smart51
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:18 PM |
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Help me sell my car
Following on from my thread A Serious What's it Worth I'd like
advice on how to sell my car. Its been for sale for 3 weeks. I've had 3 people seem genuinely interested but then go silent as well as a few
people casually interested, plus one guy who said he had £6k to spend and no more.
What can I do to find a buyer? Where are good places to advertise what is I suppose a specialist car? I'm beginning to get impatient with
people who say "it's just what I'm looking for" and "I'll call you to arrange seeing it" only to never hear
from them again.
[Edited on 20-5-2009 by smart51]
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richardh
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:24 PM |
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same here too
Time for a change!
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vinny1275
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:25 PM |
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You could join bookatrack and advertise it on there, racedandrallied.com, motorsportads.co.uk, even give Chris N a call and see if they have anyone
wanting one ready to go, put it in the for sale area at the shows... merlin motorsport have a notice board in the shop (and I think they put stuff on
their website as well). You could also put your pistonheads advert into more than 1 category - road legal track day cars as well as kit cars
maybe....
HTH
Vince
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:31 PM |
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ask our members who are located in spain, holland etc. to list in on their local kit car/sports car forum?
Saw an interesting thread about exporting due to strong euro and the fact they struggle to register a car over there.
Worth a punt?
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fesycresy
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:35 PM |
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Pistonheads is good place, I sold my car through the site.
I would say kit car mags aren't that good especially with the lead time and your impatience to sell (not a dig but an observation after reading
your link). And they leave the advert in for another year to pack the mag out.
I would stick with it and at £7.5k it still seems a good buy especially with the IVA costs seemingly driving up the secondhand values.
Take the 'new baby' out of the advert and just leave the 'new project' in. Don't want to put off any new fathers !
I'd also alter the bottom pictures, get it outside in some natural light, a nice setting and re-take them. Get the car polished to death.
Don't let the advert run too long, any more than 10 days, pull the advert and re-list it. Why has it been on there 21 days if it's such a
bargain ? Why hasn't it sold, what's wrong with it ?
Or, stick it on ebay 99p start bid, no reserve 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
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andrewcutchey
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:37 PM |
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Be patient. If someone is genuinely interested in the car then they will come to see it. Mr Henderson gave you excellent advice on the other
thread.
When they come and see it that is when they will decide if they want it and what they will pay for it. I sold a car in March through Pistonheads to a
guy only 5 miles away for the asking price. Very lucky indeed.
Just hang in there and wait for the right person and he will come along sooner or later, just be prepared to barter if necessary. Unfortunately there
are lots of messers out their!
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Jenko
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:44 PM |
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The sad reality of selling these days, is people can hide behind emails, and make offers and not follow up on them....Simply because they no longer
have to talk!...
I think Pistonheads is the best place to sell a car, and anyone wanting the sort of cars most of us have is going to look there.......
Although it might seem like a pain, try and answer each email with enthusiasm, and try not to be blunt with people (even though they may be wasting
your time)...
The usual questions are - Do you have anymore info / pics of the car, so try and build a document you can send to prospective buyers...
I think it's good price, and it will sell eventually....for quick sales you simply have to sell cheaper....so it's your call. everything
has a natural selling point, at which point the product becomes irrisistable....
If I'm being 100% honest, I think you could do a better job with photos.....some of the shots in the garage make it look a bit dusty, and
probably let down the true condition, I would also say that showing it hooning around a track may not be the best sort of images....Would not bother
me, but people can be strange when looking at pics, and make thier mind up based on a single pic.
If it were me, I would give it a damn good clean and polish (inc interior), then pull it onto your drive and take some shots. JMHO of course......
[Edited on 20/5/09 by Jenko]
[Edited on 20/5/09 by Jenko]
MY BLOG - http://westfieldv8.blogspot.co.uk/
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andrewcutchey
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:53 PM |
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One useful tool is Picasa. You can download your photos online and then give perspective buyers a link to see the photos.
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mr henderson
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 04:04 PM |
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Let me give you a for instance of what I was saying about features and benefits.
You need to remember you might be selling to someone who is NOT an expert, and you need to explain the BENEFIT of your features. Example
"Two exhaust silencers for low noise (was measured at 96.7 dB(A) last year)"
That's a feature, and meaningless to anyone who doesn't know about this stuff. (Remember, what disqualifies buyers isn't lack of
knowledge, it's lack of cash.
So, let's try again-
"Two exhaust silencers for low noise (was measured at 96.7 dB(A) last year). This means that not only will you not have any problems should you
want to take this car for a track day (and you will!), but your neighbours won't get pissed off with you. Most bike engine cars are quite a bit
louder"
John
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Guinness
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 04:04 PM |
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Firstly, it only takes one person to make it happen! So your very next phone call or email could be your buyer.
First off I'd take the PH advert down.
Then I'd re-take all the photos.
Yes the shots of the car on track look good, and prove it can be used on a track, but I don't think it helps. People like to think
they'll be the first to enjoy it there.
Try a few shots on the open road / outside a stately home etc.
Give it a thorough clean inside and out first though.
Then you need to decide what you are willing to accept. If you are desperate for the money, then you are going to have to pitch low because it is a
buyers market out there. If you are selling because it would be nice to have the cash and you just aren't using the car, then take your time.
If the car is just sitting there in the garage, then leave it there until the market picks up. It won't cost you anything, whereas slashing the
price will.
Someone will buy at some point.
Only you will know how much you need the cash / have invested in the car / are willing to wait. I'd be brutally honest with yourself there.
HTH
Mike
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StevieB
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 05:10 PM |
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I'm getting around to selling my elise (a couple of bits to repair first) and when taking photo;s I gave it a really good polish up and took it
out for a drive with a mate for a few hours while we found some really picturesque scenes and took photo's of the car.
Looks far better than a few piccies outside your house and as Mike said photo's of a car belting round a track don't attract people to
part with all their money as they assume the cars had a hard life.
Part of the reasin for having a decent background is that these cars are something a bit more special than your average tin top, so you're
selling the lifestyle, not the car. I remember the best Caterham ad I ever saw was a £7,500 old green Caterham pictured in full touring gear in a
layby high up in the alps - I wanted it more than any R500 anyday!
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smart51
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 07:58 PM |
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All excellent advice. With the baby in hospital for the next few weeks, I'm going to have to pick my moment to get the car out and
photographed. Sadly, these are the best shots I have.
I'm more an engineer than a writer or salesman but I'll try to flesh out the ad more. Thanks for the suggestion Mr. Henderson.
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