Advice please, how would you sell a mad Mantis?
Discussion
Having covered less than a thousand miles in the last year (if not 2) due to work and study for an MBA, a pattern looking set to repeat itself for the foreseeable future, I have decided to sell my road legal ex-Mantis Challenge car. I don't want to use a ‘sale or return’ service and the car I was hoping to px it for was sold.
I would like to canvas members thoughts on how to sell the car privately yet safely as I have never done this. I'm thinking of using eBay but I am not sure if this is the best marketplace for a car like this, alternatively there is the more conventional method of advertising it on places such as Piston Heads, thoughts please? Equally do members have any tips on how I should handle insurance for test drives, confirming legitimate payment etc.
Thank you,
Sleepy
I would like to canvas members thoughts on how to sell the car privately yet safely as I have never done this. I'm thinking of using eBay but I am not sure if this is the best marketplace for a car like this, alternatively there is the more conventional method of advertising it on places such as Piston Heads, thoughts please? Equally do members have any tips on how I should handle insurance for test drives, confirming legitimate payment etc.
Thank you,
Sleepy
Hi Sleepy.... In the classifieds and also here in the for sale section http://p206.ezboard.com/bmarcossports
Do a search on General gassing for advise re test drives etc, but I made a note of this site for such an eventuality (havn't used them, though) http://www2.dayinsure.com/
Cheers, Jon
Do a search on General gassing for advise re test drives etc, but I made a note of this site for such an eventuality (havn't used them, though) http://www2.dayinsure.com/
Cheers, Jon
Damn shame you are having to sell the car, however I'd recommend a chat with Jeremy Kearns at Redline Sportscars www.redlinesportscars.com/
No doubt he will 'mention' that he could sell the car on your behalf, but that's to be expected as it's how he earns a living! Jeremy is a good chap & even if you don't use him, he has years of experience selling Mantis cars & has always been very good in sharing his knowledge with others.
As John mentioned in the previous post, get a thread going on the Marcos Forum in the 'For Sale' section as well... and don't forget to come back in a few years time looking to buy it back!
BTW did you do the conversion yourslef, or was it done by a previous owner. I don't know anyone who has made a Challenge car road-legal, & would love to know more about what was involved.
No doubt he will 'mention' that he could sell the car on your behalf, but that's to be expected as it's how he earns a living! Jeremy is a good chap & even if you don't use him, he has years of experience selling Mantis cars & has always been very good in sharing his knowledge with others.
As John mentioned in the previous post, get a thread going on the Marcos Forum in the 'For Sale' section as well... and don't forget to come back in a few years time looking to buy it back!
BTW did you do the conversion yourslef, or was it done by a previous owner. I don't know anyone who has made a Challenge car road-legal, & would love to know more about what was involved.
Thanks chaps. Unfortunately www2.dayinsure.com seems to be down for maintenance at the moment but I’ll keep trying.
I don’t believe the car is not going to have that bigger market outside of track days / Gumball or Cannonballers (the reason I bought it… the reason I never used it for that was my life outside of work is a complete shambles and I can’t organise my way out of a wet paper bag). I am not in a particular hurry to sell, I just appear to have turned into one of those people who buys a great car… and leaves it in the garage most of the time! I will start a thread on the Marcos forum when I finally make that last leap though so thanks. I was looking for it on the www.marcos-oc.com site where it used to be but failed to look well enough to find it under the links (I am supposed to be doing an assignment, but as usual thinking about car or bikes… or other things with engines that make a lot of noise!) so thanks again.
I spoke to Jeremy a few months ago but found the commission structure unattractive, but as you say he needs to make a living and is a great bloke.
Quiffster, I bought the car as a race car from Paul Stephens 3 1/2 years ago following a conversation with Jem Marsh who basically said he thought it would make a great road car. Paul arranged for the work to pass the SVA to be done. Since then the car has pretty much been completely rebuilt by Heritage and they know it well.
