Selling my first car...

timberflake

Ok so I bought a Fiesta Zetec '02 plate 8 months ago as my first car. Over the past few months I've been struggling with the notorious EAC FAIL so rather than going down the route of repairing it I'm leasing a brand new car and selling the Fiesta privately. This was on the advice of a mechanic mate that I trust who said this fault could cost a lot of money and there's no guarantee of fixing it.

So I'm looking to sell my Fiesta, with the fault disclosed of course and am looking at getting around £1,500 but does anyone have any tips?

One thing that is bugging me is what do I do about insurance? My new car comes on Wednesday so the Fiesta is will be uninsured. Do I have to take out a short policy (they look very costly), or is it down to the potential buyer to make sure they have sufficient cover (I'll check of course before letting them test drive it!).

arathorn

£1500 for a 2002 Fiesta with a substantial fault is way too much money. I sold my 51 Plate Fiesta last year without any fault for £600. As regards insurance I believe you have to insure both cars now even if it is declared SORN.

timberflake

arathorn wrote: »

£1500 for a 2002 Fiesta with a substantial fault is way too much money. I sold my 51 Plate Fiesta last year without any fault for £600. As regards insurance I believe you have to insure both cars now even if it is declared SORN.

Thanks for that but I don't want to get into what you think my car is worth, especially as you don't know anything about the milage and condition of the car apart from the fault. Plus, I've already been offered £1,300 p/x from a dealer with the fault declared.

bengalknights

You would require at least 3rd party cover on both cars

reason2

i agree that seems a hefty price for what is being offered, but again not point of the thread.

i thought if you declared sorn you dont need insurance? i could be wrong though because of the new continuous insurance thing the government introduced.

maybe sorn just applies to tax..

Richard53

Under the Continuous Insurance Enforcement rules, a vehicle must be insured, whether it's on the road or not, unless SORN is declared. I would imagine that declaring SORN would make a sale harder to achieve, so I reckon the OP needs to keep the insurance going until he sells.

OddballJamie

Personally I would be trying to shift it ASAP, it will be losing money sitting on your drive and gods knows how much the insurance will charge while you are holding out on a fantasy price.

Put it on Ebay/Gumtree for a grand and declare the fault, hopefully in will sell in a day.

The dealer who offered you £1300 part-ex would have been working the newer cars discount into the part-ex price. To a dealer it's worth £500 tops faulty, they will just send it to auction.

Whether you agree with what it's actually worth depends on how long you want to hold out on a sale, paying for insurance, making yourself available for every timewaster and tyre kicker.

Hoof_Hearted

We have had an overlap of cars on occasions and the insurance cover cost surprisingly little. However, they will only do this for a short time. Two weeks in some cases.

Weird_Nev

Contact your insurer. I've "overlapped" like this several times. They should be able to put your fiesta on a temporary policy, and your new car becomes the primary vehicle. The second car just gets charged pro-rata.
It is a legal requirement to have it insured unless SORN.

And I know it's not what you asked, but you'll be lucky to sell at £1k having had a quick look at autotrader. You're not a dealer, you'reselling a car with an obvious and expensive fault.... why do you think it's worth £500 over market rate?

timberflake

Thanks for everyone that came back on the insurance question. It looks like I only need insurance if I'm keeping on a road, as it'll be in a garage I only need to SORN it.

As for what my car is worth, I find it funny how people can value my car without even knowing the mileage or condition of the interior/exterior or even seeing it! I also find it impressive that you can diagnose my fault and how much it will cost to fix when every garage I took it to has said that that's impossible!

OddballJamie

If you and your mechanic don't think the car is worth fixing, then why do you expect someone else to pay £1500 plus the unknown cost of fixing it?

If the car had low to mid miles with a FSH and in excellent condition then your mechanic would be fixing it and not telling you to off-load it.

You've bought a lemon and you're going to have to take a hit to get rid, the sooner you realise that the better.

Harsh but true.