overhaul car or just chop for something newer.

kaptainmarc

kaptainmarc

kaptainmarc

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I really cant make my mind up on this situation so I will ask you lot.

I have had my suzuki swift sport for 3 years now. never had anything go wrong on it but its feeling abit tired now and not driving how it used to I'm sure a major service would bring up a few problems as I have not used the best garage for servicing. its now sitting at 73k and only worth 2k maybe 2500 at a push

I have 2 options:

overhaul the car. major service, suspension refresh. front end respray get some chips/dents repaired refurb alloys the whole lot.
but I am seeing this as dead money into an already old/ageing car but It would turn it back into the fun little car it was

or I change it in for something new.
Add up the cost of what I would be to get something a bit newer with more toys deciding what would be a whole different ball game. maybe get a small amount of finance to get me into something a bit higher spec'd. I am in a good place to do this so I'm thinking it might be the wiser move but do i want more debt around my neck?

so what option would you pick?
 
option 1 is typically the more financially prudent move, though it seems you're using this as a basis to get something new. As well as this; the cost to fix may not as be as great as you're expecting - I'd consider finding out how much your repairs will cost entirely before asking this.
 
I imagine by the time I have paid for everything to be fixed I will be over the value of the car. which is what is putting me off. But it would be a lovely little car when its done

I cant do any of the work myself as I'm a bit useless at fixing things, which is a shame
 
Why would you want to spend so much on respraying stone chips and suchlike? And what makes you think the suspension needs major work doing to it? If you still like the car a lot and its appearance is so important, I'd say you're going to waste a lot of money doing it up and potentially more money trading it in.

What's your situation? Are you young with an ok job and no financial ties? Is your car a tool or a toy?
 
A friend has owned a 2010 Swift from new. I make fun of him regularly, but it's still a solid car, has had no problems and only needed the servicing & consumables you'd expect... he doesn't even check his own oil, but gets it done annually at the service!!

So you're bored of the car, haven't given it that much love and close attention, don't realise similar mileage/year ones are selling for a good £4-6,000 privately, would drop lots of money on potentially uneccessary work (possibly more money than is sensible, if your garage is crap), or would instead step up in spec based on the 'toys' it comes with....?

You mention debt, so not sure if you've paid this car off or not?

kaptainmarc said:
so what option would you pick?
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Personally....

1/. Take it to a proper mechanic of good reputation and start by just getting it looked over.
It might be something simple and cheap that breathes new life into the car. Our old Merc was utterly crap... tightening up the throttle cable and realigning the sensor mark took all of 30 seconds with the turn of a single nut, but it suddenly turned from that lumbering lump into the big powerful beast it looks like it should be!!

2/. If that doesn't yield any low-cost fix, then get rid of it.
It sounds like you want more of a fun toy that you can still use as a workhorse. Sell the Swift to let some newbie driver get on the road, then use the money to buy a cheap older fun car.
I'd personally get a MkII Supra, but that's just how I roll... or would, if I could afford New Driver insurance costs... but whatever floats your boat. You can get a lot of 2nd hand car for much less than £4k!

As is, I was in a similar position with my motorcycles. I sold up and bought an older, bigger, (much) faster one that does all the fun stuff and still works an a year-round workhorse.
 
mulpsmebeauty said:
Why would you want to spend so much on respraying stone chips and suchlike? And what makes you think the suspension needs major work doing to it? If you still like the car a lot and its appearance is so important, I'd say you're going to waste a lot of money doing it up and potentially more money trading it in.

What's your situation? Are you young with an ok job and no financial ties? Is your car a tool or a toy?
Click to expand...

because the car is starting to look like a shed, its done 50k dual carriage way miles so the front end has been peppered. plus it has silly stripes on (not my choice) that are at the point now where they need to come off starting to flake and look awful.

the car isn't handling like it used to, feels very loose and tyres are fine. but the suspension is making a god awful sound when going over speed bumps sounds like metal on metal rubbing.

