First time selling a car privately

tk05

I see somebody recently bumped an old selling a car thread but I'm starting a new one since I don't want to hijack that thread.


This is my first time selling a car privately and I really have no idea how much I should ask for it. It's an older car ( > 10yrs) so it should obviously be on the cheaper end but it's hard to determine how cheap. Most advise online I see for pricing reference UK sites. Are there any sites giving good advice on selling a car that pertain to Ireland?

I assume that no one would buy my car without a taking a test drive.
Is it possible to conduct a test drive of a car being sold privately legally?
Since the buyer would not be insured to drive the car it seems like it's not possible to have a legal test drive (I don't think anyone would want to pay for instant cover on a cheap car to test drive and open drive seems to be more of a myth).
Also my car is not currently insured at all even for me to drive it but does that make a difference at all? Is it okay to allow a test drive?
How far should I let them go? Since there's no insurance at all on the car I don't really want to let them leave the car park (private land) but is that realistic?


Also, what's the second hand market like now? Is it still very bad? Do I have any hope of selling a cheap car (< 1000EUR) within two weeks?

ytareh

Well give an idea of -or exact details of-car and you'll be given a valuation...Donedeal.ie is THE place to sell nowadays ,then maybe gumtree.ie with adverts.ie a fairly distant third ...
Like so many areas of life the 'Real World' procedure is somewhat different from the aspirational /"Best Practice" situation ...you can really only ask the potential buyer if hes insured to test drive your vehicle...Id be fairly sure in fact that ANY kind of test driving except at an SIMI garage or at least a trader with a 'Motor Trade policy ' would be illegal if following the letter of the law and small print in policy .
Meanwhile back on Planet Earth obviously if youre selling a GTi and a young fella and his mates turn up Id be extremely hesitant but beyond that its going to look extremely weird if youre refusing a test drive .
The car should be as clean as humanly possible ,a pro valet may be worth considering even on a 1000 euro car ,tidy up any obvious and easily fixable flaws like bulbs ,loose trim etc /...
Heres the bottom line ....if you want to sell your car it must be cheap cheap CHEAP!And none of this 'start a little higher and drop the price as you go along etc '...advertise it at what you will accept or a hundred or two more at most .

tk05

Should I allow the registration to be visible in the pictures or remove it?
I see some ads with the reg visible and some ads with it covered up.
Is there a reason to cover up the reg?

Zubeneschamali

tk05 wrote: »

Is there a reason to cover up the reg?

It stops the aliens from tracking you down and kidnapping you for probing experiments.

johndaman66

tk05 wrote: »

Is there a reason to cover up the reg?

I don't believe there is and fail to see why people get so hung up on this. One can note the registration number of any car they see on the road or parked up.


Other than making the car as clean and presentable as possible I'd suggest you be as honest as you possibly can be when advertising the car. Don't just put in key phrases for the sake of it like "mint condition" when I'm guessing its very highly unlikey that a car somebody is selling for €1,000 is in mint condition. Or a particular bugbear of mine, to say car is not tested but will fly through next NCT...Manys a qualified mechanic would be unlikely to make this call even after examining a car.

Tigger

tk05 wrote: »

I see somebody recently bumped an old selling a car thread but I'm starting a new one since I don't want to hijack that thread.


This is my first time selling a car privately and I really have no idea how much I should ask for it. It's an older car ( > 10yrs) so it should obviously be on the cheaper end but it's hard to determine how cheap.

what is it?

