[ceebeezee]

The Linea had lived upto my expectations and was a wonderful ride for the past 2 years. But a change of job and city put me at crossroads. I had moved to Delhi in 2010 and the prosperity that followed resulted in me buying a Linea MJD Emotion Pack. This after reading reams and ream of team-bhp.

I was now moving back to Mumbai. To check on the formalities, I again turned to team-bhp and got Akku Agent’s details from GTOs post. He turned out to be a professional. We spoke on phone and I explained the situation – 2010 model Linea with DL registration; required to bring this car to Mumbai and get it re-registered (MH02). I had to send a scanned copy of the RC book (which I clicked a pic of sent) and I had to pay Rs. 500/- for this consultation – through a quick bank transfer and voila! in an hours time I had an “official” looking quotation for the entire task.

I have attached the quotation inline, it was addressed wrongly for which I received a call and an apology from Akku!

Anyways, long story short, I was not going to plonk a whopping Rs. 1.34 Lakhs into a depreciating asset even if it meant parting ways with the car. So again, went to team-bhp to get views on selling used cars. Did find the exhaustive thread on selling user car but did not find anything substantial when it came to “selling experiences” from members. So here go my two bits on selling a car on your own.

The Delhi market is a heaven for cars (for everyone dealers, sellers, buyers, oglers..). Having been in Vasant Kunj, I have checked out all lux cars right from Benzes, BMWs to Lexus, Rolls and Bentleys. Jags are a dime a dozen. I thought such a place would have been easy to dispose of a used Linea. But I was not prepared for the ill-effects of the reputation of the Linea and the market dynamics in Delhi.

My first stop was Mahindra First Choice (MFC). Went to the website, entered all the details online and promptly got a call from their central office for further details. A valuator would be sent to check the car and then I would receive a quotation, I was told. I had disposed of a Swift 2 years back and that time the process was localized – you went to the local MFC and got a valuation & negotiation done. Now the process differed – all valuations and negotiations were centralized. A MFC valuator would come and have a detailed check on the car, send across the details to their network members and receive quotations from all interested and then provide me the best price.

[ceebeezee]

The valuator came as promised checked the car and I received a call from the lady.

Lady: Sir, We have received a request from you for selling Linea

Me: Yes, valuation as done on Saturday. I am waiting for the call to tell me the price

Lady: Sir, we can offer you Rs. 4 lakhs for the same.

Me(flabbergasted): What! It’s a Aug 2010 model, just 19k kms on the odo with 3rd free service still left and extended warranty till 2014!

Lady: Sir, 4 lakhs is what we have received as best quotation

Me (shock and a sinking feeling): It cant be! There must be something wrong? Are you sure?

Me: Ah! I got it – M’am I am sure you are mistaken – I have a Diesel model of Linea – your dealers have mistaken for Petrol..pls check m’am.

Lady (now seriously confused): Sir, I will check and call you back

The conversation had me worried. I had a 5 Lakh loan pending on the car. My rough estimates were that I would get Rs. 6.5 odd lakhs for the car, settle the loan and have a little left for the DP of a new one. All that went down the drain after the call. I was back into reality and evaluating how to squeeze the maximum from this. This was not going to be a breeze as I had thought earlier…

I quickly made a sortie to the closest Mahindra FC dealer (Vasant Kunj) for a second opinion. A test drive later, I was trudging back home in the afternoon heat resigned to the fact that there was a huge gap between my expectations and reality!


Now, IE & Chrome were in full blast with multiple tabs… I was checking out the best sites to list my car and sell it off. I shortlisted the following and my experiences thereon…

The evaluation of the options was during a 18 day period within which I had to sell off the car.

