I’m thinking about either putting my car on either ebay or in the autotrader. Does anyone even pick up an autotrader (or Classic autotrader) any more? I’m pretty confident that ebay will get it done, but the autotrader ad does run for longer. Who’s sold a car on ebay? Any words of wisdom? I have about 130 pics of the car from every angle that I plan to pull from.
You’re selling it? that’s one of the nicest Cougars I’ve seen.
“Does anybody look at the AutoTrader anymore?”
Uh, no.
Once in awhile… I think Craig’s list has pretty much replaced the auto trader. I would try Craig’s list first to avoid all those ebay fees. You could also try Hemmings as a lot of people still look there.
I haven’t looked at AutoTrader or a printed newspaper in years. As others have said, Ebay and Craigslist will be your best bet for selling the car, outside of this forum.
The problem with selling a highly customized car is finding someone that shares your exact vision and agrees with your price. While many people may love looking at what you’ve done to the car, far fewer will be willing to purchase it.
Good luck on the sale!
I haven’t been in the market to purchase for longer than I can remember. But if you’re thinking Auto Trader… they have a specialized version of the mag called “Kustoms and Hot Rods”… yes… Kustoms with a K. The guy holding that version would likely be more interested in a car like yours.
I use Craigs List and the recycler as it is also free
When I was searching I was using every online link I could find and one of them was Auto trader classics. But with the craigslist US search application I would agree that would be the way to go first, then Ebay and so on, price depending of course.
You can also try Cars OnLine.com. They offer a “run 'til it sells” ad (I think it’s about $45 for that). That’s what I used to sell my '97 30th Anniversary Camaro Z-28 convertible some years back.
I think “Fleabay” gives you the greatest exposure across the board. It does come with its baggage and the occasional deadbeat bidder. It does provide an excellent source to gauge as to what the market is paying.
But lets face it, most real sales occur withn a reasonable driving distance. Serious people want to inspect cars in person. NEVER buy a car without inspecting it YOURSELF. With that being said, Craiglist does work pretty good.
I happen to also like collector car nation and as “Catvert68” mentions, “cars on line” is a pretty good source. I look at it often just to get a guage for whats out there becuase most of whats on there is better quality sellers anbd product.
http://www.cars-on-line.com/mercury.html
I read AutoTrader once a year when my friend from Ontario escapes the winter and heads to Oz for 3 months on Dec 26. He brings me a couple of copies to keep up with the Cougar ads
Well, it’s been on the Atlanta craigslist for about three months now, and I got one guy who drove from Florida swearing he was going to buy it only to drive back home empty handed. I agree, though, that it’s most likely going to be someone fairly close. I’d much MUCH rather have someone come look it over and test drive it in person, fall in love with it, and take it home than pay me all that money up front and have to cross their fingers that it meets their expectations.
I wish that I could find a place that I could just park it for a while where everyone would drive past it. I’m such a task-oriented, immediate-results, git-r-done sort of person that this long drawn out selling process is driving me crazy!
I think you just need to be patient. I understand you’ve had it for sale a while now. But around here, this isn’t the best time of year to try selling a car, let alone a “special interest” one. This is due to the holidays, poorer weather, etc. The Classic Car section of my local newspaper might have one or two listings when it could be an entire column during the peak season.
If you can hold out until Spring, I think you might find more success.
I buy it still . Never know what you will find . Bought a carb for a 70 boss 302 for $ 90.00 / Big block Mercury script valve covers for $10.00./Found a few parts cars. Not everyone on the net .Have lots friend that I list parts & cars on ebay & Craigs list
I would continue with Craigslist…thats where I bought my last car this past summer and have picked up quite a few parts too…be patient and it will sell…I should check it out before it leaves the state…I’m south of you in Sharpsburg Georgia
Sean, it is a different audience. You won’t reach the Craigslist customer in a print publication, but then again you won’t reach a print guy on the internet.
http://Www.JLAForums.com
http://Www.lemonfree.com
Those are two sites I used to check daily when I was looking for my cougar, and the first one is where I actually ended up finding it. Lemonfree has eBay listings as well as other sources, so I’m not sure exactly how a specific sale ends up being shown there, but if you look right now you’ll see some of the listings on eBay and not others, so, maybe there’s something you have to do to get your car to show up there.
Craigslist is of course good, maybe the best even, when it comes to local buyers and sellers hooking up. The fact that yours has been up there a while but hasn’t sold is probably just because it will be a very specific buyer that wants your Cougar since it is so heavily customized. With that being the case, I really think eBay is your best bet, widest exposure you can possibly get. Key thing for you is gonna be to connect with not the guy who wants a more conventional Cougar, but one that is tweaked. If that guy is out there, I have to believe that eBay would be the most likely place for you to connect.
Also bearing in mind that now is holiday time, and immediately following that is pay-off-the-Christmas-presents-on-the-credit-cards time, and shortly after that is Tax time, you might have to be patient. I would think late spring or summer are times when people are more likely to buy cars like these.
Good luck Sean!
I don’t read the Auto Trader mauch these days. Cars on line I do frequent quite a bit window shopping. Like others said that’s a pretty good venue and I’d try that as you POP till it sells. Real bad time to sell so hope you can stash it away for another time. Good luck!
I checked out your Craig list ad. I think you did a great job showing the car. Your paint job is one that I have admired for some time now. The way you tied the three colors together is very appealing to the eye. Other then being the wrong time of year to sell I have a couple of suggestions that might help.
Finished the interior of the Cougar. The only way I would spend that much money for a Cougar is it has to be finished and nice, or rare and desirable. I think a buyer will look at it and wonder what else that isn’t finished.
Get rid of the GTO stitching on the seats. Nobody wants their Cougar tied to a GM product.
Your Cougar is very well done! and has quality written all over it… you’ll find the right buyer, just give it time…
Definitely use CL mostly now a days, but buy a Trader any time I can find one.