Hi All,

Does anyone have any tips for selling a car? In the past, I've either traded them in, or sold them to family, so am a bit of a newbie.

I've taken loads of clear pictures, the car is immaculate and I have paid to put it on Autotrader and Ebay (classified ad) as well as having it here on the forum. After a week of it being out there, I have not had a single contact. I think that the car is priced very fairly too. :confused:

I am hoping that because of the time of year people are waiting for a weekend, and that I'll start to hear things tomorrow.

If you do have any tips or suggestions, much appreciated.

Thanks

Stu

Think you've covered the main points already TBH. Good quality pictures and a well laid out advert are the most important bits I think.

It has a lot to do with the time of year really. If you can hang on for a month or so, I think that would help.

Good luck with it

Steve

On Ebay and autotrader be cautious of spam emails like I'll mail you the cheque/agent will contact you and toyotas are my dream car.

I got loads of them when selling a cheapy Nissan Sunny. Most of them had Yahoo addresses in .fr and .it

Good luck

On Ebay and autotrader be cautious of spam emails like I'll mail you the cheque/agent will contact you and toyotas are my dream car.

I got loads of them when selling a cheapy Nissan Sunny. Most of them had Yahoo addresses in .fr and .it

Good luck

Did you get any of the sort that said ' I want to buy my wife this car for a birthday present but she is living in Mexico (or some other place) shipping instructions to follow with cheque, please make sure it is nicely wrapped up'

Thanks for the tips and good wishes - I'm probably being a bit impatient I guess too!

I will certainly look out for scams.

One thing - in my Ad I said that test drives welcome on production of relevant insurance... I can't see that would put people off, but you never know I suppose...

Cheers

Stu

Keep the car clean as possiable. If going for a private sale, state that payment to be by bankers draught only. Saves people using forged notes etc......

Keep the car clean as possiable. If going for a private sale, state that payment to be by bankers draught only. Saves people using forged notes etc......

And don't release V5 and key's until it's cleared, Bankers drafts and Building society cheques can be forged/stolen too!

And don't release V5 and key's until it's cleared, Bankers drafts and Building society cheques can be forged/stolen too!

Ohh err, never knew that. :eek:

All good stuff, thanks chaps.

also ask for more than you actually want so that you get closer to your target. I used to add £500 on to it so that if people tried to negotiate then i got hopefully what i wanted or as near as damn it

It has a lot to do with the time of year really. If you can hang on for a month or so, I think that would help.

Hi Wardy,

Any idea when you think the market usually picks up? Have had my Fabia up for 5 weeks now - Autotrader, Freeads, Ebay, signs in window, work notice board... and of course Briskoda... and have not received a single call. It is priced below book price and lots of support on here that it is priced right

Not sure what else I can do, short of giving it away!

Cheers,

Stu

Many banks will ask for a few days to clear bankers drafts now, so check with your bank before handing keys over.

Also, for your "title" photo, take an arty picture, an angled shot or close up of the front corner looking up. It will stand out far more in the lift of cars on autotrader than the standard side on shot.

Phil

Its worth having a look at what the competition is, as well as what the book price is.

I just did a quick search on Autotrader for Fabia vRS less than 3 years old from private sellers.

There are 11 of them that are cheaper than yours and more than half with below average (less than 30k) miles.

Not a totally fair comparison, as I know yours has quite a few months to go until the three years is up, and it is in stunning condition, but as mentioned the market is quiet this time of year and there is probably quite a lot of financial uncertainty about. Maybe people are being tempted by something a bit older but still with some warranty left.

I think you have done all you can to get a sale - the bottom line is sell now for less if you are desparate, or hang on for more if you can wait.

I think you have done all you can to get a sale - the bottom line is sell now for less if you are desparate, or hang on for more if you can wait.

Thanks. Truth be told, I don't need to sell, just fancied a change... so I'll just hang in there. I bought the Fabia vRS for it's solid residuals, which I guess it still has compared to some.

It is interesting that none of the ones advertised on here (including the SEs) seem to be shifting at all.

I did do an Autotrader search and was actually quite surprised at some of the prices people are happy to sell for - for example an '06 that is about £1500 under book - I can only assume that they are needing cash quick.. :confused:

I spoke to a friend the other day that said if he saw a car at £9k, he'd expect to pay £8500 or less. He is no 'hard bargainer' so I can only assume he's met some soft touches in his time!

Cheers for the input.

Stu

Out of interest, which book are you using for a guide price?

