Its been a while since I've sold a car myself and haven't sold one in this kind of price range. Astons appear to be even more limited in the number of cars available and the pool of buyers than other exotics, so I don't have a good feel for what will work.

I posted the car on Autotrader and Cars.com (along in this forum's section). The other big one I know if is eBay, but I don't think I would ever buy a car through eBay so I didn't think I should try to sell through it. There's also more expensive options like the DuPont Registry, but I don't know if that's worth the cost.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated, especially what people have and have not had success with.

 

Hi Jay,

Beautiful car!

Your seller's notes are very complete and well written. To enhance your ad though, I would suggest getting many more hi-res images.

Maybe take a moment and study what some of the dealers have done, and try to take a page or two from their playbook. Angles, distance from camera to car, lighting, sequence of photos ... all of that is important to make your car stand out from the others.

Best wishes for a fast and full-price sale.

 

IMHO its all about price.... be the lowest priced car on Autotrader... Not by much - but just enough to stand out...

 

I think it may be more difficult to sell an exotic at a good price as an individual. Most exotics are sold by dealers and that's who I'd first consider buying from.

That said, as spf indicated, one of the most important things is good images. IMO, numerous high-res images that show every aspect of the car are what sell it in an online ad. They reveal the condition of the car and provide an indication as to how it has been treated. In addition, pretty pictures tap into the potential buyer's emotion. Ultimately, emotion is why we buy these cars (why else would we pay so much for a car?).

 

I have bought 5 Jags from finding them on ebay. I found the DBS I own on ebay, advertised by Motor Cars of Georgia. Many cars that are advertised on ebay are being advertised by dealers.

I don't know why people knock cars on ebay. Is it because they think ebay is "shady"?, or "beneath them"?

There are dealers/sellers that don't list on ebay that will take advantage of a buyer.

I prefer to buy from a dealer for several reasons. Also, dealers are in business to make money and most of them know that if they treat people like crap - especially people spending $100K (dollars, pounds, whatever) they won't be in business for long.

Individual sellers stand a better chance of selling a car that has service records, and is competitively priced (as was mentioned earlier). Also, be careful with this because there are people that prey on individuals selling cars, especially if you have the car at your home. There are some that may try and steal your car - from physical harm to shenanigans with payment.

I would suggest you find an Aston dealer that will sell your car on consignment, or another high end dealer that does consignment selling. They get a cut, but they know how to price your car and they represent your car as an official business which may get you more money and the buyer is more assured of a properly represented car. The dealer can also look your car over and make sure there are no mechanical issue which also helps with prospective buyers.

 

Condition and service history are a huge thing for me. When I bought my DB9 I wouldn't even look at a car unless it had at least some service history with it. Also condition of a car tells me a lot, whether its been cared for or abused. Like others have said take good pictures and if you have service records make sure you mention it in the ad. As for price make sure its competitive but don't give it away. There are a lot of shady dealers with shady cars and some of those are priced accordingly and some aren't. I actually prefer to purchase from a private seller over a dealer but that's just me... Good luck! Did you post a link to your ad by chance? I didn't see it.

 

As mentioned above, high-res images are very important. To me, it's a first-tier test. If a seller can't take and upload proper images, how can I expect them to properly care for a high-end car?

I bought my car from another 6speed member. One of the main things that facilitated the transaction was that we both have the same bank for everything - banking, loans, insurance, etc, so we could verify each other and the car.

As a private seller, make sure you have all your paperwork in order. All of your maintenance history, etc. If possible, see if the dealer that does your maintenance can be a reference for you and the car.

Good luck with your sale!

 

I think in the case of higher end cars, private sellers are at a disadvantage. I can't quite say why, but I'd prefer buying from a dealer, if I were to buy privately, it'd have to be priced under the going rate. It'd have to have a good service history and I'd want a pre purchase professional inspection.'

I just bought an 07 from an Aston dealer, it was comparably priced to all the dealer listed 07s out there but had the added benefit of coming with a 1 year factory warranty after undergoing a thorough inspection required by am to certify pre-owned. Additionally the car had been maintained by that dealer since the second owner purchase approx 4 years ago. That owner average about 5k miles a year. THe service records were a nice plus too.

Some will argue the value of the warranty, but it didn't cost anything and gives me a year to find any catastrophic bugs (I know it won't cover wear items).

Just my opinion!
Chris

 

The biggest difference is that selling privately limits your pool of potential buyers. Some, even in this price range, go through a dealer for the financing. And getting a loan for a private sale is one more step for a buyer.

Also, at a dealer, the potential buyer may be using trade in credit. Selling privately, you don't have this leverage.

Just realities to consider.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and I agree with most of them. The 6speed selling posts only allow 5 images so that's the most I could put there. There's many more on the other sites, such as what i put on Autotrader: V8Vantage

The whole dealer vs private issue is a tough one. Over the years I've come to trust dealers less and less. They are better at covering up issues with the car and you really don't know how the car has been used and by whom. If you buy privately and get a car where you can spend the money to extend the full coverage factory warranty by two years, that's the best insurance you can get and you probably still have money left over. Obviously, things like financing and trade-ins are the other side of the coin.

Sometimes too its simply who's looking for what car when.

 

Jay, your AutoTrader link does not work.

 

You are going to find selling an Aston Martin privately is extremely difficult. I tried to sell my pristine 2007 Vantage for more than a month via EBAY, Auto Trader, Craigslist and here on 6-Speed On Line. I had it priced aggressively and did not get one single serious inquiry. People that buy Astons want to purchase them from a Dealer, not an individual, they want the dealer to go over the car and they want to buy a warranty and 'blessed' by the dealer. That's the nature of the Aston buyer. I finally sold my car to Aston Martin of Washington and they paid me within $ 1K of what I was asking for on my ads (less the HRE Wheels) and its on their lot today as I write this, where its listed for considerably more as one would expect. Good luck with the sale, but its a hard thing to do in this marque as a private individual.

 

I must be the outlier because I'm particularly interested in buying private party, though I'm considering everything to help accelerate the process.

The best advice has already been given, but my general advice would be:
- More pictures, higher quality (learn to link images rather than attach images to the forum...this is Internet 101)
- Make it clear that you are open to offers. I often completely ignore postings when they are priced too high and don't look like they want to negotiate.
- Highlight the service history as best as possible - my first question is "was it serviced at least annually?"
- Post a picture of the window sticker, if available

Good luck with the sale! I would certainly consider your car on my search if it were 6MT.

 

^^^^ Hopefully your timing to buy will coincide with my timing to sell

 

I'm with you on this... I've been trying to find the right Vantage for about a year.... I would prefer a private sale as well for many reasons.