I assume that no one would buy my car without a taking a test drive.
Is it possible to conduct a test drive of a car being sold privately legally?
Since the buyer would not be insured to drive the car it seems like it's not possible to have a legal test drive (I don't think anyone would want to pay for instant cover on a cheap car to test drive and open drive seems to be more of a myth).

how is it a myth i'm insured to drive any car as long as the owner lets me (i think ity has to be less than 3L )

Also my car is not currently insured at all even for me to drive it but does that make a difference at all? Is it okay to allow a test drive?

if you want to sell the car you'll have to let it be driven

How far should I let them go? Since there's no insurance at all on the car I don't really want to let them leave the car park (private land) but is that realistic?

no , people will need abouit 15 minutes of driving to see if the car is ok

Also, what's the second hand market like now? Is it still very bad? Do I have any hope of selling a cheap car (< 1000EUR) within two weeks?

yes

stick it on donedeal.ie with 5 inside and 5 outside pics.

Tigger

lol

its a broken polo and he wants a second account for adverts so people don't realise its broken

tk05

Tigger wrote: »

lol

its a broken polo and he wants a second account for adverts so people don't realise its broken

I have to say you are incredibly rude. There's nothing the least bit broken about the car. It was last serviced only weeks ago. The only reason I would sell under a different account is because I view boards and adverts as separate sites and because regular online identities should never be used with in-person dealings. I also have several other things to sell.

Tigger

tk05 wrote: »

I have to say you are incredibly rude. There's nothing the least bit broken about the car. It was last serviced only weeks ago. The only reason I would sell under a different account is because I view boards and adverts as separate sites and because regular online identities should never be used with in-person dealings. I also have several other things to sell.

is it a polo?

my online persona is my persona because i'm me
loads of people know who i am i've bought and sold here as i would anywhere fairly and wwithout trying to cover stuff up

so what was wrong with the car and how was it fixed?


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67901169&postcount=1

tk05

Tigger wrote: »

is it a polo?

You mean is it the same car referred to in my post history. Yes it is. The couple of issues I've asked about before were quite minor and aren't unusual for old cars (I've had older cars before) and I've had all of them fixed anyway. I would not drive a car that I did not feel safe in and thus I always address any issues I encounter.
The car drives fine and I'm personally happy with it. I would keep it for a while longer but since I'm moving to another country I cannot.

Tigger

tk05 wrote: »

You mean is it the same car referred to in my post history. Yes it is. The couple of issues I've asked about before were quite minor and aren't unusual for old cars (I've had older cars before) and I've had all of them fixed anyway. I would not drive a car that I did not feel safe in and thus I always address any issues I encounter.
The car drives fine and I'm personally happy with it. I would keep it for a while longer but since I'm moving to another country I cannot.

so the intermittent problem that only shows up on cold wet days is fixed
what was it?

tk05

Tigger wrote: »

my online persona is my persona because i'm me
loads of people know who i am i've bought and sold here as i would anywhere fairly and wwithout trying to cover stuff up

You may feel comfortable broadcasting every detail of your life to everyone like many people on bebo but I've always believed that one's online persona must NEVER EVER be linked to their real life identity. I don't want to come across some unstable person on WoW who is able to stalk and harass me in real life because I once posted my phone number somewhere using the same nickname.

tk05

Tigger wrote: »

so the intermittent problem that only shows up on cold wet days is fixed
what was it?

Yes. Do you think I would risk merging onto a motorway if I thought the car might suddenly refuse to accelerate?

Tigger

tk05 wrote: »

Yes. Do you think I would risk merging onto a motorway if I thought the car might suddenly refuse to accelerate?

What was the issue

tk05

Tigger wrote: »

What was the issue

Clogged exhaust. Some components in the exhaust system(which were the original) were replaced (new parts).

Eoin

A potential buyer might be insured to test drive the car BUT it might only be 3rd party cover. This means that if something did happen, your car would not be covered. This can vary from policy to policy, so make sure - especially as you don't have a policy on it yourself.

Do I have any hope of selling a cheap car (< 1000EUR) within two weeks?

Is it taxed or NCT'd? I would find it a bit of a turn off if I knew the car I was going to see had no tax, NCT and no insurance. The first two would mean that it can't be driven on public roads and would be something I'd need to organise after buying it, and the latter would mean it would be up to me to arrange insurance.

tk05

eoin wrote: »

A potential buyer might be insured to test drive the car BUT it might only be 3rd party cover. This means that if something did happen, your car would not be covered. This can vary from policy to policy, so make sure - especially as you don't have a policy on it yourself.



