After failing to attract any real interest in my Passat on ebay, I'm
wondering if the group could shed any light on why it didn't sell.

It's a 1.8T, in dark green, with 147k miles on it. VW history to 129k
miles, then serviced at my local garage after that - cambelt done on
142k miles.

Pics are he

http://www.italiancar.co.uk/Passat

I thought a reserve of £1695 would be about right for it, but it seems I
might be wrong..... I'm not often wrong with used car prices, but in
this case, I might be.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" wrote in message
k...
After failing to attract any real interest in my Passat on ebay, I'm
wondering if the group could shed any light on why it didn't sell.

It's a 1.8T, in dark green, with 147k miles on it. VW history to 129k
miles, then serviced at my local garage after that - cambelt done on
142k miles.

Pics are he

http://www.italiancar.co.uk/Passat

I thought a reserve of £1695 would be about right for it, but it seems I
might be wrong..... I'm not often wrong with used car prices, but in
this case, I might be.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Did you get any bids?


Few Problems,
ebay is not one of the better places to buy a car, the punters want
something for nothing almost,I tried selling my car on there before I looked
at what similar cars were actually fetching (if they sold), if I was buying
at the time I would have had a 2 or 3 yr newer car for LESS than what I was
hoping to get for mine, a lot of cars do not sell even though they are very
nice.

Other problem is that 55 plates are just out so the used car market is
saturated at the mo, I think you will see dealers have problems shifting
cars at near book prices.

Good luck selling it, but it may take months rather than wweeks :-(

Avanti wrote:

http://www.italiancar.co.uk/Passat

I thought a reserve of £1695 would be about right for it, but it seems I
might be wrong..... I'm not often wrong with used car prices, but in
this case, I might be.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Did you get any bids?

Not any *cough* real ones, no.

Few Problems,
ebay is not one of the better places to buy a car, the punters want
something for nothing almost,I tried selling my car on there before I looked
at what similar cars were actually fetching (if they sold), if I was buying
at the time I would have had a 2 or 3 yr newer car for LESS than what I was
hoping to get for mine, a lot of cars do not sell even though they are very
nice.

I'd looked at Passat selling prices on there and they seem to make good
prices on ebay.

Perhaps my location (Near Cardiff) doesn't help.

Other problem is that 55 plates are just out so the used car market is
saturated at the mo, I think you will see dealers have problems shifting
cars at near book prices.

This is true.

Good luck selling it, but it may take months rather than wweeks :-(

Bugger. I don't really want to hold onto it for months - I have plans to
buy something more 'fun' now I'm not commuting so far.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" wrote in message
...
Avanti wrote:

I'd looked at Passat selling prices on there and they seem to make good
prices on ebay.

Perhaps my location (Near Cardiff) doesn't help.

You can do a search on completed sales for items, I had a look and at a
guesstimate only 1/3 or less actually sell (VWs).
Location does and does not matter, a Passat that did sell was in Yorkshire,
however people like me will travel far to get what they want.
On another note, years ago when I was after my 1st GTi I travelled from Bham
to Manchester,Sheffield , Oxford Bristol and finally picked up a car from
Knowle which is about 6 miles from me.


Other problem is that 55 plates are just out so the used car market is
saturated at the mo, I think you will see dealers have problems shifting
cars at near book prices.

This is true.

Good luck selling it, but it may take months rather than wweeks :-(

Bugger. I don't really want to hold onto it for months - I have plans to
buy something more 'fun' now I'm not commuting so far.

I was selling a GTI 1.8t low milage 2nd owner fsh CC and sunroof 3dr, was
better than some of the dealer examples advertised in March and sold end of
June .... my colleagues at work had similar turnaround times, and looking on
autotrader seems to be average time.

Avanti wrote:

Bugger. I don't really want to hold onto it for months - I have plans to
buy something more 'fun' now I'm not commuting so far.

I was selling a GTI 1.8t low milage 2nd owner fsh CC and sunroof 3dr, was
better than some of the dealer examples advertised in March and sold end of
June .... my colleagues at work had similar turnaround times, and looking on
autotrader seems to be average time.

Well, I can't afford to be placing advert after advert like that - it's
not worth it on a car of that age and value. I'd be better off knocking
200 quid off the asking price for a quick sale rather than have it
hanging around.
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

After failing to attract any real interest in my Passat on ebay, I'm
wondering if the group could shed any light on why it didn't sell.

It's a 1.8T, in dark green, with 147k miles on it. VW history to 129k
miles, then serviced at my local garage after that - cambelt done on
142k miles.

I thought a reserve of £1695 would be about right for it,
"SteveH"

Sorry it didn't sell.

