In an idle moment in March during the Lockdown I asked for a valuation of my 2010 Melbourne Red 3.5is from WBAC. The car has done just under 44000 miles and has full service history. I was interested in getting some idea of it’s worth. First response was £9265. Needless to say I didn’t proceed. However, they have contacted me on four further occasions. Each time the offer has increased. From £9265 to £9695 to £11200 to £11600 and today £12000. So quite an increase. Of course being WBAC if you took it to them to sell they would find all sorts of reasons to reduce the price offered.
WBAC valuation of my 3.5is
- Thread starter IRD
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Anonymous
Guest
A lot of cars are going up, whether it’s a WBAC master plan who knows..my local spanner mans Audi S5 did the same thing and he got more than 2k more from them than he was expecting….
In one way it’s a bit like house prices, unless you are planning to get out of the market it’s a bit immaterial as the next car you are going to buy has also gone up…eg Argyll Andy great price in his 35is but then had to pay a lot more now for his next car..
In one way it’s a bit like house prices, unless you are planning to get out of the market it’s a bit immaterial as the next car you are going to buy has also gone up…eg Argyll Andy great price in his 35is but then had to pay a lot more now for his next car..
I had my TTS valued by WBAC 2 months ago at £18k, got an email saying it had gone up in value so did another valuation at it came back with £21k.
Audi offered £16,850 part ex against a £40k TTRS
Stuck it on Wizzle at the start of the week and it’s just been collected today for £24k.
Audi offered £16,850 part ex against a £40k TTRS
Stuck it on Wizzle at the start of the week and it’s just been collected today for £24k.
North West Surrey
£12K for your stunning 35is is a proper p*ss-take Ian. 
But hopefully they will take my sister's 06 plate Mini Cooper with dents on most panels, lacquer peel everywhere and a suspect head gasket off her hands when she finds her next wheels!
But hopefully they will take my sister's 06 plate Mini Cooper with dents on most panels, lacquer peel everywhere and a suspect head gasket off her hands when she finds her next wheels!
They offered Seb £5.5 for his 23i so they are taking the Mickey - prob £2k under valued but then they have to make a profit somewhere 
As been said great if you want to get rid of a mutt but if you have a decent set of wheels - better of selling privately
As been said great if you want to get rid of a mutt but if you have a decent set of wheels - better of selling privately
Deepseaskateboard
Senior member
I think WBAC provides a good baseline for valuations.
You have to remember they have to sell the car on, to someone who will then sell it to a consumer, unless it goes straight to auction.
So, if we assume each seller operates on a 20% margin.
12,000 x 1.2 = 14,400 to the dealer.
14,400 x 1.2 = 17,280 (dealer may round up to £17,999) or operate a higher profit margin.
So, the 12K price whilst isn’t good, you can see how it’s calculated. They start with a lower valuation initially, as if you need the money you will accept lower for it, also they charge more for same day and same week transactions!
Each price also does not include their standard transaction fee.
I think the general consensus here or anywhere is WBAC + 2-3K depending on what similar cars are going for on auto-trader.
35is is a rare car, and if someone really wants a red one, who knows what you can get for it.
You have to remember they have to sell the car on, to someone who will then sell it to a consumer, unless it goes straight to auction.
So, if we assume each seller operates on a 20% margin.
12,000 x 1.2 = 14,400 to the dealer.
14,400 x 1.2 = 17,280 (dealer may round up to £17,999) or operate a higher profit margin.
So, the 12K price whilst isn’t good, you can see how it’s calculated. They start with a lower valuation initially, as if you need the money you will accept lower for it, also they charge more for same day and same week transactions!
Each price also does not include their standard transaction fee.
I think the general consensus here or anywhere is WBAC + 2-3K depending on what similar cars are going for on auto-trader.
35is is a rare car, and if someone really wants a red one, who knows what you can get for it.
Deepseaskateboard said:I think WBAC provides a good baseline for valuations.
You have to remember they have to sell the car on, to someone who will then sell it to a consumer, unless it goes straight to auction.
So, if we assume each seller operates on a 20% margin.
12,000 x 1.2 = 14,400 to the dealer.
14,400 x 1.2 = 17,280 (dealer may round up to £17,999) or operate a higher profit margin.
So, the 12K price whilst isn’t good, you can see how it’s calculated. They start with a lower valuation initially, as if you need the money you will accept lower for it, also they charge more for same day and same week transactions!
Each price also does not include their standard transaction fee.
I think the general consensus here or anywhere is WBAC + 2-3K depending on what similar cars are going for on auto-trader.
35is is a rare car, and if someone really wants a red one, who knows what you can get for it.
WBAC is owned by BCA (British Car Auctions) (last time I checked) and I believe all their cars go to auction. Quite often in auctions they make way over book value so they are onto a good thing.
Silverstar said:Deepseaskateboard said:I think WBAC provides a good baseline for valuations.
You have to remember they have to sell the car on, to someone who will then sell it to a consumer, unless it goes straight to auction.
So, if we assume each seller operates on a 20% margin.
12,000 x 1.2 = 14,400 to the dealer.
14,400 x 1.2 = 17,280 (dealer may round up to £17,999) or operate a higher profit margin.