I'm in a good job getting good pay with all my big finances sorted and paid for. house deposit paid and wedding paid for. so its time to start sorting the little bits in life out. I dont like having a bad car at the end of the day Its used everyday of the week so why not have something in good nick
 
kaptainmarc said:
overhaul the car. major service, suspension refresh. front end respray get some chips/dents repaired refurb alloys the whole lot.

but I am seeing this as dead money into an already old/ageing car but It would turn it back into the fun little car it was
Click to expand...

Whats all that about then?

A major service can't be much?
Fluids/oil and filters, filters a few quid a pop from ECP.
Oil there too typically around £20 for 5L
Brake fluid maybe £15
Engine coolant ~£20
If it includes spark plugs add another £30 or so

the rest of the stuff you've listed is cosmetic, ignore it.
Probably cheaper for these to simply buy new panels from a breaker than pay to have it resprayed, same with alloys tbh unless you've got a friendly place for refurbishing. A local lad charges £100 a set and I'm more than happy with his work.

If you are that unhappy with it I'd get the service done and if still not happy get it sold and buy something newer. Whats the reg?
 
ttaskmaster said:
A friend has owned a 2010 Swift from new. I make fun of him regularly, but it's still a solid car, has had no problems and only needed the servicing & consumables you'd expect... he doesn't even check his own oil, but gets it done annually at the service!!

So you're bored of the car, haven't given it that much love and close attention, don't realise similar mileage/year ones are selling for a good £4-6,000 privately, would drop lots of money on potentially uneccessary work (possibly more money than is sensible, if your garage is crap), or would instead step up in spec based on the 'toys' it comes with....?

You mention debt, so not sure if you've paid this car off or not?


Personally....

1/. Take it to a proper mechanic of good reputation and start by just getting it looked over.
It might be something simple and cheap that breathes new life into the car. Our old Merc was utterly crap... tightening up the throttle cable and realigning the sensor mark took all of 30 seconds with the turn of a single nut, but it suddenly turned from that lumbering lump into the big powerful beast it looks like it should be!!

2/. If that doesn't yield any low-cost fix, then get rid of it.
It sounds like you want more of a fun toy that you can still use as a workhorse. Sell the Swift to let some newbie driver get on the road, then use the money to buy a cheap older fun car.
I'd personally get a MkII Supra, but that's just how I roll... or would, if I could afford New Driver insurance costs... but whatever floats your boat. You can get a lot of 2nd hand car for much less than £4k!

As is, I was in a similar position with my motorcycles. I sold up and bought an older, bigger, (much) faster one that does all the fun stuff and still works an a year-round workhorse.
Click to expand...

yeah cars paid off.

trouble is I don't know of any good garages around my area and know of no mechanics. so I never know who to trust.

I might book a weekend away and take it too a well known specialist down south for a major service and see what they say.

I had a civic type r before this but doing 20k a year ruined that but now I'm only doing 8-9k a year so the thought of having something fun again is creeping up on me.

car valuation was from the robbing "we buy any car" at £1900
 
kaptainmarc said:
I might book a weekend away and take it too a well known specialist down south for a major service and see what they say.
Click to expand...
Couple of guys here in Reading I'd recommend, if you're interested...

kaptainmarc said:
car valuation was from the robbing "we buy any car" at £1900
Click to expand...
There ya go... Check the private sales pages, to see what others are selling theirs for.
Many same year lower mileage go for around the £8k mark.
 
kaptainmarc said:
I'm in a good job getting good pay with all my big finances sorted and paid for. house deposit paid and wedding paid for. so its time to start sorting the little bits in life out. I dont like having a bad car at the end of the day Its used everyday of the week so why not have something in good nick
Click to expand...

In your situation I'd get a different car to the one you have. Small cars aka the "nippy little runabout" hold their value well and are always in demand, so palm it off to a dealer without spending money on it.

If you're looking to buy a house in the near future, the bank is interested more in your monthly commitments than your past discretionary spending, so try and pay cash where you can.
 
theres a Suzuki swift specialist I will take it too in sommerset

other examples going around 3.5-4k at similar mileage, should have checked first really :P

I think I am trying to talk myself in to getting a new car. been saving for god knows how long for house/wedding and all that jazz and I'm finally at the situation where I have spare cash

mulpsmebeauty said:
In your situation I'd get a different car to the one you have. Small cars aka the "nippy little runabout" hold their value well and are always in demand, so palm it off to a dealer without spending money on it.

