WBAC Values
- Thread starter Gibbo
- Start date
Associate
Currently without car and have my eye on an 18 plate Golf GTI Performance but seriously concerned if now is the right time to buy.
Have already haggled the dealer down £1250 from the asking price so he obviously wants rid of it but there's about a 4.5k difference between what I'd pay and what WBAC would offer for the car. Obviously I'm not expecting to pay bottom end trade value but is that sort of gap about right?
Part of me thinks I should hold out for a few more weeks to see if prices drop into December but i've already gone a month without a car and it's becoming painful
Have already haggled the dealer down £1250 from the asking price so he obviously wants rid of it but there's about a 4.5k difference between what I'd pay and what WBAC would offer for the car. Obviously I'm not expecting to pay bottom end trade value but is that sort of gap about right?
Part of me thinks I should hold out for a few more weeks to see if prices drop into December but i've already gone a month without a car and it's becoming painful
Associate
From what I understand, there are two jump ups in price from WBAC offers to a squealers forecourt price.
Jump up one in price is when WBAC sell the car at auction for lets say £2K more than they bought it in for.
Jump up two in price is the squealers forecourt markup on what they paid at auction for it, lets say another £1.5k.
End result is possibly a £3.5k increase at the squealers forecourt compared to the WBAC buy in price.
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Soldato
I work for a very large car leasing company and the remarketing team reported a 16% drop in used car prices in the last 6 weeks. Apparently they forecasted it, but expected it sooner. They are expecting the fall to continue and bottom out at 20% ish.
So, and I have no idea about this stuff other than what I was told, I reckon that you're correct in holding off until prices are about 20% lower than what they were at the beginning of October.
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I suspect the best chance to get cheeky offers accepted will be middle of December, private sellers will want cars gone before Christmas, even more so if they need the cash.
Dealers will want cars gone they have had on stock for months ideally before new year.
So be aggressive with making offers across a few potential cars as one seller might just bite and you get yourself a car at a price your happy with.
Dealers will want cars gone they have had on stock for months ideally before new year.
So be aggressive with making offers across a few potential cars as one seller might just bite and you get yourself a car at a price your happy with.
Don't forget you can see how long a car has been listed for by the numbers after the domain. For example, this car: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311013541502 was added to the site on 01/11/23 so not very long ago. But if you can get a car that's been sitting for six months or more the Dealer will really want rid for the space to sell something with potentially more profit, or that will actually sell.
There's also an unofficial Autotrader extension for Chrome that will show you when it was listed and any price drops too.
Associate
Thank you for the tip re the weblink date info, very useful.
If the car switches from one seller to another seller on Auto Trader would you know how the date of listing in the web address is impacted?
Does it keep the 1st seller listing date or does it switch to the date the 2nd seller listed it?
Associate
Is it possible to estimate a target buying price by moving upwards from Auto Trader or WBAC buy in values?
For example, Auto Trader and WBAC give buy in offers of £31.5K and £31K respectively, the squealer has it on their forecourt at £37K.
I am interested in the car and was thinking £35K might be a target to try for.
Unfortunately, it is a new arrival on the forecourt so it might take a few weeks for the squealer to adjust the price or think of offers?
Had it been on their forecourt a couple of months I would have thought £35K would have been achievable as a target this time of year considering recently reported market conditions?
For example, Auto Trader and WBAC give buy in offers of £31.5K and £31K respectively, the squealer has it on their forecourt at £37K.
I am interested in the car and was thinking £35K might be a target to try for.
Unfortunately, it is a new arrival on the forecourt so it might take a few weeks for the squealer to adjust the price or think of offers?
Had it been on their forecourt a couple of months I would have thought £35K would have been achievable as a target this time of year considering recently reported market conditions?
Just ask them.
They won't budge if they don't think you're serious.
Make sure they know you're willing to buy the car right away if they can do £35k, then you have more of a shot.
Soldato
Better yet, use the Auto trader chrome extension. It isn’t official, but it gives you date added and any price drops on vehicles (including when they were)
Associate
Yes, I have that installed in Chrome, it is a great Add-In.
However, I am not sure if it remains with a car for its duration on Auto Trader or if the price drops and dates are per dealer with the car?
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I believe if the car is transferred to another dealer it won't track
The WBAC on M135is I'm looking at is 10-14k less than the BMW AUC list of 30-40k. I thought they were overpriced, but that's pretty ridiculous. I think I'm just going to continue hanging in there. Perhaps I should test the water with offers but for BMW AUC there isn't usually that much room.
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I would treat the WBAC estimate with a pinch of salt. It seems they've rebaselined the values quite extensively, my E43 is now £22k versus a high of £35k. Probably looking to slow the acquisition of stock given the market dynamics.
