Selling a car is not always easy, but current economic conditions have made it harder. ‘The prices of some cars are dropping like a stone,' says our car expert Jonathan Newall. ‘The BMW X5 3L Diesel, for instance, is losing £700 to £1500 a month, depending on how new it is. In general, run of the mill cars are usually worth 40 to 50 per cent of their new price three years later, but currently some cars are down to 12 per cent of their purchase price.'
Members are finding it harder to sell cars, so here are some tips from our motor team.
Set the right price
‘The key to success is keeping price expectations realistic,' says Jonathan. ‘Pricing your car right will mean people answer your advert.' Setting the price at the current market level - neither too high or low - attracts buyers. Do some market research before writing the advert by looking at comparable vehicles that are already up for sale. Exchangeandmart.co.uk or Autotrader.co.uk will offer vehicle price comparisons, or call our motor team and they can give you an idea of current market price.
‘Lots of people are selling big petrol engine 4x4s and sports cars right now, so they're hard to shift. The cars keeping their value - and in higher demand - are the small, economical practical cars. The mini is holding its price the best: it's worth 63 per cent of its purchase price three years ago,' says Jonathan.
If you'll take £15,000 for the car, Jonathan advises against pricing it at £17, 500. ‘Put it in at £15,000 and don't haggle,' he suggests. ‘An advert is there to make the phone ring, and if the price is too high it won't.'
Write a good advert
When writing the advert, mention the car's different specifications separately. Avoid initials, which confuse people: if it has a full BMW service history, write that, rather than ‘FBMWSH'. Highlight the car's best features: full service history, climate control, alloy wheels or low mileage, and point out anything else that's special about it. Take plenty of exterior and interior photographs - sites such as Auto Trader take up to nine photographs. ‘You can't give too much information,' says Jonathan.
We can write the advert for you as part of our car-selling packages: see below.
Place your advert in the right place
‘The other key to success is placing the advert in the best place for your vehicle,' says Jonathan. ‘Whether you use Loot, Auto Trader, Ebay or PistonHeads depends very much on the vehicle you are selling.' Call us if you would like advice.
Clean and polish
Obvious, but still worth saying: an advert will get people to come to see the car, but once they're there it has to sell itself. A thorough clean inside and out makes it more attractive. We can recommend professional cleaners who'll touch up paint work, remove any minor scratches, clean the car and valet the inside. We can also hire odour removal specialists so it smells like a new motor rather than your old dog.
Maintenance
‘The first thing any amateur car buyer will do is look at the levels of oil, water and brake fluid under the bonnet and see if the windscreen washers are working,' says Jonathan. ‘Top up all these levels before they arrive and make sure there's water for the windscreen - it may have had a full service 3,000 miles ago, but if its oil levels are not at the right point on the dipstick, people get suspicious, and if there's no water in the windscreen washers, they'll just think they're broken.'
Provide the MOT and service history, along with any invoices to back it up.
The sale
Make appointments in daylight hours and never let a potential buyer take the car out alone. Before letting anyone test drive the car, check they have insurance cover and a driving licence, or you could be liable for any accidents they may have. Don't leave the keys in the ignition when swapping seats or getting out of the car. ‘I've heard of "buyers" drive off with cars when the owner is swapping seats lots of times,' says Jonathan. ‘Also, only have one key with you: if you have a set a thief posing as a buyer could go home with one of them and come back for the car later.'
Expect buyers to haggle. Decide on a minimum price before the sale begins, but be prepared to negotiate. If you have four potential buyers then don't take the first offer (if it isn't good); if you have only one potential buyer then you may want to be more flexible. Know your stuff. ‘If someone says: "Will you take £12,500?" and you say: "At £15,000 it's already the cheapest on the internet," then you're in a stronger bargaining position.'
Finally, a freebie or two can help to persuade the buyer: even throwing in a full tank of petrol could mean the difference between making a sale and having to start again.
Our car sales packages
We can sell members' cars for them. Below are brief details of our car sales packages, but call the team for more details and to find out how about other ways in which we can help.
- 125 package: for £125 + VAT we'll price, prepare and market the vehicle. We'll also place the advert, issue weekly update reports and filter calls.
- 225 package: for £225 + VAT we'll do all of the above, as well as arrange appointments, negotiate prices with buyers, do the paperwork, pay the advert fee and handle money transfers. We'll also conduct a HPI check. This determines whether the vehicle has ever been an insurance write-off, has been stolen in the past or has finance outstanding. The HPI check can help buyers to build confidence in your motor.
- 500 package: for £500 + VAT we'll do everything in the £225 package as well as take potential buyers out for test drives in the car using our insurance policy.
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