Can't afford car repairs but value too high to be scrapped - any ideas?

Jokey

I have a Zafira Elegance 03 , 2.0 DTi with 96000 miles on the clock. These cars are worth between £1500-£2000 in the current market & the car is in good cosmetic condition with added tinted windows.

Unfortunately the car is now a non runner (needs a lot of work doing to it - new chassis/subframe, 2 new tyres & a ball joint for suspension) & the repairs come to a cost of around £500 plus any recovery of the vehicle to the garage.

I cannot afford to pay these repairs but desperately need a car (I have children, partner works & I'm 34 weeks pregnant). If I scrap the car I will only get £130 for it which seems ridiculous given the value of the car. I am thinking of a cheap run-around for the time being.

Does anyone have any ideas of how I can sell the car as it is? Or whether scrapping is the best option for me? Are there any places that buy cars to do up? I have absolutely no idea what to do & really stressed out over it all (boiler & cooker have also broken this week!).

Any advice is welcomed. TIA x

AdrianC

eBay, with faults fully declared.

forgotmyname

A cheap runaround is probably going to cost you over £500 anyway. You will need to swap the insurance over then tax it on top of buying it.

Then you may find it actually needs MORE work than your current car.

flashg67

I'd question the point in buying another ageing car, which could have unknown fault,s against something with known costs and faults. You will get more on ebay, but be honest with the faults. If it was me, I'd try to find the money somehow - relatives, credit card etc as it seems in your condition, a car is essential.
Is the repair cost reasonable - have you had a 2nd opinion?

Babbawah

Are you looking to replace the car?

Do you want/need to get rid so you can buy its replacement?

If so, can we ask where the money's coming from to buy that replacement?

When you live life at the cheaper end of the car market it can sometimes really qualify as true MSE.

If your existing car would cost £500 to put right then it's often better to do that than take a gamble at buying a low value replacement & risking spending the same again on putting something unknown right with the new car.

I went many years not spending much more than £300 on a car & 15yrs of cheap motoring cost me a lot less than the £8k repair bill I had after 3yrs with my first Range Rover !

arcon5

Whats wrong with the subframe?

The tyres and ball joint are quite basic repairs, in fact general maintenance. Two part worns £60 total. Joint and fitting £60-£70 ish max, less if done with subframe.
Subframe can be bought cheap enough from a breakers, less than £100 + fitting.

Should be able to get all in for less than £500

Babbawah

arcon5 wrote: »

Whats wrong with the subframe?

The tyres and ball joint are quite basic repairs, in fact general maintenance. Two part worns £60 total. Joint and fitting £60-£70 ish max, less if done with subframe.
Subframe can be bought cheap enough from a breakers, less than £100 + fitting.

Should be able to get all in for less than £500

To be fair, most folk who run cheap motors don't know the first thing about the mechanics of 'em.

They are 'manna' to garage owners everywhere.

If the OP is struggling with the math at £500, then telling them that the actual faults may cost as little as £50 - £100 to repair might make their head explode !

Do you want that on your conscience?

onomatopoeia99

Jokey wrote: »

Unfortunately the car is now a non runner (needs a lot of work doing to it - new chassis/subframe, 2 new tyres & a ball joint for suspension) & the repairs come to a cost of around £500 plus any recovery of the vehicle to the garage.

....

I am thinking of a cheap run-around for the time being.

If you can't afford £500 for repairs I'm not sure what kind of car you're going to be buying as a replacement for the amount that you can afford.

Tyres wear out, you're always going to have to replace them at some point. Balljoints likewise, they are wearing items, although they generally last many tens of thousands of miles. Anything you replace it with thats more than about three years old could need a balljoint or similar at any time.

JustinR1979

Can't you get a mobile mechanic round to fix it?

arcon5

Babbawah wrote: »

To be fair, most folk who run cheap motors don't know the first thing about the mechanics of 'em.

They are 'manna' to garage owners everywhere.

If the OP is struggling with the math at £500, then telling them that the actual faults may cost as little as £50 - £100 to repair might make their head explode !

Do you want that on your conscience?

Hah, but you're assuming I have a conscience:p

mcjordi

OP- if you are on facebook join the group vauxsausage ( they will recommend decent cheap mechanics/someone in the know)

what was said about the subframe? the rest is just maintenance..