Resale Value of your Car

What is my Car worth?

Hello, my name is Dirk Van Der Walt. I am a founding member and co-owner of Webuycars (Pty) Ltd. I studied at Tuks University, where I completed my degree in BCom in Marketing and Communications. I have been buying and selling cars for the better part of the last 20 years. Webuycars.co.za and its selling arm Wesellcars.co.za, sell in excess of 50 vehicles per day.

So, today we are going to jump right into things and try to answer that loaded question of, “What is my car worth?”

People are sensitive about this topic as it has financial implications for them, and most people feel some sort of emotional connection to their cars. Vehicle owners dislike parting with their cars that they have cherished and shared so many experiences with it. On top of that, it is a loaded and emotional issue because people don’t trust second-hand car dealers, who are generally the people who are going to answer this question.

So what is your car worth?

The answer is, it is worth what anyone is prepared to pay for it right now. It is not worth the book value of your car. The so-called “book value” does not buy the car. It is not the worth that your braai buddy is telling you it is worth. He is just all talk and no walk, with no skin in the game and beer in his tummy. No friend of yours is going to tell you blatantly that you have an over-inflated idea of what your car is worth.

So the basic truth is that the car is worth what someone is willing to pay for it right here and now. The insurance does not buy the car from you, they have another vested interest to inflate the car’s value.

(You can bring the premium down by opting for a higher exccess. www.outsurance.co.za) The “Book” does not buy the car either, and “The Book” (So-Called “Blue Book”, Mead and McGrouter in RSA - now Transunion.) has a whole chapter right in the front of it, that explains why it is only a guide to be used and interpreted by professionals, and is by no means binding on anyone.

No, they will all tell you what you want to hear, is it not so?

So the basic truth is that a car is worth what someone unrelated to you is willing to pay for it right here and now. The insurance does not buy the car from you, they have another vested interest to inflate the car’s value. “The Book” does not by the car either, and “The Book” (so-called “Blue Book”, Mead and McGrouter in RSA - now Transunion) has a whole chapter right in the front of the guide, that explains why it is only a guide to be used and how it can be interpreted by professionals. This guide is by no means binding to anyone.

There is a saying in the motor-trade that “The book does not buy the car."

Further, there is no real relation between the settlement value on your finance, and the actual value of the car, just as the insured value is no indication of the real value of the car, or what is termed the replacement value of the car. Those are controversial and industry-specific terminologies.

Also, you have to compare apples with apples, you can’t compare a trade-in offer on your car with a cash offer. Those are two completely different things. With a trade-in offer, you are obliged to buy the car on which you are trading in. There is this thing called an “over-allowance” - they over allow on your car, to write back against the full-price sale and finance of a new car. I advise people to rather sell out of hand, then you have more power to negotiate the next deal, and you can shop and buy wherever you want.

Another important factor to keep in mind is that new cars lose about 20% to 30% of their value in the first year. A car loses a lot of value when you drive it out of the showroom and it becomes a second-hand vehicle there and then.

Keep in mind that dealers do not only value cars and money, they also value time. So they are not only thinking about how much it will sell for, but how long it is going to take and how long is it going to tie up the cash flow of the business. Dealers would rather make a little on a fast mover, than making a lot on a slow unpredictable sale.

This has a lot to do with how many buyers there are at any given moment for this particular kind of deal.

If it is a very popular, economical little city car, that has a wide appeal, it is low on maintenance, low on fuel consumption, high on reliability, and it is a well-known brand name, then it is going to be expensive, as there is a sector of the public that will be interested. In contrast, a BMW 7 series, or Merc S-Class, or such, if it does not have very low mileage on it, it is going to sell at a much lower price than what you think, because there are very few people out there who is going to buy that fuel-guzzler which is heavy on maintenance as well.

Also, most important to keep in mind is that buying and selling transactions are all different in the risk, effort, know-how, and convenience that they entail.

Dealers add a lot of value to the selling transaction in abstract forms that you may not be aware of, and you can’t offer the same to the next buyer in your personal capacity. They offer the peace of mind that their brand and their facility bring to the transaction, as well as their professionally trained staff.  They also offer finance, which you can’t do if you sell personally out of hand.

