Second hand car market - what’s going on?

[lesernle]

So I have a car I’m looking to sell. Not interested in trade ins. It’s a 5 year old Toyota with 30k KMs. Very well looked after.

All the dealers I’ve spoken to are claiming to be over-stocked and are offering me approx 50% of what the same car is listed at on car zone.

I know they need to make a mark up but 50%? why is everyone complaining about the high cost of buying second hand cars if there is (supposedly) a massive over supply and I can’t get rid of mine???

 

[rochelle]

@lesernle Honestly I've always sold my cars privately, you get absolutely ripped on a trade in.

 

[lesernle]

@rochelle Yeah learning that the hard way. I did feel like I didn’t get completely ripped off by dealers in the past but maybe I was naive!

 

[cyndinicole]

@rochelle I’m the same but I’ve found the more costly your second hand car is, the less likely you’ll find a private buyer willing to take a punt on it.

Sold many cars €20-25k, pickings become very slim.

 

[savedbygracethrufaith]

@rochelle From my experience, that only works on cars up to a value of 5-6k. Beyond that price, most people are having to finance their purchases and banks have restricted financing of cars for private sale.

 

[emily2019]

@rochelle Likewise, have never traded in to a dealer. If you trade well yourself in the car market its possible to upgrade the years and lower the mileage from the old car to the new car for not much extra money. My last upgrade cost only €300 and for that I got a car two years newer and with 50k less kilometres on it. Also made a €1,500 profit on the old car after using it myself for 18 months but that was more a function of a neighbour just wanting to get rid of it, I got lucky there.

 

[holyshield]

@emily2019 There’s a price ceiling beyond which most people aren’t as willing to buy a car with zero comeback. It’s fine if you’re selling a car worth sub €5k but the pool of prospective buyers grows vanishingly thin as you go up in value.