What to do with a 'rough' car?
Discussion
Possibly a strange question but i currently run a 1999 520i SE as a daily runabout (putting on about 10 miles a day!) and plan to sell it for a newer car - possbily a 330Ci/ E46 M3. The problem is the 5 is fairly 'rough' - by which i mean ;
dodgy electrics - flashing oil lights (oil is fine)
dented bodywork - parking dents/dings scuffs on bumpers etc.
airbag light on
interior is fairly scruffy broken trim etc.
cracked light headlight case
not the most desirable colour combo - Green with biege cloth trim - manual too!
oh, and it doesn't have full service history - just recent invoices etc.
It might sound like a bit of a dog, i know, but TBH it drives very well and is mechanically sound. I've owned it for 3 years and has basically been used as a workhorse - i'm not a pie-key honestly!
My question is what sould i do with it? Obviously i want the most cash out of it as possible as to put towards new car, i know that sounds ambitious.
Obviously give it a good clean in and out, but after that;
Sell it privately as is - obviously state what's wrong with it (as not to waste anybody's time) could take long time to shift in this state...
Spend money on it and sell privately - how much would it cost to 'do-up' and is it really worth it?
Take the hit & trade-in as is and get a laughable price - around £500 probably!
or just keep running it (eventually into the ground) and keep saving for aforementioned M3? Although i can see me going to have to spend money on suspension/exhaust soon!
Help!
dodgy electrics - flashing oil lights (oil is fine)
dented bodywork - parking dents/dings scuffs on bumpers etc.
airbag light on
interior is fairly scruffy broken trim etc.
cracked light headlight case
not the most desirable colour combo - Green with biege cloth trim - manual too!
oh, and it doesn't have full service history - just recent invoices etc.
It might sound like a bit of a dog, i know, but TBH it drives very well and is mechanically sound. I've owned it for 3 years and has basically been used as a workhorse - i'm not a pie-key honestly!
My question is what sould i do with it? Obviously i want the most cash out of it as possible as to put towards new car, i know that sounds ambitious.
Obviously give it a good clean in and out, but after that;
Sell it privately as is - obviously state what's wrong with it (as not to waste anybody's time) could take long time to shift in this state...
Spend money on it and sell privately - how much would it cost to 'do-up' and is it really worth it?
Take the hit & trade-in as is and get a laughable price - around £500 probably!
or just keep running it (eventually into the ground) and keep saving for aforementioned M3? Although i can see me going to have to spend money on suspension/exhaust soon!
Help!
I've just put an ad in the Classifieds on here in a similar situation. High-mileage car that was in full and active service until Christmas when we bought a replacement. Lovely car in good condition for its age/miles, and impossibly reliable but with a non-working convertible roof. We just have to take the hit and accept that it's not worth much to most people.
I reckon you'll just have to do the same. If there are better ones out there then you'll just have to advertise yours cheaper, no matter how mechanically sound it is. You can improve your chances of a sale by taking the best photos you can and writing a good advert. A new owner will tackle some of the problems you're not going to fix and at this end of the market nobody's expecting perfection.
I reckon you'll just have to do the same. If there are better ones out there then you'll just have to advertise yours cheaper, no matter how mechanically sound it is. You can improve your chances of a sale by taking the best photos you can and writing a good advert. A new owner will tackle some of the problems you're not going to fix and at this end of the market nobody's expecting perfection.
Epic Winning said:
Possibly a strange question but i currently run a 1999 520i SE as a daily runabout (putting on about 10 miles a day!) and plan to sell it for a newer car - possbily a 330Ci/ E46 M3. The problem is the 5 is fairly 'rough' - by which i mean ;
dodgy electrics - flashing oil lights (oil is fine)
dented bodywork - parking dents/dings scuffs on bumpers etc.
airbag light on
interior is fairly scruffy broken trim etc.
cracked light headlight case
not the most desirable colour combo - Green with biege cloth trim - manual too!
oh, and it doesn't have full service history - just recent invoices etc.
It might sound like a bit of a dog, i know, but TBH it drives very well and is mechanically sound. I've owned it for 3 years and has basically been used as a workhorse - i'm not a pie-key honestly!
My question is what sould i do with it? Obviously i want the most cash out of it as possible as to put towards new car, i know that sounds ambitious.
Obviously give it a good clean in and out, but after that;
Sell it privately as is - obviously state what's wrong with it (as not to waste anybody's time) could take long time to shift in this state...
Spend money on it and sell privately - how much would it cost to 'do-up' and is it really worth it?
Take the hit & trade-in as is and get a laughable price - around £500 probably!
or just keep running it (eventually into the ground) and keep saving for aforementioned M3? Although i can see me going to have to spend money on suspension/exhaust soon!
Help!
Bang it on ebay. Take pic of all the damaged bits and make sure you list everything wrong with it as well as the good bits (not sure what they are by the sounds of things!) dodgy electrics - flashing oil lights (oil is fine)
dented bodywork - parking dents/dings scuffs on bumpers etc.
airbag light on
interior is fairly scruffy broken trim etc.
cracked light headlight case
not the most desirable colour combo - Green with biege cloth trim - manual too!
oh, and it doesn't have full service history - just recent invoices etc.
It might sound like a bit of a dog, i know, but TBH it drives very well and is mechanically sound. I've owned it for 3 years and has basically been used as a workhorse - i'm not a pie-key honestly!
My question is what sould i do with it? Obviously i want the most cash out of it as possible as to put towards new car, i know that sounds ambitious.
Obviously give it a good clean in and out, but after that;
Sell it privately as is - obviously state what's wrong with it (as not to waste anybody's time) could take long time to shift in this state...
Spend money on it and sell privately - how much would it cost to 'do-up' and is it really worth it?
Take the hit & trade-in as is and get a laughable price - around £500 probably!
or just keep running it (eventually into the ground) and keep saving for aforementioned M3? Although i can see me going to have to spend money on suspension/exhaust soon!
Help!
Let the market decide how much it's worth.
Epic Winning said:
Ah, looks like i'll just have to trade it then. Running it any further will induce thousands of pounds of up-keep i can sense it! Just remembered the tax is due in May and Mot only to July...headache!!
don't know if many 'dealers' still do a minimum trade in value or even if some have keopt a scheme similar to 'scrappage' but there are deals to be had out there.Personally I really think you'd be better to run it down and scrap it.
Epic Winning said:
Ah, looks like i'll just have to trade it then. Running it any further will induce thousands of pounds of up-keep i can sense it! Just remembered the tax is due in May and Mot only to July...headache!!
Put six months tax on it, drive it until the MOT runs out then sell/scrap it and get the remaining tax back. It almost sounds wasteful, but you won't get much more for it in good condition than if you sell it as spares or repair.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff