People saying cars are hard to sell

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by apolloxbgt

If you've been looking for 4 months and none of the cars have been within $5k of your price range,you cant afford the car you want.....

This also holds true for someone trying to sell.

If you've had your car for sale for 4 months and someone hasn't bought it, perhaps you need to meet the market. I see it all the time. People think there newish car is worth more than it actually is.

Back in 2011 I sold a roadbike ( 09 R1 for those interested). It was 18 months old, cost me roughly 20K new although there was a trade involved and the trade in figure was inflated, bit thats another story.
It was immaculate. New tyres, tastefully modded with a nice set of Leo Vince mufflers and had been dyno tuned, etc. Only downside was it had only 6 months rego. Advertised it for $13,900.
Sold it in a week for $13500. Too cheap? Maybe I could have held out for $13900 but for how long!
There are still examples of that bike on bikesales that were advertising when I sold mine asking for $14500 firm. Never sold it then and will never sell it for that now either as its just sitting there depreciating!

[ebv8]

took me 3 months to sell my AU3 XR8 in Blueprint and with Leather and all the MOMO gear
i checked out carsales a similar car was $14000 so i put $9000 on it and i only had 1 person look and he bought it without even test driving it for $7500
was it too cheap? well they are only worth what someone will pay
my house was forsale for $480k i paid $380k after it was advertised for 12 months
was it worth $480k in the first place? probably not but i'm happy.

[The Yeti]

well priced main streem cars sell them self, like the OP said check the avrage price on carsales and sit a tad below that clean the thing inside and out and take some photos that catch it in the best light

the amount of cars I see advertised, that looks like they decided late on Sunday afternoon to sell their car and they just walk down the street and take a few pics with Macca's rappers on the passanger floor and bird **** on the paint work and hope to sell the car for top $$$$$

if you pice it well prep & it for sale it wont last long

For the record, classics arent overly hard to sell either if you follow the above, the only thing with these is, if your in the classic car comunity you dont realy advertise it, let it be known and if its good it sells fast

my Wagon I wasnt even sure I wanted to sell, I stuck a price on it and put a thing in my sig here and it sold in a few weeks while I was deciding if I even wanted to sell it, once I did and before it was picked up I told a few people I new that I had sold it, and quite a few were a little ****ed at me for not letting them know it was for sale

[Stagg]

I find that when it comes to selling second hand cars or motorbikes, people are looking for a bargain. Not necessarily paying nothing to get something but still paying less than they would need to.

I find that as a car or bike is sold on from owner to owner, there is either going to be the buyer or the seller who is going to have to crack... either the buyer pays a higher price than they could with a lesser example of what they are looking for, or the seller has to drop his pants and choose to accept what the buyer offers.

I remember getting so offended when selling my old RX7, spent thousands on that, and when I was selling it because I was too tall to fit in the car, I was getting people offering sstupid prices like $3000 with RWC when I bought it immaculate at $5500 and then modified a few bits and pieces of it. Eventually I had to be the one to crack and accept an offer of $4000.

[blk6t]

Not for me, put my daily up for sale on a Saturday night...VE SSV Ute...had cash in hand Sunday afternoon, first caller saw it and drove away.

Was thinking I should be a car sales man at that rate...

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by MrZ

I also disagree with you that 2nd hand car values have dropped in the past 10 years.

Let's go back about 6 years to 2006. According to Redbook:

A 10 year old Falcon was worth $4500 (base model). Today, Redbook says $4800. Actually an increase.

A 10 year old Corolla was worth $6900. Today, $5700. Ok, that is one decrease...

10 y/o Hyundai accent then = $3600. Now = $3500.
10 y/o Starlet/Echo then = $4700. Now = $5100 (increase).
10 y/o Camry = $5600. Now = $5500.

Others:

Patrol then $15900. Now $17000.
Landcruiser then $19900. Now $23100.
Tarago then $12900. Now $13300.

I'm not seeing terribly many decreases...

Alot of 2nd hand resale values has to do with fan base or demand
A good GQ patrol is worth more and has a better resale than the eary GU patrols
A good 80 series patrol is similar to the early 100 series
Its all relevant to the demand , and whats around at the time
You still see people advertising E series for a few grand, thats AU , BA territory nowadays

Ill go whole heartely with the post mentioning the game changer,even tho theres so called limited funds out there, new car sales have gone skyward recently
People dont like the throw away society we live in,but many are flocking to it rapidly
Once anything hits the 10,15 year mark its basically throw away

[xisled]

The problem I see, most people think the car is worth more. Poeple do not like to think the 50k car they purchased 2 years ago is worth less than 30k today.

