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The Pitfalls of Selling A Damaged Car Privately
If you’ve found yourself in the unfortunate situation of having a damaged car on your hands, you’re probably wondering what to do with it. Is it so badly damaged that the only viable option right now feels like selling to a scrapyard? Or are you considering selling your damaged car privately? While private sales can sometimes be fruitful, they do also come with numerous challenges. Here are a few factors you should consider if you‘re unsure about what to do.
1. Lowball Offers
The biggest challenge you will encounter when selling a damaged car privately is the lowball offers you’re bound to get. When people see your advert mentions any damage to the vehicle, they are going to try to get the car for a bargain. This means they are unlikely to consider the market value of the car or the relative cost of the necessary repairs. You are unlikely to get the price you deserve when selling privately.
2. Negotiation Challenges
After dodging the cheeky offers, you may eventually find yourself in negotiations with a few serious buyers. While this is great progress, unless you’re skilled at the art of negotiating, you may find this a very stressful and tedious task. Especially if buyers use the damage as leverage to drive the price down aggressively.
3. Paperwork
All South Africans know that dealing with any government department, licensing department included, is a total headache. When you sell a damaged car privately, you are responsible for handling all the change of ownership paperwork. If you make any mistakes or the buyer doesn’t hand in the paperwork, you could be liable for fines and other crimes linked to the vehicle.
4. Potential for Fraud
There's a higher risk of encountering fraudulent buyers when selling a damaged car. Scammers might take advantage of the situation, knowing the seller might be eager to dispose of the vehicle.
5. Limited Buyer Pool
The number of interested buyers for a damaged car is usually lower compared to a car in good condition. This can result in a longer selling process and more effort in finding a suitable buyer.
The Solution
So, considering there are a few downfalls to private sales, what options remain? If you sell to a scrapyard, you’ll be paid a fixed rate based on the weight of your vehicle. Generally speaking, you will take the biggest financial knock going this route, and it’s not advisable. Your other option is to sell to a salvage auctioneer like Sell Your Damaged Car.
We buy any car in any condition, offering you a fair cash offer to take the car off your hands. Instead of having to hassle with handing over the car and dealing with the admin of change of ownership, we collect the car from you and handle all the paperwork.
Sound good? Send us the details of your damaged car, and we’ll come back to you with a no-obligation offer. It really is that simple.