Is it difficult to sell a car privately?

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 09:45PM #1

Is it difficult to sell a car privately?

I am getting a new car soon and don't know whether to trade my car or sell it privately.

godtabh · 22-01-2013 09:47PM

have you checked it against similar cars on the usual sites?

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 10:00PM

I have looked but only saw manual versions: mine is automatic

Mr. Larson · 22-01-2013 10:13PM

I'm in the same boat, I think if you look at what a garage will give you versus what it might fetch privately and make the call then?

Garages will only give me in the region of 1k for mine, I'm holding out for double that at least. Put it up a few days ago, had 2 calls already.

blindside88 · 22-01-2013 10:27PM

Shouldn't have a problem selling privately, make sure on advertise on done deal, anything else is a waste for cars valued under 7k in my opinion

colm_mcm · 22-01-2013 11:01PM

I'd be asking €9999 and aiming for getting €9750 or €9500

Maybe less as the tax is €570 versus €350 for a manual one.
Limited enough market for it.

johndaman66 · 22-01-2013 11:03PM

You should sell it alright but only if you price it to sell, i.e right at the lower end of the price scale of similar and very comparable motors.

Clean the car well and declutter the inside of it. Try to take the snaps in a bright sunny day (if we should be so lucky as to get one). I'd take a snap of the front and rear, each side, and at least two interior snaps, more if the site allows for it.

Be sharp and to the point when describing the car and its features. Don't put in bullsh!t comments such are "engine and gearbox 150%", "runs on the smell of petrol", "cleanest one in Ireland" etc etc. In my opinion they don't add value to the ad and are not usually even factually correct.

One other thing. If the car has a small flaw I'd personally mention it in the ad. I think it shows honesty and transparency on the part of the seller and somehow manages to endear me if I'm looking at an ad...maybe thats just me though:)

blindside88 · 22-01-2013 11:04PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd be asking €9999 and aiming for getting €9750 or €9500

Maybe less as the tax is €570 versus €350 for a manual one.
Limited enough market for it.

Sorry I read the year incorrectly, I'd still recommend done deal over any other for a quick sale

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 11:09PM

Thanks everyone, you're very helpful.

C.K Dexter Haven · 22-01-2013 11:13PM

You need to be prepared for a lot of chancers, no-shows and tyre kickers.

If you can live with this, then you are looking at using good negotiation skills as a cash buyer in order to make it worth your while.

Do your homework first with "a" dealer, but not necessarily "the" dealer you will be buying from.

What will they give you for your car?
Is this realistic to you?
What is their cash price for the new car? Any extras or reduced price as a cash buyer?

The more you know what you're faced with, the easier it is to make a decision to sell or trade.

Last car I traded in- it worked out very well. I was happy with the cash price I payed for the car along with my own as trade in, while getting 1 years peace of mind of a guarantee from the dealer.

Even with negotiation, I wouldn't have made a better deal had I sold my own car privately. I kept a close eye on what they were going for and even then, after I traded it in, I saw the asking price for it drop by 500 euro over the course of 2 weeks before it was marked as sold for a price I could never have achieved as a private seller.

ba_barabus · 22-01-2013 11:13PM

What were you getting from the trade in?

Being honest it's an unpopular petrol car with an auto box and high tax.

I don't think this one will sell too quickly unless it's priced VERY cheap.

It's absolutely everything the market doesn't want at the minute

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 11:25PM

Private sales seem like a lot of work, a lot of uncertainty and risks such as the risk of dud money, dud bank draft, the person stealing your car on a test drive and hoping they have insurance etc, or am I been over cautious?

ba_barabus · 22-01-2013 11:29PM

rubberdungeon wrote: »

I was offered 7,500 trade, thought it might get more than that private but from reading threads, private sales seem like a lot of work, a lot of uncertainty and risks such as the risk of dud money, dud bank draft, the person stealing your car on a test drive and hoping they have insurance etc, or am I been over cautious?

I've sold lots of cars privately and have had some great experiences with cars and buyers. I've also had complete nutters (one just before christmas).

I'd be more worried about how long it would take you to sell the car and the fact that donedeal seems to attract a lot of timewasters, skinflints and nutters.

If you can sit on the car not selling for a while and stick to your guns on price and have a thick layer of skin its worth doing.

George Dalton · 22-01-2013 11:34PM

Automatic cars can go either way, a car can make stupid money or you could have to practically give it away. There is a small market for them but as the OP says there are no automatic Lancers for sale either. All you need is one person to buy it. I think it is worth putting it up for a week or two at a high price then drop it afterwards if you have no joy. You never know you might get lucky.

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 11:34PM

Thanks I'll keep that in mind

ba_barabus · 22-01-2013 11:40PM

George Dalton wrote: »

Automatic cars can go either way, a car can make stupid money or you could have to practically give it away. There is a small market for them but as the OP says there are no automatic Lancers for sale either. All you need is one person to buy it. I think it is worth putting it up for a week or two at a high price then drop it afterwards if you have no joy. You never know you might get lucky.

I had an auto advertised before with a country address and never got any calls for months. After I moved to Dublin and relisted it as being located in Dublin it was sold within 36 hours.

I had been told before that autos in Dublin sell quicker but always assumed it was rubbish. Could still be but worked in my case.

rubberdungeon · 22-01-2013 11:47PM

Unfortunately I don't live in Dublin but most of the mileage was put on the car driving the motorways to and from Dublin

Is it difficult to sell a car privately?

Comments