Not Getting Ripped Off In Private Sale

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Soldato
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25 Apr 2007
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I'm looking to sell my wife's car as our household no longer needs two vehicles. It'll be worth perhaps a few hundred quid more in a private sale than WBAC have offered. They've offered £3000, and it should go for £3300-£3500 privately.

If I choose to sell it privately, what's the best way to ensure I don't get ripped off? Should I insist on a bank-to-bank transfer? I'm wary about being given a load of dummy notes or putting off prospective buyers who wish to pay by cheque or draft by insisting that they wait a week for it to properly clear.

I've not sold a car privately for over twenty years.
 
I'm sure that people will be along quickly with anecdotal advice that will be extremely helpful, but I'd be checking with my bank how they would recommend in order to avoid the money being reversed/cheque bouncing. Getting them to go to the bank with you, paying cash in to your account and signing the V5 over to them there-and-then springs to mind but there has to be a more practical way.
 
Bank transfer either before or in front of you, no keys until the funds have shown up.

I don't think anyone who pays by cheque has a right to be annoyed about having to wait until the funds clear to collect the goods.
 
Only accept bank transfer (from your PC while you watch) or cash. Get a cash-checking pen and have someone with you to help count it.
Don't accept cheques or banker's drafts.
 
For the sake of a few hundred quid (assuming the WBAC quote is after their "reductions") I'd probably just sell to WBAC.

Having to deal with the general public tyre kickers excites me about as much as getting offered an all inclusive holiday to Guantanamo.
 
From memory I've not encountered many tyre kickers - are private sales reasonably painless?

The reason I ask is that a search on autotrader in my area shows only one Nissan Note up for private sale within a largish radius. This suggests to me that private sales are very unfashionable and I fear that a quantity of disreputable gentlemen may descend upon my dwelling.

EDIT - was typing at the same time as paradigm
 
paradigm said:
For the sake of a few hundred quid (assuming the WBAC quote is after their "reductions") I'd probably just sell to WBAC.
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Agreed, if we're talking £3000 vs £3300 it's a no brainer really. If the difference was bigger then yeah I'd take my chances with a private sale.
 
Has WBAC ever paid what they offered? I thought the idea was to get you there in person and pressure you into accepting a low offer.

I'd take cash for that amount, it honestly isn't hard to spot fakes even while counting. And if they're such good fakes, who really cares :)

I would not take any form of electronic transfer, how do you know what appears in your account is a non-returnable bank transfer? If it's a stolen account it could get pulled back days or weeks later, what if it's a cheque been paid in at a bank counter? Would you know how to tell?

If you're concerned about dodgy cash arrange drive him to his bank, witness him take the cash out and do the V5 and hand over the keys in the bank there and then.

You then have 100% guaranteed payment and a safe place to do the transfer.
 
WBAC are always insulting with their prices, what car is it that you have got such a reasonable offer?

They offered £40 for my Polo, sold it for £550.
£700 for the Corolla, traded it for £1600~
£1100 for the Celica, sold it for £2400
£130 for the Octavia, its worth about £800
£300 for the MX5, its worth about £1500

Do they just not touch older cars (all mine were 10+ years old) or dislike cheap cars? Surely cheap cars sell quick.
 
The trade-in price of my wife's particular Note is c.£2600, private good c.£3600 and trade sale c.£4600

From this I can see that offloading the car gives someone in the supply chain an opportunity at a large profit. I doubt WBAC are any less worthy than a used car lot.
 
Cash or BT in front of you. I've done both in the past for around that amount. If they insist on cash you could ask them to get bank sealed and approved 1k bags (these are counted and signed off by two people in my bank)
 
Acme said:
WBAC are always insulting with their prices, what car is it that you have got such a reasonable offer?

They offered £40 for my Polo, sold it for £550.
£700 for the Corolla, traded it for £1600~
£1100 for the Celica, sold it for £2400
£130 for the Octavia, its worth about £800
£300 for the MX5, its worth about £1500

Do they just not touch older cars (all mine were 10+ years old) or dislike cheap cars? Surely cheap cars sell quick.
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They will want to make a certain level of relatively quick profit on each vehicle for it to be worth their while. The older and more shed like it is the less they'll want to touch it.

As long as I wasn't throwing away a four figure sum I'd be very tempted by the WBAC route or equally hassle free disposal method!
 
mulpsmebeauty said:
The trade-in price of my wife's particular Note is c.£2600, private good c.£3600 and trade sale c.£4600

From this I can see that offloading the car gives someone in the supply chain an opportunity at a large profit. I doubt WBAC are any less worthy than a used car lot.
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So WBAC have offered you above trade?! I'd take that deal before they changed their mind!
 
Agree, so long as you have been properly critical of condition when inputting the details into their site just go down there and hand them the keys
 
List it honestly, and make sure its clean before you have any viewers.

For a car of that price people will generally only be turning up if they're interested, as long as the ad is accurate the sale will be easy.

Cash or bank transfer, grab a cash pen if the former, only let it go when cleared for the latter.
 
If you've described it accurately, you'll get exactly what you were quoted.



Acme said:
WBAC are always insulting with their prices, what car is it that you have got such a reasonable offer?

They offered £40 for my Polo, sold it for £550.
£700 for the Corolla, traded it for £1600~
£1100 for the Celica, sold it for £2400
£130 for the Octavia, its worth about £800
£300 for the MX5, its worth about £1500

Do they just not touch older cars (all mine were 10+ years old) or dislike cheap cars? Surely cheap cars sell quick.
Click to expand...

They tend to offer good money for cars that can be more easily retailed onward. Unfortunately a knackered old Polo / Corolla / Celica / Octavia (I know the Octavia isn't "knackered" but you know what I mean!) isn't something that a trader / car supermarket is going to want, so they'll just take their chances at auction.
 
Worried about dodge notes, go to the bank and put them in your account (they will check them for you), take the buyer with you, all is well, new owner takes the car.

Other option is bank transfer.

Last summer bought a 10k car, took my laptop with me, transferred funds from my account to the owners account in his kitchen, once he saw the funds in his account I took the car. Matter of minutes to do.

Will always get more from a private sale.

If they offered 3k don't be surprised to see it up for 4k the next day.
 
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Key question is what are WBAC offering you after all fees and deductions for cosmetic damage etc. They'll take a £50 transaction fee for starters and then really it depends on whether the car is in mint condition or not. That £3k quoted could easily drop to £2800 in the blink of an eye if it is just in good rather than excellent condition for its age.

If you can genuinely get £3k for it I wouldn't rule it out.
 
HangTime said:
Key question is what are WBAC offering you after all fees and deductions for cosmetic damage etc. They'll take a £50 transaction fee for starters and then really it depends on whether the car is in mint condition or not. That £3k quoted could easily drop to £2800 in the blink of an eye if it is just in good rather than excellent condition for its age.

If you can genuinely get £3k for it I wouldn't rule it out.
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I just noticed a sneaky £50 admin charge in the small print, which is a little bit tight, considering the margin they'll make on it anyway. The car is probably only good condition, rather than excellent (a couple of small scratches) but they could stick it up their chumfters if they started hacking the value down.
 
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