the clock last March for £5500) This is why Dean has earned his commision from me!

The car I got from the dealer was too good to pass up!!

I sold my MR2 in less than 24hours thanks to autotrader Well worth the cash imho.

Does the guy also want a Black vRS Octy??!!

Does the guy also want a Black vRS Octy??!!

Nope He already has a Fabia and a Porsche Boxster in his fleet lol.

I've seen quite a few cars on here that I'd love to buy (I think thre are a couple now) but I've just taken a new job that involved a pay cut so my plans for vehicular world domination have taken a severe battering. :|

I think you're bound to get a lot of views as everyone takes a natural interest in cars owned by other foum members. It's also fair to assume that the cars for sale are the same sort owned by the people doing the viewing so the actual market might be less than you'd think.

Bought my Fabia VRS from a Briskoda member. Felt happier knowing he had commented on the car in his posts favourably and I felt I knew more about the car because of that. Lots of members care about their cars so that a positive. Only problem I see is that not many "bread and butter" versions for sale as the enthusiast's choice seems to be Fabia/Octavia VRS and that narrows the market considerably.

I guess price is also a very important factor.

I do feel that sometimes being enthusiasts, we tend to overestimate the value of our cars.

I have seen cars sell quickly on here - especially when the price is right. Lozgit's was a good example of that if I reacll corrrectly.

In the case of the OP in this thread, I feel you're asking too much. I looked at the advert when you first posted it at £15,495. You had previously mentioned a dealer offered only £14k, and that was 6 months ago and with about half the current mileage.

Even though you have dropped several times to £14,695, I feel it is still on the high side. A look on the Skoda UK website shows 3 or 4 similar cars for less that £15k - one is a 2007 model. As a private seller I just don't think you can expect to get anywhere near what a dealer will.

I can't find the Octy Tdi vRS on the What Car website, but just to give an idea, a 2.0 Tdi L&K (new cost over £1k more than the vRS) only has a private sale price of £13,715.

I didn't comment in your For Sale thread as I don't think thats appropriate, but seeing as you asked you've had my 2ps worth!

Anyway, good luck with the sale.

As has been mentioned, an advert on Piston Heads might be worth trying - I think its free!

as has been said, its probably down to people finding the site AFTER they have bought a car. or if they are just finalising a deal on one and just want some info on what they are buying.

its like this on quite a few one brand or sinlge car forums imoa

For some reason people think enthusiasts will pay MORE for the same car than Joe Public at a dealer. Actually the converse is probably true. The enthusiast knows the value of the car he's looking for, and the pros and cons of mods, mileage, etc. Most ads on here do tend to be set at unrealistic prices.

Any of you that are Freedom members, I have a poll running in the Freedom area on this subject. Feel free to go and cast a vote if you haven't already. I will publish the results in a while so you can get an idea of how well it works.

At least on here you shouldn't get lots of annoying phone calls from other magazines and websites offering to advertise your car for you for ONLY another 50, 100, 200 etc. pounds.

Bought my vrs on here 11 months ago, good place to buy it.

the good thing about buying on here is you can go through the post history of the seller and 9 out of 10 times you will have a better history of the car than you would anywhere else,but i do agree that some of the prices seem a little optimistic and that could be a big reason for cars not selling:D

I was looking on here to find a Furby VRS

Didnt get one directly from the FOR SALE page but someone found one in Skoda.co.uk website for me

Personnally i think if a car is priced correctly it will sell in most places,the problem is ,when people spend money on their cars(especially recently),they assume they will get the money back,and unfortunately that is not the case,as the cars values will not be affected,it will possibly just become more saleable.

Things like routine maintenance,while it can be expensive,is just that,routine,and should be carried out,or have money knocked off if a service/cambelt change etc is due.

Items like suspension changes,remaps etc are very personnel,and while they will appeal to some,they will definately not appeal to others,and ultimately are pretty worthless on a car.

The moral of the story is,cars depreciate,and while we would all like to get "What i think it's worth",the reality is,"It's worth what someone will pay for it",if you don't like it,keep it(but it's gonna keep on depreciating,so if it's not worth what you want now,it definately won't be worth it in 6 months time)!!

I've found that the only places that haven't sold my car are Briskoda, Autotrader, PH, Freeads and Ebay. Apart from that pretty good............................

Promotion of used cars via this site will be revamped soon...site needs a make over in order to make room, it's a trade off but enough feedback has been given for it to be tested for a period. If it makes no tangible difference things will revert.

I've found that the only places that haven't sold my car are Briskoda, Autotrader, PH, Freeads and Ebay. Apart from that pretty good............................

I have to say,i would be genuinley interested in buying your car,and unlike the others you have had interested i have the cash here and would buy there and then if it is as described,but IMHO(and please don't take offence) you are a case in point,you have the car advertised everywhere you possibly could and yet no takers.....................your car does look very tidy,but in the current market it is overpriced for the mileage.

If you do re-adjust the price let me know,and i would come and have a look if i have not found anything else by then .

I have to say,i would be genuinley interested in buying your car,and unlike the others you have had interested i have the cash here and would buy there and then if it is as described,but IMHO(and please don't take offence) you are a case in point,you have the car advertised everywhere you possibly could and yet no takers.....................your car does look very tidy,but in the current market it is overpriced for the mileage.

If you do re-adjust the price let me know,and i would come and have a look if i have not found anything else by then .

Thanks for the message.

To be honest - my car is of more value than letting it go at a silly price. There is no reason to sell apart from a smallish drive and a really stupid replacement car. I will probably keep the Skud and make the nutter car my weekend toy instead.

cheers Chris

ps just had an email from soneone who's been to see a number of Skuds and had to admit they were 'shoddy'. That's maybe what makes the difference. Book price is one thing, but it's only a guide. It's not the law and not set in concrete. If someone sees the value in a car - then the 'book' price is just that - a price in a book.