Xantia - For Sale - Advice on price needed

templestar · Post by **templestar** » 26 Jan 2011, 22:29

Hi all,

No sooner have I joined the Citroen clan (and loving the car I have to say) I have been informed that I am getting a company car.

So the Citroen that I bought, which was only intended to be a stop gap anyway will be going as soon as I get the V5 back!

The car is here (it didn't meet the reserve so did not sell) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 905wt_1139

I paid £1,895 - the car has had ONE owner prior to muggins here owning it for 2 weeks.

I have put a years Trafficmaster subscription on along with 6 months tax...

What price would be realistic on a site such as Auto Trader, or is there a site that might get more interest from Citroen fans?

Worth noting the car is in Mint condition and has this week just tipped over the 80,000 mile mark. Full service history from one Citroen dealer...

Thanks in advance all.

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 26 Jan 2011, 22:48

It looks really nice in those pictures, mint in fact. X reg is one of the later cars too.

Value wise im not sure, as its worth what someone will pay for it. In my opinion you paid a high price for it, but you were happy paying that and so will someone else, maybe even more.

The fact it reached over £1600 on ebay is a good thing, as classifieds usually attract more money, not always though. Some say ebay is a good guide of a cars real value, however i see ebay as a bit of a bargain place, and cars should only be bought after viewing. The lower prices for me would go some way to taking into account not viewing the car.

If your wanting to take into account the money you have spent on it then you could ask a bit more, but it rarely works like that ...

SwissSPEC · Post by **SwissSPEC** » 26 Jan 2011, 23:55

Here is another being advertised at about half of yours, i think you should have sold it to the highest bidder, is it worth all the hassle for a few hundred quid if you're lucky?

eBay

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:06

SwissSPEC wrote:Here is another being advertised at about half of yours, i think you should have sold it to the highest bidder, is it worth all the hassle for a few hundred quid if you're lucky?

As far as i could tell, templestar was one of the people bidding on it, it didnt go for the reserve so they bought it out of auction ...

SwissSPEC · Post by **SwissSPEC** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:11

Eh, are you talking about schill bidding

templestar · Post by **templestar** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:15

Citroenmad is correct. The ebay link is simply to show the car.

The car did not sell in this auction as it didn't meet the reserve - and it wasn't me selling the car on Ebay - I purchased it after the auction had ended.

Seeing the other Xantia for £800 is rather painful... !

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:28

SwissSPEC wrote:Eh, are you talking about schill bidding

No, he has only had it for 2 weeks, the auction ended 09 Jan ... He was in effect the winning bidder.

Yes, that does seem a big variation in price for two similar cars. It has done over 30K miles more but still.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:42

I feel for a value that actually sells the car rather than one posted on
AutoTrader as an asking price, anything near the £1500+ is going to
struggle. As Chris says, if it works for the right buyer it could be smiles
all round at the price you paid but I have reservations about realising
that. The miles aren't particularly low for £1500, nor is the spec the
one with the maximum showroom appeal.

The USP's are it's condition, Ok SX spec, OK miles PLUS it's HDi 110 with
decent provenance history. There are many worse higher priced alternative
make cars around but a Xantia won't get the pay-any-price for the badge
Audi/Beemer lemmings.

I'd almost be tempted to say live with the car you loved enough a week
ago to buy and feel you're getting your moneysworth rather than get upset
if the offers you get are nothing like what you paid. See what offers you
do get here on the forum.

It's a very nice car but you paid the top condition price for which you'll
possibly have to wait a while to match again. The fact that other hopefully
genuine bidders had the auction at that value should give you some heart.

Andrew

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 27 Jan 2011, 00:58

Out of interest, is your Xant running on alloys as per the finished auction
as the picture shows 15" trims? Nicer than alloys IMHO but trims though
all the same - lazy or naughty of the original seller.

FWIW, the other silver example car is higher miles, more travelled bodily,
and although it's similarly a 2000 year model like yours is 10 months older
and a lower LX spec to your SX; what this amounts to on the run-out models
may not actually amount to a great deal compared with older versions
mind. Your lack of a towbar bodes well for clutch longevity too but there's
always the chance the 'competition' may have already had a new clutch or
could be on borrowed time at it's 117k.

Difficult call. Two nice cars and equally appealing colours.

I'm just not sure 27k less miles is worth doubling the price.

The fact is, you'll never know and the silver car could be wearing
it's near 11 years worse than your described as mint or immaculate
car and it could be chalk and cheese. Can your employer not just
subsidise your fuel/running costs rather than finance another car!!!

I know. It doesn't work like that...

Andrew

Post by **RichardW** » 27 Jan 2011, 08:08

Sadly I think you did pay rather over the odds for it, but that is water under the bridge - you were happy at the time, so you have to let that go!

It's also due a cambelt if it hasn't been done yet - which is a £3-400 job if you pay someone to do it....that rather knocks the value unfortunately

Bits are around £100 if you can DIY - that would be a strong additional selling point.

My guess is you will struggle to move it on for >£1500 even with a new cambelt - but you never know, e-bay is a funny place

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 27 Jan 2011, 08:40

On the other hand there is this back on the market at a ridiculous £2k

its a pile of poo and at best worth half of that yet I know that someone did buy and pay for it straight from the advert without seeing it. Following a long bitter battle with the seller they managed to reject the car and get half of the money refunded. This car is a good lesson for anyone who thinks its safe to buy cars "sight unseen".

Post by **Peter.N.** » 27 Jan 2011, 09:58

I have bought several cars from ebay but not 'unseen', if I am interested enough to buy the car I am also prepared to travel to see it. Having said that I bought the 406 unseen because the sellers description sounded very honest and matched the photo's. If the vehicle doesn't match the description then you are under no obligation to buy it, if the seller is genuine he will raise no objection to you trying it out to confirm this, mine was happy to and the car was 'as described'.

If you want to sell a car quickly I think ebay is the best way, the price is of course determined by how many people are looking for that particular car at the time, there are so many people using ebay now that you would be very unlucky to sell it for less than a 'fair' price and you will usually find that similar cars are going for similar prices.

You do have to know your car well so that you can spot any potential problems, I paid £950.00 for my GLX Hdi 110 estate, I looked at an Executive which had a leaking head gasket and someone paid about £1600 for it!

Peter

citroenxm · Post by **citroenxm** » 27 Jan 2011, 10:08

I think the 1,650 thats in the "Ended" Listing is right for the car, giving its miles! the Correct spec and tidyness..

I think its hard to find a HDi (Like the XUD before it) with less then 100k on the clock, and yours is a bit below that with history.

Paul

XantiaDaveEire · Post by **XantiaDaveEire** » 27 Jan 2011, 10:11

Have you seen this one? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-CITROEN-XANT ... 336492cb03

Similar to yours and less miles but its only the 90bhp

I would have bit their hand off for £1650

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 27 Jan 2011, 11:43

So what's so rough about the Exclusive estate Richard for it to be so bad?
Very rough justice for that previous buyer losing a grand too...

Andrew