My father in law has a Mk1 Mondeo 2.0 GLX Auto 48k FSH.
It has a 12 month MoT and SORN.
It cannot be traded in for scrappage as it is in his name and he will never need
another car. Indeed he may never drive this one again either.
Does anyone have a suggestion for maximising it's value other than simply
selling for best price?
I have read the FAQ here and probably answered my own question but any
suggestions appreciated!
|
With only 48k I don't see how he could do much better than sell it for the best price, unless it is a shed.
My Mk1 has just come up to 150k, passed it's MoT on Friday and I will keep it for at least another year. I would assume that because of the scrappage scheme there is a shortage of good condition elderly cars around at the moment, so there should be a ready market particularly with a low mileage model.
|
|
|
Get some road tax on it, make sure the car a drive away car. Tidy it up, give it a good polish and hope for the best. Sadly there is not a great market for older large car so you might only get around £500-£600 for it but that money the new owner will probably have a bargain.
|
See if he can get an agreement with someone wanting a new car?
I tried to arrange a deal where someone wanted a new Skoda, with no trade in. They were offering £3.6K off, including scrappage. The buyers daughter-in-law had an old Micra.
I suggested the Micra was used as scrappage and the new Skoda registered in her name (for a day).
In the end, the Micra sold for £800. If she'd been offered £1K by her father-in-law he would've had £2.6K off his new car.
|
|
The scrappage won;t work at all. Because I believe the car which is bought on the scrappage has to remain in the name of the previous car for at least one year. This is to stop people from pretending to buy a scrappage car in their own name when it is really another persons car.
|
|
I think you'll find only the car being scrapped has to be owned for at least one year, I couldn't find any limitations on the new car being bought. However, in the case I quoted, didn't he trust his daughter-in-law (and son). Remember the registration document doesn't confer any proof of ownership.
|
|
|
|
I know your observation about there being a limited market for older larger cars is true Rattle. I have to say though I've often wondered why that is the case.
I can understand the reasons why a new or young driver might be put off but for example for a family man or woman on a tight budget such a car would be ideal I would have thought.
Funny old world ( again ) .......
;-)
|
There is two reasons for this. Have a look at Autotraders and you will find that a 10 year old Mondeo is typically worth have as much as a Fiesta the same age even though the Mondeo was twice the price when new.
Reason one - A lot of people looking for cheap cars tend to be young, they cannot afford the insurance on 2.0 litre engines, it can be as much as £3000 a year more to insure than say a Ka.
Reason two - This is more perspection. If you are looking for a cheap car the chances are you cannot afford to run a 2.0 petrol and pay the high road tax which goes with that. This also limits the market an awful lot.
In extremes its why cars like BMW 7 series when they reach 5 years or more loose stupidy amounts of value.
|
The reason, Rattle is that people are idiots.
They think cheap car and they think tax, insurance, petrol etc.
But the fact of the matter is that (a) larger cars are cheaper than smaller ones (due to the above), and (b) small cars are not built to last.
People turn their noses up at, say, a Hyundai because they think it's "built to a price". But where does this leave a Fiesta?
Small cars are disposable items. You run them for 8 or 9 years and you throw them away. They simply don't have the build quality to be viable for much longer.
As a result the little car is generally nothing but trouble in its last few years.
Meanwhile that Mondeo probably has another 5 years left in it if it's looked after, because it was built to a (cost-to-manufacturer) budget 2 or 3 times that of the small car.
You wouldn't find me within a hundred yards of a small car over 8 years old on a forecourt.
Edited by jase1 on 23/08/2009 at 23:53
|
Well then why is where I live full of old N reg Fiestas still running and very few Mondoes of that same age? I do agree in part with what you are saying but I don't think smaller cars are any worse built than larger ones in terms of how long they will last. Smaller cars get a lot more punishment as they spend most their times stuck in traffic jams in cities where bigger cars spend all day plodding alone the motorway.
They also make a lot more profit on larger cars. The production costs between a Fiesta and Mondeo is probably nothing like the difference in market price when they are new.
|
Well then why is where I live full of old N reg Fiestas still running and very few Mondoes of that same age?
Because the likelihood of a car being fixed when it develops a fault is related to its resale value and not to the overall condition of the car.
Mondeo reaches the 300 pound mark years before the Fiesta does. So despite the undisputable FACT that the Fiesta is a nasty, badly made little carpbox, it'll still be dragged along the road long after its best, because there is still someone STUPID enough to pay 700 quid for it.
Besides, there are plenty of older small cars with only 30, 40K miles. Very few Mondeos. They've all been scrapped much earlier, but with far more miles on the clock.
I've been through the old Fiesta etc route a couple of times before. You'll learn when you've owned a few more cars -- small + old + reliable = does not compute, generally.
Yes, profits are higher on larger cars, but look at it another way -- profits are tighter on smaller cars. How do you think the manufacturers square that particular circle? By cutting the corners off...
Edited by jase1 on 24/08/2009 at 00:12
|
|
|
Well then why is where I live full of old N reg Fiestas still running and very few Mondoes
Students and other young drivers. Where you live has always been popular with students. It's cheaper than some obvious alternatives. I know I lived there ;-) And nearly lived in a street next to you.
Friends paid about £40pppw in Fallowfield in 1990/1991. We paid £22pppw and got a better house. Down to area. And I think it was nicer there.
|
Thanks for comments all - this was not meant to be contentious!
Maybe I should give him 500 quid for it myself and see if the scrappage
scheme is continued. It is said to be doing wonders for the German
economy but then they actually make more cars there.
|
They make a lot of cars in the UK too and I bet those German cars have quite a lot of UK designed content in them.
Personaly I am not sure the scrappage scheme will be continued and even if it does there is the 12 months ownership rule.
|
I don't really want to wade into the scrappage debate - it's the same minefield here with the French version - but it does seem to me that if the government is telling the truth and the point of the scheme is to get old, polluting cars off the road in exchange for eco-friendly new ones to give the motor industry a boost, then what can it possibly matter whose name is on the scrapper's documents? Surely it's just a case of turning it in and selling a new car in its place. If pathetic politicians and motor industry chiefs want to spend taxpayers' money to get out of their self-dug hole they shouldn't be arrogant enough to hedge the deal with stupid conditions.
Hang on, I've just spotted the flaw as I typed the above. It begins at the word 'government' and ends at the word 'truth'.
|
I can understand that the government would want to make sure there wasn't wide-scale fraud in the system (people taking cars out of the scrapyard etc). But yes, the rules are somewhat punitive.
I suspect these rules were the product of bureaucrats wanting to create as little work for themselves as possible. By demanding that the car is owned by the customer for longer than the scheme lasts, you remove all possibility.
The fact that it impacts on a minority doesn't feature with them.
|
|
|
The reason Rattle is that people are idiots. They think cheap car and they think tax insurance petrol etc. But the fact of the matter is that (a) larger cars are cheaper than smaller ones (due to the above) and (b) small cars are not built to last.
Not necessarily. Price up an exhaust and 4 tyres for a Mondeo versus a Fiesta.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
