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What’s your car worth?

That depends on where you sell it! As we reveal in an exclusive investigation, its value could fluctuate by thousands of pounds...

Audi A2

By Nick Gibbs

19th July 2011

It’s a question we all want to know the answer to: How much is my car worth? More to you than the man on the street, probably. But what about your local franchised dealer or car supermarket?

This question has become increasingly difficult to answer over the past three years, partly thanks to a yo-yoing second-hand market, but also due to the ever-increasing range of potential buyers. Taking advantage of this uncertainty are the likes of Webuyanycar.com, which was rapped back in April by the Office of Fair Trading for backpedalling on its online valuations “sometimes by hundreds of pounds”.

So how much variation is there in the perceived price tag of any one car? Auto Express decided to find out. Posing as a seller, we headed out to obtain quotes for an immaculate 2005 Audi A2 TDI, prepared by the manufacturer itself, with a mere 32,500 miles on the clock.

And we were amazed by the results, with nearly £3,000 between the highest and lowest prices offered. Over the next three pages, we reveal our shock findings...

Webuyanycar.com
Online valuation: £4,570
Actual valuation: £4,190 

Before we arrived, we knew the price we’d get from Webuyanycar was low: the online quote was a measly £4,570, compared to the £5,900 estimate from price guide CAP. But hopes rise after one of the two-man team at the New Addington office near Croydon, London, describes our A2’s condition as “showroom” during his 10-minute inspection. He looks at the body, spends little time in the cabin and none driving the car.

Back in the office, we ask casually which price guide Webuyanycar uses to value the motors. “Our own,” is the reply. “If we went by the guides, we’d be broke tomorrow.”

Our car is worth £4,190, minus a £50 transaction fee. When asked why so low, the member of staff tells us Audi’s annual oil inspection hadn’t made it into the service book, and he’d pay £252 more if we come back with the second key.

Fair enough: Audi does charge £220 for a spare. But the real kicker is the £101 deducted due to a “deep” scratch on the door that is barely noticeable.

Main dealer trade-in 
Valuation: £5,500

A main dealer of premium brand cars would surely see the sales potential in our A2, wouldn’t it? We’re at Cooper BMW in Croydon, Surrey, to trade in our Audi for a used 318i Touring, and we tell the saleswoman that we’re looking for the best possible price. Her inspection is brief, but at least it includes a test drive – even if it is only a quick spin around the dealer’s car park.

According to Adrian Rushmore, managing editor of price analyst Glass’s Guide, dealers will balance the cost of the trade-in against the discount of the car: “If the customer thinks that the model is worth £5,000 and they’re unlikely to budge, the salesman will construct the deal so they get £5,000,” he says.

We’re careful not to give a figure to Cooper. We’re told that the firm likes the A2 enough to sell the car in its Audi dealer, candidly revealing that it will probably be priced at between £6,495 and £6,995. So what will Cooper give us? “Between £5,250 and £5,500.”

When pressed, the dealer agrees to the higher figure, but it’s still galling to think Cooper could net a £1,500 profit on top of what it’s already making on the 3 Series.

We also found another, higher-mileage A2 TDI for sale at Lake District Audi, Cumbria, for £7,995, throwing doubt on the quoted figure.

When we question why the price is below CAP’s £5,900 trade-in figure, we’re told that it would have been higher by £500 if the car had a panoramic sunroof. So it seems as if even the best A2 in the country is not good enough!

Used dealer trade-in 
Valuation: £5,500

The used dealer we found would surely know the worth of our A2. McCarthy Cars is in Croydon, but it also has a thriving site a few miles north in posh Clapham, where Audis are popular. With the luxurious yet frugal supermini still boasting a strong London following, it’d soon be snapped up.

The story is that we want to trade in the car for a 2008 Qashqai, and our cheerful salesman immediately extracts the Nissan from a crowd of Range Rover Sports.

Next, he takes the quickest look yet at the Audi and heads back in to do the HPI report, coming up with… £5,000.

We query this and he immediately ups it to £5,300. We mention BMW offered £5,500, and with no teeth-sucking he promises to match it. Then we notice that his HPI report states the CAP trade-in price: £5,900 for clean condition. He’s already agreed that the A2 is in great nick: why the difference?

