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How do I a good price for my second-hand car?


BillyPee

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If you want to sell it I might be interested - 2nd dibs after young pretender  :)

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Ps looking forward to the ad, wouldn't mind a merc  :d

 

 

If you want to sell it I might be interested - 2nd dibs after young pretender  :)

 

Well I wasn't expecting to pique interest at this stage, just trying to get advice. But its nice to know that there are WSCC members out there who are in the market for this type of car. I will get the car spruced up and get some good quality photographs taken this week. I have already started the text of the advert. I'm going to need the car for another month though (estimated delivery date for the replacement is the 6th Dec).

 

Cheers,

Bill

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I have sold about 20 cars over the years and the best results have always come from eBay: my rule of thumb is a 10 day auction for up to c. £5k and classified for over that.  

 

I take time over the advert: lots of info about the car and thorough detail on everything about it, including dinks/dents/marks etc and all backed up by lots of photos.  In addition to the 12 pics you can put on the add I create an album on a photo hosting site (Photobucket), put more pics there and then add a link to them.

 

I also make it clear in my listing that I will not tolerate anyone attempting to negotiate on the price after they win, that I won’t deal with anyone from overseas and if they have low - or any negative - feedback they must contact me first to discuss before bidding/buying.  Now that sounds rather draconian I know, but I do say I’m a 100% honest eBayer and only want to deal with like-minded members.

 

As I say, it works for me and rarely do I have anyone coming to view the car before bidding - which I find remarkable as I’d never buy a car without seeing it first! - so I guess my approach finds favour with buyers.

 

Good luck with your sale.

 

R

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A one owner car from new and full service history are your top selling points, it's what I look for. Wash and polish it well but I wouldn't bother having the chips done, price it the same as other similar cars to yours and it should sell quickly because of the way you've cared for it.    Unfortunately depreciation on high spec cars is depressing, it's a big expense that has to be considered when buying new cars.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good luck, it's a cracking example of how to put an ad together. :yes:

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Good luck, it's a cracking example of how to put an ad together. :yes:

 

Thanks Dave. It's already working  :)

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You'll get all the idiots ringing up now, asking how much you will let it go for, just ignore them.  Just deal with the people who come and see the car.

 

(Sorry I didn't mean fellow WSSC members. It's when you put the ad up on the other car sale sites)

Nice car and Fab description.

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Billy, it has only worked when the money is in the bank and the car has gone to a new home.

 

When I run dealerships the salesman sold every car three times. When the order was signed, when the car was delivered and when the cheque was banked. It's only "sold" when the last event occurs.

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Seems a very nice car but just a comment for what it's worth and to possibly enable you to change things before you advertise it to the masses. I was interested in this car, thinking it may be nice for my wife but the fuel pump issue is the thing that's putting me off it. I wouldn't feel safe letting my wife out in it with the children as I'd be thinking the worst if it wouldn't start. Good luck with the sale and to me you'd either have to have the fuel pump sorted or choose not to mention it.

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Seems a very nice car but just a comment for what it's worth and to possibly enable you to change things before you advertise it to the masses. I was interested in this car, thinking it may be nice for my wife but the fuel pump issue is the thing that's putting me off it. I wouldn't feel safe letting my wife out in it with the children as I'd be thinking the worst if it wouldn't start. Good luck with the sale and to me you'd either have to have the fuel pump sorted or choose not to mention it.

 

Very good point. I have been looking into this today and I am now much wiser on the subject.

 

Before putting the car up for sale, I decided I would get the problem fixed and took the car to a Mercedes specialist who said that they had seen the problem before. They replaced the fuel lines saying that the seals go, air gets in and you get problems starting on low (reserve) fuel. I brimmed the tank and let it run down again and by the time I had about 10 miles of fuel left the car didn't start first time. About half a dozen cranks and it started, I didn't need to put extra fuel in. Phoned the Mercedes specialist who said that they would look at it again but that it might be the saddle pump in the fuel tank because that is a common Mercedes diesel problem. But that it would be about £800 to replace the tank and again that might not cure the problem. So I decided against the repair because it really isn't a big problem at all: the car starts first time every time except when on reserve fuel when it starts first time 9 times out of 10 (and on the occasion that it doesn't start first time it just needs cranking over half a dozen times to get it to start). I have never had the car not start on me. I just fill up when the gauge is at 1/8th rather than go into the reserve fuel as its an inconvenience.

 

Mistakenly, I just quoted the saddle tank problem without first checking it out. If you google "W203 saddle tank" you will read horror stories of cars conking out while driving when you get to 1/2 tank of fuel! That absolutely isn't the problem that I have so I wish I hadn't put it in the advert.

 

I will be declaring the problem when I list the car to masses over the weekend but I will be much more accurate about the problem so as not to scare off potential punters. Yes I could put a full tank of fuel in the car when I sell it and it will be a few weeks before the buyer discovers the problem but they will think its a much bigger problem than it really is. Plus, and I know I am daft, I just would not be happy with-holding anything bad about the car from a buyer.

 

So thanks again, as it will definitely have saved me from scaring off a prospective buyer.

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