So, the 12K price whilst isn’t good, you can see how it’s calculated. They start with a lower valuation initially, as if you need the money you will accept lower for it, also they charge more for same day and same week transactions!
Each price also does not include their standard transaction fee.
I think the general consensus here or anywhere is WBAC + 2-3K depending on what similar cars are going for on auto-trader.
35is is a rare car, and if someone really wants a red one, who knows what you can get for it.
WBAC is owned by BCA (British Car Auctions) (last time I checked) and I believe all their cars go to auction. Quite often in auctions they make way over book value so they are onto a good thing.
Just found out recently that they also own Cinch so now have a direct retail outlet seemingly reflective in their offers as they aren’t going through a 3rd party via the auction now.
I’m sure they still put some of the crap through auction to limit their liability on the retail side.
Argyll Andy said:
Looks like they are doing vertical and horizontal integration.
I agree with mcbutler they prey on the vulnerable. I also hate the fact they lower the price even further when the car is presented. A friend of mine sold his pristine X1 to them. They knocked a further £400 off the price offered because of the supposed cost of repairing stone chips. He needed a quick sale so let it go. Of course they weren’t going to carry out any repairs because the car would go to auction. But as others have said it does give you a baseline. In that, when selling you would always expect to do better than what they offer. I was just a bit bored and filling a bit of time when I filled out the form.It is interesting, however, to see how prices fluctuate and by how much.
In the past I used to enjoy the bartering involved in buying and selling cars. Especially, if I was trading in at a dealers. Now I just want to get the deal done for a fair price. Must be an age thing. :roll:
In the past I used to enjoy the bartering involved in buying and selling cars. Especially, if I was trading in at a dealers. Now I just want to get the deal done for a fair price. Must be an age thing. :roll:
I think they work on the desperation factor and 2-3 out of ten will accept the deal
My neighbour (80 years old) took his 09 Hyundai i10 fsh 22k miles after they offered £1850
He came home with it when they ended up at £950
Glad I prepped him to walk- he sold it a week later to a guy around the corner for £2k
My neighbour (80 years old) took his 09 Hyundai i10 fsh 22k miles after they offered £1850
He came home with it when they ended up at £950
Glad I prepped him to walk- he sold it a week later to a guy around the corner for £2k
Deepseaskateboard
Senior member
bigwinn said:
What are their methods or criteria for reducing the price?
They offer one price on their "online calculator", then when you get there, they'll find every dink, minor scratch, scuff in order to lower the price. If you declared a minor dink they'll say the assessment didn't show it as being so bad.
They know that you've probably got insurance about to expire and play on your desparation to sell.
I had an 18 y/o RAV4 with 140k on the clock, dent in the corner of the plastic bumper, minor scratches around door handles, worn out clutch, engine management light coming on (dead cat), wet dog smell (used to take her to the forest) and worn out seat bolster, back of seats covered with stickers (kids), one owner (us) from new partial Toyota dealer history with stamps from my local mechanic for the remainder, 9 months left on the MOT.
WBAC quoted £400 (without telling them about the clutch and cat) - phoned a local scrapper and told him all the faults he came round, said it was better than described and that he'd be able to export it to Africa as 4 x 4 Japanese cars are popular there,he also said that he was very interested in my zed as he used to have one and would like to get another.
After a jump-start (I left the inside light on) we drove it onto the trailer and £350 later said goodbye, no silly games to lower the price and no risk on meeting that pillock Philip Schofield
They know that you've probably got insurance about to expire and play on your desparation to sell.
I had an 18 y/o RAV4 with 140k on the clock, dent in the corner of the plastic bumper, minor scratches around door handles, worn out clutch, engine management light coming on (dead cat), wet dog smell (used to take her to the forest) and worn out seat bolster, back of seats covered with stickers (kids), one owner (us) from new partial Toyota dealer history with stamps from my local mechanic for the remainder, 9 months left on the MOT.
WBAC quoted £400 (without telling them about the clutch and cat) - phoned a local scrapper and told him all the faults he came round, said it was better than described and that he'd be able to export it to Africa as 4 x 4 Japanese cars are popular there,he also said that he was very interested in my zed as he used to have one and would like to get another.
After a jump-start (I left the inside light on) we drove it onto the trailer and £350 later said goodbye, no silly games to lower the price and no risk on meeting that pillock Philip Schofield
They always start with a low price, a certain percentage will take that because they need a quick sale. Then, a week or two later, they send the "your car has gone up in value" which is taken up by a percentage of the people who are tired of attempting a private sale after 2 weeks of silly offers.
At some stage there's usually the "your car is about to go down in value" to get you to panic sell. It's a very similar sequence for almost every car. Just basic psychology and a good understanding of their market.
It's a useful service for some people and no one has to take their offer if they don't want to.
At some stage there's usually the "your car is about to go down in value" to get you to panic sell. It's a very similar sequence for almost every car. Just basic psychology and a good understanding of their market.
It's a useful service for some people and no one has to take their offer if they don't want to.
They have their good side when I sold my Audi with a gearbox failure. Audi wanted £9k to fix it with unknown good will (out of warranty by 3 months) whilst wbac just deducted £1800 for that. All they wanted to know was if they could drive it to auction. No haggling about price at all.