How much of a faff is selling a car?

[NotAGolf]

I've got a 2009 Ford Focus that has done less than 200 miles over the last couple of years due to covid and I don't think that is going to change any time soon so am thinking of selling it. I know I won't get much for it, but I'd be saving ~£60 a month on the insurance/tax/breakdown/servicing/parking permits etc

All of my previous cars I've kept driving until they died so I've never actually had to sell a car before! How much of a hassle is it?

I was thinking of webuyanycar'ing it, but I was thinking after they've deducted every scrape and chip I'd be left with pennies, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable selling it privately - how do you avoid time wasters and scammers?

It's done 125k miles and has a few scrapes and chips, but it's a good runner and has 12 months mot on it.

Any advice?

 

[danlightbulb]

How much do you think its worth?

Your options really are:
Autotrader
Exchange & Mart
Gumtree
The bay
Local facebook selling groups
Contact some local used car garages and see if they would be interested.

Or take the hit and WBAC it. You wont get much at WBAC, they can't sell on cars that old easily these days.

 

[Maundie]

Have you had a look at what similar cars are priced at on AutoTrader?

WBAC usually low ball after giving a decent price online to get you there although some people have had good service and price my personal experience was of the negative side, sold to local dealer for much more than WBAC offered

 

[ezekial]

Private will usually get you more money but it is definitely more effort. Especially when people come round in groups and put oil up your exhaust and into your coolant to try and tell you the car is broken. You can't really avoid the scammers and time wasters unfortunately but you can mitigate. Be firm with the lowest price you have in your mind and don't accept group viewings.

 

[Sirrel Squirrel]

You could eBay it for £1 a see how the auction goes

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Are you using another car, insured on another car on your own policy. JUst be wary that some policies only cover your no claims discount for 1 year, some with 2 years. I got rid of my car November 2020 and am probably now in a position where when I do get a new car to insure I won't have any NCD applied.

 

[sandys]

If it's not worth a great deal but a reliable car you know well, could you not just SORN it on your drive until we are out of Covid WFH stuff and put it back on road when needed again later in the year? At some point things will return to normal per covid ways when you needed a car so you'd only need to go outy and get one again.

 

[MissChief]

If it's not worth a great deal but a reliable car you know well, could you not just SORN it on your drive until we are out of Covid WFH stuff and put it back on road when needed again later in the year? At some point things will return to normal per covid ways when you needed a car so you'd only need to go outy and get one again.

This is probably the best plan. Maybe get a trickle charger if it’s going to be sitting for months and months and I’d recommend starting it at least once a month and letting it heat up.

 

[Semple]

Have you had a look at what similar cars are priced at on AutoTrader?

I always find this can be a bit misleading.

In a similar position to the OP i thought i'd have a look on AT and see what the going rate for my A3 is for age/mileage etc. I saw a number of dealers on there trying to flog the car for 3-4x the WBAC price, and only a couple of k less than what i bought the car for 5 years ago. Being a diesel they haven't exactly held their value well, so these dealers are living in dreamland if they think someone will offer that price for them.

I'm tempted to phone some of them up and say i've got a near identical car to what you're selling on the forecourt, i'll sell it to you for 1k/2k less than what it's listed for. If their confident in the price then it's a bargain for them.

 

[The Running Man]

Just took a deposit off a guy via Facebook advert. Free to list..

Simple.

 

[lordrobs]

Just took a deposit off a guy via Facebook advert. Free to list..

Simple.

I was sceptical but we went this route with my wifes Punto. First person to enquire bought it for the asking price. So simple and worlds away from my previous experience (admittedly 10+ years ago) selling a car via AT with the chancers and tyre kickers.

 

[The Running Man]

I was sceptical but we went this route with my wifes Punto. First person to enquire bought it for the asking price. So simple and worlds away from my previous experience (admittedly 10+ years ago) selling a car via AT with the chancers and tyre kickers.

Indeed, this was my first viewer too.

 

[Hades]

I'd put it on Facebook Marketplace for a price you want and go from there. Note that you will get idiots offering to take it off your hands for £100 to do you a favour. But if priced well then it should sell easily. I've sold a car and motorbike on there (and a car on ebay). I'd only look at Autotrader to sell something a bit newer and more expensive nowadays.

