Selling my car - your opinions please!

[morg_monster]

Short version: is it better to MOT, service and fix a couple of minor problems before selling an essentially good and reliable car, or drop the price and be honest with buyers?

Long version: I need to sell my car, as I live in London, and my brother who has been using it is also moving to London, so it won't be used. It's a P-reg Astra, with low mileage, full service history, and in good condition. I am loathe to sell it as it is worth more to me as a good reliable motor, but by the time I need it again it'll be 12 or so years old, and probably more hassle than its worth. It is due MOT and annual service at the end of Feb, and also needs a new radio aerial (tho it does work - fixed with glue and blutac!) and we suspect a small hole in the exhaust due to slightly loud engine noise. Probably all in all that would add up to �250-�300. Do you think I should get this sorted and then sell it, or sell it as is? I don't mind losing a bit of cash to save hassle, as the longer it takes to sell it the more trips home to my parents I'll have to make to see buyers and sort things out.

Thanks for your help. Also any tips for how to sell it with minimum hassle/stress would be appreciated!

[Impret-Sir]

I would always say fix anything you can before you try to sell your car. Unless the car is an unusual or hard to obtain model then a buyer will simply go after another one that doesnt need any work doing. After all, the cost of repairs is a bit of an unknown quantity for a prospective buyer, plus the car may need to be off the road, so why would they bother when they could just buy one thats all fixed up in the first place? The dodgy aerial is a bit marginal, after all it doesnt stop the car being driven, but the exhaust would put me right off, and is probably an MOT failure. Cheap cars often sell well on ebay, often with people not bothering to come to look at them first, so you might not need to come home that much, or you could put that that the car can be viewed wherever it is that you live, and keep it there.

[peterd]

You are best being honest, cos if someone is interested & actually views the car only to find the faults you didn't mention they will either just walk away or pick at every little fault they find. It's worth advertising in local press may be at a lower price. The faults you mention seem minor & some people would rather see it that way believe it or not. It depends who actually comes to look at it & every second hand car needs some work doing to it.

[furrycheeky]

I sell cars on ebay and the biggest selling point is MOT. I would go for a new one of them, it would mean getting the exhaust looked at but well worth it.

[ianess]

IMHO a long-ish Mot can add a couple of hundred pounds to the value of a car, but there comes a point where repairs stop being cost effective. Normally you would expect a 10 year old car to last a couple of more years so it may be worth your while if you think you'd get �500 selling it in your local paper. Only you can really tell.