Buying from private sellers - advice needed

[JKG 16]

Ok, so I am in need of some advice, my ears & eyes are wide open 

Business hasn't been performing as well as I would like over the past 12 months, and I know exactly why, I don't have much trouble selling cars, the problem is sourcing them, I buy all my stock from the block, but they either sit in the workshop for too long, cost too much to turn around which eats the profit or I have to overpay to get a quality car which again eats the profit, I pride myself on supplying 100% quality cars so cutting back on prep is not an option for me, I exhausted all my local main dealers last year which came to nothing so that option is a no go, which is why after much thinking, drinking & head scratching I have decided to ditch the block & buy private, there are plenty of bargains around & I have the time to source them/view them e.t.c so I figured it's worth a try.

The only thing that puts me off is I've only ever purchased from a private seller once, I had a customer who wanted a specific car which I found on AT at a very good price, I was open & honest, very polite, didn't try finding a million faults to get the price down (because I'm a nice guy), all I got in return was attitude, he refused to let me have the logbook, made me fill it out in my name, wanted to see my driving licence because he didn't believe my name is Jon Smith (no it really is!), so the whole situation was a royal pain in the backside!

Do any of you source private & how do you deal with them, open and honest or "it's for my brother"

[justina3 518]

I always do open and honest cant be messing around with all the rubbish, they either want to deal with you or dont if they dont then i just walk away, 

Your clearly not alone with your business not doing as well as you would like, i got the feeling its only going to get worse. 

I also over prep cars but then my come back rate is very very low I would rather that than have people coming back every five mins with niggles 

I have had some mega bargins over the years from local people but no where near enough to keep the yard full of stock I just scrap it out at the auctions 

 

 

[Tom 164]

I advertise that we buy cars that does work well, I usually get them for a very good price as they just want the money. I've had some real bargains doing this; I used to buy privately but its hassle driving round finding peoples house. then finding the car is a tub etc. At least with auctions you get a condition report and mechanical report so you can see what you're buying. I know what you mean though the fees do kill it but its finding the right cars where you can rack the margin up and ignore the price guides. 

[Steve92 80]

I'm currently on a train heading to Stockport to look at an sq5 as a private sale, yesterday was Leeds for a z4 and earlier in the week Swansea for a 428i, all private. You have to be prepared to travel and buy a return ticket. Some people hate traders, some don't give a stuff and some prefer it as the transactions are much smoother. 

[Max Branning 149]

More often than not private sellers will want retail money for the car. If they have gone through the effort of listing the car online there is a good chance they have already price compared with dealers. Go along and offer them CAP clean and they will laugh at you. Only exception to this is the people that want to offload the car to the likes of WBAC etc.

Advertising in the local rag is not a bad way to get a few bargains we did this years ago but be prepared for lots of timewasters and liars, and also it is hard to compete with the online buyers these days.

If you are looking for specialised stuff like steve seems to be doing then buying privately can work.

[JKG 16]

37 minutes ago, Max Branning said:

More often than not private sellers will want retail money for the car. If they have gone through the effort of listing the car online there is a good chance they have already price compared with dealers. Go along and offer them CAP clean and they will laugh at you. Only exception to this is the people that want to offload the car to the likes of WBAC etc.

Advertising in the local rag is not a bad way to get a few bargains we did this years ago but be prepared for lots of timewasters and liars, and also it is hard to compete with the online buyers these days.

If you are looking for specialised stuff like steve seems to be doing then buying privately can work.

I use to be an anything & everything dealer, but I mainly buy Swedish stuff now, Saab's & Volvo's aren't for everyone but I find they sell well & the buyers tend to be more mature

[Jon Hickey 2]

Have you taken a look at Tootle?  They are in essence a broker service between private sellers and trade buyers - no sign up fees so well worth a look. They also tell the customer what the likely value of their car is to a trade buyer, based on CAP clean money so this should take away the surprise that their car is not worth retail money to a dealer

[Steve92 80]

Yes there are a lot of private customers wanting retail money but you can sometimes get the down, today's was advertised as 31k, we had agreed 29k, when we got there it hadn't got the b&o as advertised so we reduced our offer but as expected the seller declined so I'm now back on the train.

[M.J 35]

I used to buy a mixture of auction and private stuff and what i found ironically was that a lot of the private sellers are more unscrupulous than the auctions, lots of lies, hiding things, a few clocked cars, etc. You've got more of a guarantee with the auction stuff funnily enough.

[JKG 16]

Thanks for your input everyone, much appreciated 

[It's me 615]

make sure you drive private sale cars, we used to buy on viewing only to find there was no clutch even though it felt fine on their drives

if you can run an advert in your local area     'we buy cars for cash, collect today'     hpi afore ye go and double check for clones it can be worthwhile when these cars usually turn up to be in peoples way because they thought it was worth more than they were offered previously,always kick them when their down too

[Rory RSC 596]

I like the volume buying approach they can't all be knackered right  ?

although some weeks I do wonder 

[Steve92 80]

For me when viewing a private car I let them drive me to see how they drive, then I have a quick 10 minute drive, then I will go through the paperwork, check the car over and then if we are happy we will buy the car. If we are not at the v5 address we ask for copies of passports or driving licences. If your inside the house look at the pictures and see if they are the ones in them. Trust you gut instinct and break down the train tickets for cheaper fares.

Oh and you can also call the dealers and check the history

[metcars 397]

6 hours ago, M.J said:

I used to buy a mixture of auction and private stuff and what i found ironically was that a lot of the private sellers are more unscrupulous than the auctions, lots of lies, hiding things, a few clocked cars, etc. You've got more of a guarantee with the auction stuff funnily enough.

+1

[Steve92 80]

The other thing to bare in mind other than you have to travel is that you have to go the same day to view it and be prepared to meet them after work. It's why so far this week I'm on 52 hours ....