Selling a car privately

[TeamG]

In my 30+ years of car ownership, I’ve had multiple cars each year (a few at a time, and regularly changed them). All except for my three daily driver Volvos which I’ve kept 3-5 years each.

Thinking back, the most I’ve ever paid privately in the list of 50 or so that I can remember is £320. Most in the last two decades have been £10k+ and most in the last 10 years have been £20-30k and one over £40k. I buy from main dealers, independents and car supermarkets. I sell anything over £5k via WBAC or part-ex. Presenting them well has resulted in what I consider to be a good deal.

I just wouldn’t risk buying anything more than a few hundred £ privately, except maybe for a classic car.

[Stu B]

Originally Posted by cejsmith

I'm selling her as my wife has a VW california on order that will be coming next month and we dont need two big cars , as for selling privately , it would be silly of me to say I didn't want the most money I could get , but also I would prefer if someone got a good deal. I have brought privately before for more than this but I suppose I can understand why people might not.

VW California is an excellent choice - I have one as well as a Volvo. Happy camping!

[cejsmith]

Now sold to cazoo.

[volvosam]

It is a very quiet time of year to be selling a car of any value.
It is also much more difficult to sell privately at more than a few thousand pounds. I actually prefer to buy privately - talk directly to the previous owner - most used car dealer warranties are not worth the paper they are written on anyway. As a private buyer it is about qualifying the seller more than the car - if the seller does not pass the fairly high bars I have then I don't bother looking at the car anyway.
There are people out there like me, but i am not looking for a Volvo at the moment and I would never buy a hybrid but that's another story.
You do need a good advert with plenty of good pictures and a good wording including where you bought it and a reason of why you are selling it - if you live in a nice house make sure that's obvious from the photos - you need to build confidence in potential buyers that you are not someone who bought the car as an unrecorded accident damage and repaired it - ie a small time dealer trying to look like a private seller.
Price it realistically - as a private buyer i am expecting to be paying a few £k less than buying from a dealer.
Post a link to your ad if you want some feedback on it.

[Forg]

Now it's sold there's probably not much value in me saying this ... but IMHO you can very much under-price a good car, unless it's in the Really Cheap category of car in the first place.

Buyers will often ignore something which looks like too good a deal on the basis of "if it's that cheap what's wrong with it?". Different type of car, but I was trying to sell a really good nick 242GT in the early noughties & got nary a nibble at my original asking-price (which was a little cheap but I didn't desperately need the money & couldn't be bothered with the selling process to get the best price); when I upped it by 20% someone bought it the next weekend, having negotiated it to about 5% over my original asking-price.

[ITSv40]

Originally Posted by volvosam

It is a very quiet time of year to be selling a car of any value.
It is also much more difficult to sell privately at more than a few thousand pounds. I actually prefer to buy privately - talk directly to the previous owner - most used car dealer warranties are not worth the paper they are written on anyway. As a private buyer it is about qualifying the seller more than the car - if the seller does not pass the fairly high bars I have then I don't bother looking at the car anyway.
There are people out there like me, but i am not looking for a Volvo at the moment and I would never buy a hybrid but that's another story.
You do need a good advert with plenty of good pictures and a good wording including where you bought it and a reason of why you are selling it - if you live in a nice house make sure that's obvious from the photos - you need to build confidence in potential buyers that you are not someone who bought the car as an unrecorded accident damage and repaired it - ie a small time dealer trying to look like a private seller.
Price it realistically - as a private buyer i am expecting to be paying a few £k less than buying from a dealer.
Post a link to your ad if you want some feedback on it.

Exactly my way of buying. I ignore anything that has the reg covered up and if the mot history is not impeccable, I move on to the next one. My pet hate are those ad's where the seller couldn't be a*sed to clear all the takeaway rubbish before photographing. Says so much about the seller and the car.

[cejsmith]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

Exactly my way of buying. I ignore anything that has the reg covered up and if the mot history is not impeccable, I move on to the next one. My pet hate are those ad's where the seller couldn't be a*sed to clear all the takeaway rubbish before photographing. Says so much about the seller and the car.

No good photos clean car etc., it's not my first rodeo. I think people are right though in the fact most people aren't confident enough to spend £30k plus privately.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

Exactly my way of buying. I ignore anything that has the reg covered up and if the mot history is not impeccable, I move on to the next one. My pet hate are those ad's where the seller couldn't be a*sed to clear all the takeaway rubbish before photographing. Says so much about the seller and the car.

Whereas I'm in the polar opposite place. I don't care about the seller (but it does help if he's decent) it's about the car, being able to assess it, etc.

However I usually buy cars as projects, cars that I can add value too, so a tatty looking litter bin of a shed with a few niggly faults is right up my street, and the best way of getting a good price is to find faults with a car that the seller has covered over but offer to buy it anyway - at the right price.