Before you discount an ageing vehicle

Why ageing cars need a diagnosis

A car can sit for 60 days for very different reasons. It may still be waiting on reconditioning, it may be listed with poor photos or a wrong description, it may be priced above every comparable car nearby, or it may be in a segment where the whole market is slow. Each cause has a different fix, and only one of them is a discount.

Discounting on a schedule, such as five percent at 45 days and another at 60, treats every cause as a pricing problem. It costs margin on cars that would have sold once they were ready or well presented, and it can still leave the real problem unfixed.

Question 1: Is the car actually ready?

Start with reconditioning. A car that is not frontline-ready is not really for sale, whatever the stock list says. Check whether the work is finished, how long it has been waiting and whether it is waiting on parts, a vendor or a decision.

• Mechanical and cosmetic work complete
• Detailing done and the car on the front line
• Days spent waiting in recon known and separated from days for sale

Question 2: Is it presented well?

Buyers judge the listing before they see the car. Count the photos, read the description and check the specification against the VIN. A description pasted from a website widget, a missing trim or a handful of photos will hold a car back at any price.

• A full set of photos showing the actual car
• A clean, accurate description
• Trim, mileage and equipment correct in the listing

Question 3: How is it priced against the market?

Now compare price. Open the like-for-like set (same nameplate, year window, mileage band and radius) and find the car’s rank. A car priced above every comparable listing has a pricing problem. A car in the middle of the set, in a segment where days on lot are long for everyone, may not.

Compare the car’s days on lot with the average for the same model in your market. If the segment average is also high, a discount may only move the car slightly ahead of an equally slow field.

Question 4: What is waiting costing?

Holding cost turns time into money. Add carrying cost per day and floor-plan interest to the days on lot, and project the next 30 days. Set that against the discount being considered. Sometimes a modest cut now is cheaper than another month of carrying; sometimes the cut is larger than the cost of waiting for the right buyer.

When wholesale is the better exit

If the car is ready, well presented, priced in line with the market and still not drawing enquiries, and its holding cost is growing, wholesale may be the better decision. Making that call deliberately, with the evidence in front of you, is better than discounting until the car is finally sold at a loss.