To sell private or trade in?

bex32

I'm looking to change my car and have always traded in but wasn't sure if financially it's more worth while to sell private? It is the inconvienience of being without a car for a while though. Any thoughts?

harveybobbles

Always get more selling private.

Yes you'd be without a car...

However, I give my customers a choice...

If they like the car and want it, leave a deposit and I give them 2 weeks to sell their px and get more for it... If they do - great. If not, then it comes in PX at the agreed price...

Wig

Not always better selling private, there was a thread here the other day, selling a Nissan primara 1.8 and they lost money on the private sale. Wouldn't tell us how much they advertised it though or how much it sold for eventually.

Doozergirl

I was advised on here to try and sell the car for about £500 more than the part-ex you are offered.

I did that with my last car and I was inundated with calls as soon as it hit the Autotrader website. It was collected the next day.

The guy promised not to try and knock me down any more on price, but of course he did. I just stood there, told him that we had agreed a price and if he wanted to drive the 100 miles home without the car, he could. It wasn't my fault! He paid up.

I've got to do it again now and I'm scared!

deltic_2

Trading in:

Pros: You know exactly how much you will get, you will not be without a car at any time, you are not liable for anything that goes wrong afterwards, you will not have to pay to advertise it, dealer with potential buyers, and deal with time wasters etc.

Cons: Probably (and I stress only probably) less money for the car

Selling Privately:

Pros: You will probably get more money for it if (and only if) you sell it - but you won't know how much

Cons: You might also get less for it, particularly if it is higher mileage or in poorer condition, is not a desirable car, or is a newer car. You will have to pay to advertise it, possibly for many weeks and deal with buyers etc. You might not sell it before you pick up your new car, resulting in you having to increase your financing or part with more cash to bridge yourself untill you sell it.

Remember also that having a part-ex is always a good negotiating tool as you can haggle both the price of the car and the value of the part-ex.