Don’t accept a lowball offer when selling a car! Here’s how I beat the system and got more money

I recently popped my cherry – and sold a vehicle for the first time. It was a bright yellow Ducati Scrambler 800, and I know it isn’t a car, but this will be a relatable experience for car owners. What was meant to be a quick and simple process, turned into a nearly two-hour stalemate.

Motorbikes are a bit like convertibles, because the worst time to sell one is the winter. But the Ducati had been collecting dust in my garage for nearly a year, and I just wanted it gone. So I went online, got a valuation from a used-bike dealer chain that I was happy with and arranged to have it picked up a couple of days later. 

Their man turned up at my house on time at 9.30am and after the usual pleasantries, began his incredibly thorough examination of my bike. He probed every hose and crevice on it, and fired up the yellow noisemaker. We quickly noticed the brake light no longer worked – which, as issues go, is a pretty big one – and there was some corrosion and flaking paint, although this bike was more than a decade old and had previously only lived outside. He still seemed pleased, but said the flaws might affect the valuation, so he’d have to speak with HQ. That’s when the waiting began.

About 20 minutes later, he told me the firm had slashed its valuation of my bike by a third! Hearing that could have sent people spiralling into a pointless rage that would help absolutely no one, or a depressive state that could have seen me hand over the bike for a lot less than it was worth – or what this company would resell it for. 

But I didn’t do either. I took a deep breath and kindly asked him to go back to the beancounter behind the curtain to see if they could do any better, because I wasn’t accepting their lowball offer. A few minutes and a phone call later, some of those serious issues must have not seemed that serious, because a few hundred pounds had been added back to my bike’s valuation.

To cut a long story short, after about an hour and some back-and-forth, we got the supervisor on the phone and hammered out a final price, which ended up being very close to the original valuation. But even at the end, the bloke tried to unsuccessfully haggle me down another £50. 

So my advice is to be prepared for a last-minute haggle, and when the buyer tries to lowball you, keep calm and carry on. At the end of the day, it’s your car and you have the power to walk away if they don’t want to pay what you’re asking.

Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.