Topic: Getting frustrated with private sale cars

[carcrazed]

I spend hours searching and come up with a list of cars for private sale that seem worthwhile.  I contact the seller a number of times but the seller doesn't respond.  What gives?  If they sold the car, why don't they just remove the listing?  Do they like getting bothered with emails from strangers?

Rant over.

[kings10]

I listed my van on the weekend.  Text #1 - "what's the lowest price you'll go?" No other questions.  I ignored them.  Text #2 - different number, asks to interact through email.  After a couple of emails about the condition of the vehicle, he writes he'll take it, but he'll pay through Paypal and have someone pick it up.  I've had one legitimate contact so far.  It was a person who took the time to call me.   

I hate this private sale stuff, but my wife likes/tolerates it.  She is much more patient with buyers and sellers than me; I think she empathizes more with people just trying to get the most bang for their buck. 

[valuator]

I listed my van on the weekend.  Text #1 - "what's the lowest price you'll go?" No other questions.  I ignored them.  Text #2 - different number, asks to interact through email.  After a couple of emails about the condition of the vehicle, he writes he'll take it, but he'll pay through Paypal and have someone pick it up.  I've had one legitimate contact so far.  It was a person who took the time to call me.   

I hate this private sale stuff, but my wife likes/tolerates it.  She is much more patient with buyers and sellers than me; I think she empathizes more with people just trying to get the most bang for their buck. 

People really are the worst. That's why I had no patience to sell my TL privately other than through someone I knew or a forum member who is reasonable. Other than that I'd rather just take the hit on the trade and not deal with the hassle.

That's my mentality.....I make sure friends and family know I'm selling (they know I maintain vehicles properly), and if nobody bites then it gets traded.  With the HST offset, I've never been so far away on a trade versus selling privately to make it worth my while to go the kijiji route. 

If I had a $3000 car that the dealer was offering $500 for, I'd go private....or at the other end, if I made a mistake and was trying to offload a nearly new vehicle, I'd also go private.

[tooscoops]

your last bit is what i get to see all the time. cars that might never get safetied again. everyone thinks they can get 2k for their car with zero effort involved... when i tell them i don't want to give them more than scrap (about 300) they think i'm a jerk. meanwhile, if it was on kijiji, everyone will ask, "is it safetied?" and when you say why it's not, you will never sell it.

more than 50% of the cars that i give 2k or less for are never plated again. the new safety rules are hard.

my last two customers... a 2000 golf with over 300k and a 2002 intrigue with 250k... first guy wanted 2500, next guy wanted 1500... no. you might think your car is "solid", but it is not. it is worth parts, and those are not even desirable parts.

i'm sure you'll see them on kijiji soon for 3k.... and in two months it will be given to kidney cars or something.

[johngenx]

We rarely sell cars that are pricey enough to require financing, etc, as we drive our cars until they're old.  Selling a cheaper car privately is easy - I've never had any issues with weeding out the scammers and finding serious buyers.

[JG20]

When I was looking to replace my MSP, the most any dealer would give me was $500 on trade so I decided to try and sell it privately when I got my STI.  Listed for $4k As is, knowing I would get lowballed.  It helped that I wasn't in a rush to sell.  Did a lot of ignoring to obviously fake inquiries.  Eventually had some serious buyers come by and check out the car.  Got an offer from a family for their son in university for $3K.  Sold!!!  I couldn't have asked for a better buyer.  They all came down to check out the car, test drive, and we all came out happy.

[Firm]

Weeding out scammers, as John mentioned, is pretty easy. The worst are no-shows, guys who seem serious, ask a ton of questions, setup a viewing and then their wife (or someone...something) shoots the idea and rather than being decent and calling to let the seller know they've lost interest, they just don't show up.....Happens a lot with the 'toy' type cars i usually sell.
Cheaper is definitely easier too...Anything over $10K, privately without financing and your market starts to get a little thin.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

"How much? How much? That's a lot of money. Tell you what I'm going to do. I have this goat...."



 

[dirtyjeffer]

i sold my old Taurus on kijiji and my last motorcycle...both sold in a day with no fuss...the car was only $1700 and the bike was $3800 so neither was huge dollars.

[tenpenny]

When I'm selling something on line, when I get the obvious scams, I reply that I'll take 10 times the asking price, in cash, in US funds, sent by FedEx, and the buyer should reply within two hours with the tracking number.


Sent from my Vic20 using Java Moose

[rrocket]

Yea, I don't mind selling cars and bikes. Mostly because I give zero f*cks.

If it sells, it sells.

I also partially enjoy telling people to go f*ck themselves. I never tire of that...

My main annoyance is buying cars...as you point out lots of flakes out there. But it is what it is, and I don't mind the chase all that much..

