- 05/25/2014
- 2 Min Read
- By: Alex Fiehl
3 Mistakes When Selling a Car & How to Avoid Them
Used cars make our automotive hobby exciting. The thrill of the chase is often half the fun. We all know what we want, and we're usually willing to travel immense distances to get it. Us enthusiasts know that our mythical T5-M, Viggen, M3 or AMG is out there - we just have to find a seller worth our time. Herein lies the problem - It's becoming more difficult to find and buy our precious classics because sellers are getting lazier and lazier.
The Overly Obvious Dealer Ad
Every Sunday morning I sit down at the table with a hot cup of coffee to check the classified ads in the newspaper. My father and I always enjoy finding new leftover stock priced below invoice even though we have no intentions of snapping one up. It's a nice way to start the day, until I start reading the fine print. There always seems to be a late model Audi A4 (or similar) advertised as: "PW/PL, TILT, AIR, 2.0T, LOW MI CALL BOB." Wow! These are some real handy features here. I had no idea a 2009 A4 could be optioned with crank windows, manual locks, and no A/C. (Pro-Tip: It can't.)
Who writes these things? Any informed buyer shopping for this type of vehicle is looking for features like "Premium Pkg," and "Bang & Olufsen," not "Leather + Ice cold A/C!" This kind of half-assed advertising just pushes me away, back upstairs to lurk online forum classifieds until 2AM.
The Useless Photos Craigslist Ad
Craigslist has helped me find some great cars over the years. In fact, once you sift through the seemingly endless amount of Corsicas, Escorts, Cavaliers, and F150s, it's actually a pretty cool melting pot of makes and models to learn from. However, the simplicity and ease of Craigslist can be its downfall for enthusiast buyers that are looking for a well cared for vehicle. Anyone is capable of making an ad, and sometimes this can produce some interesting results.
In the market for a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee? Neither am I. This particular ad sealed the deal when the photos loaded:
[gallery columns="4" ids="3198,3201,3202,3203"]
They either focused on the flaws, or absolutely nothing at all. What's especially frustrating is e-mailing a seller for more photos only to receive the same photos that were in the ad. It's important to get a good idea of a vehicle's condition prior to making the (often wasted) trip out to see it. Some sellers just don't get it, and it's a shame this is the norm. I wish I could be a Craigslist moderator.
The Overly Brief Craigslist Ad
Here we have a silver example of the venerable 2004 Volvo S80. It has what appears to be between 100,000 and 100,100mi on the odometer, which is super important when it's the only detail provided. And that's about as much information as you're gonna get. (Yes, that's the whole ad.) These quick-thinking sellers are usually the type to respond to e-mails with "Just come see it" rather than spending twenty minutes typing up a good vehicle history and sale ad. More info in the ad equals less e-mails in your inbox asking the same questions that should have been answered to begin with.
What should every ad have?
A sale ad should not only present the vehicle in its best light, but it should present the seller in their best light as well. An ad is a reflection of the owner. Poor grammar, low knowledge of features, and short advertisements can mean a car is a quick flip or was owned by someone that didn't know how to take care of their car.
I went nuts trying to sell my Camry, and it took over 13 months to finally sell despite giving it its own website. However, whenever I got an inquiry, they were straight to the point with no questions - "When can I arrange to see the car?" The buyer knew that I not only took care of this car, but could tell I take care of every car/lawnmower/leafblower I own.
An ad can never be too thorough. At a minimum, I always try to list the following things:
- Mileage
- # of previous owners
- Clean title (or otherwise)
- Powertrain and Transmission type
- Trim level (Limited, SE, GLT)
- All recent maintenance
If the car has special features, go nuts. People love rear heated seats and sunshades.
Take hundreds of pictures. Really - take as many as you can, come back to your computer and pick 15-20 (or more) of the best ones and work with those. If I can take a thirteen minute YouTube video for my lowly Camry, anyone can post 15 pictures of their car. No pets, baby seats, or food are allowed to be present. Gut the interior, clean it 100%, and take pictures as if the car was brand new. Remember - nobody wants to take a test drive with crumbs in the shift boot and dog hair on the seat. My personal sale-prep usually takes a week or two of scrubbing, polishing, waxing, and vacuuming, because first impressions are golden.
It's okay to list negatives, but try to avoid a long list. If you're going to advertise a car with "Needs a headlight and rear pads," that immediately translates to: Get online to buy some brake pads and a bulb. With less things wrong, the less haggle-room there is. Get the easy stuff taken care of and reduce the negatives to the simple things that won't turn buyers away, like minor cosmetic issues. Most cars aren't perfect, but don't be the guy that says "Has a code for MAF sensor don't have time to replace it easy fix." It shows a lack of care, and that's all I ask for.
About the Author: Alex Fiehl
Alex is FCP's Blog Editor and an IT technician from Endwell, NY. He has over 8 years of experience working on a wide array of import makes, but lately is partial to Volvo . For some reason he just purchased a Volkswagen, and is excited to see what breaks first.
