Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

[Mark E.]

I looked at the listings for cars for sale on ebay and Hemmings today-
- On ebay, 86% of all cars listed are through a dealer; 64% of all Corvettes are through a dealer
- On Hemmings (mostly special interest/ collector cars), it's 71% (all cars) and 76% (Corvettes)

I don't have the data, but doesn't it seem like more used cars are sold through a dealer today than 20-30 years ago? In the 70s and 80s, I believe the number of private party ads outnumbered dealer ads (at least for special interest cars).

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I prefer buying from the PO rather than a dealer. Meeting the seller gives me a much better feel about how the car was treated, driven and maintained. Plus there's a better chance of getting documentation when buying directly from the PO; many dealers discard receipts, notes, etc. with the PO's name on it to protect their privacy. I also prefer to sell my car directly to the next owner. Call me sentimental, but I get attached to my cars, and want to know they go to a good home, and aren't just being purchased to be flipped.

So why do so many owners of Corvettes and collector cars today sell to a dealer? Does the convenience and speed of selling your pride and joy to a dealer usually outweigh the cost of selling wholesale? Or maybe there's fear about being scammed by a private party?

Do you prefer buying a used Corvette from a dealer, or directly from the previous owner?

And is my hunch correct that selling through a dealer is more common than before?

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

I can't speak to the history stats, but I would never sell any of my cars to a person I didn't know, so I always use a dealer. Same for buying. They handle the paperwork, hold the eccentric owner's (or buyer's) hand if things go wrong, and they are responsible for the entire deal, not me. People buying vintage cars today are not all understanding, easy going, knowledgeable car guys. If they were, I would deal with them, but it is a crap shoot who you get. I once had a Corvette for sale at a dealer, and the potential buyer found me and it was obvious he was so particular and fussy, that my life would have been miserable if he bought it. I told the dealer under no circumstances to sell to him, luckily we couldn't get close on price…….just my 2 centavos.

[Jim D.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I prefer buying from the PO rather than a dealer.

I'm with you. The only time I ever buy from a dealer is when it's a brand new car and you have no choice. Dealers are liars trying squeeze you for every penny. We recently bought a new car for my wife and while shopping, one dealer said "If we were to sell you this car for less than MSRP, we'll lose our GM franchise". My ex was the GSM at a large Chev. dealership and what she told me about their sales tactics made me sick.

[Mark E.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Michael,

In your transaction, it sounds like you consigned to a dealer, rather than selling to a dealer outright. I totally appreciate the consignment option for the reasons you mention. Also, you don't need to worry about meeting strangers alone with your car.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of the "dealer" cars for sale are actually consigned.

[Leif A.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Michael,

In your transaction, it sounds like you consigned to a dealer, rather than selling to a dealer outright. I totally appreciate the consignment option for the reasons you mention. Also, you don't need to worry about meeting strangers alone with your car.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of the "dealer" cars for sale are actually consigned.

I would be willing to bet a very high percentage.

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Yes, I would bet most are on consignment, the one I mentioned was. But the dealers also offer to buy your car or use it to trade. I have also done those and prefer it to private sale. But, you will get "wholesale" price, not as much as a private sale, but you also pay for that in aggravation, time, and paperwork hassle, not to mention future liabilities, not for me.

[Jack H.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Just to add a couple cents to discussion...although I've not bought or sold a Corvette in quite some time, I have done some buying/selling of daily driver cars. In general, there are definitely far, far fewer private owner cars on the market than in years past. Gone are the days when you picked up a local paper to buy an honest private owner car, and most online avenues are inundated with dealer offerings. I don't see that changing with all the new mega-sized used car companies and folks' tendency to simply trade-in cars these days.

[Phil D.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

The internet and access to media has people scared. You read one story about somebody getting a bad cashiers check or getting attacked after meeting a buyer from online and you think its likely to happen to you. Statistically its highly unlikely that anything bad will happen, but that's the impression we're all left with nowadays.

Most of the cars I've sold have actually been to people I already know, one a coworker told me "Call me if you ever decide to sell..." and others I just kind of put out the word my car was available. I imagine that a lot of classic cars are sold that way, between friends or car show acquaintances, never even being publicly advertised. An exact opposite phenomena I've noticed at local car shows is that many people like to buy cars that are NOT local, because everybody has already seen the local cars and associate them with the previous owners.

Dealers can certainly make it easier to buy or sell long-distance. I recently consigned a 68 Mustang and it was sold out of state. Yes I could have gotten more money for it selling it myself, but I thought about the time involved. I kind of needed it gone quick to make room for another Corvette project. I was able to drop it off immediately at the warehouse, they handled the marketing, I didn't have to take off work to meet prospective buyers and they handled the shipping and everything. They sold it in barely two weeks, paid me even before the buyer's check cleared (they assume transaction risk), and so I feel like they earned the premium. If I don't have someone already lined up for my next one, I might consign again because it was too easy.

[Brad K.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

We've bought, fixed up and sold over 50 Corvettes through the years and we are not a "dealer". It's getting tougher and tougher due to the prevailing thinking among individuals that if they buy from a dealer....at least the dealer will "be there" if something goes "wrong" with the car. They simply don't have enough "trust" in basic humanity to fork over $50 grand or more to a single individual without a "guarantee". Buyers tend to have more than enough money to buy the car in the first place and are willing to fork over the extra money to a dealer for "insurance"....or so they think. Just my humble experience.....

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Here in Arizona you pay NO sales tax if you buy from a private person but pay it if you buy from a dealer. I have bought & sold both ways & either way you need to do your homework.

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

We've bought, fixed up and sold over 50 Corvettes through the years and we are not a "dealer". It's getting tougher and tougher due to the prevailing thinking among individuals that if they buy from a dealer....at least the dealer will "be there" if something goes "wrong" with the car. They simply don't have enough "trust" in basic humanity to fork over $50 grand or more to a single individual without a "guarantee". Buyers tend to have more than enough money to buy the car in the first place and are willing to fork over the extra money to a dealer for "insurance"....or so they think. Just my humble experience.....

[Mark E.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Buyers tend to have more than enough money to buy the car in the first place and are willing to fork over the extra money to a dealer for "insurance"....or so they think.

"Or so they think" is the operative phrase. Virtually all used cars for sale by dealers without a factory warranty are sold "as-is, where is with no warranty expressed or implied". Anything they do beyond that, like fix a tear in the seat, is a goodwill gesture- not "insurance".

Maybe a buyer has more recourse with a dealer than a private party if there's a fraud issue. For example, if the seller expresses that the car has its original engine, but it turns out it's not, is it easier to recover damages from a dealer than a pp? And does a dealer really know the history of the car?

What if the car is consigned? Would the dealer just point the finger at the seller? Or is the dealer liable also? Consignment raises issues like this that I would want to understand before buying.

With all of this said, I still prefer buying from the previous owner directly. Especially a long term owner who sincerely wants to find the car a good home. That makes for a transparent sale.

In contrast, I feel dealers often hide issues and know little about a car's history. I just can't stand the superficial "make ready" repairs and "detailing" dealers perform to mostly cover up problems from the casual buyer. There's nothing worse than an engine compartment and chassis haphazardly spray painted black and Chevy orange, and then sprayed with that shiny, greasy stuff dealers use to make it look "fresh". Maybe worse is the damage done by a quickie redyeing of the interior. That takes hours of work to undo. These dealer practices don't have any real value; they just result in folks paying more for a less authentic car.

[Michael J.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

Again, if I were to actually know the person I am buying from, selling to, I would much prefer to do that. The problem is, I don't have that many friends who do this stuff like I do. I did have one opportunity to sell to someone I knew, and I offered them a money back guarantee, if you don't like it send it back, I return your money, done. But I told him I would do that because I didn't want this to ruin our friendship and I didn't want to hear or listen to complaints for months. If everyone would do that sort of thing, then you could trust a bit more.

[Frank D.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

I've sold two cars recently on eBay; a 1996 Mazda pick-up for $2,500 to a local guy and a '67 Chevelle SS-396 NOM for $38,500 to a great old gent from Texas - he drove to my house to trailer it all the way home. Smooth transactions both times, no BS and no after-the-sale issues. The cars wer sold "as-is, where-is" and that was emphatically reinforced with the buyers. On the flip side I looked at cars at the classic car dealers around Central Florida for a couple of years and didn't buy anything. I saw more Bubba-ed up, mis-represented, and, sometimes rusted out junk than I care to talk about. I bought both of my Corvettes from private owners; flew out-of-state to examine them myself (including a protological exam with gooseneck camera) and got great deals at killer prices. Yes, no matter what, you HAVE to do your homework.

[Bill M.]

Re: Buying or Selling: Private Party vs Dealer

I have bought and sold many corvettes over the last 30 years. All but 1 were private sales, like Frank I had a guy drive all the way from Chicago to buy my 396 car and he would not even wait for me to send him a video. all of my transactions were trouble free though they were relatively local. the 1 car I bought from Corvette Mike I am sure was a cosign and that to was trouble free.
I am getting annoyed at Hemmings for posting auction cars in the "what I consider the normal for sale section" you read the add and the end says to be offered at so and so. Sick of it they should have their own section so we can skip if we choose.