[carcrazed]

Should have bought the Mango TL 😛

If I could afford it, I definitely would have. 
How much did it end up going for?

EDIT: I guess you traded it in after seeing your post after.

[carcrazed]

So, does anyone here have a decently maintained cheap car for sale?
My dad is looking for something in $4-6K range, depending on model and year.

I picked up my 09 Civic yesterday; I used my old plates from 2009 to match the age of the car.
Then I filled it up with Costco gas, drove from Newmarket to Mississauga.  Only one bar out of about 14 bars went down on the digital gas gauge. It felt good after having been driving my MDX to see the gas gauge with premium gas visibly going down for years lol.

I left the Civic with my dad since he needs one for work. I can still ride my bike to the GO station until it gets down to 2-3 degrees in the morning.

[tooscoops]

if i get any trades that are on that cusp, i'll let you know. my last few have been garbage, but i'll keep my eye out.

[SearhardBurger]

"How much? How much? That's a lot of money. Tell you what I'm going to do. I have this goat...."



 

I'm not sure why this technique doesn't work. 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

^

[carcrazed]

if i get any trades that are on that cusp, i'll let you know. my last few have been garbage, but i'll keep my eye out.

Thanks tooscoops. 

He's out right now looking at a 06 TL with 210K for $5500 and a 07 Camry XLE with 210K for $5100.
I'll keep you guys posted.
I think he could go with a Camry Solara I4 coupe that's on market for $4500 with 145K. What do you guys think? 

[ktm525]

Selling I have found less hassle with more expensive models. I sold my V70R for almost $30k to a doctor, the G8 GT ($24k)  to a rig worker and the LR3 ($15)k to some sort of well off rock climbing hippy.  In all cases it was cash of the barrel head and I was clear about that up front. All were sold in a few days.


For buying it has worked out well although I screen my cars well to avoid scammers. I target cars being sold by people richer than myself. They usually own the vehicle outright and transactions are simple. I bought the LR4 privately 3 years old for 45% MSRP off a rich guy who ordered a Range Rover Autobiography ($150k ish) and was pissed at what the dealer offered him (35% MSRP). He wasn't hung up on the price just the principal of the matter.

My Contour SVT was bought off another rich dude who had accumulated enough Ford points on his credit card to buy the car. He wasn't really a ford guy but he drove the fun little zippy car for a ear and then sold to me for a screaming deal since he had to real money into it..

TIP: Buy off of rich anal-retentive people (ie. dealer maintained to the max).

[Bubba]

Selling I have found less hassle with more expensive models. I sold my V70R for almost $30k to a doctor, the G8 GT ($24k)  to a rig worker and the LR3 ($15)k to some sort of well off rock climbing hippy.  In all cases it was cash of the barrel head and I was clear about that up front. All were sold in a few days.


For buying it has worked out well although I screen my cars well to avoid scammers. I target cars being sold by people richer than myself. They usually own the vehicle outright and transactions are simple. I bought the LR4 privately 3 years old for 45% MSRP off a rich guy who ordered a Range Rover Autobiography ($150k ish) and was pissed at what the dealer offered him (35% MSRP). He wasn't hung up on the price just the principal of the matter.

My Contour SVT was bought off another rich dude who had accumulated enough Ford points on his credit card to buy the car. He wasn't really a ford guy but he drove the fun little zippy car for a ear and then sold to me for a screaming deal since he had to real money into it..

TIP: Buy off of rich anal-retentive people (ie. dealer maintained to the max).

That gives me an idea.  analretentivecarsales.com

[carcrazed]

Selling I have found less hassle with more expensive models. I sold my V70R for almost $30k to a doctor, the G8 GT ($24k)  to a rig worker and the LR3 ($15)k to some sort of well off rock climbing hippy.  In all cases it was cash of the barrel head and I was clear about that up front. All were sold in a few days.


For buying it has worked out well although I screen my cars well to avoid scammers. I target cars being sold by people richer than myself. They usually own the vehicle outright and transactions are simple. I bought the LR4 privately 3 years old for 45% MSRP off a rich guy who ordered a Range Rover Autobiography ($150k ish) and was pissed at what the dealer offered him (35% MSRP). He wasn't hung up on the price just the principal of the matter.

My Contour SVT was bought off another rich dude who had accumulated enough Ford points on his credit card to buy the car. He wasn't really a ford guy but he drove the fun little zippy car for a ear and then sold to me for a screaming deal since he had to real money into it..

TIP: Buy off of rich anal-retentive people (ie. dealer maintained to the max).

That gives me an idea.  analretentivecarsales.com

That's essentially what I got, a local dealer maintained Civic, but from the dealer that serviced it.