Is it hard to sell a car in Ireland over €10K?

benny79

Most my cars over the years have usually been around a couple of grand. As you get older you tend to purchase dearer and better cars. I'm now looking to sell my 09 Passat and was wondering is it hard to sell private cars worth over 10K?

I have no experience selling cars of this valve! If someone is interested they would hardly rock up with cash or would they? I actually don't think I'd feel comfortable counting out that amount or holding it in case I got robbed!

What is the norm for these type of sales? I would trade it in but I'm finding it difficult finding a good selection of the model I want. They have a bigger selection in the UK which is where I think I'll have to go.

Toyotafanboi

realistically, as you say, it will be a slower process.

your car will need to be competitively cheaper that a similar model from a dealer.

then the usual cliche that you are waiting for a buyer who has €10k cash who isn't afraid to spend it in a private deal with no warranty and no comeback.

i'd say most people buying €10k+ with no trade in are relying on finance too.

Henry Ford III

If the car is good and it's well priced of course it'll sell. Know your market and do a bit of research. Don't expect to achieve what a dealer is asking for a similar car.

Put a good ad together, include decent pics, specs, history. Highlight NCT.

Payment wise cash (be careful), draft (verified), or even a bank transfer are all good.

benny79

oh I understand that most my models are €11,500 Private & €12,500 with dealer. but dont forget most dealers only offer 3 months warranty which isn't much, as I bought my car originally from a dealer.

RustyNut

It might be that at the moment VW is a toxic brand,subject to ridicule.

mullingar

There is no way a private sale'd 09 Passat will sell for 10k+

The realistic price is approx €8-9k, depending on spec/mileage

http://cars.donedeal.ie/find/cars/for-sale/Ireland/?filters%5Bmake%5D=Volkswagen&filters%5Bmodel%5D=Passat&ranges%5Byear_from%5D=2009&ranges%5Byear_to%5D=2009&source=all

benny79

mullingar wrote: »

There is no way a private sale'd 09 Passat will sell for 10k+

The realistic price is approx €8-9k, depending on spec/mileage

http://cars.donedeal.ie/find/cars/for-sale/Ireland/?filters%5Bmake%5D=Volkswagen&filters%5Bmodel%5D=Passat&ranges%5Byear_from%5D=2009&ranges%5Byear_to%5D=2009&source=all

Course they are! it depends on what model etc.. Did you think I didnt check donedeal?

benny79

I was offered €9000 - €9500 on a trade in, off 2 different garages.

mullingar

benny79 wrote: »

I was offered €9000 - €9500 on a trade in, off 2 different garages.

/Face palm moment


A trade-in price is simply not the true value of your car.

All dealers maximise any trade-in price to make you think you are getting a great deal of a new(er) car that is probably already over-priced.

The dealer is simply using any possible discount off the list price and adding it to your trade-in value and will then offer no discount off the list price.

DoctorStrange

What engine / spec / mileage are you selling OP.

_Kaiser_

Personally there's no way I'd spend €10k+ on a modern car with no comeback, not with all the potential issues (timing chains, DPF etc) and expensive electrics. Also if you have one to get rid of too then you're left dealing with the time-wasters, chancers and those who don't understand the concept of "sold as seen.. no warranty implied or given" and come asking for their money back when they break it (as we see in this forum regularly).

With a (reputable) dealer you may pay a bit more but you'll have that comeback and they'll worry about shifting your old car.

Only spend privately what you could afford to write-off if it came to it.

Truckermal

Not a hope getting 10K for a passat I got 8K for a 08 Highline earlier this year and it had everything like Nav etc etc.

colm_mcm

benny79 wrote: »

I was offered €9000 - €9500 on a trade in, off 2 different garages.

Usually you can negotiate a discount off any car, your trade in figure includes this discount.

vandriver

mullingar wrote: »

There is no way a private sale'd 09 Passat will sell for 10k+

The realistic price is approx €8-9k, depending on spec/mileage

http://cars.donedeal.ie/find/cars/for-sale/Ireland/?filters%5Bmake%5D=Volkswagen&filters%5Bmodel%5D=Passat&ranges%5Byear_from%5D=2009&ranges%5Byear_to%5D=2009&source=all

The first car I clicked had lost 100k miles since July .Honest mistake,I suppose .

