Supercars For Sale
Discussion
Private sales do seem much more infrequent than before.
Groups on Facebook like “UK Supercars for sale” often have interesting things pop up with “it will go to dealer in week I’m after £x” opportunities, may be worth joining similar groups. But for sure most valuable metal on ph is dealer or SoR now.
Groups on Facebook like “UK Supercars for sale” often have interesting things pop up with “it will go to dealer in week I’m after £x” opportunities, may be worth joining similar groups. But for sure most valuable metal on ph is dealer or SoR now.
Safety risk - do you really want to tell randoms from the internet where you live and meet them there with the keys to your car in hand?
Time - How much time do you want to waste fielding "what's your best price, bruv?" questions, including the now standard aggression?
Transaction risk - you need to be really, really sure that their money is genuine; how long can you make them wait for the car after they have paid so you can be sure the payment won't be recalled?
The world has more problematic people in it than it used to. I'll take the hit on dealer margin to avoid having to deal with them.
Time - How much time do you want to waste fielding "what's your best price, bruv?" questions, including the now standard aggression?
Transaction risk - you need to be really, really sure that their money is genuine; how long can you make them wait for the car after they have paid so you can be sure the payment won't be recalled?
The world has more problematic people in it than it used to. I'll take the hit on dealer margin to avoid having to deal with them.
Far Cough said:
Selling a supercar is the same as any other. Tyre kicking time wasters with low ball offers wasting everyone's time.
Put it at a dealer and that all goes away for a percentage of course.
Useful to have a decent network and you can avoid dealers too. win win. SCD and the likes are good for this.Put it at a dealer and that all goes away for a percentage of course.
I had the opposite - had aggro trying to sell my car with S.O.R dealer, I took the car back and sold it myself.
I was contacted via this forum.
The new owner needed finance, which was not an issue (people are still under the assumption you can only get finance buying a car through a registered dealer- which is false).
I was contacted via this forum.
The new owner needed finance, which was not an issue (people are still under the assumption you can only get finance buying a car through a registered dealer- which is false).
There is an image problem with a private sale supercar, I think. It attracts low-ball offers, traders, and generally if you're selling the car yourself, you're usually at or under the market floor, as no dealer margin to consider, so you'll go 4-5k under what a dealer would price it at, and you're still 10k+ better off.
Well, doing that attracts.. insane people. I am speaking from personal experience here, but I don't think I'd ever bother selling privately going forward. It's not worth the extra few thousand over a P/X or something. I mean, I finally found a good buyer - and that's the important part, pleasant chap, dealt fast but hard, and we got there in the end. But everything in between was just a sordid state of affairs.
People calling and leaving 30k under offers, getting aggy when politely declined, spam texting the same offer, asking for the engine builder's 8th cousins GCSEs, and then there's the fella that said he's not interested in the car but called to ask if he can come drive it. No idea what that's about. Another one called and said he's not convinced about buying but an hour or two in the car might change his mind. Then there's the fella that called, much akin to how one would call a sex hotline, and described in detail how he'd like the test drive the car and give it a good kicking to see if it's something that "can handle his driving" - I was convinced this guy had one hand in his pants.
It's weird. I'll pass in the future, but I think there are a subsection of people that get their jollies off phoning car ads for really expensive stuff and just messing with the owners. Either that or I was terribly unlucky!
Well, doing that attracts.. insane people. I am speaking from personal experience here, but I don't think I'd ever bother selling privately going forward. It's not worth the extra few thousand over a P/X or something. I mean, I finally found a good buyer - and that's the important part, pleasant chap, dealt fast but hard, and we got there in the end. But everything in between was just a sordid state of affairs.
People calling and leaving 30k under offers, getting aggy when politely declined, spam texting the same offer, asking for the engine builder's 8th cousins GCSEs, and then there's the fella that said he's not interested in the car but called to ask if he can come drive it. No idea what that's about. Another one called and said he's not convinced about buying but an hour or two in the car might change his mind. Then there's the fella that called, much akin to how one would call a sex hotline, and described in detail how he'd like the test drive the car and give it a good kicking to see if it's something that "can handle his driving" - I was convinced this guy had one hand in his pants.
