Advice for selling a specialist car

Jessw0

My Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works has been on the private market for 3 weeks with no offers. I have it on Autotrader, eBay, Gumtree and Pistonheads, as well as sharing advert links on Mini fan pages on Facebook and Twitter. Can anyone share any tips on how I can sell a car like this?

Here is the advert: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-COOPER-S-JOHN-COOPER-WORKS-2008-RED-192bhp-FULL-LEATHER-/110749808168?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c933f628

It's priced right for the age and specification, it cost £22k new. Dealers will offer me £10k at the most, as they sell the car on for at least £14500, which makes it a good deal for a private buyer.

The car has a 'for sale' sign in on the drive and I'm still driving it around to be seen. I know its the wrong time of year to sell cars but would appreciate any advice perhaps from people who've been in a similar situation.

How do I target the right audience, if I'm not already doing so? This car only appeals to a someone looking for it specifically due to it's higher performance compared to a standard Cooper S (even if I do break the stereotypical owner being 27 and female).

Any help or constructive criticism is much appeciated!

davemorton

One thing always stops a car selling, price! It seems like you may be better off taking the ten K offered...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201139418778974/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_4_years_old/model/cooper_s/make/mini/page/1/keywords/john_cooper_works/radius/1501/postcode/sr33qe?logcode=p

Jessw0

davemorton wrote: »

One thing always stops a car selling, price! It seems like you may be better off taking the ten K offered...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201139418778974/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_4_years_old/model/cooper_s/make/mini/page/1/keywords/john_cooper_works/radius/1501/postcode/sr33qe?logcode=p

The image has a car with a 59 plate yet the ad says 2008, screams dodgy to me. I've priced it using similar cars on autotrader within a reasonable distance. £8k for car like that would tell me it's been in an accident!

davemorton

Dont get me wrong, im not saying your car is vastly overpriced, I dont know, I havent looking into it that much. But if you need to sell soon, I think you will have to lower the price to make it more attractive to buyers and also tempt buyers from further afield to travel to your car as opposed a one nearer, but more pricey.

Jessw0

Totally understand, thank you. I guess the popularity of the Mini is also it's downfall, there's too much choice!

motorguy

You're asking too much for it.

Heres one from a main dealer for £13995.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201139418488899/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/cooper_s/make/mini/keywords/2008_works/page/1/postcode/bt622hb/radius/1500?logcode=p

I'd say i could easily get that for £13250 if i really put my mind to it. For that i'm getting

(a) the facility of finance
(b) the reassurance of buying from a dealer
(c) a warranty
(d) trade in facilities

Another thing to bear in mind is that these cars are very colour / spec sensitive. I would associate red-with-a-white-roof with a poverty spec cooper. JCW's seem to suit strong metallics.

I'd say you need to be pricing your car at around £11995 with a view to getting £11,500, but be prepared to wait.

Oh, and try pistonheads.com - i see you have it on autotrader already - also try an ad on gumtree, but its only a slim chance on there for that sort of car.

motorguy

Also, does it have TLC pack with full MINI history?

vl2588

Have you taken lots of photos from different angles to make it look its best? Tried a Mini forum?

Weird_Nev

Bide your time, keep your profile up on the Owners club, keep the free adverts rolling.
They are specialist, but not many people want the "hottest" variant of any car. You could consider being more competetive on price, but do Ebay/autotrader searches for like models and be realistic with respect of your cars history, miles, condition etc. It looks nice enough from the ad,
Only you can decide if £10k now is worth the potential of your car. I have to say though, I think £13,500 is a touch ambitious. £12k is a big stepping stone, I'd be tempted to go for around £11,750 if you do need a quicker sale.
Also your Photos aren't the best. Bit blurry and over exposed (Camera Phone?). Ge the car washed and polished, and then take advantage of the light right now to get to a local beauty spot and take some arty photos of it with a good quality camera to really show it off.

Good luck selling though!

Jessw0

Hi Paul,
It is on Pistonheads and Gumtree and yes it has a 5 year TLC package and full Mini dealer history, outlined in the advert. Thanks for your advice, it's a shame as the car has a great spec

motorguy

And why is yours 'just' 192BHP when other '08 ones are listed as 211BHP?

And has you got the proper JCW Certificate?