Does anyone else get stressed out selling cars
07-20-2007, 12:32 AM
#11
I agree with Gad (again!). Price it & present it right & it should fly.
OK, some cars have a specialist market (NSX vs Mondeo!) but we are talking about porridge for the most part here.
Never got emotionally attached to cars, but I don't think I/(we, actually!) could really bear to part with the Hondas. Odd. Probably if they start to fall apart, it will change.
Partly because there's no upside to selling them; in each case, they don't make anything actually better.
OK, some cars have a specialist market (NSX vs Mondeo!) but we are talking about porridge for the most part here.
Never got emotionally attached to cars, but I don't think I/(we, actually!) could really bear to part with the Hondas. Odd. Probably if they start to fall apart, it will change.
Partly because there's no upside to selling them; in each case, they don't make anything actually better.
07-20-2007, 01:46 AM
#12
Originally Posted by gaddafi,Jul 20 2007, 09:04 AM
I agree with being honest and presenting the car in spotless condition, but the biggest issue is price.
Anything will sell at the right price, but too many people have a deluded opinion of what their car is worth.
Anything will sell at the right price, but too many people have a deluded opinion of what their car is worth.
You judge a price by using the price guides in glasses, parkers etc and by looking to see what similar cars are priced at in autotrader and then make a judgement, but if there's something unusual about the model then it can make that judgement very hard.
Selling my father's A6 was a typical example of that. It was an S reg A6 2.7l V6 bi-turbo quattro with full Audi service history and 51k miles. There weren't many of those sold in the UK and this one was in mint condition (and i really do mean mint, ie virtually as new)
We initally priced it at around 1k more than the more common versions of this car and got zero interest. Ended up dropping the price to 1k less than a 1.8 turbo version of the same car with average miles for year before we got any interest. This was 3k under parkers private price guide at the time. There was just no interest in what was an lot of car for not a lot of money.
I put it down to people being scared by a model they didn't recognise.
07-20-2007, 02:31 AM
#13
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s200k, I'm very wary of giving you any tips on selling for fear of ridicule.
I agree with everything the other contributors have said, re pricing presentation, accurate description and honesty.
Decide what is the lowest price that you are prepared to accept and pitch your price a bit below the highest (realistic) price that vehicles of a similar age, mileage and condition are making. This gives you some leeway when it comes to negotiations on price. The exciting bit is sussing out the psyche of the purchaser and choosing the appropriate attitude which you think will achieve a sale at the full asking price. I have usually managed to do this or have just conceded a nominal reduction.
The car trade is peopled by greasy gits as Bassoctopus says so you have to set yourself apart and sell yourself. It is a policy that I have employed to good effect whilst flogging millions of plants and tons of horticultural produce to the public. (I would add that this was my own produce in which I had perfect confidence.)
Also find a way to set your car apart from the others. Maybe photograph it from an unusual angle or in an unusual setting. I used my dog to good effect in my Lotus ad.
I knew that the first person to come and see the Lotus was a time-waster when he declined my offer to put insurance in place so that he could drive the car on arrival. He said, "Let's take it one step at a time." I am very naughty but I knew we were only going through the motions so I took great pleasure in scaring him s******s when I took him out in it. He was gripping on for dear life and we had only gone a quarter of a mile down the road when he started pleading to go back and muttering about not being a good passenger!
Good luck with selling your Del Sol and remember to smile a lot.
I agree with everything the other contributors have said, re pricing presentation, accurate description and honesty.
Decide what is the lowest price that you are prepared to accept and pitch your price a bit below the highest (realistic) price that vehicles of a similar age, mileage and condition are making. This gives you some leeway when it comes to negotiations on price. The exciting bit is sussing out the psyche of the purchaser and choosing the appropriate attitude which you think will achieve a sale at the full asking price. I have usually managed to do this or have just conceded a nominal reduction.
The car trade is peopled by greasy gits as Bassoctopus says so you have to set yourself apart and sell yourself. It is a policy that I have employed to good effect whilst flogging millions of plants and tons of horticultural produce to the public. (I would add that this was my own produce in which I had perfect confidence.)
Also find a way to set your car apart from the others. Maybe photograph it from an unusual angle or in an unusual setting. I used my dog to good effect in my Lotus ad.