That is where our claim to fame comes in. Webuycars.co.za offer maximum convenience and utility in the transaction. The client does not have to do anything really, or go anywhere, we go to them, we do everything for them, and their car is sold in a jiffy, without them having to go anywhere. They don’t have to prepare the car, or do roadworthy or AA-Report or any such thing, we do everything for them and offer them the maximum comfort and convenience, while we still pay a reasonably fair price on their vehicle, and more often than not we outperform the dealerships and offer a better price than what they do, even on trade-in.

People trust us because they know us from the hearsay of their friends, they have read our content on consumer forums and on their friends’ Facebook comments. They see our billboards, they hear and see our radio and TV Ads, and tonight they see us on the internet as well.

So the moral of my story is if you need to buy or sell a vehicle, go and have a look at www.webuycars.co.za and www.wesellcars.co.za, and I honestly believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

Remember, it is a free and open market. The potential buyer is absolutely free to offer you whatever amount they see fit. An offer is an offer, and an offer is better than nothing. So what if someone “low-balls” you with far less than what you see as its value, at least then the process has started, at least you have an offer. Now all you need to do is to find a better offer. They are free to offer what they want, and you are free to ask whatever you want, really! If you are too low with your price, people may well stampede you to buy the vehicle, and you could have people on your lawn engaged in a fist-fight over your vehicle. If you ask too much, then the person who eventually buys the car, is going to expect a lot of responsibility and participation from your side, and he/she may come back to you at some stage with small problems and demand that you need to solve them. Also, keep in mind the legal and procedural aspects around ownership, registration, and licensing and accountability for traffic fines and toll-gate bills for your vehicle.

That is that from my side, I hope the advice is helpful to you.

Feel free to phone us on 087 230 0429, or mail us on support@webuycars.co.za

If you need to sell your car, please complete the online application form here - www.webuycars.co.za

If you are looking to buy a car, please visit - www.wesellcars.co.za

Motor Vehicle Registration Certificates

Allow me to introduce myself; I am Dirk van Der Walt, co-owner and founding member at Webuycars Pty Ltd.

We here at www.webuycars.co.za, would like to make use of this opportunity to address a topic that is seldom spoken about, but which we feel could be of tremendous help to the right person at the right time.

The South African Natis (National Traffic Information System) Certificate of Registration is one of those ugly topics that you don’t need to know anything about, until you do, and then it is utter chaos and confusion. Red tape and boundless frustration comes to mind with the mere mention of “The Document”. Often it involves you meeting a side of yourself you never knew could easily murder someone with their bare hands.

In this article here today, we would love to save you some of this frustration, and share with you a couple of tips and tricks in dealing with issues around license and registration of motor-vehicles, and more specifically the in’s and out’s around the Natis Certificate of Registration.

When you buy a new vehicle, normally the dealership does the registration for you. There is a service charge involved called the “Service and Delivery Fee”, which covers this among other things.

If you buy with finance, and it gets registered on the bank’s name, with you as “Owner”, and the bank as “Title Holder” (Guess who trumps who?) on the Natis Certificate of Registration, which is like the Title Deed of a vehicle.

The bank keeps this certificate until you are done paying the vehicle. When you have paid the vehicle in full thus settled the outstanding financed amount, they send the Natis Certificate of Registration on to you, and you are then obliged to change yourself to both Title Holder and Owner. There is no repercussions if you neglect to do this however, that is until you happen to lose this document and have to arrange to obtain a new one.

It is not called a “New One” oddly enough, it is called a “Duplicate”, even if it is the sole surviving current original. Also important to know, if you buy a vehicle from someone, and they hand you the Natis Certificate of Registration, normally they will also have you sign in duplicate the Change Of Ownership form, it used to be yellow, but the Government ran out of yellow paper years ago, so it is white these days - they will hand in that Change Of Ownership form at the Licensing offices or Roadworthy Agency, which will oblige you to register the vehicle on your name, and supposedly free them of accountability for future traffic violation charges. (E-toll is a different kettle of fish all together.)

But suppose they did not hand in a Change of Ownership, they just kept it for in-case, and you failed to register, and they kept on receiving your fines. Now suppose they keep their head about them, and they go and apply for a Duplicate, then you are thoroughly screwed, because although you still have an Original and authentic Duplicate Natis Certificate in your hands, it has now gone stale on you, and if presented will immediately show as invalid on the Natis System, seeing that a new duplicate had been issued.

Change of Ownership is best done at a Roadworthy Center like AA-Dekra, or an agent that does this sort of thing.

If you lose your Natis Certificate of registration, pictured in some sort of green coloured document, you have to go in person with identification and valid proof of residence, and apply for a duplicate document. This is normally issued a few days later only, to no one other than the title holder, who must conduct this application process in person. If the bank is still the registered title-holder, then this task must be done through the bank. The bank will require proof of payment of handling and application fees before they initiate this process on your behalf. I trust you are now beginning to see what exceptional fun this can become, especially in a country where very long queues and very low levels of service delivery is the norm.

It is important to be in the right que with the right documents, otherwise you will be sent back home, or at the least to the back of another que’s tailed outside the building, on the street.

If you are a foreign person, you can’t do any registrations of motor-vehicles on your name before you have obtained a Vehicle Register Certificate, same as businesses who register all their vehicles on such a register number, and have to produce this certificate together with proof of residence and Identification when conducting Change Of Ownership or Vehicle Registration Transactions.

Normally there is the so called NCO or Change of Ownership form that also accompany this process. (Pictured in Yellow Above.) These forms can be obtained from the Municipal Traffic and Licensing offices, Roadworthy Centres, or you can Download them from www.enatis.com 

You must register and license your motor vehicle within 21 days after a change of ownership. If you do not register it, you will have to pay arrears and penalties. The motor vehicle registration is recorded on the national traffic information system (eNaTIS). Your vehicle’s registration becomes null and void if: I have been working with vehicle buying, selling and registrations for close on twenty years, and the best advice I can give any private person when it comes to these issues is to go to your closest Roadworthy Centre, ask them what you need to do and get the right forms from them, be nice to them and ask them to mark with a pencil where you should complete what parts of the form, where you get this information, and where to go after that with what other forms in your hand, as well as what are the least congested times to go to the Licensing Offices, etc.

SA Driver Demerit System - What you need to Know

The South African Driver Demerit System has taken years to be implemented and is now in full swing since 01 April 2016. 

AARTO stands for the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) Act, Act 46 of 1998 and has been designed to encourage law-abiding, safe driving behaviour to reduce road accidents. AARTO will also effectively deal with all non-payments of traffic fines because drivers who don’t pay their fines won’t be able to renew their driver’s licences. Drivers who pay their fines within 32 days automatically get a 50% deduction. 

The Arrive Alive website explains the system as follows:

• The driver starts with zero points (no matter how many classes of vehicle licence you hold).
• Whenever you commit an infringement or offence, you will receive points (or demerits). The severity of the offence determines the number of points you receive. For example, driving an unlicensed vehicle will earn you one point. The points are registered to your name on the date you pay your fine or are convicted of an offence.
• The maximum number of points that you can reach is 12. As soon as you get 13 points or more, your licence is suspended.
• Your period of suspension is one month for each point over 12 multiplied by three. For example, if you receive 15 points, your license will be suspended for nine months (3×3=9).
• If you drive well and don’t commit any offences, you qualify for a reduction in demerit points. Demerit points are reduced at a flat rate of one demerit point per three months. For example, if you have two points on your licence and you don’t commit any offences for six months, both points will be removed.

How will the Points Demerit System work?

The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) system will be implemented and managed by the Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA). 

Know your Point Demerit System

The Points Demerit system can be explained as follows:

• Each driver will start out with zero points (irrespective of the number of classes of vehicle licences held);
• Points are allocated according to infringements or offences committed (there are different values for different infringements and offences);
• Points are incurred (allocated) on the date a penalty (fine) is paid or when the person is convicted of the offence (as the case may be);
• Operators receive points separately from their drivers (ie a transport company receives points allocated to the operators permit);
• When you reach 13 points and more, the licence (and / or operator card) is suspended with effect from 32 days after the maximum points (12) have been reached;
• The suspension period is calculated in months equal to the number of points exceeding 12, multiplied by three (or such number as may be prescribed by the Minister of Transport);
• The number of points (demerits) added will depend on the severity of the offence;
• The driver / operator may apply for the return of the licence on expiry of the suspension (disqualification) period;
• A driver / operator who is disqualified for the third time will permanently loose the licence / operator card and will have to reapply for testing and issue (as if a first time licence / operator applicant) after expiry of the disqualification period;
• Demerit points will be reduced (for all persons / operators) at a flat rate of one point per every three months (or as otherwise prescribed), except in the case where evidence points to the fact that the process has been deliberately delayed to obtain a reduction in points.

For more details about the demerit system and how points are allocated for offences, please visit - https://arrivealive.co.za/Demerit-System