Motoring Discussion > Private V Dealer Buying / Selling
Thread Author: Pat Replies: 8

 Private V Dealer - Pat
I'm always told that I should sell my car privately to get more money for it.
I'm also told I should always buy privately to get a bargain.

Perhaps someone can explain why because surely those two statemebts conflict with each other?

Pat
 Private V Dealer - RattleandSmoke
Traders have to make profit. When they buy your car they will give you a lot less for it because they intend to sell it on for a profit. A private buyer will buy a bit more as it is their car and they don't intend to make a profit on it.

If you sell it privately you will get a lot less for it than a trader can but then you can't offer warranties, appcept credit cards or part exchanges.

You cut out the middle man in both methods.
 Private V Dealer - Fenlander
Pat,

It goes a bit like this.

Say a Mondeo at £3000 retail might be £2600 private and £2200 if you trade it in. So selling private rather than trading in you might gain £400 and buying private rather than retail might save £400.

Having said that when I'm buying privately I try and get the price down to very close to the trade in I know they've probably been offered.... because the seller should already have been advantaged with a discount for no p-ex.
 Private V Dealer - bathtub tom
I've tried to buy a few cars that I've known have been going for trade-in, without success.

The seller has usually been offered a very good trade-in price (probably more than the private selling price) because they've been too timid to ask for a discount for no trade-in and are subsequently paying the full price for the replacement.

 Private V Dealer - Fenlander
Yes that's true... if folks have already got close to a deal they are often reluctant to introduce an extra complication. I've had the best deals from folks who have confidently held their old car back for private sale after the new one's arrived (as I did in Jan). Then it seems cash will help concentrate their minds.
 Private V Dealer - Pat
We got a lot better trade in price for our Mondeo against the CRV than we would have asked for privately.
And the dealer is still running around in it over a year later:)

Pat
 Private V Dealer - crocks
Some people have trouble letting Mondeos go..... especially estates. ;-)
 Private V Dealer - -
What price peace of mind though, if you can come to a happy deal with a trader the bonus is no worries about muggers scammers con men fraudsters forgers and all the other assorted flotsam out there....much to be said for an approachable trader.

We've just completed a nice little part ex purchase for a member of the family with a local trader, part ex'd a 123k mile BMW 320td compact for a 78k mile BMW 320 coupe some 3 years newer, nice chap happy to talk sensibly and we're all happy with the deal, i had to get two new tyres on it thismorning, old ones still legal but regular posters will know i don't muck about with barely there tyres, they get binned.

The buyer and i didn't fancy the fun and games of all sorts viewing etc, worked for us and the dealer...maybe we'd have been £500 better off with a 'straight' private buy and sell, but until you've had the new car 6 months you'll be wondering if the loud knock at the door is the old bill looking for a stolen/ringed motor.
 Private V Dealer - Hugo
People ofted forget that dealers have a number of cars to look at as well, so although you pay more for the car you want, you will probably end up spending less time trying to find it.

Also, if you find a dealer in hard times they will want to keep stock moving and will try to cut a good deal to keep their stock turning over, whereas most private sellers are living in cloud cookoo land - taking asking price guidance from Parkers and the like!

I've only bought 2nd hand from a dealer a couple of times.

The most recent time was my first van, although he was trading from his house. He made no secret of the fact he was dealing, but it was the best deal out there. Private sellers were having a lot of trouble realising how little their van was actually worth, whereas he had done his research and pitched it just right. I went and negotiated a much lower price - not the one advertised - well chuffed.

In about 1992 I was looking for a car for my mum. She had a budget of £4k and I made it my business to find her the best low mileage deal I could for that money. I bought a dealer trade in off the forecourt but played dealers off against one another, until I ended up with a 2 and a half year old 25,000 mile Escort Mk4. 1989 reg. It was a bad time for the car trade - we were just coming out of recession and this particular car had already been in their stock for nearly 3 months. Most franchise dealers have a policy towards turning over their stock regularly to protect its value.

I had been to loads of main dealers and looked. Again, private sellers were a pain in the rear, they had over inflated ideas of what their cars were worth, and were trying to sell their cars for near dealership money.

I eventually closed the deal on this car. Mum paid less for this car than she would have privately from pretty much anywhere else. In addition we got 3 months warranty, a full service and it's first MOT, although it was only 2 and a half years old. She kept it for 10 years.
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