Buying a car from a private individual

sterling10

Hi all,
I’m sick of being ripped off by main dealers and I’ve had a bad experience with a uk import so for once I might try a private sale.
The car is a 2015 VW Passat advertised for €17,500. I was just wondering, without warranty or anything like that is an offer of €15,000 insulting or can you get better (lower) price when going privately?
Sterling

chicorytip

sterling10 wrote:

Hi all, I’m sick of being ripped off by main dealers and I’ve had a bad experience with a uk import so for once I might try a private sale. The car is a 2015 VW Passat advertised for €17,500. I was just wondering, without warranty or anything like that is an offer of €15,000 insulting or can you get better (lower) price when going privately? Sterling

Offer 1500 less than the maximum figure you are willing to pay and see what happens.

bazz26

How well priced is the car compared to other similar cars?

Also buying privately means you have no comeback with the seller once you take possession of the car so while the price might be lower, the risk is higher. You also need to have the car inspected by a mechanic otherwise you can end up with the same problems you had with main dealers and UK imports previously.

Calahonda52

You also need to make sure they own the car so check out the possibility of finance, as well as the risk of being robbed if you bring jc

colm_mcm

I’m sick of being ripped off by main dealers and I’ve had a bad experience with a uk import so for once I might try a private sale.

With respect, that’s not a great reason to go private sale.

sterling10

colm_mcm wrote: »

With respect, that’s not a great reason to go private sale.

Got nowhere even with a legal route with a main dealer with a car with warranty. Just a whole load of stress and costs.
If a car has a full service history, sur it’s the same lines these guys are throwing out all the time. I don’t know really, just tempted to see if I can get a decent car.
Listed price for sale would be on the lower side of the dealership listed price. But I’m not sure how much to go from their asking price without insulting the man. I know others who were the sellers of cars asking for 15k and saying privately to me that they’d take 10k justnto have it gone

bazz26

Buying private doesn't necessarily get you a better or more reliable car. Cars still break and need fixing.

Toyotafanboi

All you're left waiting for then is a bad experience buying privately and you'll have the Holy Trinity of ****e buying experiences. Lightning rarely strikes twice.

Buying privately at that sort of price range I'd say you have a lot more room to call the shots as buyers won't be as plentiful. I'd agree with the above, go in €1500 below the max you are willing to pay, seems about right.

Dia1988

Buying a car privately can be rewarding not only in monetary terms but you will also be face to face with the actual driver and will get an impression of how good/bad the car was cared for. The owner if they're decent will know more about the car and how to use it than most sales men. You won't be fobbed off by a sales man telling you one careful granny owner.

Where things go wrong in private sales is when the buyer is either afraid or too polite to examine the logbook, service book or even open the bonnet.

Believe me, I've sold 10k euro cars that the buyer didn't even open the bonnet or looked at the service history the car had. Luckily for them, there was nothing wrong with the car but it showed me how people could get caught out. Don't be afraid to ring the garage that serviced the car either to confirm mileage/service history. Insist on buyers to bring a qualified experienced mechanic with a diagnostic scanner, not some lad down the road that thinks he can re assemble an engine because he changed a car tyre once, there's nothing worse for either buyer or seller when some guy thinks he's a mechanic is looking at the car but wouldn't know where to put the oil.

I wouldn't be going around with wads of cash either, most bank transfers are instant now and can be done when you're collecting the car so there's no risk, be sure to have a written sales receipt with date/time from buyer. Re-check car and documents again before paying.

Most garages only give 3 months warranty and even inside this warranty some garages can be notorious to get any come back from, as has been well documented here on boards.

Once the above steps are taken and the buyer is vigilant assisted with a qualified experienced mechanic and are not afraid to walk away from a sale, a private sale can be much more pleasant than a dealer sale.