Best Car Advertising Option?

[Ferg]

I recently advertised my ML320 Sport on eBay, here and Autotrader and got the following results:

MBClub - one friendly email enquiry in 3 weeks
eBay - quite a lot of interest, but that site does seem to attract quite a few people with champagne tastes, but mild beer incomes
Autotrader - sold within 48 hours

FWIW

 

[Robag]

A handy thread, I'm just about to sell my wife's C class coupe, ebay and autotrader it is then.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

From my experience selling our W203 C320 here & on eBay:

MBClub - two PM's and a call within 2 days
eBay - contact within 1 hour of listing, car sold next day (still unseen) with a deposit transferred. I left the advert running for just under a week (until the new owner had collected) - by then the ad had amassed 23 watchers and over 980 views!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

From my experience selling our W203 C320 here & on eBay:

MBClub - two PM's and a call within 2 days
eBay - contact within 1 hour of listing, car sold next day (still unseen) with a deposit transferred. I left the advert running for just under a week (until the new owner had collected) - by then the ad had amassed 23 watchers and over 980 views!

I think unless the car is special, rare or really cheap you generally don't get a great deal of interest on a forum, most of the people on there usually already have that specific model anyway.

 

[dc2100k]

Car and Classic usually works well for me.

 

[PGW124]

I find Autotrader has less scammers these days but if the price is too high or the extras (mobile devices etc) are bought, the number of calls reduces

 

[MangoMan]

I've sold every car through Gumtree....

 

[french]

Another one for Car and Classic .

 

[E55BOF]

Depends very much on the car and how much you need to sell it. For bread and butter models, Gumtree first, then eBay. For the more upmarket stuff, Gumtree is free, so try that anyway, and Ebay again - huge marketplace - if you are prepared to put up with the tossers. EBay is no longer mostly tat and sheds, either; plenty of dealers use it these days, and not just the Bradford back street types either.

Look at the 'sold' prices on eBay; they'll tell you what buyers have actually been prepared to pay - and be warned, it's usually a lot less than you think/hope it ought to be worth...

I've never had any joy selling on Autotrader, so I don't bother with it now, though I look there as well if I'm buying. For pampered garage queens, 'future classics' and 'guaranteed investments', and the 'I know what it's worth and I won't sell it for less' brigade, Car & Classic, Pistonheads and Autotrader are much of a muchness, but be prepared to wait for a mug with money to burn if it's priced above the market average. If it sells quickly on any of those, you've either priced it very fairly, or sold it too cheaply.

 

[Blackhammer]

Autotrader works best for me, it's not the cheapest option, but generates plenty of leads. To be fair I do make sure that cars are very keenly priced and hold firm rather than discount. Hasn't ever taken longer than week to shift anything, as long as I get more than trade in price I'm satisfied.

Gumtree attracts too many western union payment, ship the car abroad, what's you best price bruv types for me, but it's free. I guess you get what you pay for.

Never used Ebay, Pistionheads to buy or sell, although I do browse/dream

I do find that when looking to purchase too many private sellers ask dealer money, but no dealer facilities, pictures of a dirty car and a poorly written advert, or you ask a question about MOT length or service history and they don't know.....So you call the next guy......

 

[MangoMan]

Depends very much on the car and how much you need to sell it. For bread and butter models, Gumtree first, then eBay. For the more upmarket stuff, Gumtree is free, so try that anyway, and Ebay again - huge marketplace - if you are prepared to put up with the tossers. EBay is no longer mostly tat and sheds, either; plenty of dealers use it these days, and not just the Bradford back street types either.

Look at the 'sold' prices on eBay; they'll tell you what buyers have actually been prepared to pay - and be warned, it's usually a lot less than you think/hope it ought to be worth...

I've never had any joy selling on Autotrader, so I don't bother with it now, though I look there as well if I'm buying. For pampered garage queens, 'future classics' and 'guaranteed investments', and the 'I know what it's worth and I won't sell it for less' brigade, Car & Classic, Pistonheads and Autotrader are much of a muchness, but be prepared to wait for a mug with money to burn if it's priced above the market average. If it sells quickly on any of those, you've either priced it very fairly, or sold it too cheaply.

Yes, I have to agree that the cars I have sold on Gumtree have been "Bread & Butter" I suppose. And yes, you do get your, as E55BOF so eloquently put it, "tossers"...lol. But I never put my phone number, just an email address, that weeds out a lot of them.
But here is a list what I have sold through Gumtree over the years.

w124/300te
w124/300ce
w126/560sel
w124/300e-24v (Sold on here).
Toyota Celica 1.8 auto Gen6 Import
Toyota MR2 1.8 auto Import X2
Jeep Cherokee 4.0 Limited
Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 Limited
Rover 75 2.0 Auto. (Sold to a chap in Ireland who flew over to buy it!!!).
Toyota Avensis 1.8gls
BMW e46 323i Auto SE
Honda Accord 3.0v6 Coupe. (American Import).
w208/320clk

I've only been messed around a couple of times. But sold at my asking price 90% of the time which was usually what I originally paid in the first place - sometimes higher! (No-shows).
In fact I've had more trouble buying falsely described cars from "tossers" resulting in wasted journeys!

But I agree, if it is "Something Special" then a specialised site is the way to go I suppose. And to be honest, selling through Forums is most probably the worst!

 

[pard32335]

eBay is my go to atm.

 

[Teego]

I found my CLS55 on Gumtree. Trade advert. When I went to see the car he said he'd forgotten about Gumtree but also how Autotrader looked after him because of his spend with them.

 

[AntMB]

eBay absolutely dwarfs Auto Trader, IME.

If you are buying a £10k motor, wouldn't you like to see the previous transactions of that seller? Just to give a bit of piece of mind?

Not really, no. If spending 10k on a car, I've no interest in what they've sold before.