(1) Team-Bhp classifieds

Enquiries received: 0
Cost: Free of Cost (FOC)

Registration / Listing process: Fairly simple registration and listing process. Each listing has to be approved by a moderator. My first attempt was rejected by moderator as pictures of the car needs to be loaded prior to approval. My only comment is that the process has a “bug” since during listing, uploading pics was not mandatory, and infact the text instruction was that it can be added later. Suggestion would be to have two options – i. Save listing (listing is saved for further modifications, but not submitted for approvals) ii. Submit for approval. The flexibility this allows is self explanatory as at the time I was listing, I didn’t have pics of the car specifically clicked from a seller/buyer perspective. Similar to the "assembly line".

The listing format for entering data is detailed and structured. One of the best amongst the ones I used. I am fairly finicky in the way details are presented and am put off by generic statements by sellers ( be it cars or anything else e.g. in my recent house search, came across several “2BHK on rent on link road, close to mall, school, market only for 25k” types with no other information other than broker's number!

Since I didn’t receive any enquiries, I was unable to use/ review the admin and info mgmt panels (if any)

I was disappointed to say the least, as I expected this was the easiest way out and would find me lot of buyers.

I did receive a post-sale request from an interested member on the price I had received, that’s all!

[ceebeezee]

(2) Car Dekho

Enquiries received: 10
Cost: FOC

Registration / Listing process: Fairly simple process. No approval required and the listing is instant once you have submitted. The pic representation once uploaded is poor. Quality of response was mixed as I felt I received several enquiries which were based on “fraudulent clicks” – known scam in the online advtg world.


(3) Quikr

Enquries received: around 3-4
Cost: FOC
Registration/Listing process: Same as above. Listing structure very poor. Not built for car sellers.


(4) Car Wale

Enquries received: More than 15
Cost: Rs. 750 + taxes with a money back guarantee for unsold cars

Registration / Listing process: Top notch along with team-bhp listings. Professional layout and multiple pics can be loaded at one time with a provision for explanatory comments on each pic. The site, on payment, also offers you an admin panel where all enquires are tracked. The enquiry process more or less filters non-genuine buyers as one needs to enter a valid mobile number when ad is clicked. The enquiry is authenticated by a code sent to the mobile number as an SMS to the interested buyer, that needs to be entered on the site to generate the enquiry.

I had avoided pay sites till the last moment thinking there were ample sites for free listings and one of them would click. At the end, the paid site proved to be beneficial given the short time I had to close this task.

Yes, I found a buyer on carwale so it was worth the money!

I also had unsolicited classified sites putting my car for listing with my name and number AND without my permission…

[ceebeezee]

I also got a taste of a wide spectrum of humanity in the process of showing the car to prospective buyers.

I had one gentlemen interested in the car and his sole reason for choosing this one, was because we were from the same part of the country and that guy hated Delhi and the unscrupulous dealers and people in general (!). But the country/community aspect was meant to benefit only him as he was willing to pay an amount even less than Mahindra FC! He also wanted me to tinker with the odo reading as he was taking it on a company lease and his company had some rules on the odo reading for leasing used cars. I politely told him I wasn’t interested but I will give it a thought. He did give me several calls for a follow up..

And there was this another guy working for a top 5 IT company, young executive, who took the car for a loooong test drive across the length and breadth of Gurgaon, showed the car to his kith and kin and then during price negotiation, suggested we drive to the nearest used car dealer to get a valuation benchmark. Although I was put off, I obliged and went to a nearby Maruti Used car dealer,who again offered something in the range similar to Mahindra FC. The guy had the gall to offer me the same price as his quotation. I dropped him off and said goodbye. This guy wanted the comfort of an individual sale/car/seller at the price of a dealer sale… Smart!


I finally found a buyer who was ready to pay a price close to my expectation (scaled down from where I started) and then followed the guidelines laid down in the team-bhp thread on used car sale.

My observations and reccos to people:

1. Try selling the car on your own to individuals. You will get a good price and definitely feel that this option pays for the effort that goes into it.