I knew that the first person to come and see the Lotus was a time-waster when he declined my offer to put insurance in place so that he could drive the car on arrival. He said, "Let's take it one step at a time." I am very naughty but I knew we were only going through the motions so I took great pleasure in scaring him s******s when I took him out in it. He was gripping on for dear life and we had only gone a quarter of a mile down the road when he started pleading to go back and muttering about not being a good passenger!
Good luck with selling your Del Sol and remember to smile a lot.
07-20-2007, 03:12 AM
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Car sold. 
Strange fellow, nice enough, late 40s, but came up on the overnight coach from South Wales (to Newcastle!!) looked and smelt like he'd been drinking all night.
He proceeded to um and arr about the car, which was absolutely mint apart from two wear and tear scratches which he knew about.
Took it out for a drive at which point he told me he wasn't happy with the auto gearbox being jerky. I asked him if he'd ever driven a Smart or any semi-auto before, to which he replied no. So I took him to the Merc garage and asked one of the mechanics to take the car out with him and say that the gearbox was as it should be. He really should have done his research first.
He kept saying how it was expensive, to which I kept saying - look at the condition and the history, it's immaculate and as I would want to buy a car. He should have been chuffed that I'd spent so long preparing it. It was market value - he beat the previous bidder by
Strange fellow, nice enough, late 40s, but came up on the overnight coach from South Wales (to Newcastle!!) looked and smelt like he'd been drinking all night.
He proceeded to um and arr about the car, which was absolutely mint apart from two wear and tear scratches which he knew about.
Took it out for a drive at which point he told me he wasn't happy with the auto gearbox being jerky. I asked him if he'd ever driven a Smart or any semi-auto before, to which he replied no. So I took him to the Merc garage and asked one of the mechanics to take the car out with him and say that the gearbox was as it should be. He really should have done his research first.
He kept saying how it was expensive, to which I kept saying - look at the condition and the history, it's immaculate and as I would want to buy a car. He should have been chuffed that I'd spent so long preparing it. It was market value - he beat the previous bidder by
07-20-2007, 04:36 AM
#16
I insist on cash too.
You do get people phoning up & asking the stupidest questions, like; "is it a convertible MX-5?"
But most of the population is in fact, crashingly moronic.
You do get people phoning up & asking the stupidest questions, like; "is it a convertible MX-5?"
But most of the population is in fact, crashingly moronic.
07-20-2007, 08:41 AM
#18
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Originally Posted by lower,Jul 20 2007, 09:46 AM
Which is often exactly the problem.
You judge a price by using the price guides in glasses, parkers etc and by looking to see what similar cars are priced at in autotrader and then make a judgement, but if there's something unusual about the model then it can make that judgement very hard.
Selling my father's A6 was a typical example of that. It was an S reg A6 2.7l V6 bi-turbo quattro with full Audi service history and 51k miles. There weren't many of those sold in the UK and this one was in mint condition (and i really do mean mint, ie virtually as new)
We initally priced it at around 1k more than the more common versions of this car and got zero interest. Ended up dropping the price to 1k less than a 1.8 turbo version of the same car with average miles for year before we got any interest. This was 3k under parkers private price guide at the time. There was just no interest in what was an lot of car for not a lot of money.
I put it down to people being scared by a model they didn't recognise.
You judge a price by using the price guides in glasses, parkers etc and by looking to see what similar cars are priced at in autotrader and then make a judgement, but if there's something unusual about the model then it can make that judgement very hard.
Selling my father's A6 was a typical example of that. It was an S reg A6 2.7l V6 bi-turbo quattro with full Audi service history and 51k miles. There weren't many of those sold in the UK and this one was in mint condition (and i really do mean mint, ie virtually as new)
We initally priced it at around 1k more than the more common versions of this car and got zero interest. Ended up dropping the price to 1k less than a 1.8 turbo version of the same car with average miles for year before we got any interest. This was 3k under parkers private price guide at the time. There was just no interest in what was an lot of car for not a lot of money.
I put it down to people being scared by a model they didn't recognise.
Nothing unusual slips through that net in my experience
Hence few bargains either
I classify a bargain as something I get for well below market value btw
Not something I get cheap
There are loads of cheap powerful cars about
Bargains they are not
