What’s your car worth?
What’s your car worth? That depends on where you sell it! As we reveal in an exclusive investigation, its value could fluctuate by thousands of pounds…
It’s a question we all want to know the answer to: How much is my car worth? More to you than the man on the street, probably. But what about your local franchised dealer or car supermarket?
This question has become increasingly difficult to answer over the past three years, partly thanks to a yo-yoing second-hand market, but also due to the ever-increasing range of potential buyers. Taking advantage of this uncertainty are the likes of Webuyanycar.com, which was rapped back in April by the Office of Fair Trading for backpedalling on its online valuations “sometimes by hundreds of pounds”.
So how much variation is there in the perceived price tag of any one car? Auto Express decided to find out. Posing as a seller, we headed out to obtain quotes for an immaculate 2005 Audi A2 TDI, prepared by the manufacturer itself, with a mere 32,500 miles on the clock.
And we were amazed by the results, with nearly £3,000 between the highest and lowest prices offered. Over the next three pages, we reveal our shock findings…
Webuyanycar.com
Online valuation: £4,570
Actual valuation: £4,190Â
Before we arrived, we knew the price we’d get from Webuyanycar was low: the online quote was a measly £4,570, compared to the £5,900 estimate from price guide CAP. But hopes rise after one of the two-man team at the New Addington office near Croydon, London, describes our A2’s condition as “showroom” during his 10-minute inspection. He looks at the body, spends little time in the cabin and none driving the car.
Back in the office, we ask casually which price guide Webuyanycar uses to value the motors. “Our own,” is the reply. “If we went by the guides, we’d be broke tomorrow.”
Our car is worth £4,190, minus a £50 transaction fee. When asked why so low, the member of staff tells us Audi’s annual oil inspection hadn’t made it into the service book, and he’d pay £252 more if we come back with the second key.
Fair enough: Audi does charge £220 for a spare. But the real kicker is the £101 deducted due to a “deep” scratch on the door that is barely noticeable.
Main dealer trade-inÂ
Valuation: £5,500
A main dealer of premium brand cars would surely see the sales potential in our A2, wouldn’t it? We’re at Cooper BMW in Croydon, Surrey, to trade in our Audi for a used 318i Touring, and we tell the saleswoman that we’re looking for the best possible price. Her inspection is brief, but at least it includes a test drive – even if it is only a quick spin around the dealer’s car park.
According to Adrian Rushmore, managing editor of price analyst Glass’s Guide, dealers will balance the cost of the trade-in against the discount of the car: “If the customer thinks that the model is worth £5,000 and they’re unlikely to budge, the salesman will construct the deal so they get £5,000,” he says.
We’re careful not to give a figure to Cooper. We’re told that the firm likes the A2 enough to sell the car in its Audi dealer, candidly revealing that it will probably be priced at between £6,495 and £6,995. So what will Cooper give us? “Between £5,250 and £5,500.”
When pressed, the dealer agrees to the higher figure, but it’s still galling to think Cooper could net a £1,500 profit on top of what it’s already making on the 3 Series.
We also found another, higher-mileage A2 TDI for sale at Lake District Audi, Cumbria, for £7,995, throwing doubt on the quoted figure.
When we question why the price is below CAP’s £5,900 trade-in figure, we’re told that it would have been higher by £500 if the car had a panoramic sunroof. So it seems as if even the best A2 in the country is not good enough!
Used dealer trade-inÂ
Valuation: £5,500
The used dealer we found would surely know the worth of our A2. McCarthy Cars is in Croydon, but it also has a thriving site a few miles north in posh Clapham, where Audis are popular. With the luxurious yet frugal supermini still boasting a strong London following, it’d soon be snapped up.
The story is that we want to trade in the car for a 2008 Qashqai, and our cheerful salesman immediately extracts the Nissan from a crowd of Range Rover Sports.
Next, he takes the quickest look yet at the Audi and heads back in to do the HPI report, coming up with… £5,000.
We query this and he immediately ups it to £5,300. We mention BMW offered £5,500, and with no teeth-sucking he promises to match it. Then we notice that his HPI report states the CAP trade-in price: £5,900 for clean condition. He’s already agreed that the A2 is in great nick: why the difference?
The next bit is pure salesman. The V5 says the car’s had two former keepers, but with Audi as the third, us as the fourth, the new owner will be the fifth… and that’s what’s kept the value down. Technically correct, but what buyer would count themselves as an owner and consider this a problem?
Private sale
Valuation: £7,000
So, how much could we make selling our A2 privately? It isn’t ours to move on, of course, so we scour the ads for a similar car. Naturally, asking and selling price are two very different things; we go one better and contact someone who’s just sold his.
Dean Collier’s A2 was immaculate. As with ours, his was one of the last diesels from 2005, with similarly low mileage – only 27,000 – and he priced it accordingly. “People said £7,000 is too high,” Dean, a window fitter from Rugby, Warks, tells us. “But it had a full service history and very high spec. It was a nice car.” Just like ours.
He posted it on the classifieds section of a motoring forum, and didn’t get a great response at first. “I had a few silly offers, but I wasn’t going to take £5,000,” he says. And then, two weeks after he’d posted the ad, he got a call from an old gent in Scotland, who came down on the train, paid the full price and drove back home the same day.
The conclusion? Private sales, while neither quick nor easy, can be cost-effective if you’re patient. “I knew I’d get the money due to the nick the car was in,” Dean says.
Related with this news Japan Auto Store's other car news