2. Apart from used car dealer, List the car on team-bhp and carwale.com – more than enough. Probably cardekho also in case you want to cast your net wide but you will catch a lot of unwanted stuff ( I got wrong number, used car dealer, bored housewife who didn’t have a clue what I was talking about, person wanting delivery in Chandigarh, and an interested buyer from Dehradun who wanted to come down after 2 weeks to check the car!)

3. You will get all sorts. Handle all queries with the same amount of interest and effort. You never know, the jerk who took a test drive by revving the car every 100 mtrs maybe the buyer with the highest offer!

4. Have your service records properly filed. It impresses the buyer about the care you have taken on the car.

5. Do rely on online valuations (like the one at carwale.com) but do not think it’s the holy bible – its just a guidance. Be dynamic with your expectations.

6. You may have a sweet deal thrown right away at you, do not run to catch it. Ensure all the buyers interested in the car and have a confirmed appointment are shown the car. You can always take 12/24 hours to get back on the confirmation/sealing the deal. I got a better deal because I held out to a buyer who was waving wads of cash in front of me – I was firm that I had to go back, discuss the offer and confirm.

7. Try & check on the authenticity of the buyer - I did a full profile check of the prospective buyer, before confirmation, using FB, Twitter, Linkedin and other social media to get an idea that I was dealing with a family guy and fairly good profile – the comfort this gives while dealing is immense. I didn’t have to keep thinking whether I will be shortchanged.. This is not always possible, but worth a try. I know the buyer also checked me out

8. Finally, do check on vahan.nic.in regularly and keep reminding the buyer about the registration. I didn’t have to since my first check after 30 days had my vehicle details updated with the second buyer’s details.

[lsp]

CeeBeeZee,
I saw your car listing and even made a comment about it on some other pre-owned Linea thread that the deal was very tempting. In hindsight I think it was a good deal lost for me, especially coz you don't get such low run diesel cars. Never mind!!

Thanks for sharing your experience on the forum. It is enriching for the rest of us as well.

Originally Posted by ceebeezee

....
I did receive a post-sale request from an interested member on the price I had received, that’s all!

[Nilesh5417]

So what happens if in spite of all the steps being followed on the first post, you find out that the car/bike was never transferred by the buyer on his name?

http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-...ng/Comet.html/

Here is an example. This bike was owned by me until Mar'12 and looks like the guy hasn't transferred it on his name and is selling it right on this platform as "single owner" bike!

[Vivek Jayan]

Guys? What selling price can one expect from a 2007 Ford Ikon Flair, which has clocked around 70k kilometers? The car is in a decent condition though I wouldn't call it impeccable. It would be helpful if you guys could suggest a reasonable asking price.

[frequentflyer]

Originally Posted by GTO

Step THREE : Payments & Documentation

• You must sign the transfer papers & proceed with delivery ONLY after the payment has been received in full. Strictly no part payments or EMIs (they can go to a bank for that). If the car's buyer is paying via cheque, wait for clearance. Don’t blindly trust demand drafts either, fakes have been circulating in the market. Only when the cash is received, or your bank confirms the deposit, should you hand over the car. Remember that the cheque / demand draft must be in favour of the registered owner of the car.

• Have the RTO transfer forms and delivery note (all forms attached to this post) signed by both the parties (buyer and seller). Do NOT leave the buyer field blank, or sign on any other blank documents. If required, and time permitting, offer to visit the RTO together to complete the transfer.

• Retain a government issued photo id with address proof (e.g. driving licence or passport) of the buyer. Also take his landline phone number.

To hand over to the buyer:

1. Form No.28 - Application for N.O.C. and grant of certificate, if the buyer falls in another RTO’s jurisdiction (3 Originals). Format attached.
2. Form No.29 - Notice of transfer of ownership of vehicle (Original). Format attached.
3. Form No.30 - Report of transfer of ownership of vehicle (Original). Format attached.
4. Delivery note (Copy).
5. Registration certificate (Original).
6. RTO tax documents (Original).
7. Insurance policy (if included as part of the deal).
8. Owner's manual of the car.
9. Any warranty papers (battery etc.).
10. Service history.
11. Invoice of the car (if available, and in copy).
12. PUC certificate.
13. Duplicate keys.

