Selling car: Fix or not ?

Nerfherder

Nerfherder

Honorary Master
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
37,101
Reaction score
10,864
Location
/\/¯¯¯¯¯¯\/\
So my car is paid off at the end of the year, I love it and its still going strong but I'm also going to be a dad soon and will need a more family car.

It drives fine... but has two big scrapes that will make the car hard to sell, the steering wheels vinal is also looking ugly and one of the door panels looks pretty ngarled.
Fixing these things will make it look like a new car, there are other things that I could do but those will be cheap DIY so I'll just sort them my self.

Now the question is... do I fix the scrapes my self or do I just trade it in as is ? I'm pretty sure that a dealer would be able to sort this stuff out cheaper than I would and the car is going to be worth so little that if I pay a pro to do it, it might actually mean that I get very little out in the end.

What is the best way to do this ? Will a dealer just take a car with scrapes and scratches or will I have to pretty the car up before they consider looking at it.
 
Fixing those will affect not only the sale price but also how difficult it is to sell.

However, what I'd recommend is, get a quote to fix all of it, or multiple quotes, and see if a dealer can give you a quote on how much they would be willing to buy the car for. Then you can get a better idea of whether its worth spending that money.
 
That, or the other option is to sell the car privately as is. I find it a pain to fix things on a car as I don't have the flexibility to do so during the week. Also, things like that can be very very pricey.
 
Difficult to answer.
Have it fixed and although you knew they were only scrapes the dealer and purchaser will be concerned and play price as they will say they are unsure of damage and repairs.
Don't fix and they same.

I suggest take pics of damage
Get quote to fix
take to one dealer to get indication fixed/unfixed.

Take pics so and concerns after fixing can be put to rest.
 
Nerfherder said:
So my car is paid off at the end of the year, I love it and its still going strong but I'm also going to be a dad soon and will need a more family car.

It drives fine... but has two big scrapes that will make the car hard to sell, the steering wheels vinal is also looking ugly and one of the door panels looks pretty ngarled.
Fixing these things will make it look like a new car, there are other things that I could do but those will be cheap DIY so I'll just sort them my self.

Now the question is... do I fix the scrapes my self or do I just trade it in as is ? I'm pretty sure that a dealer would be able to sort this stuff out cheaper than I would and the car is going to be worth so little that if I pay a pro to do it, it might actually mean that I get very little out in the end.

What is the best way to do this ? Will a dealer just take a car with scrapes and scratches or will I have to pretty the car up before they consider looking at it.
Click to expand...

what car is it?
2 door or 4 door?
 
Yea, it depends on the car, I have done both sides of this because of the different type of car I was selling
 
Micra?

They're hard to sell even in perfect condition :p

In all honesty though, look at getting the cosmetic stuff sorted out, it will make it MUCH easier to sell.. and then next time don't buy a daft car.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Micra?

They're hard to sell even in perfect condition :p

In all honesty though, look at getting the cosmetic stuff sorted out, it will make it MUCH easier to sell.. and then next time don't buy a daft car.
Click to expand...

its the old style... they are actually starting to pick up in value now. I got mine as a demo and so it was a good deal, also its got a whole whack of stuff that is not on other cars of similar range.
Sunroof, mags, climate control, auto lights and wipers. It was such fun to drive and a lot of people are starting to realize it now.

I drive a lot of rental cars and all the other cars in that range are not nearly as good, figo, polo, spark etc.

I have had a few people interested in it because its not generic like the new one, I know I could get a better deal for it privately but not sure if I could deal with all the hassles that come with it.
 
I've been pleasantly surprised when I traded in a properly ****ed up Fiat Palio and they gave me a better trade-in value than I had advertised for in Gumtree.

To a dealership fixing those things is nothing at all.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I've been pleasantly surprised when I traded in a properly ****ed up Fiat Palio and they gave me a better trade-in value than I had advertised for in Gumtree.

To a dealership fixing those things is nothing at all.
Click to expand...

Cool, that is what I was hoping for.

I suppose its all about how much I get for it.
 
If it is not too late yet, please do not buy a big stroller. Trust me, you don't need it, my daughter is 10 months and she flat out refuses to get into the stroller for the past two months.
 
Smallish pram, as small as possible, will be fine. Don't worry with brand names like Maclaren (not affiliated to Mclaren) - Chellino is fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X