When selling a car...

[jonnyboy]

But so many, even traders, don't bother with that.

We looked a a 3 yr old fiesta at a local traders who specialise in Fords. Car was dirty inside & out and had scabby paint on several panels - of course he didn't bother to mention that on the phone.
When we asked if they would be dealing with the paint they said that it was caused by bird poo not having been cleaned off by the previous owner and doesn't affect the value of the car and if they had any paintwork done they would have to put up the price of the car and they then wouldn't be able to sell it

I'm don't know why but I am staggered at what dealers think is acceptable presentation and marketing.
As you know we are looking to change Mrs JB's car.
Merc main dealer, £20k car, interior pics where it was scruffy - sticky residue all over the place which was very obvious (indeed, you'd think the pic had been taken to highlight it!!), bird sh1t on the roof and bootlid, yet it had been washed for definite. Wheels were too clean otherwise. I know for a fact they have had the car three months.
By contrast we saw one at an indi on Friday which was stunningly cleaned. But was desperate for mopping as was swirl city. I said to Mrs JB - they probably get 50% of buyers wouldn't realise about the mopping.
Had a bit of a wobble on Monday and went to look at a couple of cheaper cars at dealers.
One was at a "prestige/performance dealer". By no means his cheapest car, probably middle of the road. Shocking. Flat tyre that had been flat for a while. Convertible roof had token wash with a Karcher leaving most of the green on. Armrest falling off it looked like. P*ss-poor repainting of wing and bumper without blending, very flat and unloved. Up for top money for what it was. Asked if I wanted the keys. "You must be joking if that's the standard of what you are selling" was my response. He had no clue what I was on about.
Went around corner. A lot designed for 30 cars had 55 vehicles on there. Can't squeeze between them, get doors open, struggled to even get through front door. At least the salesman was honest about things. "Keen pricing, no frills, no discounts, but if you have an issue we'll still be here, have been for 15 years". I will say though - I watched him try to get one car's details up on their site on the pc, it was embarrassing. Took him ten minutes (I kid you not) to find it. 55 cars on there and he kept scrolling through each page. They only had 4 audis - put it in the bl00dy search box you ****hole".
I got his site up on my phone and had the details in about forty seconds.....

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Yes, I understand it's not everyone's cuppa tea. Just curious to see if they'd offer you anywhere near what you have in mind. I entered my reg in the other day just to see. Only took a few minutes. A few here say they pay a decent price.

And yes, I'm in the building trade and deal with joe public every day. Could tell you a 1000 stories of numb nuts people.

Ant.

 

[gazz]

I went to view a small sporty 2 seat mercedes just before Christmas. I spoke to the seller on the phone the evening before. Amongst many things, I specifically asked about the condition of the wheels. "Mint" he said. In fact he described a lot of things as mint. 2 hour drive to get there, and could immediately see the car was not "mint" by my standards. Anyone's standards probably. Specifically both nearside wheels were badly curbed, the front for three quarters of its rim. When I pointed out that the previous evening he had described the wheels as mint he replied "oh yeah, I did that last night after you rang" He hadn't. The damage was old. He asked me if I'd like to hear it running. I didn't.

 

[bozmandb9]

I've had good experiences on the whole.

One which springs to mind, had a quick chat with the potential buyer, he sent a bank transfer of payment in full, and a few days later a friend of his turned up to pick up the car.

No problem whatsoever, I was honest, he was honest, and we both lived happily ever after!

 

[texasjohn]

To be fair I get where he is coming from.

I had a few wanting to view it, then when I went back and said I was looking for close to asking price but totally understood if they didn't feel it was for them after viewing, but don't turn up and expect to knock 20% off the price.
5 people then said "Oh, I won't bother coming then, I want to know I have haggled well." or "Oh, I won't bother coming then, I only have £xxxx to spend.".

For me getting the car ready for a viewing is a ball ache, having to wash it all again, clean the inside and then make sure I am around during the day for them to view.

But there is a far better way to say it then how he did.

Agree completely. Good way to mitigate a waste of both parties time.

There is a difference between a buyer not wanting to pay more than a fair value (on a car that is overpriced) and someone wanting a car really cheap, paying far less than its fair value.

Of course you also get private sellers with a hugely optimistic view of the value of their car...

You get a much better 'selling' experience when you have something rare, high spec or an enthusiast's car; buyers tend to be specifically after that model, well clued up on the model and its value and yours might be one of a handful in the country. If your price is sensible and the car is straight then it will often sell to the first viewer. But don't put 'first to see will buy' in the advert FFS!

