At your final destination, it's
time to sell your car!
You need to work out what price
you can sell the car for, then look at methods of sale.
Your
sales options are :
1. Sell the car to a scrap yard (often
called a breakers yard)
2. Sell the car to a dealer
3.
Sell the car privately
Of the 3 options, clearly option 3 is
the one that will get you the best return!
To work out the
value for your car, use BCC to compare what others are selling and
have sold! Here is a link to the previously listed cars section for
your research:
Previously
listed cars (for research)
NOTE: Advertised prices
will probably be higher than the final sale price, especially in
winter!
We don't generally know what the final sale price is,
however we expect most cars sell for less than the advertised price.
Most notably vans can vary in price as the fit-out and
condition can vary widely from van to van.
Some vans make camping
out a delight, others not so!
The value of a good van with a
good fit out can not be reflected in an on-line price book.
To
some extent, the value is driven by market forces, such as supply
and demand.
There is almost no such
thing as an average old camper, they are all different!
Scrapping your
car would obviously be a last resort!!
Most towns have a scrap
yard (often called a breakers or wreckers yard), drive in, give them
the keys, complete the registration transfer papers and walk away.
If you get some $'s from the wrecker, that is bonus!
Please,
please, please do not dump your car at the airport!
Some people
do, it causes major problems and costs the government a lot of money
... if you were thinking about dumping your car, why not just give
the car to another backpacker and ask them to drop you at the
airport!
Always ensure you
complete the registration transfer papers, regardless of who you
sell or give your car to.
Selling to a
dealer should be second to last resort, clearly a dealer needs to
make money so they will be looking to offer you bottom dollar and
sell for top dollar.
To be fair, a dealer needs to cover many
costs including warranty, rent and wages to name a few. They run a
business and not a charity!
Option 3
(private sale) is your best chance of getting something like your
money back, but it is also the one you need to work at!
Here
is your target audience :
1. Normal members of the public
2.
Fellow backpackers / travelers
Generally members of the
public will use the local newspaper and it's associated website to
find local cars.
They will be expecting to find a car sold by a
local person ... not arrive at a hotel or youth hostel to find an
interstate car ... so this is a tough audience!
We would
recommend chasing target audience 2, fellow travelers and
backpackers.
To target this audience, you will need to
advertise and place your car in strategic places and be prepared to
throw in your water bottles, camping gear, tent etc for free!
Print
as many posters as you can and put them on as many hostels, hotels
and internet cafe notice boards as possible.
You can print
posters with pre-made tear off strips in the printables
page of this site. (it's easy to use and saves you
Internet cafe time)
We have also published a route for Sydney
covering the hostels
with the best notice boards and car books!
The more you
market your car, the greater your audience is, the better the chance
of sale.
A value of BCC is you can also advertise
on our site for free.
You can text and pictures, so buyers
can check your car out without even leaving their seats!
We strongly encourage you to register your car for sale
with us as soon as you get it (or as soon as you hear about
us!!)
We have a 'future' sale board, where backpackers who plan ahead, can advertise their car for sale months in advance. (FREE of course!)
It is very easy to advertise ahead with BCC, simply select the month you want to sell the car in the advertise form and our system takes care of the rest for you :-)
Backpackers planning their trip here, maybe able to contact you and arrange to buy the car when they arrive!
Note: Please do not sell your car to anyone without meeting them face to face – there are many frauds that exist with buyers contacting you via e-mail – ALWAYS meet face to face and check ID.
TIPS
Think
about what was important to you when you were looking for a car!
Clean the car, make it look its best.
Ask a reasonable price for it
If your car requires a safety test, get it done before the buyers turn up. This will remove any uncertainty about the condition of the car and in some states such as QLD and VIC is a legal requirement.
Always be open and honest. If there is something wrong with the
car, get an estimate to repair and let the new buyer know. Most
people expect an old car to have some problems.
The new
buyer may drive to some isolated places, so honesty is important,
especially about reliability.
Keep all paperwork, including
servicing bills etc, especially take car of your pink, green and
blue slips!
If selling in WINTER
... remember there are less buyers, especially in Sydney ... less
buyers = lower prices ... market forces will come into play ...
supply will be high, demand will be low!
What can you do? Make
your car look at its best, get a safety check ... advertise like
hell everywhere you can (posters on boards etc) and set the price
lower.
Allow "weeks" to sell in winter when it may
have been days in summer. (plan selling time into your trip and use
BCC FREE advertising to help!)
Remember(1) - ALWAYS
complete the registration documents at time of sale and post or hand
them in yourself.
If you don't, all subsequent speeding
and parking fines will still be associated with you, so complete the
paperwork!
Remember(2) - if your car is from VIC
or QLD, you will need to get a safety inspection report to sell the
car!
Some states require a transfer form to be completed.
Use our forum for free help and advise :-)
Good luck
selling, feel free to visit the BCC
forum to discuss this topic further :-)