It's weird. I'll pass in the future, but I think there are a subsection of people that get their jollies off phoning car ads for really expensive stuff and just messing with the owners. Either that or I was terribly unlucky!
mirsgarage said:
There is an image problem with a private sale supercar, I think. It attracts low-ball offers, traders, and generally if you're selling the car yourself, you're usually at or under the market floor, as no dealer margin to consider, so you'll go 4-5k under what a dealer would price it at, and you're still 10k+ better off.
Well, doing that attracts.. insane people. I am speaking from personal experience here, but I don't think I'd ever bother selling privately going forward. It's not worth the extra few thousand over a P/X or something. I mean, I finally found a good buyer - and that's the important part, pleasant chap, dealt fast but hard, and we got there in the end. But everything in between was just a sordid state of affairs.
People calling and leaving 30k under offers, getting aggy when politely declined, spam texting the same offer, asking for the engine builder's 8th cousins GCSEs, and then there's the fella that said he's not interested in the car but called to ask if he can come drive it. No idea what that's about. Another one called and said he's not convinced about buying but an hour or two in the car might change his mind. Then there's the fella that called, much akin to how one would call a sex hotline, and described in detail how he'd like the test drive the car and give it a good kicking to see if it's something that "can handle his driving" - I was convinced this guy had one hand in his pants.
It's weird. I'll pass in the future, but I think there are a subsection of people that get their jollies off phoning car ads for really expensive stuff and just messing with the owners. Either that or I was terribly unlucky!
Couldn't have put it better myself.Well, doing that attracts.. insane people. I am speaking from personal experience here, but I don't think I'd ever bother selling privately going forward. It's not worth the extra few thousand over a P/X or something. I mean, I finally found a good buyer - and that's the important part, pleasant chap, dealt fast but hard, and we got there in the end. But everything in between was just a sordid state of affairs.
People calling and leaving 30k under offers, getting aggy when politely declined, spam texting the same offer, asking for the engine builder's 8th cousins GCSEs, and then there's the fella that said he's not interested in the car but called to ask if he can come drive it. No idea what that's about. Another one called and said he's not convinced about buying but an hour or two in the car might change his mind. Then there's the fella that called, much akin to how one would call a sex hotline, and described in detail how he'd like the test drive the car and give it a good kicking to see if it's something that "can handle his driving" - I was convinced this guy had one hand in his pants.
It's weird. I'll pass in the future, but I think there are a subsection of people that get their jollies off phoning car ads for really expensive stuff and just messing with the owners. Either that or I was terribly unlucky!
I've recently sold a Gen 1 V10 R8 and while I was very fortunate to end up selling it to a decent, genuine buyer, I encountered some real clowns along the way. Plenty of "what's your best price mate" type offers and even one guy who having viewed it twice, decided it wasn't going to suite his driving style and yet he hadn't even driven it!!
I've got my R8 V10 on Autotrader - been on since Jan. It "should" sell pivately for around £45k. Trade-in offers on a Mclaren were around £36k. WBAC, for giggles, offered around £34k.
I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
Griffith4ever said:
I've got my R8 V10 on Autotrader - been on since Jan. It "should" sell pivately for around £45k. Trade-in offers on a Mclaren were around £36k. WBAC, for giggles, offered around £34k.
I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
I don’t know why, but the R8s (along with F California) seem to be on sale for 12-18 months sometimes. Seem to be slow to shift.I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
NRG1976 said:
Griffith4ever said:
I've got my R8 V10 on Autotrader - been on since Jan. It "should" sell pivately for around £45k. Trade-in offers on a Mclaren were around £36k. WBAC, for giggles, offered around £34k.
I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
I don’t know why, but the R8s (along with F California) seem to be on sale for 12-18 months sometimes. Seem to be slow to shift.I've had one serious enquiry but he found a more suitable car. I've had two unwelcome offers of PXs with hot Mercs and BMWs, and one very cheeky / stupid, "got £35k cash right now, no messing" enquiry, plus the obligatory fraud attempt from someone pretending to be from AutoTrader. Other than that, all very quiet and low maintenance. She'll sell eventually, and I'm in no rush. In fact I love the car so much I'm pretty relaxed either way, but even if I was keen to get rid, I'd far rather privately sell and not basically throw away the best part of £10k. Now this is a "cheap" car compared to what a lot of you have on here, so I can imagione how much some are writing off in the interest of a hassle free deal.
