Anyone bought or sold a car privately recently?

[Stevoraith]

Just agreed a deal on a new (used) car and didn’t feel like taking the dealers derisory offer for my car so will be listing it for sale shortly.

Just wondered if anyone had sold their car privately recently?
It’s a 125d which will be up for around £10k- normally I would be fairly confident it’d sell but with COVID and travel restrictions etc etc I’m a bit less confident.

Are private sales being affected by the current situation? Anyone successfully bought or sold anything recently?
Some warm words of encouragement would be gratefully received!

[renmure]

I recently sold my Civic Type R. Could have sold it a few times really and it was priced fairly strongly and the ad made clear there was no haggle-room. Buyer came up on the train from Durham. Covid didn't seem to have any input at all.

[Stevoraith]

That’s reassuring to hear Jim.
I assume that it was up for more than double what mine will be too.
Hopefully I’ll find a buyer without too much hassle.

[skellyjohn]

It's strange times we're living in just now.

I bought my S1 a couple of months ago and it was possibly done with 2 things in mind.

Firstly, very few of us have been on holiday this year, not too many nights out and even the cost of the commute to work has been saved. So I had a little saved over. Many are in the same boat although I think there are just as many who may be tightening their belts.

Secondly, being stuck in lockdown does give you a sort of a "sod it, life's too short, I'm buying the car" attitude.

So I'd stick it up for what you feel you'd be happy with and see how it goes.

[scott_e]

My2p

> economic circumstances clearly have decreased demand in many sectors
> but as suggested some will take the "life is too short" approach for the right vehicle
> people are commuting less will reduce demand
> know a few 2 cars families working from home now that are happy with 1 car selling the other
> stats show new cars sales have dropped dramatically
> certainly at Lotus when manufacturing slowed during covid they have been selling stock but more or less used up (according to dealers)
> production line manufacturing output wont be back to normal levels yet causing supply issues longer term

Good time to sell a Lotus, used stock definitely limited at the moment. Not sure about other marques though.

[douglasgdmw]

I put the Defender up for sale just after lockdown happened.

I did get a number of people interested although they fell into 2 camps:
1) Ridiculous offers which were even worse than WBAC and thought that I was desperate to sell - even though this was clearly stated on the ad that it was not the case
2) Couple of local people were on the cusp of coming out to view, but they had to cancel at the last minute due to change in personal citrumstances (job and health)

Ended up trading the car in as got a decent offer from the garage. However once I traded the car in, local guy contacted me about the car and ended up buying mine from the dealership.

However I think with more people working from home for a while, the private sale market has increased which as Scott says will reduce demand.

Probably worth checking out WBAC and equivalent garages as you may be pleasantly surprised with what they are offering.

George

[rossybee]

Sold/selling 3 cars over the lockdown period.

1. Cerbera still not sold and similar experience to you George, derisory offers (maybe I should put that I'm not desperate to sell in the ad) and timewasters asking loads of questions and wanting masses of hi-res pics, only to disappear when it comes to talking money...

2. My daughter's Fiat 500 which I sold through chats to a neighbour's daughter, so all good.

3. Wife's F56 Mini Cooper. Daughter bought it

Buying is weird too - looking for something for Mrs B to cart our ever-growing Golden Retriever pup around, and there's less choice locally (Scotland in general), and she's not keen on me travelling down south during this 'second wave' - hey-ho

[IanD]

Others have replied since I started writing earlier



Sold my BMW 320d in July for around £4.5K

Usual chancers. And a few more using heartstrings ‘ I really need the car to get to work in coronavirus times plea, can I get it for £1k or £2k less’

But sold to first viewer who came up from London. Probably had 1-2 other serious potential buyers who wanted to sell theirs first, so they didn’t view.

Demand is there plus a load of chancers, so similar to usual .
Worth doing gumtree / messenger and find any localish / relevant Facebook group, most enquiries via there vs autotrader, mine sold via messenger.

