Same thing happened when a friend sold her W reg Ka this time last year. I am not a mechnaic but I did a basic MOT on it and the list of failures would have been so big, big rust holes near rear suspension mount, slam panal snaped in two by rust, leaking shock absorber, big dents in bodywork (not an MOT issue), only one head lamp working etc etc. She put it on ebay listing the faults which I found on it but warned they could be more, it fetched over £600 some bloke came with a bick up truck and didn't even check it started. I have just checked the reg now and it appears the car is still on the road! It had over 90k on the clock back then too. She was very happy to get £600 for it but she did pay £1500 for it a year earlier so not a great deal really.
I sold my last Fiesta on ebay, got £250 and again listed all the faults (welding needed, brake pipes, exhaust etc) but the bloke did at least test drive it.
I think Ebay is far easier than Autotrader as you can writew detailed discription. If you put a car for spares or repairs on AT you can imagine the amount of time wasters people hoping the only thing that needs repairing is a 1mm scratch.
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I have got a f/b of over 100, but mostly achieved through buying, and at the rate of about 1 per month.
I hoped I might get a little more for it, maybe £800; but I was offered £100 in January as a p/x, by a dealer who was going to sell it on for £450, so anything was better than that. Put it on for £1 start and no reserve. New cambelt, 3 months' tax, 12 months' MOT, 4 half-worn tyres and a mostly FSH.
Ecstatic to see the back of it; awful motor. Absolute pig to drive. 4 years of pleasure-free motoring. Dirt cheap motoring though at 44mpg, and £180 for a new cambelt, £200 for a new alternator, £450 for a new cylinder head, £72 for a back box and 4 £25 oil changes being my only expenditure other than 5 part-worn tyres over 42k miles. (And £50 for an aircon regas that merely proved it leaked.)
Just goes to show what a waste of money changing the brake fluid and coolant every 20 minutes is.
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that's a pretty good deal. I reckon that for ebay car traders, feedback IS more important than almost anything else.
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I've sold our last two cars (sum total of 1600 quid) on gumtree and had the same hassle-free experience.
The advantage, in my opinion, of gumtree is that the buyers are local and so are more likely to come and view.
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I've sold 4 cars on eBay and always been very happy with the results.
Best one was a '91 H Saab 900 LPT that I bought for £950, sold it a year later for the same amount to a guy who flew from Glasgow to Gatwick, then caught a train from Gatwick to Eastbourne and we exchanged in Eastbourne railway station car park in my work lunch break.
As Rattle said, the ability to post detailed descriptions is the key
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The amount of people who contact you offering to buy it outside the auction process amazes me everytime ive sold a car on there.
Ive sold three now via ebay but not by end of auction as you save a bit on fees and they allow you to end early without an real questioning ( I guess if you do it all the time they might ). I say to people come and view and if they hand me cash there and then, so be it, makes no difference to me.
Its a great tool for sure. I just cant buy or sell any cars boo hoo - apparently children are more important - women! :-)
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Several people were happy to buy outside the auction process, but there was the inevitable and repetitive exchange:
"Would you end early, how much do you want mate?"
"Yes. How much are you offering?"
"Cheers mate, how much do you want"
"Make me an offer"
Silence.
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I sold my 146,000 mile Mondeo TD mk2 on Ebay this time last year. Car was tatty, but a good runner needing a few odds and ends. I was brutally honest in the ad, and took lots of pics. Stuck it up at a starting bid of £99 with no reserve, and got £800 for it.
The Polish trader who bought it turned up within 24 hrs, paid cash, and drove it back to Poland. The chap told me over coffee in my living room that it was to be converted to left hook and sold on at a modest, but worthwhile profit, and that he and a mate do two at a time a couple of times a month and make a reasonable living at it. Fair play to them.
