Selling A Used Car - Some Enlightenment Please

[DSLiverpool]

The SL320 is still with me and Im perplexed, can anyone with experience of selling older cars give me a pointer

Its on Pistonheads last 2 weeks, ebay sporadically latest ends sunday, its been in trader since last sunday

Initially I thought it worth £9500 but quickly realised thats not the case and decided to take £8k min as anything under that will leave me unhappier than keeping it (skewed logic) I have had gen offers of £6k and £7k both declined.

Question is
Is it the wrong time to sell the car ?
Is it the wrong media to sell the car ?
Is it not worth £8k ?

It owes me nothing and is taxed for all of 09 so it can sit in the garage waiting for an upturn but I`d rather have the space to be honest

If anyone can point out a better way to move it I would appreciate it (I dont want to leave it with a dealer on S-O-R)

Ta

 

[greggster]

As i don't know the details of your SL i can't comment, however i have found that the trick is having the correct details in your advert - lots and lots of close up photos, a list of service history, every single detail there is to know about it etc. There's a guy on here selling his L200 and has done it perfectly IMO if you have a look. But then you may have already put all this information in your adverts. Ebay and Auto Trader have always done me proud (although AT does not have sufficient text space to get all the info in). I would say on average at the moment it takes 2-3 weeks to sell a car, so maybe double that for a specialist car like yours? I hope this is of some help or re-assurance.

 

[stats007]

The problem is that there are lots of SL320s to choose from and the colour is an acquired taste. Try the Owner's Club Gazette or failing that see if the £7k offer will move to £7.5k.

 

[kwakdonut]

Can you put a link on here to the PH ad so some of us can take a look? Maybe some constructive advice can be given.

FWIW my C270 took 2 months to sell and not like I was over-pricing or anything either!!!

 

[SoopDood]

It is a strong buyers marker at present. You make your best deals on what you buy, not sell - unless lucky. I agree with Greg's comments about advert content. Doing this well is essential. Clearly state everything positively about it ie stating all extras, condition, history, service, repairs. Also, provide a set of really well taken photos. Whatever it takes to get serious buyers interested.

I sold an excellent condition car of mine last weekend for what I considered £700 less than it was worth. I got it a new MOT. Put new front discs & pads on, a new tyre, all to ensure the car was in top spec condition. Cleaned it inside and out. I did everything I could to remove any reason for a buyer to reject it. Subsequently sold it on Ebay on a second chance offer having not met the reserve price.

At the end of the day you have two selling options. Do you want to sell it quick and take what you can get for it or hold out for a price that you'll accept. I did the former just to get it off the drive but more importantly, I got a great deal on the car I'd bought a week earlier for about £1000 less than the going rate so on balance, I was satisfied over the sum of both deals.

Hope this helps, Roy

 

[219]

Is there a dealer you're on good enough terms with - perhaps someone from whom you've recently bought a car ?

Perhaps you could go along with the SL and ask for a frank opinion of what it's worth ?

The slightly less ethical way is to go to a dealer and feign interest in another car , asking what they would give for yours in exchange or what they think you should ask privately .

There are online commission sellers like m e r c s e l l e r .com and , besides the Gazette , there are publications like Mercedes Enthusiast .

 

[Sp!ke]

As someone that is currently in the market for an SL there were a few things that I noticed about your car that reduce its value in my eyes.

1. unpopular colour
2. Paint problems (big scratch and mark on boot)
3. Not the nicest of wheels
4. later 99+ model has much nicer dash and steering wheel for little extra money
5. private seller so no warranty & price needs to reflect this.
6. quick change of owner rings alarm bells
7. Its not a 500

Because there are loads of 320's out there at the moment you've got some steep competition even from dealers in the same price bracket. Since your car is not perfect, the price needs to reflect the cost of at least putting the paint right. Because of this, I think your Buy it Now price is too high and is enough to put potential purchasers off as they figure this is probably close the reserve price.

I suspect that if you didnt have a BIN price, you'll shift it reasonably swiftly for about 7.5-8k.

Fussy buggers like me are wont buy an SL unless its absolutely mint. So if you can get the scratch sorted, you may find that you may have a lot more interested parties.

 

[James Rothwell]

It's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So it would seem your SL is only worth £7k until someone who wants to pay £8k comes along.

 

[JonnyCJ]

The SL320 is still with me and Im perplexed, can anyone with experience of selling older cars give me a pointer

Its on Pistonheads last 2 weeks, ebay sporadically latest ends sunday, its been in trader since last sunday

Initially I thought it worth £9500 but quickly realised thats not the case and decided to take £8k min as anything under that will leave me unhappier than keeping it (skewed logic) I have had gen offers of £6k and £7k both declined.

