Why selling my BMW 320d xDrive privately sucked and how I sold it instead!  

Buying a car is one of the eisiest things known to man, Selling the same car is one of lifes hardest thing to do.

I bought my last car privately, the book price on it was £6,500 and it was advertised at £3,995. There were a few cosmetic issues but nothing major and it needed a really good clean inside but paid the asking price for it after a short test drive and about 30mins of speaking to the owner and having a good look. I got it home and there were a few lights on the dash after a few days but turned out to just be a faulty ABS sensor so I paid about £200 at my local garage including an Aircon regas and jobs a goodun. Saved quite a lot over what I would have paid at a dealer even paying the seller the fullasking price because I could see that the cosmetic damage (which I can fix myself when I get round to it but doesn't affect the way it drives at all) was reflected in the price it was advertised at. I hate selling cars privately personally and tend to keep them as long as I can before selling them for scrap.

Sold my 15 month old low mileage Mercedes CLA 35 through Carwow. Buyer was a dealer from Hull and got the train up to Scotland where I met him at the station then went back to my house. Money paid by bank transfer and he drove the car away...all quick and super easy. Using sites like Carwow or Motorway is the only way to do it in my opinion, because even though my car genuinely was in 'showroom condition' I'm sure I would have had the same hassle as you if trying to sell to a private buyer.

I used Motorway and my experience was the same. Got the money they offered in the bank before they drive away. Probably use them again

Excellent video, thanks. Love how the used-car salesmen (the ones that cannot write properly) are bleating in comments; you must have hit the nail on the head!

15 months! My car (not a BMW, by the by) will be 20 years old this August (i special ordered it, bought it brand new), and the only way I'd ever get rid of it is if they pried it from my cold, dead hands! A new car every 15 months -- that is a BRUTAL financial hit, just for that new car smell and extra electronics and shitty firmware, where each year the chance that something will bust because of complexity increases...

My friend. I feel every bit of pain that you've just been through as I've experienced it all recently all from that cess pit called buying and selling cars. Long story short: Sold a car on Motorway. last year. Price was knocked down. from the agreed price (ce'st la vie I guess)..Later found out that the dealer who bought it later sold it with 20,000 miles less than they bought it from me with! Reported them... Bought another car recently which I later found out had been clocked...Sold to WBAC with mileage discrepancy disclosed.. Same car ended up in the hands of a Main Dealer who made a massive 8K on it.. (They Probably forget to declare the car's dodgy past to the unsuspecting new owner). Moral of this story: Buyer AND Seller beware. What can I can say is that there are some genuine, HONEST buyers and sellers out there, but they are extremely few and far between.. The rest are just a bunch of brainless timewasters who enjoy annoying you with silly offers... "What's your lowest Price Bro"?..... Glad you made a good sale to a proper buyer in the end.

My bmw 435i had all the following faults when I sold it to some garage from motorway. 4 bald tyres, knocking from the front, broken aircon (bmw had quoted me 2k to fix) due a service and was pulling to one side. I listed all the faults and the guy came and gave me what I wanted. Next day it was up for 4k more on their site clean MOT but wheels had been painted black and they added a crappy front lip spoiler thing. When zooming in the pics they had clearly just bodged the mot as I seen my same old bald tyres on there... I called anonymously and asked about the aircon and all this stuff saying "common faults these have they been done" and they like yeah no record of it but is all working 😂 load of bollocks

Great learning video! Thanks. In my driving life I have sold two cars privately BUT both these instances were to people who knew me AND knew the car, instant sale and no comebacks. The others I traded in for another car but two I wanted to sell I sold to the trade, lower money BUT lower distress from private sale probs. Trade sales are great for speed and no comebacks and get rid BEFORE something major does go wrong with the car whilst trying to sell, and no time wasters! Two cars sold in two weeks. Move on to the next no trade in, cash buy! Trade each and every time for me.

Great Video. I live in Northwest, Northern Ireland. I fly to GB to buy my cars. I would fly to Northern Scotland to buy the right car. I agree a price on the phone.

is Dundee far from where you live then? Or is it 2 mins away? Did you think we all knew where you live? So selling a car privately hasn't changed in the last 40 years. As a rule I don't waste time with Pakistanis or Indians, they are always looking for a cheap deal and most can't even pay the asking price. As for your knowledge on selling car - it seems limited, like a 10 years olds.... for example you think a dealer would sell your car for £15 and so they should give you £12 ? After the prep and warranty which they have to give no BMW dealer will do this for less than £1000... so basically no dealer will give you £12K (you are dreaming).

I don't bother selling privately anymore. The financial hit from not trading in or selling to a dealer is offset by the amount of time I waste with tyre kickers, advertising and waiting around for people. The reason people ask what you will accept is is because if it's lower than they were going to offer they have a bargain and if it's higher they know what ballpark they need to be in. Generally speaking the worst negotiating position is to speak first about the price.

Same here used motorway 3 times now and always get the best price as in effect it goes out to auction

Very interesting, nice one.