Saying that, as car values increase, most people want the safety net of buing from a garage, so I always knew a £45k car would be a slow mover privately.
And no, bank transfers can't be "reversed". :-)
Either that or (and I'm certainly one of them) R8 owners really love their cars so price them to "not sell very quickly" :-) The Auto Trader list-till-sold deal HAS to also influence prices. If I were paying a chunk for a 4 week ad, I'd price to sell in those 4 weeks. With listed-till-sold it just doesn't matter unless you need the money in a hurry.
I DO want to sell ultimately (got a new interest this evening), but I know when I do I'll be dropping another 40-50k on the Mclaren, and leaving the nice world of cheap servicing and affordable parts.... so it's quite a big step.
k messages wa laughable. Would you swap or for a Peugeot 
I just sold my 430 privately it was absolutely fine. I sold two of my three Aston Martins privately, and both times that was also fine. I bought the Ferrari privately too, and the guy I bought it from also hadn't had any bother.
I think people really do build up the problems in their minds. They have convinced themselves that they will be absolutely inundated with non-stop time wasters, or badgered by traders. None of that happened. It took a good while to sell the car, about 10 weeks I think, but that is because I put it on for an optimistic price and gradually lowered it until people started to bite.
I probably took no more than 10 to 15 phone calls, mostly people asking for more information. There was quite a bit of back and forth over emails regarding things like service history and condition, but that is just understandable due diligence. Three people came to see the car, of which only two wanted to be taken out in it as passengers and one was satisfied with a walk around, but all were happy to wait until a deposit was paid until driving it on the road. I would estimate I spent maybe 6 to 8 hours cumulatively taking pictures, writing the ad, on the phone, answering emails or showing people the car, and for that I ended up getting £8000 more than the best price I was offered part ex, and £5000 more than the estimate I was offered via SOR; and for that I would have been without my car for potentially months as they wanted to hold it.
So my time spend dealing with the sale privately netted me somewhere around £700 to £1000 an hour. I'm okay with that. I totally get that some people are just simply too busy to do any of that, or are so wealthy that £8000 is not worth half a day of their time. But the idea that you can't possibly sell privately because it'll be a horror show is simply not true.
And no, bank transfers can't be recalled as long as it is a direct transfer from a UK bank to a UK bank. Once it's in your account it's your money. I did get one person asking to pay cash, but I declined and he accepted that.
Honestly I think that all this fuss about selling privately being a nightmare is just a bunch of people who have never done it getting all hot and bothered and talking themselves into a corner. It's like McLaren ownership; non stop horror stories all over the internet and most of them from people who have never owned a McLaren.
I think people really do build up the problems in their minds. They have convinced themselves that they will be absolutely inundated with non-stop time wasters, or badgered by traders. None of that happened. It took a good while to sell the car, about 10 weeks I think, but that is because I put it on for an optimistic price and gradually lowered it until people started to bite.
I probably took no more than 10 to 15 phone calls, mostly people asking for more information. There was quite a bit of back and forth over emails regarding things like service history and condition, but that is just understandable due diligence. Three people came to see the car, of which only two wanted to be taken out in it as passengers and one was satisfied with a walk around, but all were happy to wait until a deposit was paid until driving it on the road. I would estimate I spent maybe 6 to 8 hours cumulatively taking pictures, writing the ad, on the phone, answering emails or showing people the car, and for that I ended up getting £8000 more than the best price I was offered part ex, and £5000 more than the estimate I was offered via SOR; and for that I would have been without my car for potentially months as they wanted to hold it.
So my time spend dealing with the sale privately netted me somewhere around £700 to £1000 an hour. I'm okay with that. I totally get that some people are just simply too busy to do any of that, or are so wealthy that £8000 is not worth half a day of their time. But the idea that you can't possibly sell privately because it'll be a horror show is simply not true.
And no, bank transfers can't be recalled as long as it is a direct transfer from a UK bank to a UK bank. Once it's in your account it's your money. I did get one person asking to pay cash, but I declined and he accepted that.
Honestly I think that all this fuss about selling privately being a nightmare is just a bunch of people who have never done it getting all hot and bothered and talking themselves into a corner. It's like McLaren ownership; non stop horror stories all over the internet and most of them from people who have never owned a McLaren.
Edited by murphyaj on Tuesday 7th May 09:20
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