A few points:

1) Wash it, take lots of photos all around and inside. Add a good description of whats good and whats not good about it. It will make you stand above most of the sellers who can't be bothered and just take three pictures and almost no description.

2) On the day don't let them take the car unless money has cleared (I prefer bank transfer).

3) Transfer the V5 online before they drive away.

4) Cancel the insurance as soon as they drive away so there can't be any claims which come back to you.

 

[The Running Man]

Yes I sold my almera on Facebook too, first guy bought it cash. Easy days.

 

[Maundie]

Where are you located and what price are similar private sales going for in the area, as mentioned FB marketplace and Gumtree are full of cars like this in my area so priced similar should go quite quickly and pain free, tell the guys who "are doing you a favour" to do one and don't let them bother you

 

[nst68]

I sold my old car on eBay, it went for 2.5x what WBAC offered.

You have to put up with the idiots offering low values to end the auction early or asking what the buy it now price is, but it's not a pain.

 

[HangTime]

I always find this can be a bit misleading.

In a similar position to the OP i thought i'd have a look on AT and see what the going rate for my A3 is for age/mileage etc. I saw a number of dealers on there trying to flog the car for 3-4x the WBAC price, and only a couple of k less than what i bought the car for 5 years ago. Being a diesel they haven't exactly held their value well, so these dealers are living in dreamland if they think someone will offer that price for them.

I'm tempted to phone some of them up and say i've got a near identical car to what you're selling on the forecourt, i'll sell it to you for 1k/2k less than what it's listed for. If their confident in the price then it's a bargain for them.

Dealer prices aren't what you will get selling privately, look at private sales for a better indicator plus of course hpivaluations.com , parkers valuations, WBAC, Cazoo etc to get the full picture

An A3 for £1k less than their forecourt price definitely isn't that much of a bargain for them. They have to cover their overheads plus any remedial work plus the potential cost of any warranty items plus any potential depreciation from it being sat on their forecourt, test drive mileage etc. They might also expect to sell for a bit less than forecourt prices in some cases.
As a rule of thumb, dealer prices will typically be at least £1.5k above vehicle valuation.

As for the OP, depending on spec, condition etc you are looking at around £1000-1500 private sale it seems, sling a few ads out on the free sites and see if you get decent buyers. Make sure you call out the scrapes and chips and state that's already reflected in the price, only come to view the car if they are happy with that.

 

[NotAGolf]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

SORN would be a good route if I had somewhere to store it, but unfortunately I don't.

I didn't think about the NCD implications. I'm a named driver on my wife's policy, but that's it. I've got 12 years as well, so going back to square one would be quite a hit.

Looking around I reckon it's worth around the £1000-1200 mark. WBAC are offering around £500 I think.
*edit* hpi valuation reckons nearer 2k
. I think that's a tad optimistic!

I'm not on Facebook and have never used gumtree. Is there any kind of 'rating' system used on either which might go against me being a newbie (e.g like a seller on ebay with no feedback)?

 

[Haggisman]

Just stuck the other half's fiesta on Facebook after no luck on gumtree/ebay, and had more messages from there in the past few hours than the other 2 combined in the last month...

The usual chancers offering 50% of what it's up for, but also couple of (what sound like... But equally staying skeptical) genuine people asking for a couple of £100 off and interested if we drop the price.

Wherever you end up listing it, blank out the number plate. We didn't on the ebay listing and some foetid specimen from Coventry has cloned the plates. Hoping to spot a pattern in the parking tickets/speeding fines and take a small trip to find them and clone their face with a plate...

 

[NotAGolf]

Wherever you end up listing it, blank out the number plate. We didn't on the ebay listing and some foetid specimen from Coventry has cloned the plates. Hoping to spot a pattern in the parking tickets/speeding fines and take a small trip to find them and clone their face with a plate...

I've wondered about this. As a buyer I'd want to see the plate (so I can look up mot history etc), but as a seller I'd want to obscure it for this very reason.