[GQ_Smooth]

And most people think the card yard is ripping them, when they offer a lowish trade value.

[davistev]

Another factor is the driveway capacity of the modern Australian subdivision home compared to the past. The new subdivision house is not likely to have lots of room in the backyard (or even a backyard for that matter) to store the "extra" car. More and more, I see people selling their car and need their old car gone ASAP as there is no room in their one car driveway or one car garage.

Sign of the times.

[superfly]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Alot of 2nd hand resale values has to do with fan base or demand

Correct. I sold my 1998 MY99 WRX with 235K on the clock for $13250. Redbook said it was worth about $9-10K. Took 3 months to sell.

Mine had a new engine, straight cut gearbox plus lots of other mods so I had to wait for the "right" buyer. Had a few offers for $10K sight unseen but knocked them back. Dude that bought it, checked it out on a Friday night and drove it away on the following Tuesday night.

Of course if I'd advertised it for $10K, it would've sold in a flash!

[spud027]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Absolutely right .....
I spent over 6 months looking for my GQ patrol
Not only were we looking everywhere we spent over a grand on fuel checking out all these so called beauties ....
We had to stretch the budget,but we found the best of the best

I sold my GQ on Sunday.. put the add up over night Saturday made an effort with the add, and put what turned out to be a pretty fair price for both me and the buyer.
Had three people look at it that day and the third guy had a pocket full of cash and took it away.

I had had it for 5 yrs, spent the best part of 20k incl the initial purchase price so the people that looked at it could see it was a good buy..

Put 7.5 on it and was happy with 6750..

[2011G6E]

We just got twenty grand as a trade in for our G6E 50th anniversary with all the fruit...that's about the best anyone would offer, no matter what the new vehicle we were looking at cost. Sometimes you just have to take a hit...the salesman saying at first that he loves your car, but then when push comes to shove saying "It's just a Falcon, they're not worth much second hand" is something you have to deal with.

I know a workmate selling his wifes car...an immaculate 2009 Falcon, silver, alloys, lots of options, 60,000km...and is only going to be able to ask down near ten grand for it. Sad, but "it's just a Falcon".

Lots of people don't seem to take a lot of care when you turn up to view a car they have for sale...dusty, interior not cleaned properly, etc. Even something as simple as cleaning the windows properly makes a car stand out more.

A lot of times cars and bikes I have looked at or seen for sale seem to have a "Wife Price" on it...the guy doesn't really want to sell it, but the wife said it might be a good idea to try and sell it, so he sets a ludicrous price on it, and sees who bites...a price so high that if it sold, he would accept it, but you can tell he's really hoping no one will bite...and therefore he can honestly tell the missus "Well, I tried to sell it, but no one was interested"...

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

A lot of times cars and bikes I have looked at or seen for sale seem to have a "Wife Price" on it...the guy doesn't really want to sell it, but the wife said it might be a good idea to try and sell it, so he sets a ludicrous price on it, and sees who bites...a price so high that if it sold, he would accept it, but you can tell he's really hoping no one will bite...and therefore he can honestly tell the missus "Well, I tried to sell it, but no one was interested"...

I think you're onto something there. Furthermore, i'm sure anyone would sell something for the right price.

[XR6TCraig]

Yeah I agree about the wife price.
Thing is though, some people see pricing like that and think that there bike/car is also worth that much and use it as a guide to advertise theirs. It has the unintended consquence of keeping advertised prices higher in some circumstances than they really should be.

I laugh when looking at carsales or bikesales at certain models and the cheapest bike/car are the dealer advertised ones. They have to pay GST, they also have to advetise it as a drive away price so the stamp duty is also taken care of and they offer some kind of warranty, etc, yet they are still cheaper than private sales in some circumstances.

On a related topic, I know many people who see an advertised price and believe that their car is worth that. They dont seem to be able to comprehend that there is often a difference between the advetised price and the price that is actually negotiated at the time of sale. You can advertise an item for what ever you like but that doesn't make it worth that figure. It will only sell for what someone is willing to pay for it.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by FPV GTHO

I think you're onto something there. Furthermore, i'm sure anyone would sell something for the right price.

