Selling your pre-California car

[RoB5urf]

At some point before my Beach arrives I need to sell my current car. When I placed my order I discussed part exchange with the dealer who gave me a guide price at the time but I need to hang on to the car until the Beach arrives (6 months?).

I really don't want to go down the WeBuyAnyCar route and selling privately looks like a hassle. I guess I could raise the question of p/ex nearer the time but I feel I've lost any bargaining position (if I ever had one) because I'm committed to the purchase.

Appreciate any thoughts on how to minimise the stress without being taken for a ride on the price. Cheers

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[snowy55]

Webuyanycar gave us £1000 more then any dealer offered us when we last changed cars. Give em a go, it doesnt cost anything to find out!

 

[2into1]

Unless you earn a fortune and place a VERY HIGH rate on your time, then sell it yourself, via autotrader.

We buy any car quoted me £1750 for my battered skoda estate (before they start 'knocking' it down for every stone chip etc).

I had it valeted for £60, stuck it on autotrader for £25 and took £2750 the day later to the first viewer. Buyer brought cash with them. Even for such a low value car, I reckon that was worth an couple of hours effort.

 

[Rich20]

If you don't want to sell privately then you are going to have to accept that you are in a weaker position. They have you over a barrel as they know you need to offload your car and don't have to give you a good price. I would be careful of thinking the guide price you were given is going to be what you will get at trade in. They will go by the current trade price unless you got it in writing. Can't suggest anything else really.

 

[WelshGas]

I had the same problem. Used the Online valuation from We Buy Any Car, but new very well that when you turned up for your appointment they would do everything they could to reduce the price.
Instead I used Evan Halshaw. I don't know about now, but back then you put in details and make an appointment. Turned up with details. The lady took some photos on an iPad. Had a short test drive around the block. Gave me a cup of coffee. Sent of details to an assessor. 15 mins later, apology for the delay gave me a slip of paper with the valuation, which was more than acceptable. Gave bank details and money in account within 3 days or 24hrs for £10.

http://www.evanshalshaw.com/

 

[CoboCali]

+1 for 'we buy any car.' we were offered £6500 for a '59 plate Golf by the dealer in p/x. Achieved £7350 from WBAC with a very easy, hassle-free transaction. The online valuation had been £7500; so very little knock down. I had not used them previously, but would certainly consider them in future.

 

[Meoncoast]

We used WBAC to get a ball park price on our Subaru Forester and got a bit more from VW trade in. The problem is the not knowing what a trade in will be worth between order and arrival (as you know).

 

[CaliCrazy]

Sold ours to Evans Halshaw who offered more than webuyanycar. Both beat the dealer's offer by miles. Very simple to do too!

 

[Wind Witch]

I had the same problem. Used the Online valuation from We Buy Any Car, but new very well that when you turned up for your appointment they would do everything they could to reduce the price.
Instead I used Evan Halshaw. I don't know about now, but back then you put in details and make an appointment. Turned up with details. The lady took some photos on an iPad. Had a short test drive around the block. Gave me a cup of coffee. Sent of details to an assessor. 15 mins later, apology for the delay gave me a slip of paper with the valuation, which was more than acceptable. Gave bank details and money in account within 3 days or 24hrs for £10.

http://www.evanshalshaw.com/

+1 for Evans Halshaw. They promised (18 months ago, mind you) to beat WBAC's quote AND beat the offer for abuy-back from my original dealer...

 

[MattBW]

They offered me 5100 on a late 2007 Alfa Romeo Brera, I could have got more private but the ease of the deal was great and it meant I didnt have to get some scratches fixed. They did however say they would send off the docs (which legally in the UK the seller has to do now). They forgot and I ended up paying tax for an extra month. Don't let them send your docs off always do it yourself.

 

[Richard Teale]

Horses for courses. If you want top dollar then a private sale will likely leave you with more money in your hand than selling to a trade buyer (and I use this phrase in the widest sense and include WeBuyAnyCar, Evans Halshaw, your local dealer amongst these ranks). That said it takes time (and a sometimes a little trouble), so if you need to sell quickly or by a specific deadline then the car buyers are pretty competitive nowadays as there's more competition.

I used WeBuyAnyCar to get rid of a 2013 Volvo XC90. I was offered more than a dealer part-ex and not much less than the likes of Parkers valued the car. And yes, I was knocked down by a few hundred pounds for dents and scratches and fact that the service light was on etc, but the process is all transparent and at the end of the day you don't have to sell them the vehicle, you can just walk away and try someone else. Bottom line, I walked away with the money in my bank account and the whole thing took less than an hour. I'd certainly use them again. I guess whether you get a decent price all depends on what your selling and whether there is demand for your car. The time of year and release of a new model can effect your valuation, so worth having a chat with your local dealer too to get some insight.