The next bit is pure salesman. The V5 says the car’s had two former keepers, but with Audi as the third, us as the fourth, the new owner will be the fifth... and that’s what’s kept the value down. Technically correct, but what buyer would count themselves as an owner and consider this a problem?

Private sale
Valuation: £7,000

So, how much could we make selling our A2 privately? It isn’t ours to move on, of course, so we scour the ads for a similar car. Naturally, asking and selling price are two very different things; we go one better and contact someone who’s just sold his.

Dean Collier’s A2 was immaculate. As with ours, his was one of the last diesels from 2005, with similarly low mileage – only 27,000 – and he priced it accordingly. “People said £7,000 is too high,” Dean, a window fitter from Rugby, Warks, tells us. “But it had a full service history and very high spec. It was a nice car.” Just like ours.

He posted it on the classifieds section of a motoring forum, and didn’t get a great response at first. “I had a few silly offers, but I wasn’t going to take £5,000,” he says. And then, two weeks after he’d posted the ad, he got a call from an old gent in Scotland, who came down on the train, paid the full price and drove back home the same day.

The conclusion? Private sales, while neither quick nor easy, can be cost-effective if you’re patient. “I knew I’d get the money due to the nick the car was in,” Dean says.

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12 Comments

Immaculate?

"we headed out to obtain quotes for an immaculate 2005 Audi A2 TDI, prepared by the manufacturer itself, with a mere 32,500 miles on the clock.

"But the real kicker is the £101 deducted due to a “deep” scratch on the door that is barely noticeable."

Beware articles which are written by car journalists who claim a car with a scratch (and only one key) is immaculate.. It is not.

Which kind of makes the veracity of the rest of the article a bit dubious.


By madasafish on 21 July, 2011, 2:14pm

Coopers valuation was correct.

You may think that Coopers have £1500 profit in a used car at that valuation but have you taken into account the following spend?

x1 spare key
buff on the bodywork
valet
advertising
service to keep up a warranty
12 months approved warranty
then the killer!! 20% VAT on anything (if your lucky) to have left in the car!!!!

So now do you understand why there if a difference between trade and retail values? You journalists need to research things properly before you start to slag off reputable main agent dealerships which are after all offering a A1 premiuom service and the shock that we are aloud to make money!!!!!

By gordonshonda on 21 July, 2011, 4:18pm

Journalists

"You journalists need to research things properly before you start to slag off reputable main agent dealerships"

Research? You mean hack their phones? :-)

By madasafish on 21 July, 2011, 5:06pm

Modern-Day Horse Traders?

Every so often I think about trading in my car, but when I think about all the trouble that involves, I just change my mind. I always love the fact that the salesman gives you a "figure to change" which makes the total cost of the new car and the trade-in price slightly vague. It's not rocket science to deduct one figure from another, but until you've signed on the dotted line the formula the dealership uses to achieve it remains a mystery which is only solved when the car is delivered. Years ago I did try to sell my cars privately, but just gave up. Too much trouble dealing with tyre kickers or people whose idea of a reasonable offer is thousands less than the advertised price.

By n50pap on 21 July, 2011, 9:21pm

Franchised Dealers? Sharks and rip off merchants...

What if it was not a premium saloon but a Pacific rim product?

What if you paid £6K and the first valuation 6days after purchase was just £3k5?

What if you spent 2 hours wailing for a trade-in value, £3100. Then to be told that "by the time your specially built car is here (about 6 weeks) your car probably will not meet the required £2K deposit."

All this has happened to me and I am so disillusioned with the current motor trade attitude and interest that I cannot face trying to find a replacement for the Pacific-rim motor that I currently own.

Mainly because most dealerships are awash with the same model that I want rid of; so I am trapped into keeping an rapidly depreciating and unloved trade-in.

So tread carefully and only consider buying a premium European designed and manufactured car, everything else won't be worth spending your money on, when you choose to change...

By Townsman on 24 July, 2011, 2:23pm

So basically...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

By andysmiffy on 26 July, 2011, 9:38am

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By ansdka on 27 July, 2011, 9:21am

You have no idea what you are talking about!

