How to price your car on bulletin boards
The used car market is dynamic. It is formed by both companies and private sellers. At the same time, the prices for cars indicated in the ads do not always correspond to the real ones. That is why when self-assessing a car on bulletin boards, there is a risk of making a mistake: overestimating or underestimating your car. To prevent this from happening, let's figure out who sells used cars and what can be hidden when selling on bulletin boards.
Who sells used cars on boards
At the time of this writing, one of the most popular used car marketplaces has 547,449 listings, of which 85.83% are private (6% of them are from sellers who have owned a car for less than one year, which could mean a large some of these ads were submitted by a reseller). 10.35% of ads are ads from unofficial dealers and 3.82% are offers from official dealerships. What are their differences?
Official dealers
Official dealers are official distributors. As for used cars, they most often get into such salons through Trade-in or programs for the sale of certified used cars. Such programs promise the client the purchase of a reliable and proven car, usually with a guarantee. The prices are higher than the unofficial ones.
Unofficial dealers
Unofficials are not associated with the manufacturer and independently decide in what technical condition to sell the car. Such dealers form a fleet of cars through auctions, buyback from individuals or legal entities, as well as Trade-in. But if the dealer's name does not contain the word “official”, this does not mean that he will not give guarantees for the car. For example, Automama, a used car retail chain, guarantees customers that the cars they sell meet the declared specifications. If, within 30 days after the purchase of the car, malfunctions of the engine, gearbox, running gear or safety systems are found that are not listed in the Automama diagnostic sheet, and are not related to improper operation of the car, the company will eliminate them at its own expense.
Private sellers
Individuals independently set the price and do not bear any legal responsibility for possible deception about the technical condition of the car when selling.
resellers
The main task is to buy cheap and sell expensive. The first problem can be solved in several ways:
- Monitor message boards daily for falsely low prices;
- Get a discount from an unprepared seller of a car in good condition;
- Find cars for restoration.
But it often happens that the cost of restoration is not comparable to the cost of the car itself. Therefore, often the “restoration” is only to create a visual effect. The quality of the technical condition of such a car, of course, remains in question. Also, do not compare the price of these cars with identical dealers.
What sellers hide on bulletin boards
According to Automama statistics, the older the car, the more sellers do not provide a complete list of defects. For example, in 2019, 85% of the cars bought by the company were repaired before being sold. At the same time, the average cost of one repair amounted to 25,000 conventional units. This does not mean that the seller is dishonest, it happens that the owner himself does not know about the hidden defects of the car.
As a rule, the boards do not reflect:
- Actual condition of body and interior
- Real technical condition
- Correspondence of the real VIN-number specified in the ad
Site rating
To determine the recommended market value of your car, anyone can use the free AUTOCHECK service on the Automama.ru website. This service analyzes all current offers for the sale of cars, as well as the real transaction prices at dealers and at the Automama auction.
It is convenient to use, since the user only needs to specify the characteristics of the car. After that, within a few seconds, the market is analyzed and the recommended market price is calculated, for which this car can be sold on bulletin boards within 30 days. If the car is needed as soon as possible, AUTOCHECK will show the price that will be offered for the sale of the car in 1 day.
If this car meets the Automama retail standards, then the user will receive a sale offer directly on the site, which will differ from the recommended retail price due to a small commission.
If the sale offer is accepted, an Automama car inspection expert will come to any place convenient for you in the cities of the company's presence: Moscow, Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don.
At the request of the client or in case of an appointment for an inspection, Automama sends an extended report by e-mail with a price offer and information on the dependence of the price of this model on the modification.
At the same time, the report does not take into account offers with unreliable data and unrealistic prices.
