Best way to sell car?????

LilacLillie

My husband has just got a new car. It came rather quicker than we expected, so we now have to sell our old car on the quick!
We live in a flat in East London and have a car park, but we are only allowed 1 space each (which is fair), so have parked it outside our son's place in South London!
Not an ideal solution. Our son doesn't drive, so he doesn't want it. Its a nice car, in really tip-top condition. In fact, dare I say, I prefer it to the new one .............
We have put it in Exchange & Mart, Loot and on ebay (?), we think (never dealt with ebay before, son put it on and has gone on honeymoon). Oh yes, and shop windows small ads.
I really think a private sale is the best way to go, yet everyone seems to be saving for Xmas. Been trying for a week now with not one single call.
Help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any ideas/help much appreciated
LL

geo555

Place an advert in Autotrader. Its what anyone looking to buy a car looks at. They will come and photograph your car and take your details.
A word of warning when selling, you will probably get calls from companys saying "We have buyers ready to buy your car. Give us £XX and we will pass your details on" DO NOT take them up on this offer. You will lose you money and not sell your car.

RightRevBod

Definitely Autotrader - on the web.

Take a photo (or two) and attach it to your web ad.

When I sold my last car, I put it in Autotrader, ebay and Freeads (all on the web). All the calls I got were from people who had seen it in Autotrader.

I put the ad in midweek, intending to give it a good clean at the weekend. Sold it on Friday evening before I got a chance to.

(As freeads is free, it would not do any harm to put the add on there as well.)

spottydog

I think the used car market is a bit slow at the moment, I'm using autotrader at present and have had a few calls but they don't turn up to view. I tried ebay & loot but I think they are best for low value cars.

As another poster has said I've probably been getting about 2 calls a day from companies saying we've got x number of buyers and it will only cost you £95 (refunded if you sell). They can get quite anygry when you say no.

LilacLillie

Thanks to all for the 'Auto Trader' advice. Put the car in for sale yesterday (Tuesday) and have had loads of calls already.
Having a viewing day on Saturday, it'll go to the highest bidder on the day.
LL

LilacLillie

Just to add...................I can not believe how many calls we have had about the car, after putting it in 'Auto Trader'. I also now recommend it. Thanks to all again. Hopefully one of the callers will buy it tomorrow.
I think we have about 9 viewing at different times! Obviously it will go to the person willing to pay nearest to what we have asked. It is nice to think that this way we will get the asking price, with so much competition...................hopefully!!!!! I'll let you know how it goes.
LL

LilacLillie

Wo-Hoooooo!
Car sold for asking price to the first person that came to see it.
Thanks
LL

scottishlizzie

I have a low-value car to sell. Any views on best sale route for this sort of car?

scottishlizzie

Please? I know you're out there with the best advice!

golddustmedia

scottishlizzie wrote:

I have a low-value car to sell. Any views on best sale route for this sort of car?

I've done lots of selling of cheap cars over the years.

First thing is to assess it's value. We all love our cars and often have an inflated idea of their worth. So check https://www.parkers.co.uk or https://www.autotrader.co.uk and see what the value of your model is.

Then take into account the condition, any history you do or don't have and then be flexible. When buying I've seen cars that are priced a little over and made an offer only to have it rejected. Then I've had a call back a week later to accept the offer when it's still not sold but by that time I've bought something else. If someone makes an offer be ready to accept it as cash now is better than a long wait.

For cheapo cars the local paper is normally good, also https://www.loot.com. Avoid ebay if you can, it's expensive to advertise and you'll get lots of timewasters and few serious buyers. All too often you'll see listings with "re-advertised due to timewaster".

Basic rule, people will travel a long way for a specific car or something special, but only locally for a cheap runabout. I'd say your target market is within 30 miles or less in built up areas.

scottishlizzie

Thanks for what sounds like good advice. I was thinking of ebay as I've sold lots of other stuff on there but will give it a miss now. Auto-trader was my second thought and the local paper was third on my list. Which would you opt for out of these two? The car is a 1997 R Renault Laguna 1.8 RT with 130k on the clock. I have had it since it was 6 months old with a few thousand on the clock. Full service history, whenever it has needed anything doing I have had it done. Autotrader website indicates private sale value in the region of £750 but I take your point about considering reasonable offers.