Selling my car. No patience
- Thread starter dirtychinchilla
- Start date
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Unfortunately the only thing people seem to really value is the last one. Personally, I agree with you. If I wanted to buy a car I'd prefer one like yours - but not many people think this way and the value of a car is what the market will pay for it unless you really do want to wait what could be months for that one person who appreciates that, actually, good history is worth paying for comes along.
My 5 Series was like your car - perfect condition inside and out, perfect service history, it was probably one of the very best examples in the UK. None of this made any difference when I sold it - unless I wanted to wait 5 months to sell it its value was dictated by the many other cars that were simply not as good, most of which were for sale at dealers who could offer what people really seem to care about, finance packages and some sort of sense of backup if the transaction went badly, regardless of how true that really was.
The reality remains that if Approved Used cars of similar age and mileage are cheaper than yours, yours probably isn't going to sell for that money. Why would it? Even someone who values what we've mentioned above is still going to think 'Why pay more than Audi?'. It needs to be usefully cheaper than Approved Used cars for people to consider the downsides of buying privately are offset by what you have and the price you want for it.
Remember again - you can only sell this car to people who have cash. Even if we ignore all of the other factors, this is a very small fraction of the market for a car like this. How many people with access to £20,000 in cash want a 2019 Audi Q2 35?
I bought a new car in April of last year. At the time I was looking there were a few private sale examples available at either similar or more money than the main dealers were asking. They looked like excellent examples.
At least one of them is still for sale.
This really isn't true at all. It's not that new any more - it's a 2019 car - it's at the sort of point in its life where a warranty is potentially most useful and most buyers will know this.
I agree with most of what has been said but I am one of those that in fact did favour a private sale when I bought my Clio. I paid about £1000 more than dealers because it was the only car I could find within 100 miles of me that was truly in good condition, low miles and well kept. I kept turning up at dealers viewing absolute dogs which you couldn't tell in the pics. I know I will lose on it when I sell it but we bought with long term ownership in mind.
Soldato
This is excellent advice, @dirtychinchilla you’d be wise to listen. This is what makes OCUK so useful, great advice can be found on most topics.
Exactly. A car with a three year manufacturers warranty has three years because that is how long the manufacturer has confidence in it. At four years it's in the territory of possibly needing more regular work to keep it reliable. A well maintained car should be reliable but many people just treat them poorly. I used to be a huge VAG fan. But nowadays, having been burned by one, I just don't trust them.
I am actually the sort of buyer that the OP wants; I prefer to buy from private sellers over a dealer so I can assess both the car and the owner. But ~£20k is entering the sort of territory that I'd prefer dealer backup in the form of a reasonable warranty and legal recourse if it turned out to be a lemon. It would have to be quite a bit cheaper than an approved used to tempt me. If I were selling it then would probably pitch the price somewhere above other private sales and below the approved used sales, elaborating on why this one is such good condition. The OP has done a good job on photo's although I would probably also include close up pictures of all alloys to show no kerbing, the engine bay to show how clean it is (doesn't really mean much but I feel it adds an air of honesty) and a photo of the service booklet, keys and any other relevant history (assuming Audi issue service books now?)
Soldato
It's not so new though is it, it's a 5 year old car from a marque not exactly renowned for their reliability. 5 years old is exactly the kind of age where a warranty is worth the most, absolutely no way i'd be spending 20k cash on a 'premium' but essentially very ordinary car with questionable reliability and expensive parts with no backup.
For the record, mine is now the lowest priced in this area. If you're willing to drive a long way out to get a cheaper car, yeah it won't be quite right, but within 20 miles of here with the same spec there are only 8 available. The others at dealers are over £20k, I'm sitting under that.
I'll just have to wait and see. What I will do is consider slightly cheaper options on the car I want to buy. I'm thinking it's over budget now, so based on everyone's advice here I will be a little more realistic and will probably have to forget that car and put a little more cash in that I'd hoped to do.
I'll just have to wait and see. What I will do is consider slightly cheaper options on the car I want to buy. I'm thinking it's over budget now, so based on everyone's advice here I will be a little more realistic and will probably have to forget that car and put a little more cash in that I'd hoped to do.
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The only people restricting their car buying search to such a local area are surely people buying cheap bangers that aren't worth travelling for?
Most people splashing £20k on a car I would expect to happily travel 50 miles, often even more. Don't kid yourself and think you're only competing for buyers with people 5 minutes down the road.
Most people splashing £20k on a car I would expect to happily travel 50 miles, often even more. Don't kid yourself and think you're only competing for buyers with people 5 minutes down the road.
Fair point. It's still the cheapest in 50 miles with the same spec. Only gets cheaper with a smaller engine.
My sister buying her second car, the garage had exactly the same car, similar age/miles, as her old one on the forecourt for £1699, she seemed to think she'd get £1600 in part exchange and came out spitting blood when they quoted £1200. Finally had to accept she wouldn't get £1600 for it and went back and they were like "LOL that was the then price" and offered £10xx.
It's your car so you can hold out for whatever price you like, that's your prerogative.
