Car dilemma - sell as is or fix?

Columbia86

Hello,

I'm new on here and my friend, a regular, suggested I ask about my car dilemma, so here goes...

Background:
Vauxhall Corsa 1.2
58 plate
Bought in September 2012 for £4350
Checked by RAC, garage it came from and my local garage and all said a very good little car.
Roughly 25,000 miles now

Problem:
Head gasked has died and caused additional damage to engine
Already £480 bill for labour

Webuyanycar valuation:
Working £3700
As is £1676 - if runs

Options:

1. Get head gasket skimmed and fitted so back up and running. But may burn oil and have other problems due to damage caused to engine - £2k quoted.

2. Have engine reconditioned - £2.5k quoted.

3. Buy a new engine from a scrap yard and have it fitted - £2k quoted.

4. Try and sell car as is.

My Dad seems quite keen on getting the engine replaced. My concern is that if I then went to sell it, I wouldn't get as much money for it because of it not having the original engine. I might not even make my money back. Surely I could end up with an engine that has done many more miles. And if I went to sell it, would anyone go near a car that's had a new engine put in. I'm not sure I want to keep the car now anyway, so will look to get a new one. I wonder if trade in might be a good option, but even then, would it need fixing first.

Many thanks in advance,
Columbia x

OddballJamie

Those prices seem on the high side, I'd get a second opinion from another garage.
Not certain whether you have a late Corsa C or an early Corsa D but here's some scrap yard sourced engines
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Corsa-Z12XE-1-2-16v-engine-450-Fitted-With-Warranty-/271230323775
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vauxhall-corsa-C-1-2-twinport-engine-supplied-fitted-/171067490203

Can't see it costing any more than a grand to source an engine and have it fitted.

Flying-High_2

58 Plate Corsa will be a "D" shape probably with an A12 coded engine....

What's the additional damage they've said?

OddballJamie

Flying-High wrote: »

58 Plate Corsa will be a "D" shape probably with an A12 coded engine....

What's the additional damage they've said?

Don't think it had the plate when I started typing, unless I'm going blind or a little crazy

PDC

Agree those prices seem high.

Have you looked at Corsa forums, there are a lot of specialists now who are mobile, deal with specific problems and are often a lot cheaper than general garages.

forgotmyname

Have they actually stripped the engine?

Why did the head or gasket fail?

The £450 fitted with warranty advert above run a mile.. Private seller not even listed as a business. Your warranty ends when you hand them the cash.

Head skimmed with a new gasket should sort the issue as long as you didnt cook the engine to death?
And the cost should be a few hundred £ not thousands.

Columbia86

OddballJamie wrote: »

Don't think it had the plate when I started typing, unless I'm going blind or a little crazy

I realised I'd forgotten that bit of information after I'd posted, sorry!

Columbia86

We don't know why the head gasket failed.

The mechanics took the head off, they have found scoring and burn marks and there is damage to the cylinder bores.

Retrogamer

If the engine has been cooked that badly, i'd be reluctant to use it again even after the obvious faults have been fixed. Hairline cracks or fractures might be present in the block from being exposed to that much heat.

There's also the problem if the gasket failed randomly, then having to locate the fault that caused that to fail to prevent it happening again.

OddballJamie

Columbia86 wrote: »

I realised I'd forgotten that bit of information after I'd posted, sorry!

No worries, I was trying to guess the model from the value.

You need to ask the mechanic for a breakdown of the repair, parts and labour separately. If he/she is claiming over £1000 for a used engine, you know he is pulling a fast one.

Who was it who gave you the non-repaired value, was this the same mechanic? Just wondering is he's trying to buy your car cheap, fix it himself for the price of an engine and sell it on.

If you're into the modding scene and prepared to spend £2000 on the Corsa, I would be dropping a 1.8 or 1.6 turbo in it.

jobdone1

two grand to replace a 1.2 engine second hand they have seen you coming that is very high.