Is it taxed or NCT'd? I would find it a bit of a turn off if I knew the car I was going to see had no tax, NCT and no insurance. The first two would mean that it can't be driven on public roads and would be something I'd need to organise after buying it, and the latter would mean it would be up to me to arrange insurance.

I would find no tax and no NCT to be a turn off too but it does have tax and NCT. I was still driving it up until just this week since the insurance has just finished so I wasn't able to drive it today.

I've seen a lot of posts about open drive policies but I've never heard of anyone(in person) who actually had such a policy. I have heard that the car be driven has to have it's own policy though. I think it is a safe assumption that any perspective buyer would not have open drive (seems uncommon) anyway which would mean allowing them to test drive it on public roads illegally. I guess I don't really have a choice though. I know I'd never buy a car without a test drive.

me_right_one

tk05 wrote: »

I would find no tax and no NCT to be a turn off too but it does have tax and NCT. I was still driving it up until just this week since the insurance has just finished so I wasn't able to drive it today.

I've seen a lot of posts about open drive policies but I've never heard of anyone(in person) who actually had such a policy. I have heard that the car be driven has to have it's own policy though. I think it is a safe assumption that any perspective buyer would not have open drive (seems uncommon) anyway which would mean allowing them to test drive it on public roads illegally. I guess I don't really have a choice though. I know I'd never buy a car without a test drive.

I have it. Most people I know has it. You from the country or Dublin? Basically you can drive anything once you're over 25, have a full license, and the owner gives you permish.

Eoin

tk05 wrote: »

I would find no tax and no NCT to be a turn off too but it does have tax and NCT. I was still driving it up until just this week since the insurance has just finished so I wasn't able to drive it today.

Cool, that's a big plus on both counts. Polos are always a desirable car.

tk05 wrote: »

I've seen a lot of posts about open drive policies but I've never heard of anyone(in person) who actually had such a policy. I have heard that the car be driven has to have it's own policy though. I think it is a safe assumption that any perspective buyer would not have open drive (seems uncommon) anyway which would mean allowing them to test drive it on public roads illegally. I guess I don't really have a choice though. I know I'd never buy a car without a test drive.

You find (or used to) open drive policies on company cars. My dad used to have open drive on his company car, and it meant that nearly anyone could drive it. They did not need their own policy.

Some people have 3rd party cover on other cars - but that would not cover any damage done to that car, only damage to a 3rd party. A few people here have said that their policy does not state that the car being driven needs to be insured. However, you would want anyone test driving the car to provide proof of insurance.

I guess I don't really have a choice though

You don't mean that you've no choice but to drive uninsured, right?

tk05

eoin wrote: »

You don't mean that you've no choice but to drive uninsured, right?

I certainly won't be driving it uninsured. I meant no choice but to allow a test drive even though the perspective buyer won't be insured. I really would like to require proof of insurance but then I may not be able to sell it before I have to leave with such a restriction. That's why I'm a bit paranoid about a test drive since I can't stop the perspective buyer from speeding and getting pulled over by the guards. I don't know if I'm liable for allowing a stranger to drive a car registered to me without insurance.

Eoin

tk05 wrote: »

I certainly won't be driving it uninsured. I meant no choice but to allow a test drive even though the perspective buyer won't be insured. I really would like to require proof of insurance but then I may not be able to sell it before I have to leave with such a restriction. That's why I'm a bit paranoid about a test drive since I can't stop the perspective buyer from speeding and getting pulled over by the guards. I don't know if I'm liable for allowing a stranger to drive a car registered to me without insurance.

I would be extremely hesitant to let someone drive my car without knowing that they're not properly insured. In fact, I just wouldn't let it happen.