Where do you sell your car privately?

[KieranJ22]

hello all,

I’ve had my car posted on autotrader (£50!!) for a few days and also on Facebook. I’d like to try and sell it privately before I go down the part ex route. Are there any good used Prestige car places that offer better than trade price? Not sure whether to put it on Parkers?

Any help appreciated..

 

[Scotty75]

If you can put up with the time wasters etc, then go with Gumtree. It's free and you can add 9 photos. Don't see the point in paying Autotrader.........

 

[Topcat1910]

Pistonheads?

 

[Jud]

I sold my BMW & bought my S3 privately through eBay (classified adverts)

 

[wab172uk]

I've only ever used AutoTrader and Pistonheads

 

[Jassyo06]

I sold my last S3 on Autotrader.co.uk, sold it within 2 days, even more so l could have sold it 10 times over really

 

[KieranJ22]

Thanks guys, I thought of Ebay, but don’t they take a percentage?
With My older, cheaper cars I used gumtree with no problems. I have found the car I want and don’t want it to go but I’m trying to be smart and not put a deposit down until mine is sold. If I put a deposit down at a dealers, is there a time frame you have to collect/pay for it?

 

[Jud]

Thanks guys, I thought of Ebay, but don’t they take a percentage?
With My older, cheaper cars I used gumtree with no problems. I have found the car I want and don’t want it to go but I’m trying to be smart and not put a deposit down until mine is sold. If I put a deposit down at a dealers, is there a time frame you have to collect/pay for it?

I did mine as a classified advert, £14.99 & no final value fees (you just remove it when sold)

The cars I had before that, I bought BMW from autotrader, but sold my megane F1 through a facebook group.....

 

[wab172uk]

Thanks guys, I thought of Ebay, but don’t they take a percentage?
With My older, cheaper cars I used gumtree with no problems. I have found the car I want and don’t want it to go but I’m trying to be smart and not put a deposit down until mine is sold. If I put a deposit down at a dealers, is there a time frame you have to collect/pay for it?

Also, as daft as it sounds, try Webuyanycar.com. I've sold a car through them before, as they actually offered a better price than any dealer for PX

If their price is even close, at least you don't have the hassle of non-showers, tyre kickers, and people just after a test drive

 

[will_0407]

Thanks guys, I thought of Ebay, but don’t they take a percentage?

No as it's not an auction listing- it goes on a classified listing so you pay a set fee to list the car. I think when I last did it, I paid £10 for a couple of weeks.

 

[Ormesome]

iv sold all my cars on ebay in the past. sometimes you hit a free listing promo but usually its £10 to list and around £30 for sellers fees so no different than auto trader. Iv always had 100% success with eBay, had no problems with the buyers either. Iv always sold via auction and not buy it now too. Of course loads will have horror stories etc of haggling or otherwise when the buyer comes to pick up but from my point of view its a good tool to sell a car.

Also, be aware that some people here will have more desirable cars than others. My diesel A3 prob wouldn't sell on piston heads or auto trader very well so eBay would be the best option for me. A performance car like the S3 has huge market appeal so will easily sell on auto trader etc...

 

[KieranJ22]

Ah, I think il leave it a few days on autotader and Facebook then post it on eBay next week. As it’s not an s3, its not as hot so won’t sell as quick. I tried webuyanycar but I think I can get a few thousand more than what they offer privately as I have until July 8th when my insurance runs out. Hopefully the c250 will be worth it

 

[TitaniumTom]

When you say Facebook do you mean marketplace or just as a status for friends?

I've found marketplace gets the most interest for cars and parts lately. Have also bought and sold through eBay and gumtree many times. Not used Autotrader for a few years now as it just costs too much but I always look on there when buying.

 

[KieranJ22]

I posted it and got a few friends to share the post then I put it on the market place separately as it would only let me put 10 photos on it. I think it’s better to have lots of photos as it looks dodgy viewing a car advert with about 3 photos and a two sentence description

 

[Pook]

Try Arnold Clark online! I just sold my A3 to them 2 days ago. They offered 3k more than WBAC and the price was actually really competitive! So much so that it was only marginally (in relative terms) less than what I would have tried to get selling private. I even put my misssus Golf into it to see the craic, and they offered enough to give her no negative equity and she’s only had it 18month on a 4yr pcp! When I was handing over the car I asked the guy how they price so strongly - he said it’s fairly new to their business plan and they are obviously as a result very busy. They are happy to take less of a margin than other outfits out there. I got an instant quote online and they held it up. I was very pleased.

 

[KieranJ22]

Try Arnold Clark online! I just sold my A3 to them 2 days ago. They offered 3k more than WBAC and the price was actually really competitive! So much so that it was only marginally (in relative terms) less than what I would have tried to get selling private. I even put my misssus Golf into it to see the craic, and they offered enough to give her no negative equity and she’s only had it 18month on a 4yr pcp! When I was handing over the car I asked the guy how they price so strongly - he said it’s fairly new to their business plan and they are obviously as a result very busy. They are happy to take less of a margin than other outfits out there. I got an instant quote online and they held it up. I was very pleased.

