I think most sell pretty quickly with price dropped to clear anything that's 'sticking'. The village garage had a Fiat Qubo for about 3 months but I think that was an aberration. Also seen a C3 Picasso re-appear at local Citroen franchise in very short order. I'd looked at it on first outing but rules it out after literature and salesman lied that it was an 8 valve diesel and not the failure prone 16valve. I wonder if someone else was taken in for longer....

It's got me wondering, on average how long does it take for a car to sell at a used car dealer? I've been thinking, perhaps incorrectly, that if a car doesn't sell quite quickly there must be something wrong with it?

Bit of a how long's a piece of string Q.

I am looking for a nearly new car and have started a spreadsheet and the results show some dealers hang on for ages, other bite the bullet and knock £500 or more off.

Dealers, especially those selling premium brands are having a pretty tough time. On the used ones - hence the spreadsheet for haggling power as I know how long the dealer has been stuck with it - I am finding some awful interior trim colours. Lots of F Paces with red & black or cream leather, and some with mid tan like bus seats. NOOOOOO!!! I suspect that is one reason they dont sell quickly, so who specifies these from new?

Sometimes there is nothing wrong with it, just no market for the car/colour combo in a difficult market.

Your dislike of dealers is interesting given the buyer has more power to reject than a couple of years ago. In the family, we bought a 52 place 1.2 Clio privately - utter bag of rubbish, but was stuck with it and expensive repairs. Sold it on privately, buyer tried to complain, but I pointed out he had no leg to stand on as no test drive was taken! (It had a new MoT too but had electrical gremlins and a leaky sunroof). Bought an MX5 privately, but with a friend who was a garage owner giving it a checkover, and it was a good reliable car other than the usual rear sill rust issue.

From dealers had a Mondeo TDCi, Kuga 4x4 and two Mini Cooper S models (saloon for me, convertable for the Mrs) and all 4 were incredible reliable, even bearing in mind a blown engine (broken piston) on my Cooper S, with the Mini warranty proving its worth - and no other major faults.

To me, private sellers are more likely to sell cars with hidden faults, which while not making the car unroadworthy, are still faults that as a buyer you are stuck with and no comeback.

Cheaper yes, but is it worth the risk? I am happy to haggle with a dealer and even walk.