Having just read you attempt at journalism I feel the need to respond to your poorly thought out drivel. I am a car dealer for a prestige German brand and cannot believe the utter nonsense you have just written. You mention that it is 'Galling that the dealer could make a NET £1500 profit from your Audi A2 as well as the profit from the one she is selling'. Firstly , are they not allowed to make a profit out of the part exchange, they are a car dealer after all, and if they don't make a profit who will you buy your cars from or more importantly where will you go for a car on Xmas eve, when yours breaksdown?
Secondly the NET £1500 profit. They will be lucky to make a third of that and I will explain why. You get £5500 (admittedly by you part of that money comes from the car you are being sold, reducing the profit in the car you are buying) and the dealer sells it at £7000 leaving a GROSS of £1500. Deduct the cost of putting through the Audi approved programme even if it requires just the door painted you are now down to £1400 plus the check through the work shop , we are down to £1250, deduct the cost of the missing key we are now at £1050, as Audi insist the car has two keys, put a warranty on it at £300 minimum for a year, we are now at £750. Take VAT out of the profit and now we are at £600. The new buyer of said car wants a discount of even a couple of hundred pounds and we are at £400. Then the salesman, who believe or not will want paid for it £50 to £100, then the actual profit will be between £300 and £350. So please, before you print something for masses to read who do not know what is involved in putting a car up for sale , do you research , you guys are supposed to be the experts! PS Thanks for making a depressed market even worse by making the buying public even more suspicious of mostly genuine honest salespeople. What I find galling is that you charge over £2 for a magazine and market it sa having proper information and facts in it and it is just utter nonsense.

By sachad3 on 31 July, 2011, 4:36pm

Oh dear, people making a profit!

Oh dear, we can't have that can we?!

Get real will you?

Profit makes the world go round!

By alexanderw on 1 August, 2011, 11:54am

Valuations

You motoring journalists do not have a clue.

As a car sales manager (retired) I can advise you that all cars are valued at the same price (benchmark)

They are then reappraised and money taken off or added on the condition of the car, the Mileage,Service history, paintwork, how many owners etc,.

Depending on what part of the country you are doing the deal will depend on what price you get as some models sell better in other areas. It also has a bearing on what car you are going to exchange it for.

If the car you require has a big discount, it is added to the value of the car you wish to exchange, If the car you want has no discount then there is nothing to add to the value of your car, hence the difference in the value of your car.

I reiterate you really dont have a "Clue"






By wallyman on 4 August, 2011, 9:59am

Missing valuation

Your article is missing another valuation...
...an insurance company. I bet you wouldn't even get close to being able to buy the same spec car with the valuation an insurer would give if they had to right it off.

By anonemouse70 on 8 August, 2011, 4:40pm

Re. You have no idea what you are talking about!

Yes he does.

Whatever way you look at it, offering a trade-in at below book price for a good car is just mean. (By all means take issue with CAP/Glass's/whoever, not the journalist in this instance.)

Also, sachad3's calculations are wrong, because they based on pricing the car up on the forecourt at £7000. We all know that a dealer would probably price the car in question at £8000 (data above), and ultimately sell for perhaps £7500.

Here's an example. A dealer rang me up and asked if I wanted to trade my car in as it was three years old, and he could offer a £750 discount off a nearly-new one. Sounded like a good deal. So I asked for a trade-in price. We went through everything, and eventually I was offered £1300 under book price for my car. I was surprised at his low valuation, and baffled by the excuses for not even getting close to the book price. But oddly enough not as surprised as he was when I told him I wasn't interested. "But you've made me do all that work in getting a price for your car!" he moaned. Oh, how my heart bled.

I appreciate that times are tough in the car trade, and know that dealer's profits are being squeezed. Join the club. Dealers must not forget that customers are being squeezed harder - petrol, food the list goes on. If a larger % of people find the confidence to sell privately after being offered a low trade-in price, and no real incentive on a new car, then you will find it even tougher.

Unfortunately, some consumers DO have a clue. And Auto Express is for consumers; it's not a trade journal. So stop moaning.

Now don't get me started on WeBuyAnyCar....

By materialst on 21 October, 2011, 2:57pm

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