Keep it or Sell it?

Joshy

Joshy

Joshy

Soldato
Joined
15 Jun 2009
Posts
5,016
Location
London
I still don't know what to do with my 205 :(.

I was looking through some of my old pictures of it the other day and began to feel the nostalgia. I then started to have a little bit of a think, and from what I can see there isn't any reason why I couldn't keep it, or more importantly, why I shouldn't.

I will probably end up wanting another 205 GTI at some time in the future, and I already have what I'd consider to be my ideal base car (Low miles, It's Black, already has the 16v conversion done and it's not rusty). Surely it makes sense to keep this one before scene tax kicks in and I have to spend ££££ to find something similar?

I have technically sold it... It went on eBay for just £500, and the buyer after a bit of messing about paid that amount in my bank account and said that he'd arrange a courier... That was nearly a month ago, and other than the two separate emails along the lines of "The courier was a time waster - Will get another one to contact you" there hasn't been any contact for 3/4 weeks. I'm tempted to refund the guy his money (minus my eBay charges), tow the GTI to the lock-up and wait for the day when I can finally be bothered (and can afford to) sort it properly?

Once fixed (It needs a head rebuild, although there is a long list of modifications/improvements that I'd like to do whilst it is off the road), I'd probably run the GTI during May - Aug and then switch insurance cover to the Soarer for the rest of the year (I cannot afford to have two insurance policies running at the same time).

Thoughts?
 
Ricochet J said:
My thoughts are sell it. You'll soon forget about it. You'll also regret the costs later on if you keep it.
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Strictly speaking, there aren't any costs involved.

I pay for the lock up regardless of there being a car in there or not, and I'll almost certainly make back the money I'll spend fixing it. All I'll do is "lose" the guy's £500, which I'll probably end up blowing on something for the Soarer anyways :p.
 
If you are planning on sorting it sooner rather than later then keep it, if it is going to sit there for years then sell it IMO. Also when considering this be realistic with time scales :)
 
sorry to, er, change the subject slightly but did you buy a soarer because you couldn't afford to fix a 205??

i would sell. sell! sell! sell!

but clearly, you'd decided to keep it before you hit submit on the OP :p
 
-westy- said:
How much are you after for it?
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It's not really a money thing for me. I'm always going to get less than I paid for it and a lot less than I would get if it were a runner (in fact I'd probably break even!)

s0ck said:
sorry to, er, change the subject slightly but did you buy a soarer because you couldn't afford to fix a 205??
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Well, not quite. Me not doing the work was more out of frustration than cost - The engine ideally needs to come out, but I simply cannot do this at the side of the road. I struggled to remove the head without taking the engine out (against the general advice of the 205 community who believe that it is possible, just very, very difficult) and ended winding myself up to the point where I just wanted rid so that I could get back on the road...

Now I've got a "daily" in the Soarer I believe that I can afford to take my time with the 205 and really "enjoy" the build.

I genuinely do not know what to do though. The unofficial plan for the soarer was to modify and tweak that over the next year or two whilst running it as my daily, then bunging in a manual gearbox and having that as my trackday/weekend car, whilst operating a big four door saloon as my practical car. If I were to keep the 205 obviously this plan has to go out the window and the Soarer has to be my "barge", which I'm not entirely happy about.
 
keep it if you think you will miss it/want it back.

I still have my first car, my mx-5.. i have had a main car for the last 3-4 years. i drive it during the summer and somtimes when colder if i am between main cars and the rest of the time it lives at my parents.

why? it doesnt cost much just to sit there, isnt worth anything other than nostaligia and my pops likes to drive it.. i'd be annoyed if it went as one day when i want to re-live my youth i'd miss it.
 
Sell it as if you don't you'll just keep putting off fixing it. Have you even got rid of any of your other old cars yet?
 
DKong said:
Post some pictures, current spec and issues.
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1989 Car. 82K on the Chassis. It has a 306 GTI-6 lump in it and was converted by someone who knows what he was doing. Bent valve(s) so it needs a replacement head or the current one. Simple job in theory, in practice it really is an engine out job due to the exhaust manifold studs being VERY close to the bulkhead.

Commuting in it day in, day out in the winter was hell, but it was an absoultely mental track car. Really good fun.

DSCF5697.JPG



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Berger said:
Bent valves due to snapped belt or incorrect timing?
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Incorrect timing, yo.

I know it sort of contradicts the point where I said the conversion was done by someone who knows what they were doing, but I suspect that he let

Berger said:
Does it drive and just tap or not?
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It did drive quite nicely before I pulled it apart, but yes it did have a nasty tap. Technically it should still run if I put it back together and timed it up correctly, but TBH I CBA since 95% of it is already in pieces.
 
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