[Surferdude]

I have contacted a broker (a large, well known one) and they wanted me to bring my best price to them and then they would conduct a reverse auction and guarantee to beat my best price by at least $500.
But that to me negates the reason you'd go to a broker because I had to do all the running around, negotiating, playing one dealer off against another, etc to get my best price to take to the broker. 
Didn't seem worth the effort to me.

Agreed. It seems to me, if you did all that, then went to one of the dealers and said if they went $500 under the best price, they'd do a deal.

[Dazzler]

I have contacted a broker (a large, well known one) and they wanted me to bring my best price to them and then they would conduct a reverse auction and guarantee to beat my best price by at least $500.
But that to me negates the reason you'd go to a broker because I had to do all the running around, negotiating, playing one dealer off against another, etc to get my best price to take to the broker. 
Didn't seem worth the effort to me.

Agreed. It seems to me, if you did all that, then went to one of the dealers and said if they went $500 under the best price, they'd do a deal.

 

[Phil №❶]

I just put the trade in price down to the cost of doing business. I keep my cars for a long time, the last one which I tried to trade was 30 years old, they offered me $0.00 and a free tow to the wreckers. If a new car is popular in the market, the dealership know this and don't care weather you buy or not. Expect to be offered SFA for your trade in IMO.

[beerman]

Never trade,

Screw them for a cash only price, and then sell privately. It makes getting deals easy, because you can get your best price from anywhere, and start on the phone (mate I'm not even going bother driving to see you unless you can beat $33k). Gets the negotiation going in reverse they are trying to talk you up, rather than the traditional you trying to beat them down. Someone will bite, if they don't know to move the price up a bit.

Union shopper is good for this. get your best price, lower it by a couple of grand, then watch them beat it and smile all the way to the bank.

That way you win twice, you get the extra money they would spend selling your car at auction, and you get more for your car.

Takes a little bit of effort, but I find if your car is in good nick, and your reasonable about price (and kick those who seek to bend you over to the kerb) you'll move the car fairly quickly.

[Phil №❶]

@beerman, Probably good advice for everyone but me, I can't be bothered selling privately. I  don't like randoms coming to my door asking fool questions and trying to beat me down.

[Dazzler]

@beerman, Probably good advice for everyone but me, I can't be bothered selling privately. I  don't like randoms coming to my door asking fool questions and trying to beat me down.

 

It is quite hard to sell a dearer car privately in Tassie (say 15 to 20K or more) People seem really wary of private sellers down here unless they know you..

I have been in the sales game for a long time but still don't enjoy trying to sell our cars privately ...Plus a lot of people need the money from the car they are getting rid of to help with the cost of the new one and if it takes a while to sell it they don't want to wait to get the new car (The Dealers play on this very Human trait)

[Phil №❶]

And there are no statutory warranties privately and that scares people off in droves. 

[rustynutz]

There's no warranty on older cars bought through a dealer either... 

[Phil №❶]

I thought there was if it is over $4k in SA 

[Dazzler]

There's no warranty on older cars bought through a dealer either... 

That is the crazy thing.. for some reason people will still pay considerably more from a dealer than from a private sale

[rustynutz]

I thought there was if it is over $4k in SA 

In SA I think there's a warranty of sorts if the purchase price is over $3000, I could be wrong about that though... 

I do know that in Victoria there's only a warranty if the car is under 10 years old and has less than 160,000k's on the clock....

[beerman]

And there are no statutory warranties privately and that scares people off in droves. 

Not a problem an RACQ check can't fix, and the money you save can buy some fairly expensive repairs. If you look at the warranties and what they cover, and the dodgy repairs used car dealers will do to get you just beyond the warranty period, cant see the issue.