How much trouble would I have selling my car?

aydenthelion

Hi all, I have got child number two on the way so thinking of upgrading my car. I have a 2003 Toyota Yaris VTI 1.3l 5dr in silver that's done just under 80,000 miles. Brought it for £1500 just over 3 years ago with 60k on the clock. It had the odd imperfection when I brought it but has full service history and is in excellent mechanical condition. Cosmetically it is a bit ruined, some one keyed the rear passenger door and there are a few golf ball sized debts mostly around the wheel arches, a few scratches along the front bumper and wheel arches as well as the usual wear and tear for a 15 year old car. Would I have trouble selling it in that condition and how much would I get for it do you think. Was thinking of selling for £600 as many similar models have gone for around £1000.

Cheers

mjn

A few hundred quid max i would have thought. If you were a gambling man, you could put it on ebay, starting at 99p, no reserve.

aydenthelion

Thanks for the response tbh I haven't seen any 1.3l 5dr silver Yaris for under £500 on auto trader and those vehicles are not mechanically sound unlike mine so I am hoping I could get around £500 but I dunno if people are interested if the car has dents and scratches!

internetuser

It will sell well. Little cars with cheap insurance are always in demand.

Cheap to repair and ideal for first time drivers or cheap run around.

Check on we buy any car then add a few hundered quid on private. Also check on gum tree

cosmicma

some people arn't too bothered about dents n scratches as long as the car is mechanically sound and everything works but those kind of buyers don't want to pay a lot of money either
i would go as far as to say they are looking for a car like that expecting it to be cheap
then there is the other kind of buyer who wants the car to be absolutely mint with no or very little blemishes and are willing to pay a few quid extra for the right one

to most first impressions is what sells the car
if the car looks mint and the buyer is pleased at what they see they will forgive the odd mechanical problems as long as they are not too serious
if a car is full of dents n scratches it's a put off to the average buyer unless you come across somebody like i mentioned earlier but they want it cheap
it could also indicate the car is not very well looked after but don't think i am aiming this at your car it is just merely an observation in general

the bottom line is a car of that age in a poor cosmetic state will not hold the same value as the same car in good cosmetic state regardless of mileage or the odd mechanical problem as long as the problem isn't too serious
when a car gets to a certain age it's overall condition that sells it and of course the price

aydenthelion

Thanks for all your responses. I think towards the end of the year I will send it for a a couple of hundred less than the other yaris's on autotrader and see what I get. 1. Because it will cheap and 2. because I will get more than the £300 we buy any car are offering me.

Sucks that I just had to spend £100 on two new tires this week as well because one had a small cut and the other was a part worn that I had found out was 17 years old!!! (Usually always buy new but suffered a puncture and was only tire place available at that time and was very naive with cars a few years ago)

mjn

17 year old tyre?!?!?

I always check what tyres are on a car when looking. Good chance that if cheap / old tyres are on the car, they’re also skimping in other areas.

aydenthelion

That's another frustrating thing. I now have £200 worth of decent tyres (all under a year old) on a vehicle that I will look to sell within 6 months time. Well, thanks for all the responses everyone, it just seems that I will need to price it well and show that mechanically it has been looked after.

I also read up on the internet that yaris's are notorious for having soft paint which is why cosmetically many of them which get regular use are generally in poor looking condition.

Bl4ckGryph0n

Tyres are consumables, all cars need them. It’s silly to look at them as value of the overall car in my opinion.  Or if it really bothers you then keep driving it

aydenthelion

Yeh your right but it's like petrol. When I was buying my first car I was amazed how low people would leave the tank when selling. After getting my first car I remembered panacking while driving two miles to the nearest petrol station because the car was literally running on fumes haha!