It took 4 or 5 attempts to pass SVA and the car required modifications to the floor pans to accommodate the 2 Sparco seats, preparation of all cabling and making safe of all sharp edges inside and out. The fire extinguishing system had to be removed (in case it distracted the driver!). Speedo, Cat1 alarm, battery, cooling fans and windscreen were fitted. Oh it needed a reversing light switch on the gearbox too and wing mirror extensions so you can see more than just the rear arches!
I had White Elephant make up some Plexiglas windows (they are quite close to me and apparently they made the screens and headlamp covers for the old Jaguar Silkcut Le Mans cars) and fitted helicopter vents in the style I saw on a Lotus Elise/Exige race car.
The car remains true to its racing heritage, but does have a modest boot space despite the 100 litre tank still being in place. Hertiage fabricated a road spec thickness bonnet which retains the lift-off race style fitting method and the air jacks have been removed. The race exhaust survives and has been routed to clear speed humps, the dry-sump means that thankfully the engine has plenty of room underneath and the fully adjustable suspension was fine for eventually getting a decent road set up. The race brakes mean you do need to get some heat into them, but when up to temperature you need to manage the space behind because it just stops
.
Many people can’t understand how I can bear to drive it any distance but I find it easy to cover the 200+ miles to Heritage for a service you just can’t chat to a passenger over 5 miles an hour without shouting, but mostly they are giggling insanely whether they are male or female!
If you want to know more details of the conversion please drop me a line and I’ll answer what I can, but probably after my next assignment goes in on the 12th of September
which is when I am most likely to finally advertise it. Marcos Mantis coupe, has been raced but never intentionally rallied...
I don’t believe the car is not going to have that bigger market outside of track days / Gumball or Cannonballers (the reason I bought it… the reason I never used it for that was my life outside of work is a complete shambles and I can’t organise my way out of a wet paper bag). I am not in a particular hurry to sell, I just appear to have turned into one of those people who buys a great car… and leaves it in the garage most of the time! I will start a thread on the Marcos forum when I finally make that last leap though so thanks. I was looking for it on the www.marcos-oc.com site where it used to be but failed to look well enough to find it under the links (I am supposed to be doing an assignment, but as usual thinking about car or bikes… or other things with engines that make a lot of noise!) so thanks again.
I spoke to Jeremy a few months ago but found the commission structure unattractive, but as you say he needs to make a living and is a great bloke.
Quiffster, I bought the car as a race car from Paul Stephens 3 1/2 years ago following a conversation with Jem Marsh who basically said he thought it would make a great road car. Paul arranged for the work to pass the SVA to be done. Since then the car has pretty much been completely rebuilt by Heritage and they know it well.
It took 4 or 5 attempts to pass SVA and the car required modifications to the floor pans to accommodate the 2 Sparco seats, preparation of all cabling and making safe of all sharp edges inside and out. The fire extinguishing system had to be removed (in case it distracted the driver!). Speedo, Cat1 alarm, battery, cooling fans and windscreen were fitted. Oh it needed a reversing light switch on the gearbox too and wing mirror extensions so you can see more than just the rear arches!
I had White Elephant make up some Plexiglas windows (they are quite close to me and apparently they made the screens and headlamp covers for the old Jaguar Silkcut Le Mans cars) and fitted helicopter vents in the style I saw on a Lotus Elise/Exige race car.
The car remains true to its racing heritage, but does have a modest boot space despite the 100 litre tank still being in place. Hertiage fabricated a road spec thickness bonnet which retains the lift-off race style fitting method and the air jacks have been removed. The race exhaust survives and has been routed to clear speed humps, the dry-sump means that thankfully the engine has plenty of room underneath and the fully adjustable suspension was fine for eventually getting a decent road set up. The race brakes mean you do need to get some heat into them, but when up to temperature you need to manage the space behind because it just stops
. Many people can’t understand how I can bear to drive it any distance but I find it easy to cover the 200+ miles to Heritage for a service you just can’t chat to a passenger over 5 miles an hour without shouting, but mostly they are giggling insanely whether they are male or female!
If you want to know more details of the conversion please drop me a line and I’ll answer what I can, but probably after my next assignment goes in on the 12th of September
which is when I am most likely to finally advertise it. Marcos Mantis coupe, has been raced but never intentionally rallied... Gassing Station | Marcos | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff