1.8 MK3 GL - Can't Afford To Keep It!

[notquitecornish]

Hi folks.

Bit of a dilemma for me. Anyone who remembers me from months ago (pretty unlikely) might recall I'm a Uni student with a navy mk3 Golf 1.8 (ABS) with an auto gearbox and 170k-odd on the clock.

It's got a few marks, scratches, the odd spot of rust and some of the bodywork needs replacing or what not (came up as an advisory on my MOT in late August). Otherwise it's in sound mechanical condition.

My problem is that with £70/month going on insurance, plus petrol, plus the costs of new tyres/brakes etc I'm never going to leave my student overdraft. Obviously that's not ideal for me!



Just wondering what my options are.

• Theoretically I guess I could sell it; the problem being, none of my fellow students seem keen on buying a car and 'home' is around 400 miles from here. Anyone got any idea how much I'd get for a car with such high mileage?! It cost me £550 in August 2007 - I'm doubtful I'd get anything above £100 now.
• I could SORN the car, cancel the insurance and keep it on the drive but wouldn't that just invalidate my insurance NCB?
• Is it financially stupid to see if I can get a local scrap merchant to take it away, giving me a small bundle of notes for the scrap value/parts?

I'm stuck, and the longer I fret the more I'm shelling out on insurance!

Please help!


The car in question, on the beach at Black Rock Sands, Porthmadog.

[euroslap]

You could always sorn it and downgrade the insurance to "theft only" until you've achieved the years no claims.

[AJ3000]

• Theoretically I guess I could sell it; the problem being, none of my fellow students seem keen on buying a car and 'home' is around 400 miles from here. Anyone got any idea how much I'd get for a car with such high mileage?! It cost me £550 in August 2007 - I'm doubtful I'd get anything above £100 now.
• I could SORN the car, cancel the insurance and keep it on the drive but wouldn't that just invalidate my insurance NCB?
• Is it financially stupid to see if I can get a local scrap merchant to take it away, giving me a small bundle of notes for the scrap value/parts?

I'm stuck, and the longer I fret the more I'm shelling out on insurance!

Please help!

OK Tricks and Tips from a car dealer! (thats me!)

• Book value for both trade and retail on the car are £240 Clean trade (a totally mint example) £160 average condition, and £110 below average with the mileage you have specified. Trader Retail money is £935 (but obviously that includes the cost of putting warranty on the vehicle, prep costs etc) and book is inaccurate ATM due to the financial climate.

If you were to sell the vehicle privately, I would say somewhere between £250 and £400 depending how clean you can make it before sale. The difficulty here will be trying to shift a car with such high mileage. if it has a full service history you will be laughing, as you can use that to justify the mileage.

• making the car SORN and cancelling your insurance will invalidate any no-claims bonus you have built up for the year - so if you took out your policy in January, you'll lose 10 months of the 12 you're working towards, but if you took it out in September, it's only 1 month, so i wouldn't worry. it's all about financial trade off. if your insurance is £70pcm, plus the initial deposit (typically around £150 for that monthly payment) you'll be paying around £990 (!) for the insurance. if you only have one month to go, it's worth completing to get the price reduction come next insurance time. (FYI No Claims bonus' expire if you go more than 5 years without insurance typically)

• Scrap Value of a car like that would be about £100-£150 if you were to deliver it. not as much as you might get in a sale, but it is quick easy and guaranteed cash in the sky rocket. also makes any further things with the car someone elses problem.

Just out of interest, if you want to keep the car but do not want to pay the insurance or keep it off the road, is there not someone you know that can drive the car while you are away at uni and pay a small premium for the privelege? at £15 per months you would make what the car is worth in about a year and a half! and then somebody gets a super cheap runaround for themselves until you need it again!!! happy days!


Or Worst Case Scenario - Strip the thing yourself and sell the parts on ebay - anything in good running order should make a tidy profit on what you paid for it (the engine alone will be worth about £125 to the right bidder, gearbox maybe £100 if it is working ok!) you need a bit of technical knowledge to be able to do this right, including knowing what the parts are called!

Hope this all helps


AJ

[euroslap]

No claims is invalid after 2 years now, found this out the hard way.

I was using my motorbike for commuting at the time you can't swap no claims between cars and bikes. During this period the no claims on the car reached it's expiry date putting me back to zilch!

I agree breaking the car might get you money back but it will loose you you're NCD in the interim.

[Driver1.8]

I have a very similar problem, i have a 1995 3 door driver 1.8 ADZ, the gearbox is knackered, engine has done 130,000 + miles, I cant afford to get the gearbox done at the moment and as i hardly use the car it has become an expensive luxury. How do i found out what the parts are worth if i were to strip the car, as it has coilovers, gti interior etc. Car runs fine but i know i will not get much sold as a whole car due to the gearbox needing replacing. Based in Woodbridge, suffolk if this helps, any advise is welcome.

[AJ3000]

I have a very similar problem, i have a 1995 3 door driver 1.8 ADZ, the gearbox is knackered, engine has done 130,000 + miles, I cant afford to get the gearbox done at the moment and as i hardly use the car it has become an expensive luxury. How do i found out what the parts are worth if i were to strip the car, as it has coilovers, gti interior etc. Car runs fine but i know i will not get much sold as a whole car due to the gearbox needing replacing. Based in Woodbridge, suffolk if this helps, any advise is welcome.

get in touch with me asap. i'll come down and value your parts for you, bit by bit, in exchange for a good deal on some of the bits you have to offer (i need some bits for my project too!) suffice to say the car is worth about £3.62 as a running vehicle, or about £100 in scrap, but to strip, especially if you have some goodies on there, you could well make some good money. give me a PM, or email me on andyburlace@googlemail.com

cheers

Andy