KenjiOdo

I personally wouldn't buy a car over €2500 in a private sale. No matter how big my wallet was.

From a dealer my upper limit would be €10-15k for used.

Anything after that I'd buy new.. regardless of make/model. i.e. I'd take a new Skoda Fabia for €20k over a second hand Porsche for same price.

vectra

Depends on the car ~ condition ~ spec etc.
The last two cars I sold were a bit under and a bit over 20k each.
I sold both for approx 2.5~3k less than what a dealer would be asking for them.

Deedsie

Well I am currently trying to sell a car for just under 10k and I think based on spec etc it is priced very competitively. I have had a bit of interest but for the most part people won't even come to view the car after making contact.

millington

I'd be more than surprised if you got more than 10k for an '09 Passat :eek: tough sell private these days everyone thinks a 3 month bull**** warranty from GI Joe Motors is lifesaving.

benny79

My view is you always get more than a trade in price! I have seen similar models on donedeal for €11,500 - €12,500 I payed €14,200 2 a little over 2 years ago surely it hasn't devalued that much considering how well I looked after it..

Nody

benny79 wrote: »

My view is you always get more than a trade in price! I have seen similar models on donedeal for €11,500 - €12,500 I payed €14,200 2 a little over 2 years ago surely it hasn't devalued that much considering how well I looked after it..

Most likely has or you simply overpayed for it in the first place.

_Kaiser_

A 09 Passat is 6 (almost 7) years old now and they're everywhere in every spec.. Unless yours is particularly low mileage or high spec you'll struggle I'd say

NIMAN

As someone who was trying to sell a car privately for around the €10k mark last year, I too wondered how many buyers were out there.

I appreciate that handing over 10k for a car with zero comeback is dodgy, but there are plenty of genuine sellers out there I'm guessing (like I was) and people are sometimes missing out on a well maintained car at a good price.

I had to end up trading it in.

I always hear DoneDeal is a great place to sell your car. I got 2 calls about my car in about 4 months. So does this mean that all the cars selling on DD are around a couple of thousand or less?

bazz26

First of all, thinking your car is always worth more than the trade-in price is a bit flawed. In alot of cases the trade-in price is inflated by the dealer to make it appear attractive. Anyone can give you a ridiculous trade-in price against a newer car if the newer car is also overpriced to compensate for the high trade-in value. When trading up the cost to change price is the important figure. When selling private a distorted trade in price has very little bearing on it's value.

Also I think you are over optimistic to think your car only lost 4k in depreciation over 2 years. Your average car looses close to that in a year. Remember too that in just over a month's time your car is year older again so you have to factor that into the selling price now.

Another thing to note is the uncertainty around the current VW scandal with no clear direction from VW or outcome leaves alot of buyers reluctant to buy effected models when they don't know the outcome of how it effects owners.

benny79

Don't forget those inflated prices are only inflated when you are buying new and the cars I am looking at are 2011 so they will also be a year older in a couple of months. your average car only loses 4G in deprecation when it also bought new.

CiniO

KenjiOdo wrote: »

I personally wouldn't buy a car over €2500 in a private sale. No matter how big my wallet was.

From a dealer my upper limit would be €10-15k for used.

Anything after that I'd buy new.. regardless of make/model. i.e. I'd take a new Skoda Fabia for €20k over a second hand Porsche for same price.

Buying brand new Skoda Fabia with warranty, over second hand Porsche is personal preference, and IMO undstandable (even though I'd choose opposite).

But I hardly can understand reasons behind not buying privately for over €2500

_Kaiser_

CiniO wrote: »

Buying brand new Skoda Fabia with warranty, over second hand Porsche is personal preference, and IMO undstandable (even though I'd choose opposite).

