Selling my car - Online valuations - advice appreciated

[ernie]

I sold my son's Focus Estate to WBAC.com. Apart from the service fee, they knocked off £30 for a scuff on a mirror and some stone chips. I had to take it away while my son considered his options and while away, polished out the scuff and touched in the chips. When I returned with the car, they reinstated the £30 and I got the full valuation.

Before taking it to them in the first place, I spent half a day cleaning, touching in, and polishing. Also touched in some alloy scuffs which went un-noticed.

He told me that WBAC.com belongs to British Car Auctions and what matters is that it starts and runs for 5 minutes and the appearance has no noticable marks as all their cars go to auction.

I would go back to the site near me as he seemed fairer than some of the others mentioned here. It should also be said that in their Ts & Cs, they allow for repair/correction before resubmission.

Ernie

 

[E55BOF]

If you're prepared to take £2,575, have you thought of trying it on Gumtree for that, and making it plain in the ad that this is what WBAC have offered you, and you won't take a penny less? You will still get the contacts from hopeful tossers offering you peanuts, but you can always either just ignore them, or text 'No' back, and any buyer who actually turns up will know exactly where they stand and how much they will have to pay for the car. Personally, if I wanted your car I'd snap your hand off at that price.

 

[markjay]

...He told me that WBAC.com belongs to British Car Auctions and what matters is that it starts and runs for 5 minutes and the appearance has no noticable marks as all their cars go to auction...

Interesting... he dis start the engine and allowed it to idle while inspecting the paint.... I didn't quite understand why at the time but now it makes sense.

 

[ballance.robin]

I used WBAC when selling an old Renault - initial valuation 1500 - it went right down to 800 - I told them thanks and sold it through eBay which was painless. Took a load of pix showing all the damage inc the need to replace the plastic rear window lost 100 quid ... so not a fan of WBAC


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[John Jones Jr]

I don't know the market value of these but that looks like a three grand plus car all day long. And I wouldn't be upset paying more for it if that's what I wanted.

At the end of the day whoever buys it they'll have done well.

 

[ballance.robin]

Oh and that's s nice looking motor too


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[markjay]

I am not generally in favour of regulation... but if the motor trade industry was to be regulated, it would be interesting to see how the likes of webuyanycar.com would respond to mandatory requirement for stating how many cars they actually bought at the online quoted price.

Your quote might then come with a statuary notice 'the likelihood of us paying you this amount is currently 0.034%'.... etc.

 

[S205-FTW]

I'm not in the market but I have to say it looks a very tidy car.

If I had to sum the car up in 3 words from those photos, they'd be "well looked after".

 

[markjay]

Found these two for private sale on Autotrader:

Mercedes-Benz C Class 1.8 C200 Kompressor Classic SE 4dr
£1,900 (More powerful engine but 2006 on 55 plates, higher mileage, wrong colour, damage to bumpers)

Mercedes-Benz C Class 1.8 C180 Kompressor Sport 4dr
£5,250 (3 Owners but 2006 on 56 plates, lower mileage, Sport trim and leather - so probably more desirable than my Classic)

Based on the above I think my car would fetch ~£3.5-£4.0k on private sale, and retail at perhaps ~£4.0-£4.5k on a forecourt? As said, not looking to advertise it on Autotrader, but I think that for a trade buyer paying £2.5k for it is more than reasonable, plenty of margin left for the auction house and dealer.

Said that... my main issue is not simply the difference between the quoted price and their actual offer, but the lack of transparency. They said I had the opportunity to declare any 'damage' - well not being in the motor trade I would not classify a minor stone chip that has been touched-up as 'damage' that need to be declared. Nowhere on their website do they say that their quote is based on 'as new' condition and that the tiniest blemish must be declared.

Oh well, you live and learn.

 

[John]

I think the model they employ is just tempt you in by any means, then grind you down by picking holes in the condition of your car to hopefully get you into a "well it's not much less than they said and I am here now" situation.

They are not interested in niceties and discussing the car. They want to spend as little time and money and make the most return as that is all they care about.

"Draw a line and move on." to coin a well-used cliché.

Then do an advert on here. I'm quite confident you will get a hassle-free sale given the condition the car is in...

Remember, fellow-enthusiasts frequent this forum and one big plus point is, condition-aside, the provenance of your car makes it more desirable.

 

[S205-FTW]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch

 

[markjay]

....Then do an advert on here. I'm quite confident you will get a hassle-free sale given the condition the car is in...

Anyone has an idea what would be a fair asking price...?

 

[markjay]

The plot thickens.......

The current valuation is £2,665 (up from the original valuation of £2,575).

Looks like this scheme is far more elaborate than meets the eye....

 

[markjay]

Had 2 text messages and 3 emails from then in the past half hour.... they don't let go, do they?

 

[markjay]

Apologies if I am boring anyone.... but the saga continues.

I would be very interested to know what is their business model...

 

[theclass]

Apologies if I am boring anyone.... but the saga continues.

Not at all, its actually quite useful seeing your experience if i'm ever in the same boat
I'm like you, too much hassle to sell privately so normally part ex, someone I knew sent their car to BCA auction and seemed to get a fair price with no hassle, might be worth considering?

 

[KennyN]

I would be very interested to know what is their business model...

The best one - buy low and sell high.

Bottom line , Auto Trader / eBay / Gumtree / WBAC in that order.

No point dragging your heels as the value of your car is only heading in one direction.

Kenny

 

[markjay]

...No point dragging your heels as the value of your car is only heading in one direction.

Kenny

Not according to WBAC - apparently it is appreciating on weekly basis

But on a serious note, I get what you mean - quite right.

 

[S205-FTW]

They always increse the price a week later.

 

[John]

The plot thickens.......

The current valuation is £2,665 (up from the original valuation of £2,575).

Looks like this scheme is far more elaborate than meets the eye....

So the website should read "We knew damn well your car was worth more than we first offered but were trying it on to see if we could get away with it but we failed. So now we will try and tempt you back by offering you more in the hope you will sell to us so we can make a shed load of money because we know the car is a good one and worth more."

In terms of real world fair values - I personally take a look at Pistonheads and Autotrader and workout where my car sits which is what you've done.

Based on the examples you listed above and if it were my car, I would be putting it up at £3950 to see what interest there is.

Although it is a classic, it is offset against being well-looked after and having good provenance being on here.

Not everyone will care about spec either. I'd rather a lower spec'd well-looked after car than a poor higher spec - especially if you are not looking to pay top dollar.

It doesn't cost anything to advertise on here either!