Having trouble selling my car

eth0_

Need advice...basically I would really like to get rid of my car as soon as possible. I've moved into the city centre, I walk to work, I don't need the car. It's costing me over €400 a month and I only use it on weekends.

I've advertised in buy&sell, carzone.ie, adverts.ie and I got one response asking for more details about the car, but in the end he got a car closer to home.

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=10087

I can't really afford to get less than 3.5k for this car. Is it worth my while selling at auction or would I get sweet FA for it there?

jimmycrackcorm

Way over-priced imho. Better sell at a loss than constantly have to pay out.

Guy:Incognito

this aside http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=551076 (heheheh a punt cabriolet, just wanted to get it in there)

the price range on 01 punto's seems to be 3k - 6k ish. So t seems to be down towards the lower end of the scale.

eth0_

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Way over-priced imho. Better sell at a loss than constantly have to pay out.

Why is it overpriced? I've checked on autotrader, carzone etc and that is the going price for that model car with such a low milage.

How much would you suggest?

unkel

eth0_ wrote:

I can't really afford to get less than 3.5k for this car. Is it worth my while selling at auction or would I get sweet FA for it there?

You'll get a lot less than €3,500 at auction, perhaps only as little as €1,500 - €2,000

Maybe change the price on carzone.ie and adverts.ie to €2,950. Did you advertise in buy and sell with a picture? Only a tenner or something like that and it did the trick for me. Try offering it to a trader but be prepared to be offended

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Someone is going to get a lot of car for their money

Out of interest, how come it is costing you €400 per month? High insurance? If that's the case, you could store it somewhere securely and cancel the insurance

unkel

eth0_ wrote:

Why is it overpriced? I've checked on autotrader, carzone etc and that is the going price for that model car with such a low milage

Not the going price, the asking price. Big difference. Also a lot of cars on carzone are from dealers that would offer a warranty. Much riskier buying privately (caveat emptor) hence worth a lot less

MikeHunt

What those guys said, also late November/December is generally the worst time of year to be selling a car. Interest should pick up again in January.

eth0_

unkel wrote:

Out of interest, how come it is costing you €400 per month? High insurance? If that's the case, you could store it somewhere securely and cancel the insurance

Loan repayment, tax, insurance, petrol adds up to about 400 a month.

That colour is part of the problem too. Odd or uncommon colours make the car harder to shift. Not everyone wants a gold car. But on the other hand if you get a punter that has their heart set on the colour it can work on your favour.

It really is the wrong time of the year to try sell a car so that won't help your cause either.

BrandonBlock

Maybe if u sorted the scratches, a can of spray is only a few euro in halfords. It only takes a few mins to do and would be 1 less thing that would put potential buyers off the car.

bazz26

I totally agrew with what Unkel and the others have said about the price. You may not like what we are saying but if you want to get rid of your financial burden quickly then you may have to take a hit on the car.

Most prices on carzone or cbg are dealer asking prices, they offer warranties, etc with their cars which you cannot. Also what they ask and what they get for their cars are two completely different things.

Remember too, it is also the Christmas period when people are not really looking at buying cars until at least the new year is out of the way. Your car is 6 years old next week so you have to price it that way now if you want to shift it. I think €3k ono is more realistic to be honest.

Another tip is to have the car cleaned inside and out. I know it is crappy weather this time of year but half a day spent cleaning the car when the weather is dry and a few photos of the car with a nice background can make all the difference. If you are not getting the scrapes fixed then don't take close up photos of them. First impressions and all that, most people think that if you cannot be bothered cleaning a car for a photo when selling it then you probably don't look after it that well.

Best of luck.

eth0_

BrandonBlock wrote:

Maybe if u sorted the scratches, a can of spray is only a few euro in halfords. It only takes a few mins to do and would be 1 less thing that would put potential buyers off the car.

Is it easy to do? I'm afraid of making a mess of it!

zuutroy

easy to do badly, very difficult to do right. That knock on the driver's wing is not gonna be easy for a first timer. Also, dont advertise the fact that it has a knock! People accept that the car won't be perfect but dont draw their attention to it...Let them get interested first, then they'll be more inclined to take it warts an' all.

eth0_

zuutroy wrote:

Also, dont advertise the fact that it has a knock! People accept that the car won't be perfect but dont draw their attention to it...Let them get interested first, then they'll be more inclined to take it warts an' all.

It wasn't a knock, it was some eejit who scraped me getting in or out of the parking space beside me. I see your point though. I just didn't want someone coming to see it and then getting pissed because I didn't mention the scratch.

Thanks for all the advice so far, I appreciate it!

TempestSabre

You'll sell it faster in the traditional papers quicker than on the internet, the herald etc. The vast majority of people read the papers, and you want to reach the biggest audience.

eth0_

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice, sold the car at the weekend!

bazz26

eth0_ wrote:

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice, sold the car at the weekend!

How or what did you do to sell it in the end?

eth0_

Lowered the price to 3200, gave it a good clean and wax, and the first person who came to see it bought it.

unkel

Well done, congrats!