Help! Need to sell a car SOON!

stumpjumper

We've been trying in vain to sell an 05 Citroen C4 since February, we desperately need the money to clear some debts. We've tried selling privately through autotrader etc... no joy there. It's now on a dealers forecourt on a sale and retuen basis where it's been since March. It's been priced very keenly at the lower end of what similar cars are selling for elsewhere and the dealer knows we want it gone quick. The dealer tells us cars over £4k just aren't shifting at the moment, but we're desperate.

How on earth do we shift this car? We need to get a semi-decent price for it as it needs to pay some debts. Is it easy to sell at auction?

The car is a red C4 VTR 1.4 with 18000miles it's currently advertised for £8500 (which we'll get £7500 of if it sells).

rdwarr

It's slightly above book price at the moment. Parkers non-franchised dealer price is £8165 with 10,000 miles. For a private sale you should get £7000-£7500.
You can always try it at auction but may well be looking at under £7k for it.
Problem is, it's so new that every month it sits on the forecourt it loses value, especially being a Citroen. It's hard to know when to cut and run.
Good luck - hope it works out for you.

stumpjumper

We'll ask the dealer to try dropping the price again and see if that works. I'm hoping a the forecast sunny weather will bring the buyers out.

The car nearly sold a couple of weeks back but the potential buyers had a PX car that they thought was worth WAY more than it was and they walked away from the deal cos the dealer wouldn't play ball.

burbs_2

As rdwarr says you are pricing it too high. You need to drop it or you wont sell it, as simple as that really.

You could try the auction route if you need to sell quickly but the problem you have there is that the majority of people buying there are dealers, especially on the newer vehicles. They will not be willing to go to high as they have to put their profit margin into the equation.

tomstickland

Priced too high to shift.
If it was priced competetively with suitable explanation then I reckon you'd shift it. It's a balance between how much you want for it and how quickly you want the cash.

rdwarr

At least depreciation on Citroens isn't as bad as it used to be. In 1982 we bought a three year old CX at auction. Average miles and in perfect nick.
New price in 1979 was £8145. We got it for £900! Probably got 40,000 miles out of it before things started to break.

Jorgan_2

I've got a few mates in the trade & they all tell me its dire at present, World Cup is to blame. Even the auctions are struggling as the dealers have few part ex's to put into them as they aren't shifting stock. Have you considered putting it thru an auction with a reserve price? You aren't going to get top price but you will be able to get the money out of the car.

Pegleg2001

If you are in a hurry, try this crowd:

https://www.sellyourjamjar.co.uk

I have had two quotes from them and they were close to what was offered by dealers in part-ex.