Yep...we had that very discussion some years back at work, people saying what they would sell one of their prized possessions for, and that "everything has a price".
I said, regarding my 1974 Kawasaki H2-750 two-stroke triple that I've owned since 1994, that I would never sell it, at any price. One guy said "Well hypothetically what would you take for it then?". I laughed and said that if someone walked up with the keys to a new Kawasaki 1400 Ninja, they could take the triple, and the guy sat back and said "There you go...that's your price".

I also agree with the statement about people seeing "Wife Prices" on a car or bike and then thinking that is the "normal" price for such a car, maybe their own, and price theirs the same, in a vicious cycle that just goes on and on, inflating prices across the board. Especially when magazines sometimes have price guides based on an average of current models advertised around the country.

[davistev]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

A lot of times cars and bikes I have looked at or seen for sale seem to have a "Wife Price" on it...the guy doesn't really want to sell it, but the wife said it might be a good idea to try and sell it, so he sets a ludicrous price on it, and sees who bites...

It can also play the other way - My nightmare is that when I die my wife sells my car for what I told her I paid for it - eek!

[BA-XT]

I'm not overly experienced at haggling on prices. Intact I didn't bother with my BA as I got a good deal. I'd like to know people's techniques. When do you mention price? Is it on the phone or when you turn up to look at the car?

How do you tell someone that their 09' XR6 Turbo is nice, but not worth the $33,000 they want. And then offer them $30,000 pointing out the "drive away" prices from the dealers?

I'd feel really uncomfortable!

Just as an example, some people are still asking for $10,000+ for BA's. dealers have them for around $8-9,000 drive away. How do you tell someone "I like the car, but its not worth anything more than $7,000?"

[fordomatic]

you just tell them what you feel comfortable paying for it, and its not worth wasting each others time going backward and forward. I always negotiate before i leave a "round about" figure so im not wasting my time looking at it. Then when i am there if its good i will make a genuine offer

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by Mr_BA2003

I'm not overly experienced at haggling on prices. Intact I didn't bother with my BA as I got a good deal.

I didnt haggle my BF2 either. I thought for about a third the new car price, despite almost 150k's and only 3 years old, was a pretty good deal.

My first car was bought for $1500, advertised $1650. I had a family friend look at it and test drive and they ummed and ahhed and said we had $1500 then and there. They came back with $1550 and we said for $1550 we'd probably walk away so they took $1500.

A friend of mine was looking at a $13k Subaru. He offered the guy $11.5k and simply told him to call him back when he's ready to sell it at that price. 1 month later or so he got the call back.

[RedHotGT]

I could go on about this subject all day - but I won't because i'll most probably receive some 'warnings' from moderators - as I'm quite passionate about it.

I think that the quite a lot of sellers do a poor job of 'selling' their car, and most are unrealistic about what they want to achieve. Having said that, quite a lot of buyers are unrealistic about what they want to achieve when buying too....

But - here is the #1 rule when buying and selling a used car.

The Seller needs to sell 'THEIR' car - The Buyer only needs to buy 'A' car.

The buyer always holds the balance of power - because the Seller has made the first move by electing to sell the car. 99% of the time, the buyer can go find something else if they really want to - where the Seller needs to sell that actual car.

Just my opinion - up to everyone else to decide if I'm right or not.

[2011G6E]

A lot of sellers also act on the premise that the people browsing must buy a car as soon as possible, right now, today if it can be done.

And, unfortunately, a lot of people are in just such a position. They need a new or second hand car as soon as possible...the old one died, the old one just doesn't suit anymore, the wifey popped out one too many kids for the seats, whatever.

If you are lucky enough to be in the position not to need to buy a car quickly, and can take your time, you are the one in a position of power in the deal. As long as you don't fall head over heels in love with a car and just say "shut up and take my money!", and can keep your wits about you, you'll be fine.

This is what happened to us recently when we were shopping for either a new or very nearly new four wheel drive...the market up here is saturated with them, and we merely wanted to change cars from the G6E to a fourbie...but importantly we didn't need to do so in any great hurry. Some car yards and private sellers (after it became apparent to them that we really liked what was on offer but still seemed non-committed) however would wheel out the usual old lines..."someone was just here this morning/and hour ago and said he would probably come back this afternoon with the deposit, so if you're interested...".
I would just casually reply "That's fine...here's my number, if he doesn't return and you want to bargain some more on price, give me a call".
This honestly seemed to puzzle some of the salesmen...

[Alan D Segal]

Originally Posted by RedHotGT

The buyer always holds the balance of power - because the Seller has made the first move by electing to sell the car. 99% of the time, the buyer can go find something else if they really want to - where the Seller needs to sell that actual car.