Question is
Is it the wrong time to sell the car ?
Is it the wrong media to sell the car ?
Is it not worth £8k ?

It owes me nothing and is taxed for all of 09 so it can sit in the garage waiting for an upturn but I`d rather have the space to be honest

If anyone can point out a better way to move it I would appreciate it (I dont want to leave it with a dealer on S-O-R)

Ta

Get it all polished and shiny and then park up outside Thornton Manor and take the photos there. I've done it with every car I've sold and they always reach top price on ebay. I do of course look after them ridiculously well and tell people that in the ad. Do a walk round explanation of body, interior, wheels, engine on the car and go into detail on everything. Takes time, but well worth it.

Imagine the opposite of "car for sale" !

 

[DSLiverpool]

Ta guys - seems ive done it all correct so far its been nearly 3 weeks so may hang on in there.

Personally when I was looking I prefered an original car I can add to rather than one thats been "optimised" hence I thought the wheels were a good thing - maybe I will get the paint done (quoted £300 ish) its only a boot and top shoulder

Lets see how easter goes and decide from there

 

[glojo]

maybe I will get the paint done (quoted £300 ish) its only a boot and top shoulder

Lets see how easter goes and decide from there

If I were in the market for a nice SL and I read those comments, there would be so many alarm bells ringing in my head, I would have to go to the doctors to see if I was suffering from tinnitus

"Maybe I will get the paint done!"

What else needs doing?

What else is neglected?

You need to convince folks that you have spoilt this car and have kept it in mint condition, if that is not the case then do not expect top dollar

I think Spike has been very constructive in his observations and I'm guessing that poor paintwork devalues the car more than the costs of repair.

I fear your posts might have turned a few folks off

 

[DSLiverpool]

I see any car at 10 years old as needing paint somewhere, it was like that when I bought it and it wasnt that important to me as its an easy fix and its 2 scratches less then 3 inches each i didnt get it done as I stopped noticing it, what mattered when I bought it was bills and history, a good soft roof, panoramic hard roof, air con freezing cold and it being unmolested. Its easy to get one with probably fake monoblocks and blown in paint but one mech glitch and its £££ down the tubes.

Maybe aesthetics are paramount and the odd £300 MAF / compressor is "ok" to accept ? not in my world however

My recent purchase of the Aston is a case in point in that I knew it would have had paint / needed paint on bonnet and front apron and I preferred to find one that needed it rather than one that had been done as that way I could influence the quality. Sadly the one I got had a full (Aston) dealer tart up inc paint and machine buff and lookes immaculate but its not and it will take days to polish out the buffer streaks - I would rather have had an unmolested car as my SL is

 

[jaymanek]

Whoever says its a buyers market doesnt know the market..

At the moment its VERY VERY busy for used cars and if you cant sell in this climate.. there is only one thing wrong.. price.

from a quick glance at your advert it looks a lovely car with the pano roof which is a big plus.

but as has been said your biggest issue is the paintwork.. It may be in your interest to get this sorted as it will put most buyers off straight away... most private buyers are very very shy when there is bodywork involved.

Wheel arent the best IMO but then you would be surprised at how many buyers will prefer these over the more modern ones.

Now i sold a nice black one of these.. It had similar miles, a standard roof and was immaculate. IIRC i got in the mid 9's for it...

Now remembr im a dealer and i took a p/ex on it.

I think a realistic price is around 8K for this..

 

[Big_Jon]

Jaymanek is spot-on.

I see people everyday who are convinced that it is a buyers market, they always leave shocked/disappointed as the used car market, for decent well prepared cars, is a sellers market at present, we cant get new stock quick enough.

Where do people get this "its a buyers market" cobblers from???

I just sold a 55-plated Ibiza sport with 40k, bright yellow for £4795, it was the cheapest on autotrader in the whole country yet I had 3 guys from Norwich down who came fully expecting to give me £4k a drive away. They were a bit abusive actually when I told them that £4795 was the best price, accusing me of wasting their time because they had come miles and I wouldnt budge.

As for your SL DSLiverpool, someone buying an SL and that sort of money is going to expect it to be very nicely prepared indeed and if I was buying from a private buyer for resale purposes (which I do) I would be concerned that the owner of an £8k car didnt love it enough to have less than a monkeys worth of paint done.

 

[Colin_b]

Jaymanek is spot-on.

I see people everyday who are convinced that it is a buyers market, they always leave shocked/disappointed as the used car market, for decent well prepared cars, is a sellers market at present, we cant get new stock quick enough.

Where do people get this "its a buyers market" cobblers from???

