Repair or punt - what would you do?
Poll: Repair or punt - what would you do?
Total Members Polled: 76
Discussion
Been chewing this over.
Just to update, I've decided to punt.
Here's why:
Purchase price: £4,350
Spend to date: £260
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Potential repair bill: c£788
Potential overall spend: c£5,400
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Of which, I'd be lucky to get c4k at resale next year, so repairing it doesn't make logical sense.
Ergo, I'm selling it now and taking the hit, rather than taking an even bigger hit later on.
Just to update, I've decided to punt.
Here's why:
Purchase price: £4,350
Spend to date: £260
***************************
Potential repair bill: c£788
Potential overall spend: c£5,400
**************************
Of which, I'd be lucky to get c4k at resale next year, so repairing it doesn't make logical sense.
Ergo, I'm selling it now and taking the hit, rather than taking an even bigger hit later on.
I suppose it also depends on how attached you are to the car - as an owner you have to expect the occasional big bill, but if I liked the car it would be worth more "to me" to get it repaired and have use of it...
My car is worth less than a couple of grand, but needs new tyres (at least £400) - and it could do with the wheels refurbing as although they look fine, there is some corrosion around where the tyre bead sits which means one of the wheels has a slow puncture which is annoying. The turbo also has a slight oil leak which hopefully will just be a cheap seal which needs replacing, and its due a service soon too.
So I'm guessing about £1000 of work required - on a £2k car. The problem is I really like the heap of junk!
My car is worth less than a couple of grand, but needs new tyres (at least £400) - and it could do with the wheels refurbing as although they look fine, there is some corrosion around where the tyre bead sits which means one of the wheels has a slow puncture which is annoying. The turbo also has a slight oil leak which hopefully will just be a cheap seal which needs replacing, and its due a service soon too.
So I'm guessing about £1000 of work required - on a £2k car. The problem is I really like the heap of junk!
SuperHangOn said:
The vast majority of ten year old cars for sale will need some money spent. Selling is pointless and uneconomical because you will lose more on the sale than the repair. Plus the hassle finding a replacement and selling.
If I repair it, I'll have spent c£5.4k on a what is realistically a 4k car, that I bought two months ago. I'd be VERY lucky to get £4k back on it, if I kept it a year. Meaning, I'd be looking at a minimum of a 1,400 quid loss.
If I punt it now, for say, £3.6k, I'll restrict my losses to a £1k, which I can swallow.
TheJimi said:
Of which, I'd be lucky to get c4k at resale next year, so repairing it doesn't make logical sense.
Is that "it's worth £4k", or "it's worth £4k despite needing £800 of gearbox work"?I tend to think that cars that need work doing are worth less than normal, but not full retail of job less than normal as there'll always be someone looking for a cheaper project who can fix a gearbox for £200 and a weekends work. But on the flip side - they are much harder to sell, so it could take a lot longer.
TheJimi said:
If I repair it, I'll have spent c£5.4k on a what is realistically a 4k car, that I bought two months ago.
I'd be VERY lucky to get £4k back on it, if I kept it a year. Meaning, I'd be looking at a minimum of a 1,400 quid loss.
If I punt it now, for say, £3.6k, I'll restrict my losses to a £1k, which I can swallow.
So losing £1k for 2 months' motoring is OK, but £1400 for a year isn't? How does that work?I'd be VERY lucky to get £4k back on it, if I kept it a year. Meaning, I'd be looking at a minimum of a 1,400 quid loss.
If I punt it now, for say, £3.6k, I'll restrict my losses to a £1k, which I can swallow.
You're buying a depreciating asset, whatever you replace it with it will depreciate, and a good deal more than £400 a year.
Oh, and if you can't tolerate any minor fault on a car, you should stop buying 10 yr old cars.
TheJimi said:
If I repair it, I'll have spent c£5.4k on a what is realistically a 4k car, that I bought two months ago.
I'd be VERY lucky to get £4k back on it, if I kept it a year. Meaning, I'd be looking at a minimum of a 1,400 quid loss.
If I punt it now, for say, £3.6k, I'll restrict my losses to a £1k, which I can swallow.
You're not going to get £3600 for an EP3 with a knackered gearbox.I'd be VERY lucky to get £4k back on it, if I kept it a year. Meaning, I'd be looking at a minimum of a 1,400 quid loss.
If I punt it now, for say, £3.6k, I'll restrict my losses to a £1k, which I can swallow.
This thread doesn't make much sense to me. You buy a 10 year car which is an unknown quantity, but a car you clearly liked at the time (2 months ago). Now it needs £800 more spending on it which of course you could do without, but you can afford, so where's the problem. If you obsess about money 'wasted' or money you'll never get back on cars, then you'd never buy a car. Of course there comes a point when a car becomes seriously uneconomical to repair, but this EP3 of yours sounds a long way off that.
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