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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 9, 2020 16:41:33 GMT
Tina lost her job over lockdown 1 (she was a nanny to 2 kids), it ended in September, fortunately she found another relatively quickly, starting in October, however it was looking after 3 kids, all of which are in child seats, we still have the trusty Fiat 500 that Chris found for me 4 or so years ago, Tina said she'd give it a go but as you can imagine it hasn't really worked out so we went a looking. She still wanted something relatively small as alot of her driving is through tight country lanes, many of which are single track and the school run is populated by yummy mummies in big 4x4's so she wanted something that is easy to park and manoeuvre, it must have 5 doors too. So I had to do the thing I hate the most, help her look for a car and also filter out all the crap that she sent me, problem is a) we have very little time to go and look together and b)we didn't have a huge amount to spend which is an issue as it seems that literally no one sells privately anymore and those that do want retail money, it didn't help that I am in the trade, I don't want to pay a "dealer" retail money as I know what those cars cost the them, I put feelers out but over the course of the past month nothing really came up. I had completely forgotten though about a car that was coming in as a trade in against one of my deals, god knows how it didn't figure as it was ideal then the week before it was coming in, it just popped into my head, it would be ideal too, it came in on Saturday: Totally unexciting but she loves it, 2012 Corsa 1.2 Active, FSH, year MOT, 2 owners 59k, bodywork is immaculate, alloys are a bit scuffed, pads are 80% worn, there is a minor oil leak from the sump gasket and it needs a top mount (all 3 are advisories), these will be sorted over the next couple of weeks as it is fine to drive. These pics are from Saturday, it is being valeted this week, how much do you reckon I paid for it?    |
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New steed
Nov 9, 2020 16:52:11 GMT
via mobile
Post by LandieMark on Nov 9, 2020 16:52:11 GMT
£2000?
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Post by Big Blue on Nov 9, 2020 16:59:55 GMT
Free with some other purchase?
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Post by michael on Nov 9, 2020 17:00:32 GMT
I have no idea what things like this cost now. A grand?
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Post by PG on Nov 9, 2020 17:09:15 GMT
I'm going to guess £1500.
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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 9, 2020 17:16:43 GMT
I'm going to guess £1500. It was £1600, they retail at around £3000-£3500, TBH we nicked it. I wanted her to have a Fiesta, there was a 2010 one for sale nearby for £2100.00, they wanted it gone quickly "nope I am not having a Fiesta, they are boring" but she's happy with a Corsa, go figure!! |
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 10, 2020 8:40:10 GMT
Questioning female logic on cars can be, in my experience, a fool's errand...
£1600 for that does seem an absolute bargain though.
It's also true that eight year old cars don't look as dated these days as they once did...
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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 11, 2020 22:34:35 GMT
Questioning female logic on cars can be, in my experience, a fool's errand... £1600 for that does seem an absolute bargain though. It's also true that eight year old cars don't look as dated these days as they once did... I think in this case, it helps that the basic exterior shape has barely changed since 2006 up until this year, which makes this car still look relatively fresh, however in general cars of this kind of age don't date nearly as badly as say cars 10-15 years ago. It's been cleaned up now, the bodywork is fantastic, with only a few parking dings, the interior is spotless, I was hoping to get the wheels sorted today but our smart repairer's wife went into labour this morning so they will have to wait. It drives fantastically, it has a far more solid and grown up feel than any Clio of a similar age (Clio III) and I'd say an early Clio IV too, Clio IV is far more stylish though. I'm extremely pleased with it, especially as the Corsa didn't even figure with us until a few days ago; I'm pleasantly surprised. It's still at work safe and sound, we are off to WBAC on Saturday to hopefully offload the 500 and then on to a new chapter in car ownership; tax is £125 though, the Fiat is £0!!! |
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Post by johnc on Nov 12, 2020 9:25:32 GMT
Can you not sell the Fiat privately? There is big demand for small cars.
