Selling MOT failure, best options

Kate_fixing_it

Hi Everyone,

first post in this area and happy to admit I have very little knowledge - hence asking for advice from you lovely people.

My beloved Audi A4 automatic has failed her MOT and we've decided to cut our losses (slightly gutted ) It's a 2000 with a few bumps and bruises but generally a good runner. It also has a private plate valued online at around £500 yesterday.

My question is what's the best plan to optimise the potential income from selling?

So far our options are:
sell for scrap value
sell as spares and repairs
break up and sell parts and number plate separately
sell number plate then scrap car
advertise on car forum as a project to repair

I don't even know if these options are viable (can't seem to get a straight answer on Google) so any comments, suggestions or advice is welcome.

We have room to store it in the short term off road so it'll be SORNed by the end of the day.

TIA, Kate x

jimjames

What did it fail MOT on?

Severity of that will the affect options for what to do but I'd think selling plate separately would certainly be best option to maximise return.

forgotmyname

Valued at £500 as in they offered £500 or said yeah its worth £500 but wont give you more than tuppence for it?

If the plates worth something then sell that and then sell the car. Its unlikely someone wanting a cheap MOT less car will want to pay extra for a private plate.

Ebay auction starting at just below scrap value, It will find a buyer.

Kate_fixing_it

Thanks for your reply.

As far as I'm aware it was emissions, CV gaiter, brake pads and discs. Repair quote was £400-500, we've recently spent the best part of £100 on parts and repairing it ourselves but being "precision german engineering" it took the best part of a weekend to get to the broken bit and get it back together (that's the royal "we" as I'm laid up post surgery) as it seemed like half the engine had to come out.

Thinking of being cheeky and contacting a local business to see if their MD wants it as the plate is the same three letters as the business initials.

Kate x

Kate_fixing_it

Cross posting there! They offered us £500 for it but it was a computer generated valuation. The letters don't spell anything in particular (EBS) so I was surprised it came in that high. Of course I appreciate there's no guarantee I'd get that.

Kate x

jimjames

All of those items sound like general wear and tear that would need doing on any car.

Makes no sense to sell just based on those needing doing in my view. Get them done and you have a year's cheap motoring.

Ebe_Scrooge

That bill sounds a tad on the high side for the items you've listed. Brake pads / discs are pretty cheap, and a doddle to replace - easily DIY-able, no more than an hour's work for a mechanic. Likewise the CV gaiter.

Emissions - that's harder to diagnose, but if it's something like an oxygen sensor then again you're not talking big money.

Was this quote from a main dealer ? If so, I'd strongly recommend finding a local independant, he'll probably do it for half the price.

Kate_fixing_it

That's from a local garage we've used for years. I'm sure there's more than that but DH has been dealing with it so I need to have a proper look at the paperwork as that's all I remember. I was only expecting the CV gaiter hence a bit of a panic.

I'd love to keep it but we've sorted a replacement with 100k less on the clock, smaller engine and hence cheaper to run/insure.

Thank you all for your speedy advice, I really appreciate it. If this can be done cheaply by us it might be worth doing and selling on when its MOT is passed. The only issue is whether we'd recoup the cost of the replacement and the work (and if I can talk DH into it).

I'm getting it back from the garage shortly so I'll post again with more info than.

Thank you all again for your help.

Kate x

Kate_fixing_it

I have the car parked off road now and the failure certificate and faults include:
CV gaiter
nearside track rod
offside track rod
rear filter fuel system component leaking
exhaust emissions
front brake disc
centre exhaust
nearside front suspension arm
offside front suspension arm

Again, I don't know much about technicalities (sorry) but the word suspension is setting off alarm bells in my bank account.

Thank you all for taking the time to offer your advice, it's very much appreciated. Will have a chat with DH later and decide what to do.

Just one question, I check oil, water, tires, bulbs etc myself regularly (DH and I go overvthese every 2-3 weeks), is there anything else I should be doing to prevent/preempt any future issues with my cars?

Kate x

tberry6686

Kate_fixing_it wrote: »

I have the car parked off road now and the failure certificate and faults include:
CV gaiter - about £5 for new gaiter, easy diy job.
nearside track rod - about £20 for both sides, easy DIY job
offside track rod - as above
rear filter fuel system component leaking - could be a pipe or the fuel filter, fuel filter about £10 but a garage job.
exhaust emissions - probably O2 sensor but may be related to the exhaust issue
front brake disc - Shouldn't cost more than £100 for new discs and pads for the front of the car, do them at the same time as the track rod ends.
centre exhaust - probably about £50
nearside front suspension arm - depends what the problem is if bushes the parts are usually cheap but some cars need the whole arm replaced.
offside front suspension arm - as above.

With the exceptions of the exhaust and fuel leak I would deal with this myself and I am no mechanic so may be worth pricing up the parts yourself and having a go. I wouldn't expect to pay more than £300 for a garage to do this work (depending upon the suspension arm issue, including them supplying the parts).

philgr

Eurocarparts.com regularly offer deals like 50% off or some such. You can also get discs and pads as a set on eBay for most cars for less than 100 a set and that's for Mintex- an excellent brand.

As a diy proposition, I'd definitely consider whole suspension arms. The problem is that you need massive pressure (in some instances many tons) to replace bushes and even then, if not done correctly, the socket the part sits in can stretch causing the Bush to be fractionally loose.

Centre section exhaust. Presuming it's not massively corroded, I'd probably "field fix" that with some jubilee clips, gun gum and an old beer can. Reason being as long as its gastight it doesn't matter (by and large) how that's achieved.

Emissions - could also be the car was stone cold when tested. The catalyst isn't instantaneous in its effect, they have to be really, and I mean REALLY hot.

Where in the UK are you Kate? I'd happily give a hand helping sort this. I'm NOT a mechanic but have spent the last decade doing pretty much exactly these jobs on my own cars