How to Sell A Car

[walrus]

I've reached the age of 27 but one of the life skills I've yet to learn is selling a car.....  I've got an Alfa MiTo Cloverleaf which is 2 and a bit years old, but due to a new job I've had to buy an oil-burner. The current car is on a PCP deal with outstanding finance. New car sellers will give me £100 over and above early settlement figure, but suggested I sell privately as will get more for it.

Any tips on where to advertise and how to set pricing? I'm after around 9k for it (shocking depreciation on an Alfa).  The car is 4k miles from a service - will it sell if I don't get it serviced first?

What happens regarding insurance if a person wants to take the car for a test drive? 

What does buyer need from me to confirm outstanding finance is settled I.e. what if they buy at night when finance company are closed?

I'd post some pics and use this as a thinly veiled attempt to sell the car, but I don't want one of you chasing me with a shotgun. The car has been amazing to drive.....when it has worked.

[Mother Brown]

I've reached the age of 27 but one of the life skills I've yet to learn is selling a car.....  I've got an Alfa MiTo Cloverleaf which is 2 and a bit years old, but due to a new job I've had to buy an oil-burner. The current car is on a PCP deal with outstanding finance. New car sellers will give me £100 over and above early settlement figure, but suggested I sell privately as will get more for it.

Any tips on where to advertise and how to set pricing? I'm after around 9k for it (shocking depreciation on an Alfa).  The car is 4k miles from a service - will it sell if I don't get it serviced first?

What happens regarding insurance if a person wants to take the car for a test drive? 

What does buyer need from me to confirm outstanding finance is settled I.e. what if they buy at night when finance company are closed?

I'd post some pics and use this as a thinly veiled attempt to sell the car, but I don't want one of you chasing me with a shotgun. The car has been amazing to drive.....when it has worked.

Never knew there was a "Cloverleaf" model . . does it come with place mats and matching coasters ?

[walrus]

Sadly not.... Daft name for the GTi version. Has big green cloverleafs on each side, which is a design low point for me...!

[kerry red]

I'd keep quiet re the 'when it worked' bit.

Bought my car off E-Bay so you could try that using a reserve.

Whatever you do, keep away from We Buy Any Car.com - fucking sharks them.

Gum tree pretty good but we sold the wife's Corsa via Thames Valley Trader website with no problems in a week or so.

Only problem is maybe private buyers are thin on the ground for £9000 cars.

[walrus]

That was just to put off people on here!

In fairness, it hasn't been that bad.  It has had leaking shocks and cylinder heads replaced under warranty.... And someone forgot to glue the switches on at the factory. But it's an Alfa Romeo, so a few niggles are to be expected!

Thank you - will give those websites a try.

[Simon Pieman]

Why have the dealers persuaded you to sell privately if they could have made a profit?

What's the dealer suggested it could fetch privately i.e. how much extra will you get selling privately? Take that figure, knock off £50-100 for advertising it and you'll need to keep enough fuel in it too.
The nearly-due service will knock off another £500 probably. You haven't mentioned MOT and Tax either.
The buyer will need to know the outstanding finance so they can pay it off directly and give you the difference up to what you sell it for. That's going to basically get you back down to your early settlement + very little over the top scenario, because they'll sniff a potential bargain.

A dealer could take this problem away and give you £100 in your back burner. Unless the car is worth £2k more than the dealer is offering I wouldn't even contemplate a private sale.

[@MacPhlea]

If you want see if the dealer is offering as fair price put it into 'we buy any car' - they'll probably offer you the same as the dealer but then you can walk in and get a better deal on a car...

Dealt with them recently and got a cracking result - better then if I had gone privately because so much work needed doing on it

[walrus]

It's worth on a dealer forecourt about £12k. There is about £8,000 on finance, so dealer offer is £100 on top of this. It's a difficult car to value as Alfa's drop like a stone and it's quite a rare car, and it's not something a non-petrol head is likely to go for....

I reckon I can get £9-something at a pinch, so probably about £1500 over what dealer is offering. WeBuyAnyCar offers £7,300.... Crooks!

Dealer is happy to part ex - I've dealt with the salesman before and it was some "friendly advice".....