If you're looking to buy a house in the near future, the bank is interested more in your monthly commitments than your past discretionary spending, so try and pay cash where you can.
Click to expand...

house is all sorted, and rennovation done. I have nothing upcoming or hanging over my head other than my mortgage which is dinky anyway
 
I'm not a very big BMW fan

I keep looking at ST220
Focus ST
Saab 9-3 Aero
Mazda 3 MPS
Civic Type R

something a bit bigger with more welly. You seem to be able to pick them up fairly cheap with a couple of grand on top of my car should sit me in something quite lovely
 
I own a 6mps and I've been in a few 3's so somewhat biased but deffo test drive one :)
I quite like the Civic interiors also found all the extras great.

Looking at the cars you mentioned I assume you're not against modifying them?
Theres a few tasty looking 3's for sale at the moment, what kind of budget are you looking at?

I think there's a few chaps on here with 3 MPS's Nathwraith has a Mk2 cant remember the others, I think one is a cosmic blue non aero, if I was getting a 3 that'd be the one I went for lovely colour in the flesh.

Mk 1 3's seem to have dropped in price over the last 6 month, Mk2's a little and I missed out on two at ~7.5k :( Gutted wasn't the word, even more so when it happened twice in a row haha
 
Yeah really want to test drive one. I loved my civic type R when I had one such a lovely place to be.

Yes I would like to slightly modify them. always wanted to mod a car but its always bumped my insurance to silly money. but being 26 now it doesn't have a massive effect.

I think If I was to get a 3 MPS I would stretch my budget and go for a mk2 as they just look awesome.
 
Servicing is all part of the process mate, hopefully you've learnt your lesson and won't treat your future cars the same way. I can't tell you what to do though so hope you follow the advice :p
 
dacads said:
Servicing is all part of the process mate, hopefully you've learnt your lesson and won't treat your future cars the same way. I can't tell you what to do though so hope you follow the advice :p
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the car was actually bought as a "thatl do for now" as i needed something cheaper than the type r as my commute had over doubled.

for some reason I just kept it for 3 years which i never planned on. it was only going to be a 1 year maximum.
 
I've seen a few mk2's now at 7.5k so I'd rule out these chancers asking 10k+ straight away.

There's a silver Mk2 doing the rounds, OY60 TVA, stay well away from this one no matter how cheap it is. It's been advertised now as Cat-D with visible damage 3 times with different mileages.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-3-M...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

That being the most recent, it was first listed July last year, damage to the rear.
It was then listed in August last year with damage to the other side of the rear.
Most recently the eBay auction above, cracked sump but still drives.

What a muppet lol

This ones just popped up too:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-3-MPS-AERO-PACK-/172097605814?hash=item2811d110b6:g:9HYAAOSwPc9WvFIu

3k, looks canny but look into the usual stuff as I've only had a quick glance
 
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kaptainmarc said:
because the car is starting to look like a shed, its done 50k dual carriage way miles so the front end has been peppered. plus it has silly stripes on (not my choice) that are at the point now where they need to come off starting to flake and look awful.

the car isn't handling like it used to, feels very loose and tyres are fine. but the suspension is making a god awful sound when going over speed bumps sounds like metal on metal rubbing.

I'm in a good job getting good pay with all my big finances sorted and paid for. house deposit paid and wedding paid for. so its time to start sorting the little bits in life out. I dont like having a bad car at the end of the day Its used everyday of the week so why not have something in good nick
Click to expand...

Honestly, a full service inc all filters, brake fluid, coolant and some bushes replacing in the suspension are all it's likely to need. Cheap tyres can make a car feel horrible too as can incorrect tyre pressures.

Oil service, inc filter, air filter, cabin filter, coolant will probably be about £300 all in, plus £200 for misc suspension parts = an estimated £500 to sort the car?

Has it ever failed or got any advisories on an MOT?
 
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