Chris

Out of interest, which book are you using for a guide price?

Chris

Parkers....

I know that it's not everyone's cup of tea...

Ah! That might explain why so many cars are going for below book price

Chris

What would you advise?

I always thought that if you had access to the Glass Guide, use that, if not (ie. not a trader in the old days) use Parkers...

Using the links in the For Sale section:

What Car - £8640 (Non-pearlescent paint)

mycarcheck.com - £8600 (average miles, non-pearlescent paint)

wisebuyers.co.uk - £8600 (average miles, non-pearlescent paint)

Parkers - £8945 (average miles, non-pearlescent paint)

Hmm.. it's looking now like I can't afford to sell if those are to be believed! :thumbdwn:

The thing is, I've not had any offers either.

Cheers,

Stu

I used to use Parkers but found it was very optimistic and nowadays I tend to use the Vauxhall used car valuer - go to the Vauxhall web site -> Owners -> Value Your Car. This produces a part ex price using the Glass' guide and can be tweaked for mileage, etc. I'd then add £1k on for a reasonable private sale asking price, maybe a bit more if you want some room to negotiate down.

Would be interesting to see how my way compares to the other figures you've got to see if I'm just wasting my time doing all this calculating/guessing and I should just use one of the existing sites!

Chris

Would be interesting to see how my way compares to the other figures you've got to see if I'm just wasting my time doing all this calculating/guessing and I should just use one of the existing sites!

Chris

Thanks Chris.

Well, here you go:

Vauxhall Part-Ex - £8000

Plus a grand - £1000

=================

Total £9000

so, my current price is on the money!

I reckon the best approach is to use Parkers as a seller and mycarcheck.com as a buyer! :P

Cheers

Stu

Your car will find it's natural value in the market place, if you price too high it simply wont sell, the phone wont even ring.

Too low and someone will snatch your hand off.

I sold my wife's 04 Scenic 1.6 Expression (the new model) in September on autotrader, EVERY guide was saying it was worth around the £6000 mark, after 2 weeks of silence from the phone we lowered the price and finally it sold for £5K.

Boy that guy got a lot of car for the money! Even now I am seeing OLD model Scenics being advertised for more money, I do wonder if they are selling but would probably rather not know!

Agree with earlier comments about presenting the car, make sure it is absolutely immaculate for every viewing.

When it came to payment I was terrified about forged cheques and banks saying payments had cleared when they hadn't. Our buyer brought cash and we went together to the local post office to pay it int omy Barclays account, we filled in the V5 together and I let him take the car.

The irony was that the post office/Barclays "lost" the payment (thank god I kept the receipt) and it took 8 weeks before the money was "found" and credited to our account. It reminded me of the Not the nine o'clock news sketch with the bank where they kept each customers money in a separate shoe box....but now I'm veering right off topic!

Dan

Thanks Dan. I guess that in the market, supply and demand always result in a natural price level - and the are lots of different factors governing them - although demand (for 'mainstream' cars) probably swings more than supply.

I am confident that the first to see will buy as it is immaculate. Fact is, I'm not going to give it away, so if no-one buys at the price it's at now I will keep the car - bought it from new and cherished, so I know it's a good one.. actually a lot of folks think I'm mad selling, when the only reason I am is that I fancy a convertible.. and that will be used and much higher mileage! I would sorely miss the Fabia - if it does sell for the current price, I feel (like you did with your Renault) that someone will get an awful lot of car for the money.

Good advice on the payment options too.

Hmm... maybe I should sell my motorbike instead to fund the convertible... (cue a Dr Evil style pose with little finger in the corner of my mouth...)

Cheers,

Stu

Dan, I know what you're saying about selling for too low a price. I had already put a deposit on my BMW before selling my Golf so I put it at what I thought was a reasonable price with a very comprehensive and clear advert and lots of good pictures.

I put it on Autotrader and Pistonheads at 10am and by 1pm I had taken a deposit! Kept it up on Autotrader until the guy came to collect it and had a further 19 phonecalls in the two weeks! Wish I had priced it a bit higher now!

As for payment- definitely do not limit the payment options in your add. In fact, bankers draft is one method I would rather not deal with. As said, they can be forged and the also take about 4 days to clear.

Much better to do a CHAPS transfer (which is made even easier, quicker and free if you are with the same bank), or even accept cash. All you have to do is get him to pay it into your account. You don't touch it, then you don't take the rap for anything dodgy or any shortfalls and the money is in your account instantly.