Never tried it but I think definitely going to be car specific. A grey 320d M Sport is a prime target for dirty chavs and small dealers trying to knock the price down while being quite an abundant generic car for private buyers who probably gravitate towards dealers.

I had the same. Recently I put my car up for sale and just had scammers connecting me. In the end I sold it to Carwow to move it on. Great wee car but people just don’t have the money and most prefer to finance or lease these days

Most people aren’t as honest as you so the used car market is still risky. I bought my 2017 F30 from a local garage, they had bought it from a member of the public. Day 3 I found a knock on the steering rack and it needed a rack rebuild, new motor and steering rod, £2,600. Garage got a third from the warranty company (Warranty Wise) and paid the rest themselves. Personally I would never buy anything more than £3k privately. I find you can buy from a main dealer, negotiate them down and get 2 years warranty at the moment. Sounds like you got a good deal though mate and get to stalk the reductions they make on the car they are now trying to sell 😀

Great ranty video, hope you feel better after it🤣 Just had a similar experience selling a ZSEV to get a MODEL Y.

If someone is interested they’ll drive to see you or get a ride there I bought a used Tacoma and gave the guy $1000 cash so he won’t sell it until I got the rest of the money because it was a good price. It also had a 100k mile warranty. There are deals out there and honest people. I believe in karma for all the low ballers out there.

💯 true ! Nothing but messers when selling cars ! Don’t know how car dealers put with time wasters , messers , dreamers ! Buyers need finance generally on £8 plus stuff !

Everyone posts the price higher than what they really expect, so you MUST expect everyone to expect a discount. Getting all flustered about it is a bit childish. He asks what you will take, you tell him, he counters. In negotiations, the first person to say the price typically loses.

Carwow dealers best offer for one of my cars was 1/3 of the actual price I sold it for privately so never tried them again.

I sold through Motorway. Didn't quite get the price that they valued it at, but the process was straightforward and I'd recommend.

Motorway were excellent twice for me

A sweet Drake, left himself open but didn't get stiched. Well done 😊

Haha this reminds me when i did some work at a restoratiom place and they had slod a fork lift truck on ebay. When they came to pick it up yoi coidl tell it was gonna go tits up, the winning bid from them was £3,600, they came in with 3 gramd cash 😂😂. Onwer of then truck told them to get the fuck off his property even after they pulled out the extra £600 he tefused to sell. Absolute shit kickers.

I feel the pain and I think your remote location was the main barrier. I tend to keep my cars for about 5 years and typically have 3. I have sold privately almost every time with an honest detailed description, good photos and a sensible price. You do have to filter out the wasters. I am very selective when buying and I look after my cars so I know they are usually way better than most other equivalents. When buying the history and spec is super important to me and I will travel to get it. If a car is being sold with any form of non premium or non matching tyre it is an instant fail for me - a simple but effective filter.

Have long since given up on Private Sales it seems to attract the absolute dregs of Society, Selling into the Trade or a Straight PX is worth it when you consider the t wats you have to deal with.

Great vid

Anyway enough about the bmw ! Just getting rid of our x3 I'm sold on the long range long range 3

Good place to sell a car when transmission starts to whine

Nice rant.... Subbed.

Disagree with you, buying from a dealer you have more security than private. As example, if something goes wrong with the car after purchase and it’s not fit for purpose, you can reject the car and get full refund. Yiu can’t do that buying private. I should know, I bought a performance car from a dealer and the engine seized not long after purchase. Thankfully, I got a full refund.

Well last year mate I had a Nissan leaf tekna in red and it was very clean and I put on 2,430 miles and a service and amount of time wasted on people not showing up or trying to buy it for 6000 pound off the price

Imo, selling privately works best if selling cars below £5k, paying with cash or bank transfer. People want finance & warranty on anything more expensive, so they go to retailer dealers.

Enjoyed the video. Thankyou.

I did, from Germany 😊😊😊

What mug sells to these companies? I've always sold cars and been patient. They always sell in the end. Don't expect forecourt prices. Who sell to a company who charge to send the log book off or charge you to have the cash in your bank the same day. Fancy buying a car and telling the seller you will charge them extra to give them money straight away in their bank. They steal your car not buy it .

Advertised a car for £2500. First call - Would you take a grand? No.

trouble nowadays is every back street jack the lad is dealing and looking to buy low and sell high! i couldnt be bothered with the jokers around today on the internet absolute minefield of dickheads

Why did you sell this car?

😂Scooter 10 Miles through the country Lanes

From what i can gather your clueless. 12k for a car that a dealer can only get 15k for sounds like 12k was a fantastic offer. 3k margin is peanuts.

I think you would be a very difficult man to deal with.

Yeah carshop in Wakefield couldn't of come up in a recovery truck or car with a trailer could they. Wtf goes through your mind

Heres the most common scenario: "THREE ASIANS LADS TURNED UP. THEN THE EXHAUST STARTED SMOKING BADLY AND THEY OFFERED ME A FEW HUNDRED QUID FOR THE CAR. THEY WERE INTIMIDATING SO I AGREED"

Its always foreigners, never get a british buyer these days