Bad time of year to sell? or is the used hot hatch market dead?

MissChief said:
The hot hatch market isn't particularly swift at the best of times and you need someone to really want one as the running costs are obviously higher. As said, get it through another MOT and then you'll likely have more interest and 'only' £800 cheaper than a dealer usually means they'll got to a dealer.
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Thats what i cant decide MOT now and re list or wait till its due at the end of January and try to sell then? I presume it might be better selling after christmas? but then again most dont have any money left after christmas either lol. :(
 
eBay auction it, always works for me with old cars :) Ive never failed to sell anything very quickly regardless of spec or condition.
 
Dav4 said:
i would rather not link to my personal ebay and facebook etc on a public forum. Its a good straight to the point ad with decent pics so i know its nothing to do with that.
It's a 2006 just nearing 84,000, full service history. Car is all standard. Last owner had it from new which given that most other ST's have had 5+ owners and been used and abused then passed onto the next victim while being chavved out with dodgy remap's and bean can exhausts i thought mine would at least be more desireable at 4.5k ono.
I have seen traders constantly listing the same thing for 5k+ over last few month's and selling them quickly. I have also seen private ad's with far more miles than mine go on bidding for 4.5k! Why the hell anyone would want to bid on a car like an ST without even looking at it is beyone me.
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Tbh with the info given there it was easy enough to find anyway ;)

Looks tidy enough, few spelling mistakes in the ad but nothing major, I'd maybe consider bullet pointing the highlights, e.g. the parts you've replaced recently. At the moment it's just a wall of text which makes it harder to quickly find the key info.

Also, get the MOT done, if it "had no advisory's on the last one and it will fly through the next one in January" then any buyer is going to be wondering why you haven't had it done when putting the car up for sale
 
Keep it, get the block mod done to reinforce the cylinder liners (which is really the only weakness on those 5cyl Volvo engines) and the car is bomb proof. They are unlikely to drop much more in price now either.
 
Haggisman said:
Tbh with the info given there it was easy enough to find anyway ;)

Looks tidy enough, few spelling mistakes in the ad but nothing major, I'd maybe consider bullet pointing the highlights, e.g. the parts you've replaced recently. At the moment it's just a wall of text which makes it harder to quickly find the key info.

Also, get the MOT done, if it "had no advisory's on the last one and it will fly through the next one in January" then any buyer is going to be wondering why you haven't had it done when putting the car up for sale
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:p thanks for the info. Think I'll just get an MOT on it asap then and re list.

Nasher said:
Keep it, get the block mod done to reinforce the cylinder liners (which is really the only weakness on those 5cyl Volvo engines) and the car is bomb proof. They are unlikely to drop much more in price now either.
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That's what I considered doing but to keep me interested for another year i would want it remapping and i don't think a 10yr old clutch is lasting much longer with that extra torque and power so that's a £300 remap, £800 on top of that for the RS clutch and a £600 block mod which is all money I'm not getting back come re sale :(
 
Block mod is expensive, but you may be able to get much of it back since cars which have been done are much easier to sell as people look for them.
 
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Dav4 said:
:p thanks for the info. Think I'll just get an MOT on it asap then and re list.


That's what I considered doing but to keep me interested for another year i would want it remapping and i don't think a 10yr old clutch is lasting much longer with that extra torque and power so that's a £300 remap, £800 on top of that for the RS clutch and a £600 block mod which is all money I'm not getting back come re sale :(
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Sure it looks a lot, but how much does the replacement car cost? More I suspect.
 
I wouldn't waste your money doing all that lot to it, as your heart is clearly not in it. They're not bomb proof either. Driveshafts at 300 quid a pop are not going to be fun, all sorts of things can be brought to light with a map and you can see where age has taken it's toll mechanically.

I've just wasted a couple of grand on this Type R I've had for not even 3 months. I am mad, I don't even want to keep it long term I don't think :D Definitely do not waste your money, I can't believe I've let myself do it really, but I've started so I shall finish! :)

At £4500 it's priced well but stick an MOT on and another 200 quid. It's a bad time of year to sell but it's priced well. I sold my 56 reg last new year for £6700 as you know.

Perhaps 3 doors are more desirable though?
 
Dav4 said:
Time to sell on my Focus ST as i only keep cars a year and im bored of it so its not worth keeping with the potential bills it could throw up in the future.
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Sounds like you might just be better off hiring cars in future. Plenty of schemes out there that you can throw money at to have the newest model each year, maybe one day you'll find a car that you want to keep.

You still haven't posted the ad either, theres loads of people here that would give you decent helpful feedback and answer your question as to why it isnt selling.
 
Assuming it's the one I found on ebay as I was intrigued... I wouldn't post a photo of the receipts when you have so few (is the FSH stamps only?)

Would say you need to get a new MOT though as stated before :)
 
Easy enough to find the ad on ebay like others have said. Nice car, suggestion of the 3 door being less desirable, i know from my point if i was to get one it'd be much better getting the 5 door version.
Get the MOT done, if i was at the top end of my budget getting the car i would be worried about what might come up at the mot and keep looking elsewhere.
 
Something definately not right with this. Car will apparently fly through an MOT which costs how much? 35 quid adding potentially hundreds to the value with a full 12 months but the seller won't do it.

Yeah right :D the cars got a problem/problems and you know it.. thats why you want to sell.
 
No you can't do MOT now but can one month before expiry date.

As others have said it's a bad time to sell but you might as well keep at it now you've made an ad
 
Thanks for everyone's input! :)
I honestly think it will pass it's MOT easily! I know people might think why try to sell it with 2 and a half months MOT but I have seen a number of ST's sell over the last month with 3-4 months MOT left so I thought it was worth a try.
so the question now is get it done this week while it's listed or wait until it's actually due in January and try to sell then?
Is Nov/Dec the worst time to sell even with 12 months MOT? Or is January just as bad?
 
Dav4 said:
Oh yes because the lesser powered and more overpriced GTI from that generation is such a catch isnt it :rolleyes: especially since the majority of car shows and magazines that tested that generation of hot hatches said the ST225 came out as a better all rounder than the GTI,VXR,Megane 225 etc.
Its a popular used car that people often still pay around 5k for 10yr old examples due to the ability to modify it and see very good power gains.
as for the trade in prices i rang 2 dealers and both offered me 1.5k less than what i can get private regardless of the MOT length.
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Hang on...

OP states you aint had any interest in the vehicle...

Dav4 said:
i rang 2 dealers and both offered me 1.5k less than what i can get private regardless of the MOT length.
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No they didn't at the moment you've clearly demonstrated you can get nowt for it private as theres been no bites :p

Part of the selling private is the longer wait, possibility tax may run out and you might end up with the car uninsured sat on your front drive, how could someone legally test drive it?

get yer advert linked :)
 
Just before Christmas is not just a money issue for a lot of people, but also time. Lots of weekends are taken up so it can be an added hassle to go and have a look at a car. Get it MOT'd in Jan and I'm you'll sell it then as long as it's priced sensibly.

If you need the money right now, there's always WBAC.
 
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