I have a 14 year old Honda CRX (93 model) VTi with 110k miles. It's been great, but as I have an 8 month old baby it's time to get something with a back seat. I fancy a Clio 172 or a Peugot 306 Gti and only want to spend £3-4K max. A couple of garages have said that my car is only worth £500 as trade in (a bit lower than I was expecting), but while mechanically good, the paint is fading (it's red) and there's some minor bodywork blemishes. Am I better to try and shift my Honda privately (£800-£1000?), or just try and trade it in?
On a linked note, I've found a clio 172 with 69k miles, 4 previous owners, a big bore exhaust and a few scratches on the door for £3,495. Will it be dodgier than a 9 bob note, or is it worth considering seriously? I was intending to have the exhaust replaced with a standard item ASAP if I bought the car (or make that a condition of the sale).
Grateful for any help (though comments based on experience rather than just opinion appreciated even more).
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I'd be wondering why it has 4 owners in 69k miles as that is above average and also the big bore shows it's been modded in the past - to me that is never a good sign. It could be a good car but personally I would steer clear.
As for your car I would sell it privately, you'll get more than £500 for it.
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OP, CRX is surely a modern classic by now. You have the desirable vti model and it's a good time of year to sell. Check autotrader - over £500 should easily be achievable.
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CRX will be snapped up.
Clio is nice to drive, pretty rapid, but a lot of dud ones about. 4 owners at that mileage smells bad to me. Talk to previoous owner before buying it - it might have a history of faults.
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Check out the completed sale prices of these on Ebay - good, you'll agree. That's the place to shift it.
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It must depend to a great extent on how you want the changeover to take place.
The options are (a) sell privately first and then buy afterwards ~ with an inevitable time gap between, or (b) trade in, and complete both sale and purchase simultaneously or (c) buy first and then sell privately afterwards, which requires you to have more capital.
With (a) you're without a car for a while, and with (b) you have to find parking space for two cars for a while. I always go go the least troublesome approach which is (b).
--
L\'escargot.
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Go with l'escargot's (b)... arrange a price with the garage for both trade in and no trade in. Put it on eBay to end 48 hours before you collect your new car, with collection within 48 hours. If it doesn't sell for more than £500, or the buyer doesn't turn up, trade it in. If it does, pay just cash.
Win-win scenario.
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Thanks for your advice everybody, very helpful.
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