Are garages taking second-hand cars without a trade in?

CountryWise

Looking to sell the car in a few weeks but have heard alot of rumours that they dont want to be taking in second hand cars anymore unless your buying something from them, is this true, and if they do are they likely to offer me a poor value for my car?

bazz26

Garage forecourts are full of second hand cars at the moment as the market is saturated and alot of people are sourcing their used cars in the UK. So garages have enough hassel trying to shift trade-ins as it is especially this time of year when new car sales are very strong.

It also depends on the car in question, in other words a rare enough car that is in high demand will probably appeal to a dealer as it is easy to sell on.

They generally however will probably offer the seller well below the market value of the vehicle if they want it at all.

John R

It would entirely depend on what car you are trying to sell and what garage. Main dealers whose business is mostly selling new cars won't want to be buying second-hand unless it is a desirable model of their brand.

Unless you are trying to sell something on the edge of being scrap you will usually find some dealer willing to buy it.

You are never going to get a good price from dealers, they earn a living off selling cars so will only ever buy at a price that they can add cleaning/small repairs to and still sell on for a decent profit.

If you have trouble shifting it with dealers then advertise it privately or put it in an auction. Auction is most likely way to get a car shifted quickly but you won't get a good price, putting a high reserve will just leave it unsold.