New car or new engine

yorkshireclimber

Hi everyone,

Just looking for people's thoughts and/or advice. My car's (a 2009 Clio) engine is, effectively, dead. The garage have quoted £100 scrap value or a replacement second hand engine fitted for just under £1300. They reckon the car will be worth around £2000 once the work is done. Seems a no-brainer.

This does depend on their figures though, which do sound reasonable to me. Just wondering if the resale value of the car is likely to be affected by the fact it would have a replacement engine? The one they are looking at has done approx 30,000 miles less than the current one, and has full service history.

Also, are car scrappage schemes as good as they sound? I've had a look and it sounds as though the condition of the car doesn't seem to matter - is that right? Could I trade it in now for the same value as with a new engine? It sounds too good to be true (so probably is?)!

Thanks,
Kevin

lopsyfa

Scrappage schemes usually works with brand new car (not even pre-registered car will qualify) and it will usually exclude you from being eligible for other manufacturer’s discounts.

You will find that you can usually beat the scrappage scheme offer by using online dealers such as carwow etc, which means you are essentially given them your car for free.

Therefore you need to consider the faster depreciation of brand new car into consideration.

If your car is otherwise great, I will maybe replace the engine and keep driving. A 2009 car should still be in good condition to go for a few more years. The money for the replacement of the engine will probably be lower than the deposit for a new car without factoring in the monthly payments.

Anitification

I'm not sure about scrappage schemes or how much your car will be worth after the works, I suspect it'll be worth a little less than a similar car with it's original engine.

But I can say that £1300 for a replacement engine, fitted, is competitive pricing; just I beg you get a good, written warranty with it for parts and labour.

You can try the website "who can fix my car" to maybe compare some prices, just put your reg and that you require a new engine; you'll get a few approx prices without them even seeing your car.

MX5huggy

I think £2000 is optimistic for the value of a 10 year old Clio, put the details into We Buy Any Car. I wouldn’t bother changing the engine on such a car.