Buy from a trade seller gives you legal rights which are priced into the offers for sale. To compete, your price has to be lower. Quite simple really.

"an asking price of £12500 on a par with other models on the site."

Is that the problem? You can't expect a private sale to match a dealer. You are not offering any of the protection available to the buyer that a dealer has to offer.

You seem to be ignoring the fact that most people won't want to buy privately. If the car being sold is at a lower price point*, there is certainly an argument in favour of buying private, but yours isn't.

There is also the fact that if buying from a dealer, there is going to be a warranty of some kind included. Now whether said warranty actually does offer peace of mind is a separate question, but it definitely does in the eyes of most punters.

The only way your car is going to appeal the majority of potential buyers is by offering a substantial saving next the typical dealer price for a car like yours.

*By which I mean up to around £5k, but really the cheaper the car the more compelling the argument for buying private becomes. For the simple reason that the cheaper the car is, the bigger the percentage of built in profit the dealer is taking.

Edited by badbusdriver on 24/10/2024 at 19:37

This the car in question? www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410215416824 If so, it looks fresh enough, plenty of pics and you mention both length of ownership and service history. But on the negatives, you’ve taken the pics in a supermarket car park instead of at your own home which always looks a bit dodgy and it’s too expensive. There are several similar cars with dealers including legal protection and a warranty for the same money or less. Here’s one example, yes I know it’s a manual but that doesn’t add value used, if anything Audis automated manual box will deter buyers due to its poor reputation for longevity and huge cost to repair. www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410084968471 I’ve always found it hard to sell more expensive metal from the door, you’ll also find that anyone willing to take the gamble on it will want a big saving over retail price so no you won’t get the same as a dealer for it sadly. It needs to be about £1,500-£2k less than a dealer to be worth it to the type of bargain hunter you’ll encounter. So to be blunt and to explain why you haven’t sold it so far, you’ve overpriced it and taken the pics in a supermarket car park which makes you look like a fly trader or a traveller. Take the pics at home and drop the price by £1,500 and see where you go.

Edit: Not sure why deleted comes up as a naughty word on the forum, but I thought I’d just be clear incase you thought I was being mean.

[It was entered into the word blocker years ago following complaints. It's considered an offensive term. Traveller is generally considered acceptable. Mod]

Edited by Xileno on 25/10/2024 at 07:37

Strange that I’ve sold Citroen recently through Autotrader successfully. The buyer called me within 3 days and bought my car straight away.

Price has to be realistically set. I set my price 20% higher than Motorway’s valuation price, sure the buyer wants to negotiate the price, so take 10% off. The car was sold, just 10% more than Motorway’s valuation price.

Cars, Houses, Bikes, Jewelry etc.

Only ever don't sell, if the price is too high.

All over the World, whatever your trying to move, just reduce the price and it will sell.

A private car price needs to be between dealers retail and part exchange.

£12k car, part ex price will be £5-£6k price at £8-£9k then be prepared to reduce.

Remember, on an expensive car, it will be depreciating on a weekly basis!

And the more the money, the customer will want to use a dealer as the law is then on their side, if there are problems.

buying a car from a dealer gets you a whole world of legal protection - see my experience on my thread. Buying privately then you're on your own.

Whenever I've called a seller offering a private sale 90% of them say they are selling it for their dad, maiden aunt, their mate, or give some other reason why their name isn't on the V5 and yes they can bring the car round to me, no problem. Not today dealer!