Selling a car!

Golfmmad

Golfmmad

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So it's time to change the wife's car. Because we didn't want to sell privately for reasons of tyre kickers, hassle and possibility of being scammed. We thought we'd try Motorway.

Went online put details in and uploaded photos. Then got a message asking for nearside rear and offside rear to be sent again, plus the whole dashboard. Also they wanted pics of all four tyres.

They also said if you have problems give them a call. So I did and questioned why they wanted extra pics.
They said that the pics were not clear enough ( I thought they were pretty good) because the car would be going to auction to be bidded on.
I didn't realise the auction bit and thought it a lot more hassle than expected. So I politely declined their offer and moved on.

We then went to the local We Buy Any Car site direct. A bit less hassle but the offer was way below what we wanted. Plus your money takes 3 days to reach your account unless you pay a £35 fee.

We then tried a local garage with a small showroom adjacent.
The guy was very nice, no bs. and gave us a price we are happy with. Plus the money goes instantly to our bank, no hassle!

So if you're still reading this it's not as hassle free as the ads suggest.
 
Golfmmad said:
So it's time to change the wife's car. Because we didn't want to sell privately for reasons of tyre kickers, hassle and possibility of being scammed. We thought we'd try Motorway.

Went online put details in and uploaded photos. Then got a message asking for nearside rear and offside rear to be sent again, plus the whole dashboard. Also they wanted pics of all four tyres.

They also said if you have problems give them a call. So I did and questioned why they wanted extra pics.
They said that the pics were not clear enough ( I thought they were pretty good) because the car would be going to auction to be bidded on.
I didn't realise the auction bit and thought it a lot more hassle than expected. So I politely declined their offer and moved on.

We then went to the local We Buy Any Car site direct. A bit less hassle but the offer was way below what we wanted. Plus your money takes 3 days to reach your account unless you pay a £35 fee.

We then tried a local garage with a small showroom adjacent.
The guy was very nice, no bs. and gave us a price we are happy with. Plus the money goes instantly to our bank, no hassle!

So if you're still reading this it's not as hassle free as the ads suggest.
Click to expand...

Motorway isn't that bad, it goes to auction and then you are not bound to sell

It doesn't physical leave you to go to auction
..dealer bid to buy it and then the highest big gets emailed to you and you can accept or decline
 
I can only speak from the position of someone who collects and delivers cars. Without exception, those who sell via Motorway and others like CarWow have the best experiences. Best prices, and extremely quick when it comes to point of sale.

We Buy Any Car are nothing like as good. They will give you a base price and then knock of £100 here, £100 there for absolutely every mark they find.

Bottom line. If you’re selling a decent motor then use Motorway or similar. WBAC is best for cheaper cars of all you want is money in your account and you’re not fussed regarding the actual amount.
 
I thought the same about private selling and the hassle of tyre kickers etc like you say but most recent sale through facebook marketplace went absolutely fine, loads of interest (probably due to a lot of friends and family sharing the listing).
I basically arranged a viewing with who I thought from those interested sounded like the least amount of hassle, one viewing and it was gone. And I’d say I got almost a thousand pound more than I would’ve going to we buy any car or anywhere like that.

I know that’ll obviously not always be the case but it took me by surprise how smooth it went.
 
Just sold my daughters GT86 privately with no hassle at all. Advertised on Autotrader and got exactly what we thought car was worth. Little bit of research worth it.

Got over £6000 more than offered on We Buy any Car. In percentage terms 75% more.

Never understood the hassle argument for not selling privately as sold all family cars over many years with no problems.
 
richart said:
Just sold my daughters GT86 privately with no hassle at all. Advertised on Autotrader and got exactly what we thought car was worth. Little bit of research worth it.

Got over £6000 more than offered on We Buy any Car. In percentage terms 75% more.

Never understood the hassle argument for not selling privately as sold all family cars over many years with no problems.
Click to expand...
I’ll probably stick mine on AT for a month before I end up VTing it. If it sells great, if not then I walk away.