My comments a-
Big car, big mileage, big insurance cost, but you are trying to sell in a
budget-conscious market at that sort of money. The ones with money to burn are
the young, and they wouldn't usually go for a Passat (would they?). At that
money and mileage, if the engine goes bang it's not really worth anything.

Colour - dark green metallic seem to be popular; other greens don't. It's hard
to tell from the pics on my screen - they seem rather dark. Looks better when I
adjust the gamma in a photo program.

Location - well out in the sticks - lovely area for enjoying life though.
Generally I've noticed South Wales prices are significantly lower than 100 miles
to the East - I guess average incomes are lower.

In the Golf range, the saloon (Jetta/Vento and to some extent Bora) is about
half the cost of a comparable Golf Hatch; saloons are simply not as popular.
My son got a very tidy 55Kmiles R-reg Vento TDi for £2,000 a year ago; similar
Golf Hatchbacks were priced nearer £4,000. Maybe the same with the Passat.

E-Bay prices for cars are considerably depressed anyway - there's a level of
anonymity built-in, scams and false bidding going on etc., and time pressure
that makes it awkward to be sure of what you are buying. At £50 it's a risk
worth taking, at thousands it isn't for a lot of people.

What drop on the price you paid would you expect? Depreciation can be alarming,
and you've added 15,000 miles in less than a year. Maybe if you work out cost
per mile, the smile will return - hope so!

--
Dave.
UK VW Type 3 & 4 Club
http://www.hallvw.clara.co.uk/
------

Dave Hall wrote:

After failing to attract any real interest in my Passat on ebay, I'm
wondering if the group could shed any light on why it didn't sell.

It's a 1.8T, in dark green, with 147k miles on it. VW history to 129k
miles, then serviced at my local garage after that - cambelt done on
142k miles.

I thought a reserve of £1695 would be about right for it,
"SteveH"

Sorry it didn't sell.

My comments a- Big car, big mileage, big insurance cost, but you are
trying to sell in a budget-conscious market at that sort of money. The
ones with money to burn are the young, and they wouldn't usually go for a
Passat (would they?). At that money and mileage, if the engine goes bang
it's not really worth anything.

This is true, but you and I both know that it's not likely to go bang,
especially with the history I have for it.

Colour - dark green metallic seem to be popular; other greens don't. It's
hard to tell from the pics on my screen - they seem rather dark. Looks
better when I adjust the gamma in a photo program.

Hmmm, that'll be Mac vs Windows gamma settings, then. They look fine
under OSX.

Location - well out in the sticks - lovely area for enjoying life though.
Generally I've noticed South Wales prices are significantly lower than 100
miles to the East - I guess average incomes are lower.

I'd not say 12 miles from the capital city is 'in the sticks' ;-)

In the Golf range, the saloon (Jetta/Vento and to some extent Bora) is
about half the cost of a comparable Golf Hatch; saloons are simply not as
popular. My son got a very tidy 55Kmiles R-reg Vento TDi for £2,000 a year
ago; similar Golf Hatchbacks were priced nearer £4,000. Maybe the same
with the Passat.

That was a lucky purchase for a TDi. You won't find many of them around
at that price.

E-Bay prices for cars are considerably depressed anyway - there's a level
of anonymity built-in, scams and false bidding going on etc., and time
pressure that makes it awkward to be sure of what you are buying. At £50
it's a risk worth taking, at thousands it isn't for a lot of people.

True. I did give it 5 days and invited people to come and have a look.

What drop on the price you paid would you expect? Depreciation can be
alarming, and you've added 15,000 miles in less than a year. Maybe if you
work out cost per mile, the smile will return - hope so!

Well, I know I fleeced the dealer selling it when I bought it, but, if
you look at the prices being asked (and in a lot of cases the final
selling price) for Passat 1.8Ts, they're still quite high. Mine's the
cheapest on Autotrader. Some dealers are still asking over £3k for one.

If I have to drop more than £400 on what I paid, I'll keep it 'till it
dies.

I doubt the smile will return as this thing will have cost me more in
depreciation than any of the Alfas I've owned. Doubt I'll buy VW again.


--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" wrote in message
...
Dave Hall wrote:

[snip]

If I have to drop more than £400 on what I paid, I'll keep it 'till it
dies.

I doubt the smile will return as this thing will have cost me more in
depreciation than any of the Alfas I've owned. Doubt I'll buy VW again.


Depreciation reduces the longer you own a car,
I paid 6k for a Corrado in 94 kept it 8yrs and sold it for 1500, spent about
600 on bits and bobs (cam balt , calipers etc) self serviced.
Then I had a Mk4 1.8t lost 4k in 3yrs , now have a MK5, expect to lose
considerably more but unless I win the lotto plan to keep it 6yrs or so.