Unfortunately, I know a lot of people (my dad being one) who have had people win auctions only to drop all comms and fail to pay or turn up. You then have to relist at your own cost, and wait while another auction progresses, unless the second highest bidder is interested. Ebay either cannot, or will not take serious action to stop this from happening, and they don't offer any concession on the relisting fee.
My experience however was positive.
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Similar experience here - I just sold a Peugeot 205 CJ convertible with just 2 months MOT and a few weeks test for my slightly over exagerated asking price without any haggling after less than a day on ebay. I was contacted about doing the deal privately (off ebay), the guy got a lift 200 miles to me the next morning with a wad of notes in his hand, refused so much as a test drive or even a cuppa before setting off back, and he text me that night to say how happy he was and that he'd got home safely.
As already mentioned, I listed all the faults very clearly, had as much paperwork as existed for the car available to show test pilots, made it very clear that as a 1990 vintage car (with such strange devices as a choke, wind down windows, manual roof, no airbags etc) it was a very different beast to a new car you could buy for your son or daughter off the forecourt today, and yet I was overwhelmed with responses.
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There's a chap round the corner from me selling a 205 1.9 CTi, J reg, very nice it is too. He's asking £1200, amazed he's not got it on eBay. The family run a couple of these cars, and are selling one off for whatever reason. If I had a garage/off road parking I'd be round there with a grand in hand tonight. :-(
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There's a chap round the corner from me selling a 205 1.9 CTi J reg very nice it is too. He's asking £1200 amazed he's not got it on eBay. The family run a couple of these cars and are selling one off for whatever reason. If I had a garage/off road parking I'd be round there with a grand in hand tonight. :-(
It seems the 205, whether in GTI or even just plain CJ convertible trim in decent condition still attracts plenty of interest (and money) these days.
Its funny to see how small they are though against todays small offerings!
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DP - you've used perhaps the best formula for selling older motors on Ebay. Be honest - good pictures - low start price and low/no reserve.
I sold my wife's W-reg Ford Ka 1.3 'Collection' recently, which had several problems such as failed c/locking, rust on rear nearside wheel arch, airbag dash light illuminated, 2 MOT advisories, etc etc. The car was fully taxed and MOTd though and one owner (wifey) from new. I was completely honest and open with plenty of candid photos and put in a low starting price (£100) with no reserve. The car attracted a load of interest and eventually sold for £1040. The winner turned up with cash in hand and no arguments.
I'm about to do the same with my father-in-law's tatty, but mega-reliable, L-Reg Vauxhall Carlton 2.0i CDX estate auto. These are strong and very practical cars so hoping for a repeat performance.
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>>The chap told me over coffee in my living room that it was to be converted to left
>>hook and sold on at a modest, but worthwhile profit...
That is my basic understanding of what goes on to and I also believe that they like some vehicles much more than others. If my memory serves me correctly things like some of the LandRover range make good 'cars' to convert to left hand drive because you don't have to change things like the whole dashboard (they tend to be three part dashboards) and a lot of parts are interchangable from side to side, hence there isn't much extra that you have to source to do the complete conversion.
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it was to be converted to left hook and sold on at a modest but worthwhile profit
It's incedible that our used cars are so much cheaper than an already LHD and more conventient location such as Germany, that it's worthwhile to do this.
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£450 for a new cylinder head Just goes to show what a waste of money changing the brake fluid and coolant every 20 minutes is.
This made me chuckle;o)
and 4 £25 oil changes
So oil degrades but other fluids don't?
>>>>(And £50 for an aircon regas that merely proved it leaked.)
Its illegal to recharge an aircon system knowing it will leak again, it should have been tested for leaks with UV dye before being regassed, pay peanuts get monkeys.....................
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>>This made me chuckle;o)
I am glad. It didn't make me chuckle. There is a 5p piece of plastic for the inlet on the cylinder head. It broke. Only way to repair = whole new head.
>>Its illegal to recharge an aircon system knowing it will leak again
Interesting. Would you say that in your experience all cars brought in for aircon recharges are given a leak test prior to topping up?
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