To sell my car privately? Or chicken in a part exchange for peanuts?

[puzzledpiece]

Basically that. I intend to have some minor work done, new tyres and get the service and MOT done a month early. Its in lovely condition and reasonable mileage. 6 years old.

I will lose £500 if i part ex.

How do people pay you? Do you let them test drive it? How do you check their insurance?

I am risk averse but need the money for a better car.

What % is £500? How much would the MOT and tyres etc cost? Or does the px value take those in to consideration?

Selling it yourself could take ages. You need people to bring evidence of insurance or buy your own insurance which covers others. Can you buy the new car without selling the old one? If you do, remember you can't use your no claims bonus on both insurance policies.

People will waste your time, tyre kick. People will haggle.

Personally I'd just part ex!

£3700 private sale, I'd accept £3500. They can haggle down to 3500
Part ex is around £2700

I need almost £7000 for the new (2018) one.

It needs some work (was advisory 9 months ago) I pay into a service plan so that wont cost much, £200-250 to get it up to scratch, and super saleable. If I part ex they would knock me down further because of the work, tyres etc. I wouldn't be able to afford the car I want.

I wont let anyone test drive as its too much hassle.
I need to know how they would pay, I've heard about bank transfers going wrong, and I'm worried about fake £20 notes.

I could afford the new car without selling the other one and sell at my leisure, but then i have the worry of two insurances

There has to be a secure way of doing it People do it all the time

I've used BCA Car Auctions in the past and been very satisfied with them. You will get more if you have a full documented Service History. You can give them a minimum you will accept, but if you don't reach that you'll have to take the car away again.

I've got a better price than part ex, could possibly have got more privately but there was no risk and no hassle. I took the car there and when it was sold they took their fee and sent me the money.

The problem is that the sites can be in places that are very hard to get home from without a car - ie when you've left it there.

I part exchanged my last car, they hardly even checked anything on it, mileage, engine turns on etc. I had the figure in mind that I wanted and they offered exactly that. I could of got more private selling but I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle for an extra few hundred and the risk they might come back to me if it develops a fault.

I wouldn't buy a car without driving it when there is no come back if its faulty.
If you wont let someone drive it, I suspect you need to auction/part ex or we buy any car type place.

@RedCatBlueCat The could sit in the car while i drove it and i would let them drive it around a disused car park locally, its just I'm not prepared to let them drive on the road.

Not keen on auction as they would take a fee and I'd end up with the same as part ex I'll check out some guidance from the AA as I'm a member

I wont let anyone test drive as its too much hassle.
I need to know how they would pay, I've heard bank transfers going wrong, and I'm worried about fake £20 notes.

I don't know anyone who would buy a car without test driving it themselves. And you'd still need to check insurance if you let them drive it in a carpark - the no insurance on private land clause only applies if YOU OWN the private land.

As for paying, I think that's the risk you take. I'd only accept a bank transfer though.

I've sold 2 cars privately via auto trader. I've let them test drive up and down the street. They normally give me their car keys and my husband has been in the front with them.
I've only exchanged with Cash.

I wouldn’t buy a car I couldn’t take for a proper test drive.

If you’re that risk averse, go for the part exchange.

If you don't mind the extra effort then sell privately: why wouldn't you want more money? If you're busy/don't have the time, then part exchange. Personally I always sell privately and put the money I would of lost into a savings account

I've part exchanged and was offered more than I got offered privately. But I also would not buy a car I haven't driven.
My cousin sold her car on Ebay and the guy paid cash (several thousand).

I sold privately. I was bricking myself that the two youths who bought it would drive off with it, and even more so when they gave me £7,000 in cash. But the bank accepted it, and the best a dealer would offer was £5,000, so all's well that ends well!

When I part exchanged my car, they didn’t even get inside it. They offered me a figure based purely on the full service history and looking at it from the outside. They only asked “does everything work?” So I’m not sure you need to do so much work to it.

I looked on we buy any car and the price they offered was good, but it dependent on what they see when I take the car for inspection so the work would be best done, but I'll definitely see if they would take it for the price I want.

I bought this car from a dealer without a test drive. I said I've been driving the same model for 4 years, so I know how they drive. Just bought it and drove it off 😀. I'm buying from a dealer as I don't have the balls to buy privately, but I know most of the bargains are there, along with the disasters.

I'll give it all some serious thought x

Save yourself the time and effort and just part ex I'd say!

I've been driving the same model for 4 years, so I know how they drive

That's not the reason you should test drive!

I would part exchange because it's easier but I would t spend any money on it first. Just let it go as it is.

*wouldn't

You don’t know that you can definitely get the private sale price for it though.

Don’t use we buy any car, they’ll knock loads off. Go to a decent car dealer. We’ve gone through the car shop a few times - they’re pushy on trying to sell you their finance deals, but they’ve always given us exactly what their website estimates for px and sold us the car we’ve seen on the website for the value stated.

Also if your MOT has an advisory 9 months ago you really should have had that seen to by now.

I've been driving the same model for 4 years, so I know how they drive

Seriously! That is exactly why you should test drive it! If it drove differently to ones you've had previously, it would indicate a problem. A car which doesn't eccelerate smoothly or has a heavy clutch for example.

Eccelerate must have had my Weetabix yet! Obviously I mean accelerate!

With PX you are not losing £500, you are buying a stress free, no hassle, quick way of selling your car.

You need to decided whether the issues that worry you - test drive, payment, insurance, how long the car will take to sell etc are worth £500 to px.