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-   -   What to do with my car? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/what-do-my-car-500717/)

Big D Dec 20th 2007 4:46 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by miss scouse atl (Post 5689290)
Dont know if id sell a car on Ebay after the experience my sister had.

She sold the car dirt cheap (needed the money to come out here for my wedding last minute) and there was absolutly nothing wrong with it. After she sold it the guy who bought it from her called her up saying it had all kinds wrong with it and wanted his money back. He started getting abusive....calling the house numerous times.....turning up on the doorstep...threatening her amongst other things.

Eventually they had to get the police involved to sort it all out. It left her very shaken up and worried for weeks after incase this guy showed up again and tried to do something.

I know this could happen whenever you sell something privately but after that it put me off using ebay for high value purchases/sales.

Your last sentence hits the nail on the head - this would be the same when ever you sell a car privately - however in the UK it buyer beware and they have no comeback what so ever!

Big D Dec 20th 2007 4:47 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by keira-2007 (Post 5689173)
We had the same problem before we came over... only we had to sell two cars. First of all we put them on ebay - the month long auction - and there was alot of interest. However, we also took them to a local private dealer near us, who managed to sell them on our behalf. This means he didn't buy them from us, he advertised them at the price we wanted, took photos etc but only took his cut once they were sold. The good thing about that was we could still drive around in them! Which was handy.
So we never found out how they would have done on ebay.. whether they would have reached their reserve or not.
If you can find a dealer who is willing to sell on your behalf, it may be worth a try. Yes they still take quite a large cut (think 1000 pounds for each of ours) but they had alot more selling power and reach than auto trader (IMO.) In fact, the person that bought my Z4 came all the way from Edinburgh!! And we lived in Northamptonshire!
Hope that helps
Regards Keira


Selling something like a Z4 i would possibly agree - but if you are selling something like a 2 grand Focus then its a bit different.

did we ever find out what the car in question is?

keira-2007 Dec 20th 2007 4:54 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Big D (Post 5689303)
Selling something like a Z4 i would possibly agree - but if you are selling something like a 2 grand Focus then its a bit different.

did we ever find out what the car in question is?

Yeah that's a good point... Sorry, hadn't thought of that. :o

TimNiceBut Dec 20th 2007 8:04 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by dh010447 (Post 5686435)
Hmm.... We do have the GAP insurance...........

The car's not on finance then by any chance? Not on a personal loan, but the kind of car finance that shows up on an HPI check?

If it does, the car would most likely be very hard to sell privately - if it's valuable enough for you to have gap insurance, chances are that a potential buyer will run an HPI check...

In that case, the first people you'd need to call before even advertising the car would be your finance company. Of course if your wife has bought the car on HP (Hire Purchase) and paid off more than 50% of the value of the car, there'd also be the option of handing it back to the finance company.

As pretty much everybody else said already, it's a bad time to sell a car in the UK so your wife needs to figure that into the price. I've bought and sold both motorbikes and cars via ebay, haven't had any real problems with that so far but you pretty much take the same risk every time you sell a vehicle privately - sometimes you just get a muppet buyer.

dh010447 Dec 20th 2007 9:13 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by TimNiceBut (Post 5689972)
The car's not on finance then by any chance? Not on a personal loan, but the kind of car finance that shows up on an HPI check?

If it does, the car would most likely be very hard to sell privately - if it's valuable enough for you to have gap insurance, chances are that a potential buyer will run an HPI check...

In that case, the first people you'd need to call before even advertising the car would be your finance company. Of course if your wife has bought the car on HP (Hire Purchase) and paid off more than 50% of the value of the car, there'd also be the option of handing it back to the finance company.

As pretty much everybody else said already, it's a bad time to sell a car in the UK so your wife needs to figure that into the price. I've bought and sold both motorbikes and cars via ebay, haven't had any real problems with that so far but you pretty much take the same risk every time you sell a vehicle privately - sometimes you just get a muppet buyer.

Yeah - I spoke to the finance company, and they said that it was actually a normal personal loan. They said I could sell it if I wanted to and they wouldn't care.

Rushman Dec 20th 2007 11:39 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Duncan Roberts (Post 5686245)
Can of petrol, some matches and an insurance claim form?

Funny you should say that.

Silly Sod Dec 20th 2007 11:42 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by TimNiceBut (Post 5689972)
The car's not on finance then by any chance? Not on a personal loan, but the kind of car finance that shows up on an HPI check?

If it does, the car would most likely be very hard to sell privately - if it's valuable enough for you to have gap insurance, chances are that a potential buyer will run an HPI check...

In that case, the first people you'd need to call before even advertising the car would be your finance company. Of course if your wife has bought the car on HP (Hire Purchase) and paid off more than 50% of the value of the car, there'd also be the option of handing it back to the finance company.

As pretty much everybody else said already, it's a bad time to sell a car in the UK so your wife needs to figure that into the price. I've bought and sold both motorbikes and cars via ebay, haven't had any real problems with that so far but you pretty much take the same risk every time you sell a vehicle privately - sometimes you just get a muppet buyer.

Muppets are not real. They can't drive.

Silly Sod Dec 20th 2007 11:43 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Rushman (Post 5690532)
Funny you should say that.

Funny ha ha?

veryfunny Dec 21st 2007 5:40 pm

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Duncan Roberts (Post 5686245)
Can of petrol, some matches and an insurance claim form?


:D:D:D

TimNiceBut Dec 21st 2007 7:31 pm

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by dh010447 (Post 5690167)
Yeah - I spoke to the finance company, and they said that it was actually a normal personal loan. They said I could sell it if I wanted to and they wouldn't care.

That'll make it easier I guess. Not that some finance companies haven't got that wrong, but if is a personal loan it'd make the whole thing a lot easier. I recall that a poster on one of the personal finance boards I read having that issue with a well-known finance company with a horse in their logo, who were adamant that a HP agreement was a personal loan when it wasn't...

Anyway, IME the best way to offload a vehicle quickly if you're willing to take the hit would be ebay, but at the cost of selling it cheap. Same goes for a lot of the other quick ways of selling a car like selling it through a car auction (which I wouldn't recommend, because it seems that private entries to the regular trade auctions tend to be viewed with suspicion by most traders). If the car is remotely special/sporty, you may also want to have a look at advertising it via a website like Pistonheads or an owners forum.

Rushman Dec 23rd 2007 2:16 pm

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5690541)
Funny ha ha?

No..funny as in coincidental.

Patrick Hasler Dec 23rd 2007 3:42 pm

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5686603)
I think patrick Hassler (was it Pat?) just had his stolen by a conman. He took a hit on it too but at least it was one less thing to worry about :)

There is ONE 'S' in HASLER ;)

I can get hold of the con mans number if you want :)

Silly Sod Dec 23rd 2007 4:07 pm

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Patrick Hasler (Post 5701092)
There is ONE 'S' in HASLER ;)

I can get hold of the con mans number if you want :)

I might be able to buy your car whn we get home lol :thumbsup:

AngloDreamer Dec 24th 2007 9:30 am

Re: What to do with my car?
 

Originally Posted by Duncan Roberts (Post 5686245)
Can of petrol, some matches and an insurance claim form?

Works for me that one.


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