Car Sales

skyd0g

I'm about to sell my car - as it's been a while since I sold a car and previously only for peanuts (I'm hoping to get circa £4k for this one).

...can anyone advise on 'do's & dont's' ~ I don't want to be stung by some sort of scam.

Ta for any advice.

tim_wand

Where are you hoping to sell it ? Trade or Private. Basically there is no hard and fast rule with a private sale. People will pay what they think its worth and thats subjective.

Trade sale get hold of a copy of Glass's guide. Be honest about the condition, find your car and Add or Subtract £100 for every 1000 miles its over or under the mileage at each price point.

Sell only from your home. acccept only cleared funds, this does not include a bankers draft unless you have spoken to the bank yourself and confirmed authenticity.

No unaccompanied test drives/ Or even one to one test drives get a mate to go with you. always get proof or insurance and never hold the car they've come in as sureity whilst they test drive yours.

Ultimately your car is always going to be worth what someone is going to pay for it, in the end its a buyers market.

unixnerd

I've sold a few on ebay and it's worked well. Get some good pics, be honest about it and clean it to within an inch of it's life, especially inside.

skyd0g

I'm less worried about the actual sale price ~ more to avoid being left sitting there while some eejit rides off into the sunset without paying. (I'm selling solo, with no partner which makes 'logistics' a little more tricky).

tim_wand

Tough one you must have a friend or a work collegue who can be around. Only accept viewings at such times.

If none of that is possible then don let anyone drive until youve seen their photo card licence. Tell potential buyers they will require it on viewing, again only arange viewings from your home and not service station etc or remote areas, Until youve verified ID leave the keys out of site.

Dont want to scare the sh*t out of you but where I live a guy was found unconscious in the road outside Mc Donalds last week. Basically arranged to sell his car and the bloke who test drove it Coshed him and kicked him out at speed.

I do live in Newark though and that happens a lot around here.

CiB

The Telegraph motoring guy Honest John often recommends these people - http://www.sure-sell.info/. His reasoning is just what you're asking; avoidance of dodgy buyers turning up and not turning up, no tyre kickers, wannabe racing drivers who just want a burn up in someone else's car etc. It's a nice front end for BCA (British Car Auctions) and you'll get close to what your car is worth, you'll get the cheque in days and provided you're up front about the car and its condition - there's no comeback.

Link search - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/search/?queryText=sure-sell&Search=

Honest John in the paper wrote:

No hassle. No advertising costs. No undesirables on your doorstep. No illegal, uninsured test drives. No time-wasting. No fending off canvassers. No dodgy cheques. No long wait for payment. Competitive bidding. What else do you want to know? No comebacks.

skyd0g

Thanks tim wand and CiB - that's exactly the situation I wanted to avoid and help I was looking for.