But I hardly can understand reasons behind not buying privately for over €2500

Because modern cars are complicated beasts with much that can/will go wrong leading to very expensive bills. If you buy privately and find out there's a pile of issues then you're pretty much screwed. If you buy from a reputable dealer you can make them stand over it easier.

Private sellers won't take trade-in's either, and as I referred to above I personally would rather pay the bit extra then spend weeks/months dealing with chancers and timewasters.. it's bad enough on Adverts trying to sell a phone/laptop - I can only imagine the muppetry that would occur if I was asking for thousands on DD.

€2k would be my "acceptable loss" limit in that if the car I bought for that turned out to be a complete money pit, I would be prepared to sell it for scrap and buy again. That said, I did buy a 99 B5 Passat for/with an ex a few years back and it turned out to be a great car.

bazz26

benny79 wrote: »

Don't forget those inflated prices are only inflated when you are buying new and the cars I am looking at are 2011 so they will also be a year older in a couple of months. your average car only loses 4G in deprecation when it also bought new.

Nope, second hand car prices from dealers are also inflated because the dealer has to build in overheads like warranty, servicing, valeting and profit margin into his price. In order to tempt someone away from buying from a dealer a private seller needs to price the car well below what a dealer will take for his as the risk is greater. I still think you are underestimating only 2k per year in depreciation on your car especially given that the B6 Passat has been replaced twice now by a newer model.

listermint

bazz26 wrote: »

Nope, second hand car prices from dealers are also inflated because the dealer has to build in overheads like warranty, servicing, valeting and profit margin into his price. In order to tempt someone away from buying from a dealer a private seller needs to price the car well below what a dealer will take for his as the risk is greater. I still think you are underestimating only 2k per year in depreciation on your car especially given that the B6 Passat has been replaced twice now by a newer model.

aye should be 2.5 - 3K per year dep

mullingar

@ benny79, What spec / engine / mileage is your 09 passat?

CIP4

The highest I've sold privately was 7k which sold in a day and wasn't even that cheap just a clean low mileage example I could have sold it a few times. I'd probably buy upto 12k privately id just be careful the car check out. So in other words if it's a clean car priced well with a decent advert it should sell. But people have certainly become more cautious in recent years.

Someone said above that most people buying a car for 10k would have to borrow. Id find that hard to believe sure plenty would have to borrow but there is plenty of people that would easily have 10k sitting around and want to get value by buying privately.

Black_Knight

I always wonder how far a good private car advert can go. ie. Full service history, receipts etc.

At the end of the day, no warranty is no warranty and as Grey House says, "Everybody lies". I myself have 2 particular apps on my phone, and ive had them since before I bought my current car:
App #1 is FuelLog. I log every odometer reading, cost of fill, and price per unit (it calculates my liters and MPG from this) every time I get diesel. Sure this could all be faked, but it'd take alot of effort. The date of each entry is logged in the app, so it's as damn near close as I can get to a proof the car isn't clocked (not in my ownership anyways).

App #2 is Expense Manger. When I got a paying job and started to wonder where my money was going, I got this app. Basically I put every expense I make into it. Some smaller ones slip through the cracks, but definitely a car expense would be listed on it. Its broken down by category, and there's a category for my car. Aside from fuel expenses it list my services expenses, any maintenance expenses and any additionals ive added to the car (head unit, camera, footwell lights etc). Again, it could be faked (ie. Red flag expenses deleted) but may go towards easing a buyers mind around the cost of maintenance on the car.

Along with all this ive got receipts. VW did some work on it a few years back, new tyres, radio code receipt etc.

This is all stuff id do anyways, so its no extra hassle, but id be curious would it help me when it comes time to selling.

Ursus Horribilis

Friend of mine had no success selling a car privately either. His mother died leaving behind a newish Yaris so he put it up for sale. The price was reasonable, the car was in good condition and had been looked after properly, the photos were fine too. Yet he got very few calls about it and I don't think anyone ever came to see it. In the end, a neighbour bought it off him and that was only because he knew the family and knew the car.