 

[gIzzE]

If you don't want the hassle then that's what part-exing a scruffy car is for.
I agree that we all have to deal with tossers but it goes with the territory.

I have always sold privately and don't mind it, but I do tend to say 'I am looking for close to the asking price, everything has been mentioned and unless I get no joy I want close to asking.'
At that point it is amazing how many people say they will leave it and not even bother to view it, so they must have expected to come and knock thousands off the price.


At the same time, I am amazed at how many people won't negotiate over the phone, I often want to see cars that are 100's of miles away, if it is as they say I am happy to do a deal, but often they say "come and see it, I'm prepared to negotiate but not until viewed.".
Doesn't matter how much you explain that you're happy to take their word for it, they simply won't discuss. That tells me there is obviously something not being mentioned.



Then we got those that are just simply thick as pig ****, if not thicker.


Selling the ML was a good example.

The guy who called me up and asked about it, travelled 2 hours to view it, drove it for 40 minutes, gushed about it, said he was so pleased he hadn't bough the one he viewed earlier that was £6000 as mine was on a different level, and I was asking £3k.
And then offered £2500.
I explained that I had been offered £2700 trade if it was still available when he got back from his holiday in 10 days, and someone else was coming from North Wales on Thursday if it was still available anyway and was happy with £3k, so I was going to stick to my £3k.
He left it as he always had to have a deal.
Bye!


Then the guy who offered me £2100.
I explained that the eBay ad showed I had been offered £2700 trade, so it would have to be above that.
£2200?
No, as I said I have already been offered £2700 so it needs to be more.
£2400?
You're really not getting this negotiating lark are you? It needs to be above £2700.
£2600?


He then emails me on Friday after the guy had come from North Wales.

I'll give you the £2700?
No, I needed you to better that, and regardless, it has gone for £3k yesterday.
Really??! I would have paid £3500 for that with all the work you had done on it and the Pioneer nav system etc. fitted.

 

[Lenny63]

some stories have made me chuckle tonight

That was a lovely ML gIzze

 

[rockits]

Sorry, I have just been giggling away at all these! I really don't envy anyone selling a car.

I really can't be bothered with selling cars any more. I just give them to my brother to sell for me. It is his job/business and has been doing it for half his life so I let him deal with the numpties

Just gave him my XJ to sell for me. Dropped off my XJ and picked up my R129 SL500 he had of mine. Nice and easy.

Reminds me I need to pop a cheeky thread/post on the classifieds bit. Anyone who wants a nice cheap 2011 XJ 3.0 Diesel Twin Turbo Premium Luxury let me know. Lovely car.

 

[TheFoX]

A few years back, I sold a Pathfinder folding camper. Theses things hold their prices well, and I saw several of the same age and condition being offered between £2500 and £3500, so I decided to offer mine for £2500, with a minimum of £2000.

As soon as the advert hit PreLoved, we started getting calls. The first caller booked an appointment to view, asking that we don't show anyone else it until he had first refusal.

On inspection, he started picking faults with the camper, and wasn't happy about the price. As he was umming and arhing, I got a call from a trader telling me that she would offer £2500 unseen.

I took great delight in telling the first guy that I had just accepted £2500 over the phone. A few hours later, the trader turned up, did a casual inspection to make sure what was being offered was true to the advert, then gave me £2500 in readies.

After the camper was sold, I was still getting calls, some even saying that they would offer £3000.

The morale of the story is never to look a gift horse in the mouth. It is quite obvious now that I had underpriced the camper, and could have got £3000, yet the fool who first viewed wanted to knock me down further, not realising that others were after the same thing.

It's like the bungalow I bought. The old fella selling it had just knocked £15,000 off the price when I jumped in, and I offered the full asking price because of that fact. A few years on, I discovered that one of my neighbours up the road was also after this very bungalow. If I had knocked him down further, I might have lost the bungalow to them.

 

[Peter103]

In 2003 I bought a 3year old Toyota 2.4 diesel power van as one of our work vehicles, paid £5000, in 10 years we replaced the starter motor that's all , I sold it in 2013 within an hour of the advert with 126000,miles on the clock, for £1250, it was still a tidy vehicle, a good runner, The buyer turned up the next morning towing a trailer , he'd driven 80 miles to get here, loaded it on, told me he was going to break it and ship it in bits to parts of Africa and beyond, and that particular model had the best engine and gearbox of any of them,paid in pound notes no haggling he told me he'd lived in England for 8 yrs and was an Afghanistan immigrant, a nice pleasant bloke . The phone never stopped ringing with offers so much so that I phoned Auto Trader next day to ask them to remove the add. Amazing.