Some WBAC prices seem to be a joke now. I put in a car the other month and it was showing £10k less than private sales on autotrader and £14k less than dealer prices and it was only a £30k car. I just figured WBAC basically didnt want the car but if you were desperate then they would gladly still take it from you.
Associate
+1 agreed
WBAC look like they are reducing stock levels so they do not get caught out with high levels in the event of a prolonged spell of falling prices?
I checked out a couple of youtube videos today from traders and from an interview with a CAP director. Used car prices fell again in November by 4.2%, however various sectors were impacted differently and the 4.2% drop was an average across the trade. Auction prices for used exceutive stuff of around 6 years old and older seems to be in freefall with stock getting nowhere near to CAP prices or failing to get a bid for some makes.
As WBAC probably push a lot of stuff through auctions they will be aware of the trends and running scared unless they can get vehicles at absolute rock bottom from desparate sellers where they might still cop a margin of profit?
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Sold my wife's old car to Cazoo. Their initial quote was much higher than WBAC and a bit higher than Motorway, but we got pushed down a lot based on scratches etc and loose tailgate lights. Kind of like what WBAC were like 10 years ago. Plus this time of year values probably drop due to people selling through desperation for cash. TBH I was kind of surprised, we sold it early evening on a Friday so I was half expecting the guy to just give it a quick once over and get clocked off but he was pretty thorough. My guess is they will do some basic remedial work and put it up for £4k more than they paid for it.
That said, looking at CAP valuations, what we ended up with was about the amount a "good" condition one would get at trade-in, more than the "poor" valuation.
The bubble seems to have burst now on these car buying services (and I guess used car valuations in general), a couple of years ago it was a no brainer.
Would have got more selling privately (about £1500 more in theory) but didn't want to go that route as there's a problem with the catalytic converter (had to turn off the engine repair light with an OBD2 device), plus the hassle of dealing with people expecting a >7 year old car in pristine condition, not being able to offer test drive due to it being SORN etc (insurance quote to keep it on the policy was £lol). I wouldn't want to palm off a car with an engine fault on a private buyer, whoever ends up with it will have recourse via Cazoo.
In summary, I reckon 2024 could be the year private transactions make a comeback, it's been kinda pointless since 2021 because sellers have been getting good money from car buying services and of course on the flipside, buying used cars has been expensive for buyers. So we are now entering a market where there's enough of a window opening up, where people can sell their cars privately for more money and conversely buyers can get used cars at a decent price, because those private prices aren't being inflated. We'll finally get back to a position where you see gaps between:
brand new
used forecourt
private
tradein/carbuyer
These have been very congested past couple of years (concertina effect due to the bottom rung being artificially high), as this spreads out private could make more sense.
That said, looking at CAP valuations, what we ended up with was about the amount a "good" condition one would get at trade-in, more than the "poor" valuation.
The bubble seems to have burst now on these car buying services (and I guess used car valuations in general), a couple of years ago it was a no brainer.
Would have got more selling privately (about £1500 more in theory) but didn't want to go that route as there's a problem with the catalytic converter (had to turn off the engine repair light with an OBD2 device), plus the hassle of dealing with people expecting a >7 year old car in pristine condition, not being able to offer test drive due to it being SORN etc (insurance quote to keep it on the policy was £lol). I wouldn't want to palm off a car with an engine fault on a private buyer, whoever ends up with it will have recourse via Cazoo.
In summary, I reckon 2024 could be the year private transactions make a comeback, it's been kinda pointless since 2021 because sellers have been getting good money from car buying services and of course on the flipside, buying used cars has been expensive for buyers. So we are now entering a market where there's enough of a window opening up, where people can sell their cars privately for more money and conversely buyers can get used cars at a decent price, because those private prices aren't being inflated. We'll finally get back to a position where you see gaps between:
brand new
used forecourt
private
tradein/carbuyer
These have been very congested past couple of years (concertina effect due to the bottom rung being artificially high), as this spreads out private could make more sense.
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They still want certain stuff. Just bought a Honda Jazz, low mileage 2012 for £5k(dealer) they offered £4.5k (online).
Our Superb estate which I’d guess is worth £8.5k (100k miles) they offer £5k.
Not planning to sell either but was surprised.
Our Superb estate which I’d guess is worth £8.5k (100k miles) they offer £5k.
Not planning to sell either but was surprised.
Associate
My 2018 focus ST-Line has gone up in price since I last checked a couple of weeks ago.
The RS has dropped quite a bit in the past few months though. Although the prices on Autotrader etc don't seem to have dropped much.
The RS has dropped quite a bit in the past few months though. Although the prices on Autotrader etc don't seem to have dropped much.