Mods, this is not one of your typical "fishing" threads.

I have been thinking of selling my Impreza for a while now, but I realise it's not going to be the same as selling a "normal" car, as it is likely to attract some undesirable elements. I'd like to know how other SN members have approached the selling of their cars, for instance:

What precautions did you take when selling? eg. test drives, where you meet the prospective buyer, backup to prevent yourself getting turned over?

How did you do the deal? Cash in hand or other means? Did you ensure you made the sale at a time and place where you could bank the money straight away?

I'd be keen to hear any tips or cautionary tales from all you SNers who have had successful sales and purchases, likewise any of you who've had bad experiences.

 

take a look at "every sellers worst nightmare" in general for sale section.

 

As a buyer i always want to go to the seller home or business premisis, i would never meet at a car park or alike, just asking for it imo

Make sure when they turn up you have some back up to watch your back, never let them test drive alone or without proof of fully comp ins.

Take payment in cash and hand it straight to your back up, have them count/check it before you handover the keys/log book. Alternatly, take payment by cheque/bank draft and have the buyer return after it has cleared.

If they are genuine they will understand your caution and it will not be a problem, if they are not happy with your terms then let them walk away. This may spark your paranoia into thinking they could return to steal/damage the car at a later date, but if you have a nice motor then you live with this daily anyway. You could take pics/note down their name and reg of their vehicle.

Just a few ideas for your mulling over of

 

Jesus Christ. How do you prevent a car full of six blokes pulling up outside your house?

 

right it off lol , its easier

 

Thanks for that . As it happens there's no way ANYONE would be getting a test drive in my car except as a passenger, fully comp. insurance or not. Their insurance would only be third party, which if they wrote it off would leave me having to claim on my insurance and trying to get the money back off them through small claims. I don't think I'd be willing to put myself in the hands of some test pilot wanting to go ballistic with me as a passenger, either, even if they could prove they'd taken out a policy to cover themselves for that test drive.


It's a minefield.

 

a painted red line should do it !!

i'm not looking forward to selling mine either !!!

 

unfortunatly as with all sports cars you are going to attract tyre kickers,who are just out for a drive in a nice car.but then you will get plenty of genuine people too.don't right people off just by taking one look at them,but dont let them walk all over you either.

 

Can you link me please, i can't seem to find this.

Thanks,
Sam Rogers

 

be realistic

I sold my MY00 in 2 days via Piston Heads

I bought it for £2800.00 -- ran it for 9 months, did 25K miles, reliable & never let me down

I sold it for £1600, I could have held out for £2300, it was in pretty good condition etc


but I figured it only owed me £1600 -- so it went (and the MOT and Tax was set to expire at the end of the month too)

so be realistic -- price to sell if you want to sell

 

Firstly, in your advert make it clear that you will not tolerate boy racers, tyre kickers or groups of yobs turning up to look at the car.
Also you should state upfront that there will be no test drive [by them] and payment to be made in cash at the bank.
This sort of thing in your ad, should deter the usual muppets.

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/private-sa...nightmare.html

 

I would never buy a car without test driving it first, would be madness to do so.

So, you will be limiting your buying audience (in fact, removing the genuine buyers).

It is a minefield - but it is the same as selling anything else, in truth.

Have your wits about you, if you change over the drive ..... always, always, take the keys out of the ignition when you get out of the car to let prospective buyer drive .... too many time has the buyer slipped over the seats and driven off!!

It helps to have some mates hanging about, and being large yourself.

Failing all that, sell it to webuyanycar.com for £2:50!!

 

what is the car you are looking to sell?

 

Check out the "For Sale- General" forum. I don't want to sell really, as mine and pslewis's are like twins separated at birth.

 

Well, Pete, in that case I'm afraid we'd reach an impasse. Unless, of course, you left the keys to your car with my backup.

 

It's true ... only mine is a MY00 AND has a famous owner ...

 

My car would be at your house .... the keys to it would be with me.

I doubt we would do a deal. I guess you must take each prospective buyer as they come. A 17 year old baseball wearing chav wouldn't be taking my car out on a test - but, a respectable middle aged buyer who has looked the car over thoroughly and asked the right questions/read the paperwork throughout would get my blessing.

 

Well, we're singing from the same hymn-sheet, really Pete. I just wouldn't fancy being the passenger when some unknown geezer was determined to "test" the car. I know we're only talking about a few grand in value here, but I REALLY don't want a white-knuckle ride at the courtesy of some loony for the sake of it. When all's said and done, I'm selling a moderately powerful and capable ROAD CAR, not a WRC, so a normal test drive ought to be sufficient to a serious buyer, shouldn't it?

 

Makes no difference these days.. the people who come to take your car are going to take it with more than an angry look.

 

Specially a 6 foot nothing lard bucket

I think youll end up letting them drive it , somewhere ....
afterall i bet you did on buying !

 

Who are you talking about, Dunc?

 

Not you bubbs !#


the second part is fairly self explanatory

 

I was going to say, I'm taller than that.