I just sold a 55-plated Ibiza sport with 40k, bright yellow for £4795, it was the cheapest on autotrader in the whole country yet I had 3 guys from Norwich down who came fully expecting to give me £4k a drive away. They were a bit abusive actually when I told them that £4795 was the best price, accusing me of wasting their time because they had come miles and I wouldnt budge.

As for your SL DSLiverpool, someone buying an SL and that sort of money is going to expect it to be very nicely prepared indeed and if I was buying from a private buyer for resale purposes (which I do) I would be concerned that the owner of an £8k car didnt love it enough to have less than a monkeys worth of paint done.

Sort of spot on. The market for late model (up to 3 years old) cars is astoundingly firm, and probably short term.

Older, big cars, not so. depends on age, condition, tax group and the rest. Look at the auction prices! No idea what the SL320 is, age, condition, etc., so no comment on that.

 

[Big_Jon]

An SL280 came through the Dagenham Motors section (who would chop an SL for a ford?) at BCA and made an absolute fortune, was L-Plated if I recall and was well over £6k.

Was a very proper car.

 

[sidmon]

Jaymanek is spot-on.

I see people everyday who are convinced that it is a buyers market, they always leave shocked/disappointed as the used car market, for decent well prepared cars, is a sellers market at present, we cant get new stock quick enough.

Where do people get this "its a buyers market" cobblers from???

I just sold a 55-plated Ibiza sport with 40k, bright yellow for £4795, it was the cheapest on autotrader in the whole country yet I had 3 guys from Norwich down who came fully expecting to give me £4k a drive away. They were a bit abusive actually when I told them that £4795 was the best price, accusing me of wasting their time because they had come miles and I wouldnt budge.

As for your SL DSLiverpool, someone buying an SL and that sort of money is going to expect it to be very nicely prepared indeed and if I was buying from a private buyer for resale purposes (which I do) I would be concerned that the owner of an £8k car didnt love it enough to have less than a monkeys worth of paint done.

Think people are getting the "buyer's market" from seeing fields of "new" cars sitting there festering. The other side of the coin is the high quality/cheaper used market, poor new car sales means there just isn't the used part exhanges filtering down through the system making it definitely a sellers market for the right car.

I deal in the cheaper end of the used car market but have been getting unpredented interest in some of the most boring of stock as people struggle to find exactly what they want from the open market.

As for your 320SL price is key above advert content as even a poorly advertised car with a cheaper price will mean a "serious" buyer will view before buying anyway. As for your advert I notice that you have started at 7900 then BIN 8250, why not start at 2000 get a little bit of a auction going (with the potential "fever2 that can set in, but set your reserve at 7900 so it doesnt go too cheap. Failing that use an eBay classified ad and set your price, but enable the option so that people can make you offers via ebay for it, some will make you laugh but if you get a genuine offer a few emails/bids later while haggling can mean a sale.

 

[glojo]

I see any car at 10 years old as needing paint somewhere, it was like that when I bought it and it wasnt that important to me as its an easy fix and its 2 scratches less then 3 inches each i didnt get it done as I stopped noticing it, what mattered when I bought it was bills and history, a good soft roof, panoramic hard roof, air con freezing cold and it being unmolested. Its easy to get one with probably fake monoblocks and blown in paint but one mech glitch and its £££ down the tubes.

Maybe aesthetics are paramount and the odd £300 MAF / compressor is "ok" to accept ? not in my world however

My recent purchase of the Aston is a case in point in that I knew it would have had paint / needed paint on bonnet and front apron and I preferred to find one that needed it rather than one that had been done as that way I could influence the quality. Sadly the one I got had a full (Aston) dealer tart up inc paint and machine buff and lookes immaculate but its not and it will take days to polish out the buffer streaks - I would rather have had an unmolested car as my SL is

Please try very hard not to take this advice personally, because that is what it is... advice

No one is saying 'bodge' the paint job., or ignore any worn out MAF, tyres or exhaust.

If you want top dollar then the car has to be top dollar. If you want average money then present it how you want.

My daughter has a yr 2000 For Focus, she would go daft if she found a tiny scratch on her 'pride and joy..... Note what I said, 'Pride and joy' When and if she ever sells her car then anyone that looks atit will be impressed with its condition.

First impressions will influence any prospective purchaser.

If I saw neglected bodywork then I would be saying, "If what shows is neglected, what is the state of the bits thagt I cannot see?"

There are lots of SL's out there and I would be looking for the best, is yours the best?

 

[rag1873]

Do you have pics of the advert or anything you could post?

 

[SoopDood]

I disagree with the earlier comment 'its cobblers' to say its a buyers market.

Maybe its buisier at the lower price end of the market, but its ******** to say its bouyant thro the mid to upper end of the market.

Just an opinion !