But for a small cost of putting an AT ad up its worth it.
 
Billysboots said:
I can only speak from the position of someone who collects and delivers cars. Without exception, those who sell via Motorway and others like CarWow have the best experiences. Best prices, and extremely quick when it comes to point of sale.

We Buy Any Car are nothing like as good. They will give you a base price and then knock of £100 here, £100 there for absolutely every mark they find.

Bottom line. If you’re selling a decent motor then use Motorway or similar. WBAC is best for cheaper cars of all you want is money in your account and you’re not fussed regarding the actual amount.
Click to expand...
Appreciate your comments but we won't be using Motorway.

We're selling a 67 plate Ford Focus estate. One lady owner, very good condition and full service history.

PJ87, I realise the car wouldn't actually be going to auction. It just seems more hassle than necessary.
 
Son has a BMW 435 and loves it. Odd thing is my daughter is now after the same car. A decent one is as rare as hens teeth. And it kinda shows in the price.
 
Tashyboy said:
Son has a BMW 435 and loves it. Odd thing is my daughter is now after the same car. A decent one is as rare as hens teeth. And it kinda shows in the price.
Click to expand...
The N57 was the best diesel engine BMW produced so the 335/435/535 are sought after as the remapping potential is excellent and simple. If it’s the 435i then not so good and its pretty much nostalgia keeping prices up.

The B58 petrol killed the older petrol x35s.
I have a 2020 M340i with the B58 and a Pure 800 turbo and it’s insane.
 
GreiginFife said:
The N57 was the best diesel engine BMW produced so the 335/435/535 are sought after as the remapping potential is excellent and simple. If it’s the 435i then not so good and its pretty much nostalgia keeping prices up.

The B58 petrol killed the older petrol x35s.
I have a 2020 M340i with the B58 and a Pure 800 turbo and it’s insane.
Click to expand...
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We’ve sold 2 cars to We Buy Any Car, and got what we’d hoped for. We went to them with a 3rd car, and got a very low offer. We sold it back to the main dealer for a surprisingly good price.

Sold our last one through FB marketplace. Totally hassle free.

No harm in trying every avenue.
 
GreiginFife said:
The N57 was the best diesel engine BMW produced so the 335/435/535 are sought after as the remapping potential is excellent and simple. If it’s the 435i then not so good and its pretty much nostalgia keeping prices up.

The B58 petrol killed the older petrol x35s.
I have a 2020 M340i with the B58 and a Pure 800 turbo and it’s insane.
Click to expand...
I went with my lad to Birmingham to pick up his car and it was a monster. The torque and mpg is very impressive for such a car. He is 6ft1” so fits the car / 435d lovely. Daughter is 5ft 2” and the car may bury her but she drives them through her job and loves them. I told her to look for a plan B but the ain’t having any of it.
 
I haven't sold a car to WBAC but when I've used them to get a price then declined it they have followed up with significantly better offers over the following weeks.
I would guess that whichever route you go down you're more likely to achieve the target price indicated on the internet if you're selling a niche or performance car than something like a Focus that, while a good car, is pretty ubiquitous.
 
Last car I sold I did it via Facebook Marketplace.
Bought by a local dealer. He was saying how hard it was to pick decent cars for his forecourt because of We buy. and others.

He gave me £1500 more than either of the others were offering.

One of my previous cars I sold via Ebay. Basically Ebay just advertises it for you for a fixed fee and has nothing to do with the transaction.
 
Well, we've now done the deal.
Went back to the local dealer, sat in his office, paperwork done and transferred the money straight to my wife's bank account. Came through on her phone within minutes!
No hassle whatsoever job done. 👍

Just as an aside, one of the local dealers wasn't interested in the car with an ecoboost engine. He said there were problems with ecoboost. I said, well that car has done over 62.000 miles with no problems at all. Goodbye! 🤔

If this a problem in the trade with them maybe I've got rid at the right time.
 
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