Thanks I just checked and it was about £2500 more than we buy any car without the optional extras! Definitely something to keep in mind

 

[Pook]

Thanks I just checked and it was about £2500 more than we buy any car without the optional extras! Definitely something to keep in mind

Excellent! But beware they won’t give you any more for extras, only Nav if you have it they’ll give you a few hundred quid more. Mine was fairly loaded and pristine, but they wouldn’t move on the price because they know it’s competitive.

 

[will_0407]

Thanks I just checked and it was about £2500 more than we buy any car without the optional extras! Definitely something to keep in mind

What sort of price are you expecting for yours? Just curious as I have a 14 plate 1.8 sportback- the 1.8 isn't all that common so wondering what sort of price they go for. Mine's a sport with 45k on the clock (yours is seriously low mileage for the age!) and a lot of extras, but when I put it into Arnold Clark it's about 5.5k under what I paid for it 20months ago! Granted I got it Audi used approved so obviously paid a bit over what private would have gone for.

 

[KieranJ22]

I valued mine by putting the same engine size/colour/shape etc on autotrader with national distance and compared the prices with the options to mine.
I bought it from Audi 2 years ago with 12k miles for 18500. Which obviously comes with a years warranty that I can’t offer now with it being a private sale.
You may have more luck due to the practililty of the 5 door. Just do what I did to get an idea of what’s its worth mate

 

[will_0407]

I valued mine by putting the same engine size/colour/shape etc on autotrader with national distance and compared the prices with the options to mine.
I bought it from Audi 2 years ago with 12k miles for 18500. Which obviously comes with a years warranty that I can’t offer now with it being a private sale.
You may have more luck due to the practililty of the 5 door. Just do what I did to get an idea of what’s its worth mate

OK, i'm not planning on selling mine just yet, but I paid just shy of £16k 20 months ago, have put 11k miles on it and Arnold Clark offer was £10.3k! It's been pretty solid though, and I can't even use the excuse of 'when we have a child I'll need a bigger car' as it's perfectly suitable for a single child so I'll be keeping it a while longer.

 

[Ron240]

Also, as daft as it sounds, try Webuyanycar.com.

Just for fun I always try them when I get a new car to see what they are offering.
I put in the details of my 1 week old S3 Saloon Black Edition last week and they offered £26500.
This seems to be fairly typical of them with nearly new cars.

 

[KieranJ22]

OK, i'm not planning on selling mine just yet, but I paid just shy of £16k 20 months ago, have put 11k miles on it and Arnold Clark offer was £10.3k! It's been pretty solid though, and I can't even use the excuse of 'when we have a child I'll need a bigger car' as it's perfectly suitable for a single child so I'll be keeping it a while longer.

Ah fair enough, it is a great car and I love mine. I think if I could choose again I would get the saloon BE. I’m only selling mine as me and my mrs have just moved out and we don’t need two cars anymore and I miss 5 doors. The facelift release has probably affected the prices a lot for pre facelift

 

[Jassyo06]

Ah fair enough, it is a great car and I love mine. I think if I could choose again I would get the saloon BE. I’m only selling mine as me and my mrs have just moved out and we don’t need two cars anymore and I miss 5 doors. The facelift release has probably affected the prices a lot for pre facelift

The introduction of the facelift hasn't affected residuals of the PFL, prices of used cars are seasonal and jump up and down like a yo-yo, the estimated price Autotrader.co.uk gave you is pretty accurate imho, the months of May and June are good time to buy if you can sell yours, l advertised mines twice on autotrader pulled out the first time due to my father's ill health, l never ever got any hassle from prospective buyers, most where small independent dealers advertise it £500 more than its worth as you'll get knocked down on price a little, as is the nature buying and selling
Ps give it a really good detailing then take some great photos.. ... People like really shiny clean looking cars and if the car has 4 newish good quality tyres on it even better.. .. Speculate to accumulate, l had my car looking like new most likely the reason it sold almost instantly, here's a photo of it before it was picked by the buyer

 

[Ormesome]

Ps give it a really good detailing then take some great photos.. ... People like really shiny clean looking cars and if the car has 4 newish good quality tyres on it even better.. .. Speculate to accumulate, l had my car looking like new most likely the reason it sold almost instantly, here's a photo of it before it was picked by the buyerView attachment 158168

Totally agree with this. When I was at Uni I used to buy old cars locally that looked horrid, but were solid and just needed a little spruce up! I gave them a clean, hoover & back to black the plastics and then stuck them on eBay. Used to make loads and it saw me through Uni. Amazing how some people sell cars. They would never buy a car in the same condition but to sell it with dog hair and without washing it is perfectly ok! weird!

 

[KieranJ22]

I’ve had a call from a company that’s called ‘sell your car with us). Anyone heard of these or used them before?

They get the details of my car and sell it on my behalf with no upfront cost and they only take a commission when the car sales. Commission based on sale of car price. Not my thing but maybe a good go to before a Trading my car in? They are going to call back later as I wanted to check them out first