Private Sale or Trade in?

[SAPH]

Guys,

Is selling private always the best deal (ie result in the most $$$) compared to trade in?

What is your personal experience?

Cheers

[MatsHolden]

Private sale you will always get more than trade in. Trade in though is more convenient as you don't have to wait for a buyer to come along.

[pred8r]

I know private sale is better, but it can take SO long to get a bite, usually because of the price.

Trade-in is better, if you consider the possibility not selling, more repayments, tyre kickers etc.
If you do a shop around of dealers (shop around for the best trade-in price, works VERY well on new cars.) will minimise your losses and be SO MUCH quicker and easier.

[EL BURITO]

I tryed selling my old car when i got my new one and ended up havin 2 cars for 4 mths then my dad ended up buying the thing off me anyways and giving it to my brother. (didnt help that ppl dont know wat an Alto is)

It all depends on how quick u wanna get rid of your current wheels or if u can afford to have 2 cars sittin at home

[pred8r]

I tryed selling my old car when i got my new one and ended up havin 2 cars for 4 mths then my dad ended up buying the thing off me anyways and giving it to my brother. (didnt help that ppl dont know wat an Alto is)

It all depends on how quick u wanna get rid of your current wheels or if u can afford to have 2 cars sittin at home

Oooh Ooooh its a diahat... no hond... no ummm suzuki

[EL BURITO]

yerr i was my little Suzuki both my little bros have one. a green and a white one

[mark_hamilton]

ik the uk i find that a private sale means you will get more money, but as said above, it can generally take allot longer to get the sale....thats the only down side..sometimes you will get lucky with a trade in...but its quite rare :(

[Charlatan]

Nothing like having a dozen text messages a day offering you less than half your asking price for a car they havent seen. Then there are the idiots who dont show up, the ones who think a 4 cyl should rev well past 7 thou, and then when you finally finish negotiating with them and had your balls nailed to the table turn around and say "nah bro, couldnt get the finance".

Trade-in!

[btm]

without knowing the full situation (ie. what you're selling/buying etc) it a bit hard to answer the question...

But from my personal experience, i would chose trade-in again - just dont get screwed into a price by the dealer - they want the sale just as much as you do :)

[woody]

I have always done a private sale as i've found i will get far more for the vehicle that way. Trade in will always be about 2 grand less then private sale market unless as BTM said you can negotiate a good price with the dealer.

[CJB]

I tried selling my Barina private sale - I had it advertised for 2 weeks, and got no sale... in the end I sold it to a caryard - they had it for 4 days and it sold.

You get more private sale, but it's the time factor as had been mentioned.

You could sell in 2 days, or it could take 2 months. It's an unknown.

[astro boy]

I'd trade it in. The hassel of privately selling it is too much. You get some tyre kickers coming around to your place. They always want to take it for a test drive, and you have to get into your car with a couple of complete strangers.

[xplosv57]

After having my commodore advertised for over 6 months, i traded it in, was offered $1500 by 3 dealers over the phone. Gave the car a tidy up and when the dealer saw it they gave me $3000 :)
Tips: Tyre shine is the bomb and if they ask u to start ur car (and u know it sounds like s...), make sure the stereo is cranked up, works a treat!!!

If your car is old or common, trade in is better don't have to worry about RWC or anything, otehrwise if u got a fairly new car or something others might want, stick with private sale just have a realistic price on it!!

[01CDsedan]

When I bought my Astra, I sold my previous Gemini in about three days privately (for $3200 when the tradein offer was $1000), and last year we sold our Charade in the paper on the same day it was advertised (just selling it, weren't buying a replacement so no tradein offer). So private sales work well for cheaper cars, at least.

When I replace the Astra with a VE SS (I hope...), I think I'll be inclined to trading it in, for the simple reason that it'll be newer than either of those two cars I mentioned and therefore not as cheap, but also because it will have a ridiculous number of km on the clock by then and I can't imagine that selling it will be easy. Actually, I'd really prefer on the whole to keep it - not quite ready to part with it just yet - so maybe a low-ball trade in offer would be doing me a favour, giving me an excuse to hang on to it when I buy the SS.

[imay]

Trade it in.
No advertising, no waiting by the phone, no staying home waiting for some thieving git to check out your car, your home, your situation. No hassel with insurance, or someone else's speeding/traffic fines, or abuse of your current pride and joy.
Go shopping but first make sure you are settled on how much you can afford to spend all up (govt. taxes, registration, transfer fees, etc.) are be aware of what your car is realistically worth, not what you THINK it is worth. If the car yard isn't prepared to do you a deal that you are happy with . . . walk away. If they have the car that you really, really would like to be driving home in, leave your name and number and let them chase you. If they don't call, you were never going to get the deal that you wanted anyway. There is always another great deal at another car yard. If you are a little unsure, take a mate or family member along as an observer and for support (before, during and after).
Enjoy the experience, but don't stress, don't believe the crap the salesman is telling you (that's his job and he's probably good at it), and if it doesn't sound genuine . . . it isn't! Walk away.

Oh . . . good luck, and remember to have fun.

[RudeOne]

I have sold 10 cars private in the last 5 years for myself, others and work, and never held the car for more then 14 days (lowastra can confirm). YOu just have to choose the right place to advertise, the right wording and photos and ofcourse a fair price.

3 of those cars have been astra's!

If you can handle all the con's to selling private go for it - the extra $$ is always better!!