Buyer perspective

Bought a temporary under £1k runabout a few weeks ago.
I did lots of searching to minimise actual viewing. It’s not longer term so shortlist to view of 3, I’ll very likely buy one. Had a preferred beforehand but bought another on shortlist. Decision based on car plus seller.
Also realised quickly viewing at that price point I wanted to be coronavirus safe, the private sellers and trade at that level weren’t. Bit of an eye opener TBH

[rossybee]

Also realised quickly viewing at that price point I wanted to be coronavirus safe, the private sellers and trade at that level weren’t. Bit of an eye opener TBH

This point is interesting Ian - and basically confirms Mrs B's concerns. You see plenty dealers down south with all the COVID policies but does make you wonder if it's marketing BS and none of it being adhered to.

We did test drive a car from Peter Vardy Motorstore in Dundee and they were excellent from a taking precautions POV

[avdb]

WBAC offered 4k more for my Jeep Wrangler than they did last year but sold it privately quite quickly via Marketplace.

[Stevoraith]

Ross, have you any neighbours who fancy a 125d?
I sold my Cooper S a few years back in exactly the same way- next-door neighbours sister-in-law had her eye on it which made for an extremely hassle-free sale.

Regarding not travelling for a new car, I felt the same, however I’ve just purchased one from a BMW dealer in Norfolk who are happy to deliver the car for not a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things.

The reason I started looking further afield is that I definitely noticed a lack of choice in dealers recently- and when a good car comes up it goes very quickly.
I read an article the other day which said used car prices had risen by 2% over the last month and that definitely tallies with my anecdotal evidence.

WBAC price is pretty poor to be honest, about £500 less than the dealers opening bid for part-ex. Hence the private sale route.

I sold my mother-in-laws runabout dog chariot in the summer for £1500 in 24hrs on gumtree, wasn’t sure how different it would be selling something a bit more expensive and a bit more specific (I know it’s a diesel hatchback but I imagine it’ll probably be someone who is specifically looking for a 125d that will end up buying it).

Interesting topic regarding COVID protection during viewings etc. What would you guys expect to see? Just masks when on the test drive or something more? Could be awkward when people aren’t allowed in your house either too...

[rossybee]

Ross, have you any neighbours who fancy a 125d?

I'll be sure to ask around

Interesting topic regarding COVID protection during viewings etc. What would you guys expect to see? Just masks when on the test drive or something more? Could be awkward when people aren’t allowed in your house either too...

Selling to neighbours daughter had the benefit of standing outside the house and doing all the online DVLA stuff on my phone. Over and above that I let her take it for a solo test drive based on complete trust, also a benefit of the situation

Wrt a stranger (ie normal selling situation) a test drive is a tricky one - a wee anti-bac of the steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake, and wear a mask?
Still wouldn't do a "aye take her for a run and I'll see you when you get back" scenario, as it's just too risky...

[Stewart]

I listed my mondeo for sale on Sunday 11th October. I put it up here, SELOC, Pistonheads, Gumtree and eBay Motors.

A couple of enquiries from Gumtree with one viewer and lots of enquiries from eBay, 6 or 7. Sold on Friday 16th October for just under asking price of £10k.

No enquiries from Pistonheads, SELOC or here. I think eBay seems to be the place and cost £20.

Hope that helps.

[Stevoraith]

That’s helpful Stewart, thanks. I never look on eBay when I’m looking for a car, to me it’s still just where sheds are sold in an auction.
But it’s not about where I’d look, it’s about where a potential buyer will look.

Autotrader probably the favourite (who doesn’t browse the autotrader app when the missus is watching something dull on TV?) but the cost is off-putting if you can sell it on Gumtree or marketplace for free.

[renmure]

WBAC is a funny place. With my Civic I got an online valuation at the beginning of March and it was just under £27k. I thought that was good but didn't get round to doing anything.

Towards the end of March when Covid was on the way it was less than £17k. In April they weren't even giving a price so I didn't give it any more thought. Start of July I got an email out of the blue from WBAC with a value of £26500 so did a PH Advert that night for that price and sold it privately within a day or so and had folk, including Dealers, emailing for a few weeks later offering to buy. A couple of weeks later at the end of July and the WBAC chasing emails was up at £27500. I just had a look on WBAC this morning, 3 months later to see what the going rate was today and it's down to £22500 but I know if it was advertised on one of the Type-R forums or groups it would fly off at somewhere around £25k.