Mazda Mazda 2 (2003 - 2007) - Difficulty in Selling

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Sat 2 Aug 2008 02:08
Difficulty in Selling - doctorchris
We've finally persuaded my 80 year old father to give up driving.
He has a 3yr old Mazda 2 Capella that has done about 5000 miles. Nobody seems interested in looking at it or if they do they make silly offers of around £2500.
I think one problem is that the car is in Carlisle where the pool of potential buyers is limited. I also feel that nobody knows what a Mazda 2 is and if they knew it was basically a Fiesta with much more space they might be more interested.
I know that Sunderland is reputedly not a good place for getting the best price for a used car but I wonder if I should try to sell the car here as the catchment area is larger and we may get more enquiries.
Auto Express have just done an article on used Mazda 2s and were very enthusiastic about them.
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 02:20
Difficulty in Selling - nick1975
Classic example of imperfect markets.

Golfs sell for a lot more than Leons, but the Leon is better.

Some people link the X-type is the cats whiskers, but a Mondeo is rubbish.

Such is life.

Try Sunderland - why not?

Get it advertised at the same price (or just below) as the same car within a 60 mile radius and hope.

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Sat 2 Aug 2008 10:46
Difficulty in Selling - bathtub tom
You may put off many buyers, by selling a car in Sunderland that's registered to an owner in Carlisle.

One of mine was bought in similar circumstances. I got it (I think) cheaply, and had to do a fair bit of digging to verify its bona fides. The opinion of backroomers was to walk away from it!
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 10:51
Difficulty in Selling - Alby Back
How about that "Suresell" operation which HJ has mentioned from time to time DC ? Might be worth a try ?
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 10:52
Difficulty in Selling - jase1
The market for Mazdas is small, but the right person who realises how good the cars are will be out there.

Why Sunderland if you don't mind me asking? Cars tend to sell cheap there (I've bought a few there) and you're probably better off selling it a little further south in the more affluent Barnard Castle/Darlington area if you're going down that road.
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 11:24
Difficulty in Selling - ForumNeedsModerating
Why worry so much about getting a quick sale? If his health is good enough & ability intact (you don't mention any overarching reasons there..) why not advertise the car in situ (Carlisle) while he still continues to enjoy it - there'll be a buyer along enventually. The thing about small local markets is that their disadvantage (not many people in the market) is also their advantage (not many cars in the market when they do look).
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 13:01
Difficulty in Selling - Citroënian {P}
>>Why Sunderland

I think doctorchris lives there
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 20:41
Difficulty in Selling - Martin Wall
How/where are you advertising it? People seem really hung up on road tax bands at the moment so worth mentioning that in an ad. as well. Might be worth a punt on ebay motors?
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 21:31
Difficulty in Selling - ifithelps
To someone who doesn't know Mazdas, a 2 'Capella' sounds like it might be an import like a Eunos.

I'd be inclined to stress in any ad that it's a UK standard model or special edition - assuming it is one of those.

Either that or drop Capella altogether.
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 21:39
Difficulty in Selling - Martin Wall
Meant to add - why not try classified forum on this website?
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 22:14
Difficulty in Selling - melstin
To someone who doesn't know Mazdas, a 2 'Capella' sounds like it might be an import like a Eunos"

No, it's the top of the range and it is a UK model. It is made in the same place where the Fiesta is made and it shares many mechanical components.
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 22:51
Difficulty in Selling - bathtub tom
Ford and Mazda have done this before. The Ford Festiva was sold in this country as the Mazda 121, and also as the Kia Pride. It was made by Kia!
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Sat 2 Aug 2008 22:52
Difficulty in Selling - doctorchris
Thanks for your comments. We (my brother and I) are not rushing to sell, particularly as there is a bit of a scrape on the car to sort out first.
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Sun 3 Aug 2008 23:13
Difficulty in Selling - Rattle
You could try ebay and stress it uses a lot of parts with Fiesta. One reason Fiesta's are so easy to sell is people realise the parts are cheap and machanics know them inside out. My biggest worry with a Mazda 2 would be what would happen if the alternator packs up in 2 years time?

I have a customer who scrapped his Toyota simply because he could not source a new indicator stalk!
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Sun 3 Aug 2008 23:16
Difficulty in Selling - qxman {p}
IIRC the Mazda 2 was 'highly recommended' (or maybe even Best Buy) as a small car in Which? Maybe you could double check and use that info in the ad. Really surprised you would have any difficulty selling it!
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Mon 4 Aug 2008 10:08
Difficulty in Selling - Bill Payer
I would agree with the comments that people won't know what a Mazda 2 Capella is - it means nothing even to me!

You said silly offers around £2500 - how much are you hoping for? Have you tried the local Mazda dealer - you never know (until you ask) the price might be reasonable, bearing in mind the lack of hassle selling that way.

My Dad got a good price for his car when he gave up driving but it was done by word of mouth and a neighbour's daugher bought it. When we needed to sell MIL's Corsa auto, the demand everybody says there is for good small autos seemed to evaporate and we just couldn't move it, and neither could a dealer who was a friend of the family. FIL ended up p/xing both their cars and buying one new one.
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