struggling to sell my car

iolanthe07 wrote: »

These cars are known for their corrosion problems, but they are lovely cars to drive and generally very sound mechanically. I have a 2005 Mk2.5 Arctic, the last of the 2.5s, and keep it in tip top condition. It has had corrosion issues, but they have been solved, albeit at some cost. OP's car would be a bargain for someone prepared to put the work in. New chassis rails will cost around £600, so not the end of the world.

+1

Its half the fun of buying a £500 MX5. Doing the work and bringing it back to life.

Whoah

Earlier I said

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Probably worth nearer £500 (if it's just sills)

Now your saying

kmb500 wrote: »

One of the sills had a section cut out and replaced last year, but the rust is already back.

If it's had a botched job already then it's a basket case.

£300 at most

motorguy wrote: »

Its a cheap bit of summer fun for someone with a view to spending the money on the bodywork once the MOT expires, or breaking it, or selling it on as a project.

If you can find someone happy to run it in the current state, and doesn't need to get the welding done before putting it on the road.

motorguy wrote: »

Its worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. It matters little what you personally might think its worth.

Speaking as an ex motor trader i'd have thought it would be relatively easy to find a home for it at £500. If you can sell the car (so actually convince someone its worth more than £500), then its maybe £600.

Its a cheap bit of summer fun for someone with a view to spending the money on the bodywork once the MOT expires, or breaking it, or selling it on as a project.

Thats how it needs to be sold.

Simples.

I think the OP has a dilemma. He wants to be completely frank and honest about the rust (and who can blame him?). He wants to get top dollar for the car (and again who can blame him?)

Personally, in his position, I'd be frank and honest about the rust, and settle for a bit less money for the car.

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I quite agree that it is probably worth more as individual parts and quite a few people have said that but to sell the parts they need to be accessible. The exhaust may be worth £200 second hand but for that money the buyer won't want to be taking it off the car himself.

Breaking cars means you need the place to do it, somewhere to store the parts, some way of disposing of the rusty shell etc. etc.

MX5 sills are a pretty specialist job,the rain from the convertible roof runs through the sills, drain holes get blocked and we can see the result in the OPs advert. The OP has already seen the results of the usual slap some outer sills on type repair and if that was done it will be a basket case when you start grinding the rot back. The rot has come through once, it wasn't dealt with properly and by now I expect the inner sills are completely shot.

For somebody to save the car they need to be an enthusiast, an enthusiast will want a car that hasn't had a botch job done because they know it will cost more to put right. They also know that there are lots of virgins about that they can do a proper job on that will last for years.

If it was a MK1 it might be worth saving, if it was a MK2.5 Sport it might be worth a bit more as a breaker. As it stands it's virtually scrap.

You know all that, i know all that, however there will still be people out there who think its worth a punt at £500-£600.

You're applying a very subjective view to the car and putting a value on it based on that. Joe public is a different kettle of fish and you need to think of who might buy it and what they might pay.

Very simple example - the Clio 172 i sold last year. It was a relatively roughish one. Cat C, not a fantastic repair, but some really nice bits on it - coilovers, proper rare speedline turini alloys, SS exhaust, induction kit, strut braces, etc. Body was scruffy up close in places, trim missing, etc.

Now i'd a few "experts" on Clio forums say it was £500 - £600 as it was rough, no evidence of timing belt / dephaser pulley being done, etc.

I stuck it on at £1200. First bloke who rang was "fussy". I told him it wasnt the car for him, it would need a fair amount of work to get it to the standard he was talking about but he insisted on coming out. He took an hour and a half out of my life going over it with a fine tooth comb, pointing out all the "faults" i told him about on the phone, the fact that it "might" need a timing belt and dephaser pulley and concluded he would be doing me a favour giving me £800 for it. He then took it for a test drive, heard a gearbox mount clunking, concluded (wrongly) it was a fault in the gearbox and said he would need to be buying it for £600. I respectfully declined his kind and generous offer - even though he was probably right about its absolute value. It was "only" worth that if you were wanting to mint the car up. So he wasted an evening of his and my time finding faults with a car i knew - and had told him - wasnt right for him in the first place.

Two days later two blokes came out to see it. Wanted it for track days, loved the fact it had all the mods already and reckoned they could sort out the gearbox mount themselves for a few £. They started at £1,000 and we settled on £1,080. :beer:

The point being - subjectively it was a £500-600 car, but to the right man its worth more. Just like with the MX5. To some people its a £300 car that should probably be scrapped. To others - and theres enough of them out there - its a car for a bit of fun and maybe do the work later and they'll happily pay more.

THATS a trait of a salesman by the way - knowing your market and knowing what someone will pay.