Good luck.

 

[RoB5urf]

Thanks guys, I'll certainly look into WBAC (and Evans), in fact the dealer suggest them having had a relatively positive experience himself. I was swayed the other way having found all the negative comments on the web - but we all know if you go looking for bad stuff on the web, you're sure to find it.

 

[pjm-84]

Was in the same position. Dealer offer 10k for my V70 which was a little low. Sold it to a dealer for £11500 via Autotrader . (WBAC gave me an online guide price of £11250).

 

[ferret99]

Trade price is always trade price. You only get more by a dealer offering some of the new discount he could give against your new car. We were in the same position. I put mine up for sale recently after getting an offer via the VW dealer from the Lamd Rober garage in their group. I put it on EBay but just got load of chancers, except for a specialist dealer who offered £1k over trade because of my cars condition.

 

[GillianC]

Depends on the value of your car I would say. The higher the value the less comfortable people are buying it privately with no warranty etc. There is always a good market for first cars for learners and new drivers. My son sold his corsa on gumtree. It was low insurance group and high safety rating so was snapped up by a delighted 18 year old who had just passed her driving test.

 

[briwy]

I tried WBAC to sell my daughter's Abarth500 when she moved to Spain. Absolute joke. £1500 below selling on Autotrader without any hassle.
You could always sell your car now and get a banger for a few hundred quid with an Mot until your Beach arrives.

 

[BikerGran]

I have an ancient (1999) Primera estate, which we are keeping till it fails an MOT, for taking rubbish to the dump etc - I'm fighting off the buyers! Everyone wants it for a workhorse, haven't had any actual offers but we buy any car quotes £75 so I reckon any buyer would give me more than that. Typical that everyone wants it when I don't want to sell!

 

[Terry Ibrahim]

Ok, great for old cars. How about selling your Cali? did anyone had any experience trying to put it through WBAC.com or other company?

 

[reserves]

Ok, great for old cars. How about selling your Cali? did anyone had any experience trying to put it through WBAC.com or other company?

Type your reg in and see what they offer you, be shocked if you weren't way better selling it on here.

 

[Martin]

Don't forget to try VW Camper Sales http://www.vwcampersales.com/sell/ No idea what sort of prices they offer but like others they say the offer the best prices on Cali's

 

[Rupes]

I was pretty sceptical about WBAC.com but we sold our previous car (Audi) through them in the end and got £4000 more than the (Renault) dealer offered.

The process was really quick and easy - yes they did chip away at the online price a bit but when I said I wanted going to go away and think about it they asked what figure I wanted. A quick call to the regional boss and they closed the deal at my price (somewhere between the online and downward adjusted value). The money was in my account minutes later.

You could probably get more from a private sale but with a bit more hassle and not knowing how long it might take. WBAC does give a good option to get rid of you old car on exactly the day you want to.


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[WelshGas]

I was pretty sceptical about WBAC.com but we sold our previous car (Audi) through them in the end and got £4000 more than the (Renault) dealer offered.

The process was really quick and easy - yes they did chip away at the online price a bit but when I said I wanted going to go away and think about it they asked what figure I wanted. A quick call to the regional boss and they closed the deal at my price (somewhere between the online and downward adjusted value). The money was in my account minutes later.

You could probably get more from a private sale but with a bit more hassle and not knowing how long it might take. WBAC does give a good option to get rid of you old car on exactly the day you want to.


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Also you have the problem of payment with a private sale. There are enough con and fraud artists around.

 

[trevor k]

I had a RAV4 3 years old, I went to the dealer I bought it from just to get an idea of its value against WBAC price and they offered me more on the spot cash than WBAC prior to inspection, if your car is not too old it may be worth a shot.

 

[Jay586]

I just sold my Swift privately. Put it on Gumtree & motors.co.UK for free.

Lovely bloke came a long way to look at it, after exchange of emails with hidden address, drove it, offered, agreed, transferred the money online, did dvla online, taxed & insured it, drove it home after dropping his hire car back to the nearest depot.

So easy, mainly because he was so organised. Entire process took a couple of hours but it was all completed. Chuffed, as was he with the nice car. I'm confident with cars tho. If he had sounded rough, I'd have handled it differently, being female but I'd talked to him on the phone so was fairly happy. Used wbac to help value the car too plus dealer PX value, achieved more.

Recommend both sites but motors was good in this instance.