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Vauxhall Corsa D - Fair price for in-family purchase - catsdad

We have need of a replacement second car which will do about 3,000 miles a year. Fortuitously our son is getting a company car so needs to sell his 10-reg, 1.2S 3- door Corsa. its got full dealer service history but has done 85,000 miles. Its an ex driving school car which he bought when it was 20 months old. The gear box oil was changed then as a precaution.

Its been reliable but needs a couple of dents knocked out (hit and run), he thinks the clutch is on the way out and front brake pads are likely to be needed soon. It had an insurance repair (bonnet,grill, light and front wing) a couple of years ago but no chassis damage.

"We buy any car" price is £1845 but drops to £1100 when you add the dents and the driving school history. Autotrader suggest up to £2450. HJ valuation section doesn't include mileage (unless I've missed it) so values it much higher.

Obviously we want to be fair all round here and we'd prefer to transfer within the family rather than sell privately. So I am thinking of a figure of £2450, less the clutch and dent repair, so about £2,000. If the clutch actually proves OK I will give him another £400, i.e £2,400. I am ignoring the cost of brakes as I regard them as consumables.

We will run it into the ground so the history and mileage don't concern us in terms of future resale.

What do the panel think, is £2,000 fair to both sides?

Vauxhall Corsa D - Fair price for in-family purchase - RobJP

What cars are for sale at, and what they're REALLY worth, are very different on Autotrader, etc.

I'd suggest going onto ebay motors and finding equivalent cars. Then go to 'show completed listings', and look at the prices in green (those are sold prices) for a more realistic viewpoint.

My initial thoughts are that the car is worth £1200-1500, knowing the history.

Vauxhall Corsa D - Fair price for in-family purchase - catsdad

Rob, thanks a new one on me. Interesting.

I've had a look and green prices for similar age/mileage range from £1500 (unrepaired cat C with wing etc available to bolt on) to £4000 (unbelievable) for a 1.2 with VXR body kit. £1200 to £1500 is typical 2007 green price.

In terms of history, I should say that the accident damage to my son's car was just a classic low speed queue bump when the car (old Landrover) in front didn't move off as he expected. He only went through his insurance in case there was more damage than was apparent (there wasn't) or the other party went down the whiplash route even though her LR was undamaged.

I reckon any Corsa with this sort of mileage at only just over 5 years old could also be ex-instructor or fleet of some sort so ours may not be out of line in that respect.

Clearly its not worth top dollar but ebay info doesn't change my view on the £2k mark.

Thanks again.