Finance NOC, if applicable:

Form No.35 - NOC from the Finance Company (Format Attached). If your car’s outstanding loan is not yet entirely paid off, the general procedure dictates for you to foreclose the loan (pay your financing bank the outstanding principal amount, pending interest & related charges), procure an NOC from the finance company and hand the same over to the buyer.

To retain with yourself:

1. Form No.28 (Copy).
2. Form No.29 (Copy).
3. Form No.30 (Copy).
4. Delivery note (Original).
5. Govt. issued photo id of the buyer (Copy).
6. Registration, RTO tax papers & insurance policy of the car (Copy).
7. Invoice of the car (Original).
8. Finance company NOC (if applicable & only a copy).

This is comprehensive info at one place indeed!

I am in the process of selling my car and luckily checked this on team bhp.

The buyer is paying me about 90% cos of the car and handing over a fifteen days later post dated cheque. He wants the delivery for the dassera festival. What if I give the car after getting the delivery note but transfer it only after the post dated cheque is encashed? I suppose that should indemnify me for the duration between handing over the car and transferring it to the buyer. I am doing the entire RTO transfer formalities as a safety measure for myself so will have all the documents with me before I deliver the car but will give them to RTO only after full payment is received. Please advise!

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

So what happens if in spite of all the steps being followed on the first post, you find out that the car/bike was never transferred by the buyer on his name?

http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-...ng/Comet.html/

Here is an example. This bike was owned by me until Mar'12 and looks like the guy hasn't transferred it on his name and is selling it right on this platform as "single owner" bike!

Selling and how!! Look at the number of spelling mistakes in that ad. And what on earth is a "CLUDGE"???

On a serious note, at least keep a screenshot of this as the guy may change it later. Then contact him, and say that you have observed that he is selling it here stating that it is a single owner. Ask for an explanation, specially regarding the fact that he hasn't got it transferred to his name.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

... and handing over a fifteen days later post dated cheque....

I would be wary of such a deal....probably not worth the hassle.

[frequentflyer]

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

I would be wary of such a deal....probably not worth the hassle.

You are right. I revised it and told him to pay all the money before delivery of the car.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by ceebeezee

Registration / Listing process: Fairly simple registration and listing process. Each listing has to be approved by a moderator. My first attempt was rejected by moderator as pictures of the car needs to be loaded prior to approval. My only comment is that the process has a “bug” since during listing, uploading pics was not mandatory, and infact the text instruction was that it can be added later.

Hi ceebeezee,

Thanks for the feedback.

Just to update you, we updated the text a few weeks back to say:

If you don't have pictures ready for uploading at the moment, you can complete this step later. You will receive an email reminding you to add pictures to your listing before your ad can be approved.

This is the way we had to do it, due to the way our software is set up.

cya
R

[ceebeezee]

Hey,
Thanks for the action on the feedback. I think this work around will make things more clearer.

cheers!

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Hi ceebeezee,

Thanks for the feedback.

Just to update you, we updated the text a few weeks back to say:

If you don't have pictures ready for uploading at the moment, you can complete this step later. You will receive an email reminding you to add pictures to your listing before your ad can be approved.

This is the way we had to do it, due to the way our software is set up.

cya
R

[kaynmantis]

Can any one tell me, what is the difference between "Certificate of taxation (CT)" and "One time tax". In Mumbai, we have this One time tax.

I have a two wheeler with a "certificate of taxation" receipt.
Although my car does not have one. I only have "One time tax" stamped on my RC book with the amount 69,000.
Is this the same as "Certificate of Taxation"?

Thanks.

[frequentflyer]

I tried to access vahan.nic.in

This site according to Firefox uses an 'invalid security certificate' and one should therefore not visit it. Presumably from the IP address this is an Indian Govt. site!