I cant quite believe it but my ratty old Corsa that was proving to be the nastiest px ever sold in just an hour and a half from going online on Autotrader.
Im just amazed to be honest. It had some rust that needed sorting on the bootlid and the gearbox was more notchy than is normal, no radio and the clock display didnt work, but the guy practically fell over himself to give me £800 for it for his 21 year old daughter.
Yes it did have a brand new MOT and 4 months tax, plus a working Cobra alarm, but it was no minter. He said he had been looking for two months for one as good as this which suggests there must be some real ugly ones out there.
Did I let it go too cheap? Im starting to wonder, it was just that a 94 L reg Corsa SRi isnt £800 of my money any day of the week and I thought at £825 I was being cheeky. Maybe not?
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Only worth £150. Horrid little cars. But it only takes one buyer, as the saying goes.
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And I said to stick it up for £695 or near offer! Damn!
I knew it would comfortably exceed the £450 you mentioned initially.
Nice one!
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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This is why sensible people should never buy cars like this. There are 100 idiots queing up to give you many times what its worth!
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Quite, I couldnt believe what happened, I was just sitting there with £800 cash thinking 'what just happened'!
The guy perhaps had another motivation as he had clearly seen some rubbish and mine was ultra cleanly presented as befits my profession plus he was having to get up at 6am to take his daughter to work, so his motives may not have been entirely selfless!
It certainly proved my point that a shiny new MOT is a huge draw at this price range as are bills for £400 recently spent. In the end I replaced/repaired - battery, rear spring, front wheel bearing, front chassis rails both welded, exhaust back box and one new tyre. I guess atleast thats a few things the buyer wont have to do in near future.
It has to be said though, that its not a car I would have sold to my neighbour - I didnt show him the advisories notice which suggests that next year, both rear suspension mounts and the brake servo are going to have corrosion related needs to be attended to. Then again, despite spending half hour poking round it with a torch, he didnt check the MOT cert for advisories indication and its not my position to undermine a sale for the sake of being holier than thou :-)
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As long as insurance companies force sooooo many people into cars like this, then one with a full MOT will always fetch silly money.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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yep you gotta remember for a new/young driver the cost of purchase and depreciation etc fall into insignificance compared to the insurance spend
the trick of balancing suitably low insurance, with poke enough to make journey viable is a big enough worry
cars in low insurance groups will always be subject to strange economics which those of us with a few years non claims bonus will not understand
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cars in low insurance groups will always be subject to strange economics which those of us with a few years non claims bonus will not understand
I agree, but I also remember the sheer emotion involved in purchasing my first few cars. It's amazing what I made myself afford (£900 third party fire and theft on a mk2 Cavalier SRi at 21). That was 11 years ago, so probably the equivalent of well over a grand in today's money.
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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There are 6 letters that tell you why.
MOT SRI.
The 12 months ticket is a seller, as is the SRI. Sporty without the insurance hassles - ideal for a youngster. I bet if it was a lowly LX you would still have it on your hands.
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There is a really strong market for small cars. I offered my SIL my 2000 Carisma, 45k with full tax and MOT for £1200. She declined and bought an 'S' reg Clio with 70k for £1500.
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stunorthants: It has to be said though, that its not a car I would have sold to my neighbour
I doubt the buyer cares. He's got a car that, judging from what you've said about it, won't cost him money for the next 12 months. It would be cheaper for him scrap it at the next MOT than pay the extra insurance on a bigger car in the meantime.
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It would be cheaper for him scrap it at the next MOT than pay the extra insurance on a bigger car in the meantime.
This is always a slightly concerning comment. Just because a car has an MOT for 12 months does not mean that you have free reign to drive it until the next MOT is due if it gets into a bad condition. If things start falling off the day after the MOT pass, it can be un-roadworthy and it makes no difference that your car passed the MOT the day before, you will still get done for an un-roadworthy car.
I do realise that you are saying that the statutory obligation is met of getting a yearly MOT so you won't get clobbered by the computers.
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angelman: This is always a slightly concerning comment...I do realise that you are saying that the statutory obligation is met...
Of course the onus is on the buyer, like every other motorist, to ensure their car remains roadworthy. But the reality is that most used-car buyers view a recent MOT as the best assurance they can get that the car is roadworthy when they buy it.
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This is very supprising, but if you look on Autotrader it's not far off the going rate (depending on mileage etc.). I don't know what the the cars on Autotrader are like though. A few years ago (probably about 5-6 years) I looked at some nearly new Corsa's with my parents and we were amazed at the condition of some of most of them. So, when they reach the age of your car they might be looking pretty bad.
However, what makes it even more shocking is that my Fiat Seicento is worth a similar amount, probably closer to £900 though. It's insurance group 1, has no rust problems, no other mechanical problems and is VERY economical. My Seicento probably has years left in it, but it sounds like the Corsa will be lucky to see one whole year without trouble. I can't see why anybody would buy one of those Corsa's when for that price they could get a reliable Seicento.
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The Fiat/Vauxhall issue is simply a matter of fashion over function - the guy who bought my Corsa said his daughter wouldnt accept anything else but a Corsa and many of her friends had just as fixed ideas about what they wanted.
For the same reason that someone pays 8 grand more for an Audi that on paper is no better car is spec or ability than a Mondeo, people will clearly pay more for a Corsa than a Seicento. Just about that really rather superficial factor called image.
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Several years ago I sold a Renault 100 GTL 3 door 8 years old with 106k for £750.
The lower insurance bracket was apparently an advantage for the buyer, but I was surprised that with several cheaper, newer, lower mileage 5 doors in the same issue of Auto Trader, that I still received the interest that I did.
Mind you, I deliberately posed the car for the photo and started the ad with the price, not the make - you could do that in those days :)
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Renault 100??
An 11 maybe...
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