Car selling tips please.

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2004
Posts
5,114
Location
Melbourne , Oz.
Hey all ,
Ok Im selling my car and despite the fact its the 5th vehicle I have owned I have never sold one before , only part ex'ed.
This time Im not buying a new one and the old lady regretably has to go.

Its a 99 , S reg 406 coupe.
3.0 V6 with digital aircon.
Silver , 152,000 miles.

I have a friend of a friend who runs a merc dealership and he gave me this info about what to try to expect.

Assuming manual : T plate books @ 2750 with 68k, adjustment for miles 950. Retail 3950.

Cap for 99s :Retail 3250 Trade clean 1600 Trade average 1325 Trade below averag 1050 all at 152k

Not quite sure what that all means but I reckon I would take anything between 1500 - 2000.

Now then , it had an immaculate service history when I bought it 5 years ago @40k miles.
Since then I have serviced it once @ 100k and nothing else , not even a cambelt!

I get a company car allowance from work and cars have never been much more than workhorses to me , hence me caring for it so poorly.
Im relocating abroad so it has to go and my questions are as follows:
Do you think its worth putting it through a service - considering its around £250?
There is a big scratch on the side done by my evil ex girlfriend.
Here and here any ideas what that will cost to fix?
Keyed down to the bone.
Tax is due end of june , I will be selling mid July , is it worth putting 12 months on instead of my usual 6? (MOT due end of sept)
Do you thnk any money I spend on it will just eat into my "profit" and I should just sell as seen?
I plan on a full proffesional valet before selling , is an engine steam clean worth it? How much will it cost? Will it get rid of apparent fluid leaks? (oil and P steering fluid)?

Thanks for any advice in advance. :)
 
Thats a lot of miles without full history. The other problem is engine size. People buy cheaper cars because they don't usually have or want to spend loads on a car. The running costs on a 3 litre are going to be high, plus they wont have any piece of mind from service history. I wouldn't worry much about the scratches people allow a few on a car of that age. I wouldn't steam clean the engine most people are wise to this now an alarm bells ring.

Parkers suggest it will be quite low, even with history. Parkers also tend to be over enthusiastic.

Peugeot 406 (96-04) Coupe 3.0 V6 2dr
Coupe 2dr
1999-S
Mileage 152,000

Prices

Dealer £2,795

Private £1,545

Part Ex £1,045

Trade £895

You will also need a new MOT to be taken seriously.
 
You will really struggle if you tell the punter that you serviced it once in 5 years and 60,000 miles.

I wouldn't touch your car with a barge pole. I would hate to think what condition the engine oil is in. Surely you have topped it up at least?
 
I think you'd be lucky to even get a grand for that car, it's not a particularly popular car to begin with but letting it go 50-60 thousand miles between services is crazy, this, coupled with the scratches and the fact you are moving abroad, would make me very dubious if I was a potential buyer.

Probably the best thing you could do if you want to get rid of it quickly is put it on eBay with a low reserve and see how much it goes for, if you try and sell it for £2000 you are going to be waiting a long time.

I wouldn't bother spending any money on it as anything you spend on it now is just going to go to waste, the last thing anyone is going to be looking at in a car that has gone that long without a service is how clean the engine bay is, I'd say the best thing to do is put 6 months tax on it, get a new MOT if there is less than 6 months left and give the car a good clean inside and out, you should be able to sort those scratches pretty easily your self with some t-cut and a touch up paint kit.
 
The car allowance from work has more than paid for the purchase of it so anything I make is a bonus.

Thats for the replies , maybe I'll look after my next one a little better :o

I have never had any problems with it , other than tyres , brakes and exhaust the only time its need any work done on it was a new radiator.
 
i have been toying with the idea one of these and dropping a 2L 16v turbo in it
..............
gotta finish my cab first though
is the sort of thing i would want though, belt snapper or high miler that is cheap, as long as interior is ok thats all i want tbh :)
and ofc if its cheap enoug, i wouldnt pay anything over a grand for one
 
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