You do need to watch out for your justifications though as they don't stack up against the way cars are valued. The condition, servicing, tyre condition... that doesn't increase it's value in the market, it simply increases the dealers margin if it does got through the trade. Also, 15 miles is pretty restrictive when considering your local market conditions. You need to double that and some to be confident it is good value to others in the vicinity. (Just saw your note about the 50 mile range. The 1.5 is definitely favourable over the 1.0 but I'd take the 1.4 over both any day of the week!)
TBH I'm surprised we are even talking in the realms of 18 to 20k for a standard crossover hatch that doesn't even have climate control but that probably just shows how out of touch I am with car pricing. Anyone who bought cash circa 2018/19 must have had some pretty depreciation free motoring. Problem is it's like houses, you never really see that gain (or in the case of cars, reduced loss) unless you sell and move into a cardboard box.
I say all this as someone who massively prefers to buy private so I really do want you to do well with the sale but expectations may mean that the potential BMW purchase simply isn't possible right now.
You do need to watch out for your justifications though as they don't stack up against the way cars are valued. The condition, servicing, tyre condition... that doesn't increase it's value in the market, it simply increases the dealers margin if it does got through the trade. Also, 15 miles is pretty restrictive when considering your local market conditions. You need to double that and some to be confident it is good value to others in the vicinity. (Just saw your note about the 50 mile range. The 1.5 is definitely favourable over the 1.0 but I'd take the 1.4 over both any day of the week!)
TBH I'm surprised we are even talking in the realms of 18 to 20k for a standard crossover hatch that doesn't even have climate control but that probably just shows how out of touch I am with car pricing. Anyone who bought cash circa 2018/19 must have had some pretty depreciation free motoring. Problem is it's like houses, you never really see that gain (or in the case of cars, reduced loss) unless you sell and move into a cardboard box.
I say all this as someone who massively prefers to buy private so I really do want you to do well with the sale but expectations may mean that the potential BMW purchase simply isn't possible right now.
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I used to say to people who were looking to P/X their car “it’ll never be worth more than it is today”, which ignoring Covid times madness is pretty accurate.
Yeah, doesn't mean you won't get something on the higher side, just depends on happenstance, etc. but if looking for a quick sale you are far less likely.
Did you also say "WOAH... have you ever stopped" after getting the answer to how many miles it had done and do the full on tooth suck and finger rub at every single stone chip?
Last time I had to attempt to trade a car it it was on behalf of my company so I wasn't as invested in the process which meant I could just observe the BS for what it was.
Associate
My personal opinion is that the O/P has made a mess of selling the car on Auto Trader with respect to all the price changes within a short period of time.
Buyers who use the Chrome Add In will see all the price changes and wonder WTF is going on 'ere, it has given the car a bit of a stigma.
If the original advert can be deleted or closed and a new advert created it should resolve the price change issue on the advert.
If it were me and I had another car lined up I would price the car at £16.5K in the hope it was a price attractive enough to get viewings at which time potential buyers could see the car condition, review the paperwork and have a test drive. Haggle room should achieve a sale price of £16K to £16.25K, job done, swallow the sale price, and move on to purchasing the next car.
Alternatively, if time is a critical factor re the next car purchase and the Q2 is not getting viewings, take it to one of the buying in organisations and get what is offered, they might offer more than £16.25K.
Used car prices dropped by around 8.4% in October and November and I think it was mentioned above the fall was 5.6% in December, that is a 14% drop in three months.
If applied to a £20K car and the post covid price correction continues it will lose another £2800 in three months. The price boom is over, it is a buyers market now.
Buyers who use the Chrome Add In will see all the price changes and wonder WTF is going on 'ere, it has given the car a bit of a stigma.
If the original advert can be deleted or closed and a new advert created it should resolve the price change issue on the advert.
If it were me and I had another car lined up I would price the car at £16.5K in the hope it was a price attractive enough to get viewings at which time potential buyers could see the car condition, review the paperwork and have a test drive. Haggle room should achieve a sale price of £16K to £16.25K, job done, swallow the sale price, and move on to purchasing the next car.
Alternatively, if time is a critical factor re the next car purchase and the Q2 is not getting viewings, take it to one of the buying in organisations and get what is offered, they might offer more than £16.25K.
Used car prices dropped by around 8.4% in October and November and I think it was mentioned above the fall was 5.6% in December, that is a 14% drop in three months.
If applied to a £20K car and the post covid price correction continues it will lose another £2800 in three months. The price boom is over, it is a buyers market now.
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When I've been car hunting I have been prepared to travel all over the country... for the right car in the right condition. Something at ~20k I would be prepared to do that.
The OPs car does look worth travelling for. I would do that if the price was right (actually I'm only down the road from him
)Obviously wouldn't travel for an old banger though.
This is literally the worst feature of the car. The lack of climate control is criminal for a car that’s otherwise so good. But the Q2 was intended as a budget model.
It does seem an odd omission! After we bought a 2008 Punto with dual zone climate (for £5750 at 22 months old... those were the days!) I kind of expect it to be standard fit. My wife's Polo doesn't have it either which she was most miffed about having lost both that and her panoramic roof after 'upgrading' from the Fiat!