Advice selling a Minor

[bob1232]

Hello,
I've not been too much of a poster on here but it's been rather interesting reading. I have an ex-police minor registered 1969 which I bought my second year of uni as a "rolling restoration" to get me about. I'm looking to sell it in the next few months but could really do with some advice.

I bought it in the south east and drove it back to Cheshire, en route the engine showed some stuff that made me choose to replace rather than repair. Over the last few years I've been keeping up with mechanical fixings and such but have rather neglected the body work.

The engine has around 8000 miles on it from when i installed it. It's a re-manufactured 1098cc unleaded conversion I got from some chaps outside Birmingham. It runs really well and doesn't fail to start.

So here lies my question. I have a minor which is relatively sound mechanically but needs a moderate to decent amount of work on the body. After looking on ebay and the like i'm having a hard time working out a fair (for both parties) asking price.

Any help would be really appreciated,

Cheers!

[ManyMinors]

Surely the whole thing about ebay is that you don't HAVE an asking price? You start an auction at 99p and what it sells for is the market value on that day. Simple. Anything and everything is worth exactly as much as somebody will pay for it. 1000s of people look at ebay so there is no danger of it selling for 99p!

Morris Minors do tend to be OK mechanically but with bodywork needing attention. A Minor the other way about would be unusual I suppose and probably easier to sell! Does yours still have an MOT?

[bob1232]

Thanks for your input! The bit i'm having problems with is working out a reasonable reserve price for the auction (if that's the best way to sell). I know from personal experience that things do sometimes slip through the cracks and people get bargains on ebay, so I'd like to avoid selling for less than I could get if I sold it though a classified.

It is MOTd till December, It passed second time after I replaced a gator and the front brake shoes.

[ManyMinors]

Nobody can give you a good idea of the value of a car without seeing even a picture of it - and a picture can be a little misleading anyway. If you want to advertise it on ebay where everybody is looking for a bargain (but seldom gets one!) then the best thing is to start at 99p and NOT have a reserve. People looking for a bargain probably won't even put it on their watch list if they see it has a reserve because the assumption will be that they won't be able to buy it at a bargain price. IF you place a reserve on it you'll be bombarded by people asking what the reserve is....

A year or two ago a friend wanted to sell her not particularly good Morris Traveller. She listed it on a couple of classic car websites for about £2000 but got little response. Finally, having purchased another car and needing the Morris out of the way, she listed it on ebay as I've suggested above, a 7day auction starting at 99p, finishing on a Sunday evening and with no reserve. It sold for about £300 more than she had previously advertised it for!...... It is a slight gamble, but so what? You will get what the car is worth, and if you say you don't know what it is worth, then that's the way you'll find out. You have to list it correctly and take clear photographs and write an accurate description. All those are very important.

If you're not prepared to take what you see as a risk, then advertise it for a fixed price on carandclassic website which is free.

Be realistic though. An old Morris Minor which requires a good deal of bodywork is not particularly rare or valuable I'm afraid. Most of us have got one much like that!

[The Issigonis Kid]

If you list on ebay, make sure you list with loads of proper photos and make sure it's in the correct catagory. I've seen many a bargin because a car was listed incorrectly. For example, someone recently paid £500 for the last ever Morris Minor 2dr because the advert was rubbish and it was listed under' parts and catalogues', therefore the only people that saw it were MMOC members when I highlighted it.
An MOT'd Minor 2dr is always worth at least £750 upwards to £3000 mint, some dealers are even pushing the market towards £5000.

[bmcecosse]

A brand new MOT will add value - nobody wants to be mucking about getting an MOT in December. Set a reserve at whatever you paid for the engine -consider anything above that to be a bonus.....

[bob1232]

Hello all,
Thanks for all of your input, I think I'll look into getting a fresh MOT for just before selling as suggested and probably list as a classified.

[bmcecosse]

As above - new MOT and list it. Remember the MOT history can be looked on DVLA site if the reg number is know. I think 99p suggests the car is pretty much a wreck...so I would certainly start it off at say £800, no reserve (which puts folk off) and see where it goes. Up to the last day or so you can always pull the advert if you don't like the price.

[Stuartandsue]

Also make sure your auction ends during an evening or weekend so people who are interested can take part in any last minute bidding.

We have bought bargains over the years where a listing had several watchers but due to unsociable end times there was no final bidding war, which always pushes the sale price up.