selling a car privately

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matmaxedout

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Hi all,

Anyone got any clue's on the best way to sell your car privately as i've always part X'ed before, i've stuck it on pistonheads http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/566625.htm

but want to reach a bigger audience, but keep the costs of selling it down. As the new A3 is built and awaiting shipping :yahoo:finally!!

any help would be appreciated
 
Autotrader.co.uk has the biggest audience by a long chalk - but you'll pay for it ...
 
give it time im sure you will get interest on PH.
 
Your ad reads very well and PH is the best place to start.
I bought my S3 through PH as it happens

Ive always sold privately, its can be a pain, but you be better off in the long run and worth the hassle IMO.

I would give it a week or 2 for free on PH then try it on Autotrader , I found 2 weeks on the `web only` deal the best. Its about £20 iirc

The AT mag isnt anywhere near as popular as it was and everyone I know who has recently bought a car through an AT ad (particularly a car which is pretty specialist like yours), has located the car online and NOT the mag.

I would also but in on a couple of the owners clubs classifieds, they are usally free too.

Beware the scammers!, they are pretty easy to spot though so they are more of an irritation than anything.

Cardata and other `agencies` will also contact you regardless of whether you tell them not to in your ad.

There is the obvious stuff like keeping the car in a pampered state all time in case of a short notice viewing.

Be prepared for timewasters who dont turn up, its amazing how rude some people are!

Bend over backwards to be available for viewings, having to work around a sellers social calendar is a real put off, its generally a buyers market so the seller should accomodate the potential buyer. This is pet hate of mine!

Little bit of my experience anyway, having bought and sold many cars this way.

Good luck, and the enjoy the new car.

Paul
 
cheers guys, i thought about autotrader, but then thought it would get more intrest from pistonheads, i'll just have to wait and see......................

it will be a shame to let it go, as it's an absolute cracking motor, but it's time for a change as its the 2nd one ive had.
 
put mine on PH as well, and evo forum, and other forums as well as gun tree. Just have to wait now. not the best climate to be selling performance cars in unfortunately.
 
Sold a few of cars through auto trader, its £15 IIRC for a two week internet only advert. Get a few time wasting phone calls but the cars have always gone within the two weeks
 
i have sold my last half dozen cars through autotrader.co.uk, got a 3 week web + 2 week mag deal for £44 couple of weeks ago when selling my dads bmw. pistonheads is good but you soon slip down the list as other people list. the alfa, accord & bmw were all bought by people over 100 miles away as well so trader web reaches nationally, people looking for something really specific will travel. good luck
 
PaulAr said:
Its a lot of performance and (exlusivity) for the money.
Click to expand...

But god it's ugly, sorry just my opinion.

Anyway good advice given anyway, just be aware of tyre kickers and joy riders, any agencies Etc they will tell you they have a buyer for your car, tell them to get lost.

Good Luck !

Mark
 
I would definately put it on autorader, my last car sold within a few days of going on there and had been on PH etc for a few weeks before that. Local papers are normally good/free too, worth a try.
 
I'd go with AT. Sold our Lupo within 5 hours of it going on the website and our Bora went within a week.

Yes you pay but it reaches a far bigger audience than Pistonheads.
 
I'd agree with the comments on AutoTrader. I recently bought my Prius from a Toyota dealer that was advertised on there.Previously, I'd have always suggested eBay for selling because most people think everything is a bargain, and I have had success on there in the past writing listings to sell some friends' cars. However, there was a greater selection on AutoTrader and the prices were cheaper than eBay - strange but true.
 
I am also thinking of doing a private sale of my A3, but I'm more worried about dodgy transactions ie fake bankers draft etc

What do you guys suggest? Cash?!
 
I've always used AT - only the most recent was on line. Generally not huge numbers of people but each time it's only taken one (or sometimes a second) person and the car is gone. Helps that I generally keep the cars pretty clean so the last one (7 year old mk 4 Golf) literally took a wash, 10 minute vac and an hour or so doing fiddly bits (scrub the plastic sill trims etc.) and bingo

In th epast have accepted BS cheques but they are probably not cast iron any longer... so state in the ad that cleared funds (cash or wait for chq to clear) required. The AA website has a useful seller's Contract

Apart from that - have all the paperwork available and organised. Be open and if there are any odd things be honest
 
Roswell said:
I am also thinking of doing a private sale of my A3, but I'm more worried about dodgy transactions ie fake bankers draft etc

What do you guys suggest? Cash?!
Click to expand...

I always do the transaction in banking hours.

Once the deal is done, you and the buyer both go into the bank with a draft or cash and make the deposit. The keys an V5 are then handed over.

Amazingly though, if you make a large cash deposit, and the bank excepts them and there are any `duff` notes in there, they can be rejected during sorting well after the deposit has been made.

In simple terms, you loose the value of the `duff` notes so draft is safest as it can be checked there and then for validity.

My situation was slightly unusual as the cash was in scottish notes, not sure if this is the case with english notes.

Good luck
Paul
 
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