Car advice please - trade in or repair?

Kix

Hi – I’m new to the forum and hoping for some advice from you lovely people!

I have had the worst luck with cars in the last 12 months.

Bought a nice Nissan Xtrail in 2008 – lovely car, got a good price although I’d traded in my Micra which I’d only owned for about 6 months so had negative equity and had to carry over some of the balance – not good but the Xtrail was only 3 years old and was going to be my long term car. Then it broke and I was quoted £1500 to fix it so I’m ashamed to say I sold it to a dealer – made a loss but got rid of it.

I then bought my friends Shogun – was older but much cheaper, knew the last 2 owners who’d never had a problem with it and I though excellent, I can pay off a chunk of the finance and get this all paid off in 3 years – now that’s broken too – in fact I’ve already pumped £1500 into it since a bought it in December and now there are other problems which my mechanic suspects will flair up in the next year and has suggested I sell it.

The only problem is, due the finance I carried over from the xtrail the Shogun has negative equity – I paid £4k for it but have £5500 outstanding on the loan. I’m really not willing to throw more money at the shogun as I do feel I’m now throwing good money after bad but it also mean that once again I’ll be tied into another 4 year loan to pay of the new car (possibly a Kia Sorento if I can get a good deal on one). It also means that whatever new car I buy I need to factor in the outstanding finance too and although I’d like to buy as new as possible, unless I sign my self up for 5 years of finance I can’t really go beyond £10k finance.

So what really is the best option?

Is there anyway to get out of this mess reasonably pain free? I’m going to try and really haggle for the new car – Arnold Clark (yes I know!!) have a Kia approved one for £8988 – aim is to get £4k for the Shogun and get a few hundred wiped off the Kia too but not sure how likely that is but one can only try!

Or is it better to throw some more money at the Shogun (which is very expensive for parts) and hope for the best??

LandyAndy

I am struggling to believe this post, sorry.

Strider590

^^^ Agree'd



I would ask what you expect to gain by selling cars when they go wrong? surely your losing more money by doing this?

Secondly what the hell was wrong to cost £1500? and did you ever think to avoid the stealership for repairs?

Look at my post here to see why you should never accept what your being told, not without a 2nd opinion at least.

Kix

What exactly is so difficult to believe??

The repairs were not done at the dealership but at a local garage - so far I've needed a new driveshaft (at a cost of over £900), repair of an abs sensor and now have a radiator leak caused by a broken heating matrix.

Surely for a car of this age the problems are only likely to continue and the best option would be to cut my losses and get a newer car which should have a longer life than invest another possible £2k in a car that has been in the garage about 10 times in the 6 months I've owned it?

LandyAndy

Kix wrote: »

What exactly is so difficult to believe??

The repairs were not done at the dealership but at a local garage - so far I've needed a new driveshaft (at a cost of over £900), repair of an abs sensor and now have a radiator leak caused by a broken heating matrix, potential new abs pump required and dodgy ecu - garage are unable to connect to the ecu to run diagnostics and Mitsu have quoted £300 just to run diagnostics nevermind then repairing it.

Surely for a car of this age the problems are only likely to continue and the best option would be to cut my losses and get a newer car which should have a longer life than invest another possible £2k in a car that has been in the garage about 10 times in the 6 months I've owned it?

What is difficult to believe is that anyone could genuinely be this stupid so many times in quick succession and throw Arnold Clark into the mix for good measure.

You haven't mentioned how old the vehicles are.

Kix

LandyAndy wrote: »

What is difficult to believe is that anyone could genuinely be this stupid so many times in quick succession and throw Arnold Clark into the mix for good measure.

You haven't mentioned how old the vehicles are.

Wow thanks for the kind words!

The Xtrail was a 55 plate - the clutch went and because it had a dual mass flywheel this also needed replaced.

The Shogun is X reg - not done many miles but sat for 6 months doing nothing which is why my mechanic thinks I've had so many issues!

Up until this point everyone has encouraged me to keep the car but are now suggested I'm wasting my money trying to fix it which is why I was looking at the option of trading in and getting a newer car ideally with a warranty etc

I need something that is 100% reliable as it needs to tow on a weekly basis (another reason I got shot of the xtrail as it really wasn't up to the job)

I am still contemplating taking it to Mitsu to get them to run the diagnostics to understand the full extent of the issues.

citykid5

i think that the best course of action would be if the shogun is now in a sound condition,but you are unsure of it's future reliabilty..then try to sell it privately..you should get a better price...and if your having trouble shifting it then part/ex..then the problem of trying to find a low cost relible replacement..i dont know your needs,but why do you need a 4x4? if it's simply cheap relible transport you'r after you can get a brand new c1 for £600 down payment and about £90 per month

Hintza

You paid £5,500 on a 10 year old Shogun? Gulp. :eek:


I'm in 56 plate Cherokee for less than that, OK CatD which I repaired but even so.!!!

Kix

Thanks CityKid5 - it's running but with the abs, heating matrix and idling issues it has I know there is another big bill coming! I need it for towing a horsebox otherwise I'd drive micra lol!

Hintza - I paid £4k for it 6 months ago but had money outstanding from my last car - vicious cycle I know!

citykid5

sorry i now understand why u need a 4x4 for towing..the thing is that 4x4 are always more costly when things go wrong...wouldn't a bmw diesel do the same job..i've always had them for about the last six years or so great power economy reliability and a 320d has got a recomded towing weight of 2 tonnes

citykid5

sorry keep replying while your replying if you know what i mean