Tips on Selling a Triumph Dolomite

As you can see from my sales & wants pages,there are a lot of cars for sale at the moment.The purpose of this page is to try and give people a few friendly tips on selling their Dolly,based on my own experiences.

First of all,ask yourself why you are selling your car.Is it because a garage has quoted you too much to repair your car to get it through the MOT? I've had Dolly owners write to me offering to give their (much loved) cars away because they can't afford to pay for repairs which some less reputable garages have quoted for.My advice to people in this position is to get in touch with the Triumph Dolomite Club (whose members in your area may be able to help) or some of the more reputable companies listed on my specialists page. If you are sure that you want your car to get a new home,then read on.

Preparation

Before you advertise your car make sure that it's in a saleable condition.Give it a thorough clean both inside and out - even if it's a car that you're selling for spares.A dirty car,with ashtrays full,rubbish in the footwells and boot and covered in moss is hardly likely to attract a buyer is it?
Have old MOT certificates,receipts,sales literature,registration documents ready for inspection. Remember that a "low mileage" car may have been around the clock or even had an new speedo fitted. The only way to prove if the mileage is genuine is if you have old MOT certificates or service records available.Also,make sure that (unless you've decribed your car as a non-runner) the car will start - a potential buyer will not be impressed if he or she turns up and finds that the car has a flat battery! One final note here; ensure that the person is insured to drive your car if you allow them to take the car on a test drive.

Advertising

There are many places where you can advertise your car,but think about which ones will be most worthwhile.The local free newspapers may seem like a good idea but think about this; Dolomites are really "collectors cars" nowadays,unlikely to be of interest to someone who simply wants a cheap runabout.It would be better to advertise somewhere which is popular with car enthusiasts.The club offers a free advertising service on its website,but remember that not everyone has Internet access (or indeed visits my website).The Triumph Dolomite Club magazine is also a good place to advertise as this publication is posted out to over a thousand Dolomite enthusiasts around the world (by the way,this is an excellent place to advertise spare parts!).For more info on advertising with the Club, please visit our Sales & Wants Page. However not all potential Dolly owners are Club members,so you may have to widen your scope.Several classic car magazines offer a classified ads service (at a price),which would get your ad to a wider audience.

Think carefully about the wording of your advert.Be as accurate as possible with your description of the car.If someone is travelling hundreds of miles to view a car described as being in "very good condition",they are not going to be very happy to turn up and find a car riddled with rust and filler. I know that you may be very proud of your car,but please be honest with your descriptions.Give people essential information about the car; its age,body/mechanical/interior condition,paint/trim colours,mileage,details of of any modifications (eg stainless steel exhaust fitted?),is it a manual or manual with overdrive or auto,how much tax/MOT it has,the location of the car.Make sure you tell people *exactly* which model it is (eg is it a Dolomite 1500 or is it a Dolomite 1500HL? By the way,there is no such car as a Dolomite 1500TC!).Also list any new parts fitted or servicing recently carried out,this all adds to the appeal of your advert.

Finally,think about the price of the car.So many people ask me how much I think their car is worth and the reply I always give is this; it's worth as much as someone is prepared to give you for it! If the price is right,ALL cars will sell,regardless of their condition.Have a look at the price guides in Practical Classics magazine to get a rough idea of what your car *may* be worth (or have a read of my Dolomite Values page for more advice). Be prepared to haggle - putting things like "Dolomite for sale,Ł1000 - no offers" will not attract buyers at all.Something along the lines of "asking Ł1000 but offers invited" sounds much better,at least potential buyers will think that you are flexible (and you sound much more friendly!).If you need to move the car quickly for some reason,please don't phone up the local scrapyard - they'll probably ask you to pay them to tow it away! Wouldn't it be better to offer the car "free to a good home" so that a fellow enthusiast could make use of its parts? By the way, we offer FREE advertising in our magazine for owners wishing to give their car away "free to a good home".

Dolomite Values

Join The Triumph Dolomite Club!

The Triumph Dolomite Homepage

Andy / Contact Andy