What to do with old car?

bouicca21

I have 10 year old micra with v. low mileage. Had it since new, don't use it much but love the flexibility of having it. The power steering went. Had it repaired and now it's gone again. It's supposedly still under guarantee but I'm not holding my breath about the reliability of another repair.

So I am thinking of getting another car, budget dictates a used car, maybe 2-3 years old. I have never bought a used car and know nothing about them, so think I would be best off going to a dealership in order to be sure the thing is reliable.

So here is the question: am I likely to get a trade in for my old car? Or do I just write it off? How do you actually dispose of a car that drives ok as long as it's going straight ahead but has to be wrestled round corners?

Herzlos

stick the details into the we buy any car website for an idea of the bottom end of trade in.

It'll be a pretty desirable car for newer drivers, so is probably worth more than you'd expect.

But if it's just the power steering gone again and under a warranty I'd take it back to get fixed again as the cost of doing that will be much less than the cost of the upgrade. If you've lost confidence in it, get it repaired and then try and sell it privately on gumtree/autotrader - someone will buy it from you pretty quickly for the right price - look at what others are selling for.

macman

Auction it?

Gloomendoom

As post 2. If you like the car, getting it fixed is likely to cost you a lot less than replacing it. Better the devil you know etc.

You can take any car to a scrap dealer, recycler or whatever they call themselves nowadays. It doesn't have to be a non-runner.

sh0597

If it's gone again chances are it wasn't fixed properly which isn't a fault of the car. Might be something simple like air in the system.

colino

What did the repairing garage bill you for and what was fixed/changed? If it is one of the electric columns, some low-life garages simply read the codes, wipe the faults, power steering returns and they cross their fingers that the car will last a while. Others will have the thing reconditioned and that is a hefty bill, but reputable reworkers guarantee their work and between the garage and them, should get it working again for you.
As the car is, it will have no real value as a trade-in, but they are popular enough (despite their many built in faults) for an honestly described one to sell well on Autotrader or Gumtree.
Try the repairing garage first, next buy a cheapo code reader yourself, and if still no joy, get rid.

bouicca21

Yes the car is worth more to me than anyone else, and if it were reliable I'd keep it. But .... Initially it was fixed (reconditioned), but kept going wrong and I did indeed suspect they had simply cleared the fault. Sometimes simply turning the ignition off and turning it back on worked to reset it. It went back and forth to the garage (under guarantee) several times. Fault kept recurring. Eventually they replaced the steering column and put a new unit in. This has worked fine for about 3 months. Then about 2 weeks ago it started playing up again, and now restarting the engine makes no difference. I'm taking it back yet again, and I'll mention the possibility of air in the system. But I have very little faith that it will be reliable. And of course it's gone just as I was planning a 400 odd mile trip to what might be a newly independent country north of Hadrian's wall.

oldagetraveller

As this is probably an electric system, i.e. motor assisted and not hydraulic, then it will be nothing to do with air in the system.
http://www.acspowersteering.co.uk/nissan-micra-power-steering-fault/

BeenThroughItAll

bouicca21 wrote: »

Eventually they replaced the steering column and put a new unit in.

I suspect 'reconditioned'.


My dad and I have a long-running joke about this. Whenever we remove and clean a part from one of our cars and then spray it with satin black paint, we chorus 'Fully Reconditioned!', then bolt it back on.

attila_

Drive it north of the Scottish border and leave it there.

Gloomendoom

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I suspect 'reconditioned'.


My dad and I have a long-running joke about this. Whenever we remove and clean a part from one of our cars and then spray it with satin black paint, we chorus 'Fully Reconditioned!', then bolt it back on.

It used to be referred to as paraffin reconditioned.