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

If you are lucky enough to be in the position not to need to buy a car quickly, and can take your time, you are the one in a position of power in the deal.

Similar points being expressed here. I agree with both of them. Thanks for your comments. This is a great forum.

[Morexbs]

I just sold my Honda Accord Euro privately.I had it on the Trading Post website for 3 weeks and didn't get one phone call.All I got was about 5 scam emails and text messages in the first few days.I then listed the car on Car Sales at a higher price and the next day the phone rang off the hook.The first bloke to ring bought the car and I could have sold it 5 times.It was a good car in almost faultless condition and I made sure it was priced to sell and it did.I think a lot of people still have the mentality of trying to sell their car for whatever it owes them.

[SavVYute]

Boiling it down to the bare basics .....most anyone selling their car doesn't want it anymore.

Why would you pay much for a car someone else doesn't want? Make sense??

[Itsme]

Never had a problem selling cars, look at the market prices then decide what I think it is worth...add a bit extra and wait for people to beat me down to my price.... never fails.

PS: I never bull **** the condition of car, tell them the facts.

[Cheese3]

Me personally , I have my T3 forsale . . . The reason I have it listed is I would like to move onto another project a split window kombi ute with lambo door hinges and drop a subaru or porsche engine in it anyway . . .

I'm in a comfortable position in my life and I have list it at the price I think its worth . . .
Do I want to sell it - Not really , but I should I think
I'm 25 years old , I own my own house
I have 2 cars and a motorbike and insurance or rego isn't a problem
Can I hold onto it and look after it - Yes and yes as I have a 6 car garage
Is it a burden on my finacially or taking up space - No
And when the time comes and if its not sold ill still end up with my kombi ute anyway

So not all sellers are going to take lowball insulting offers . . .

[fordomatic]

Well after looking for 4 months i finally bought a car today. 2010 XR6 Turbo with 48,000km. one owner and absolutely immaculate. Leather, DVD players, colour screen, premium sound, saftey pack, new tyres 5,000km ago etc etc. I got it for $26,200 and i think that's a great price. It was really good dealing with a genuine and nice bloke as well.

I did get sick of people telling me i would never find one for what i wanted to pay in the condition i wanted. I knew i just had to be patient, and it paid off.

[STINKY NINJA]

It is hard to sell a car at the moment,people want the world for nothing

[PridenJoy]

Bargains are around if you wait long enough. In 2010 I bought a 2007 XR6T BFII with Leather, sunroof, dual zone climate and premium sound with 28,000 Kms FROM A DEALER for $24,500. I must have been the first to see it come up on carsales because after i rang and spoke to the dealer and put first dibs on it, he put the price up to $26,500 such was the amount of interest he got.

Sounds like the deal fordomatic got above is similar actually in terms of the age of the car, options and price. Just goes to prove things have not changed much in three years.

[Nic85]

Love this thread. Great read.

When I was looking for a car 18 months ago I basically windled it down to a Mitsubishi 380 (solid reliability, value for money). When I started going out and looking at them, I found they varied extremely. I looked at a lot of 2006-2007 model SX's and VRX's (basically the same car bar for things like seat fabric, interior trim etc).

One of the VRX's I went to look at, the guy met me on his lunch break at work. When I got there he was wiping the bonnet down with an old T-Shirt (I assume he was trying to clean it), meanwhile there were scratches all over the front bumper and the car had actually been in an accident on the passenger side front. The external mirror was broken and part of the door skin was pushed in. This guy wanted top dollar for his car and when I mentioned about the damage he replied, "Well, if you wanna buy it we can work something out with the damage where we pay half each or something". When I looked inside the car, it was in terrible condition. Scratches everywhere on the console area around the gear shifter and the drivers seat seemed broken in some way - it slumped back to the right. When I mentioned this to him he got really defensive and told me it wasn't broken. I took it for a drive anyway... It drove okay, but needed a gearbox service desperately, and the amount of other work that needed to be done was too much for what he wanted for the car.

Couple days later I checked out a different model, less KMs, same basic car (engine, suspension, gearbox) but this one had a sunroof and leather, was in immaculate condition, and I mean showroom condition, and I ended up getting it for $2k less than the other car.

I truly believe that if you're patient, you will get the car you want. There are a lot of dreamers out there trying to sell cars. But there are also a lot of genuine people trying to sell very well looked after cars.