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Post by PetrolEd on Nov 12, 2020 9:55:54 GMT
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 12, 2020 10:20:30 GMT
Can you not sell the Fiat privately? There is big demand for small cars. Must say at that price point for that sort of car, I was thinking the same thing. Well-photographed against an attractive backdrop, it should sell pretty quick. Just price it at the bottom end of the range on Autotrader for similar cars, and you should still be usefully quids in vs the WBAC thieves. Did that with my wife's smart when we sold it. Drove it down to Lancaster Gate and photographed it parked in front of a smart white stucco townhouse and next to an Aston Martin. Priced it to sell at £4k and it was gone the first weekend - booked two viewings half an hour apart so that the second lot turned up whilst the first lot were still there. Worked like a charm - sold to the second buyer for full asking price, which was over £1k more than the part-ex price we'd been offered by either smart or Fiat.  |
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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 12, 2020 14:16:40 GMT
TBH I don't know if I can be arsed, there are also a few issues that WBAC won't pick up on that I'd rather not pass onto a private purchase:
1. Front N/S suspension has a knock, I have had it looked at, everything is solid, however when that side is hit with a mallet when the car is up in the air there is a faint noise, which the other side doesn't have, the only way to find out what it is, is to take the suspension apart as the cause isn't immediately apparent (of course I would mention this in any ad).
2. Both front tyres slowly deflate randomly, not all the time, only every so often, there are no punctures, I am thinking a damaged/buckled wheel. The roads around here and where the wife works are shockingly bad, I believe the state of them are the cause of both the suspension noise and tyre deflation, Tina has had 4 new tyres in the past year, all caused by punctures.
3. The car overheats in traffic when the weather is hot.
4. MOT also expires early Jan.
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 12, 2020 15:01:43 GMT
There is that. However, while it doesn't show in that photo, but my wife's smart was noticeably scratched, scuffed or keyed on pretty much every panel. I simply made this clear in the advert and said it was priced cheaply for that reason.
The guy who bought it remarked that he wasn't fussed because he was buying it for his daughter and that she would quickly inflict far worse on it.
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New steed
Nov 12, 2020 23:03:20 GMT
via mobile
Post by Alex on Nov 12, 2020 23:03:20 GMT
The suspension niggles are just common Fiat if my wife's Panda is anything to go by. It always throws up a bit of suspension work on the MOT.
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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 12, 2020 23:13:12 GMT
The suspension niggles are just common Fiat if my wife's Panda is anything to go by. It always throws up a bit of suspension work on the MOT. Both front shock absorbers and top mounts were replaced Jan 19, the car failed its MOT on a leaking N/S one so I replaced both, it's the N/S causing the noise. |
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Post by humphreythepug on Nov 14, 2020 18:56:50 GMT
So we wasted an hour or so at WBAC, £2135 was the initial online offer, for some reason, damage wasn't registering when I submitted the damage details for a final quote, so I knew we would be clobbered for both the arch dent and sill damage, come inspection time, so was expecting about £1800.
The suspension noise wasn't picked up, neither was the inop boot release switch (likely circa £150-£200 to sort), they came back with £1400!
Upon this figure being queried, I was told it was due to the dents and stone chips, I confirmed I was aware of the dents and had mentioned these to him upon our arrival, "but stone chips?" yes there are some chips but it's a 9 year old car, these are expected of a car of this age, he rolled off some shit about me not being accurate in the description, FFS who wouldn't expect a car of 9 years old not to have a few chips on the bonnet, bumper and wings and yes it is literally a few and nothing that would be queried by anyone buying a 9 year old car.
Whilst I was fuming I made a call to a trader I know, gave all the details including the suspension noise and inop boot release, he offered £1600 over the phone, I drove straight to him, pushed him up to £1700, which I accepted, bear in mind he knew about the suspension noise and inop boot release, he drove it too!
WBAC values really confuse me, I've had people sell them cars that are no way worth what they've been given and these people know that, yet I hear of people being offered stupid low offers for a car which is clearly worth more.
Anyway all sorted now, I'm happy, Tina (most importantly) is happy (apart from having to give up her Fiat 500 that she loves!), we are on to a new chapter in car ownership.
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Post by racingteatray on Nov 15, 2020 22:10:40 GMT
Oh well. I don't refer to them as WSAC for no reason...
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Nov 16, 2020 13:49:52 GMT
So we wasted an hour or so at WBAC, £2135 was the initial online offer, for some reason, damage wasn't registering when I submitted the damage details for a final quote, so I knew we would be clobbered for both the arch dent and sill damage, come inspection time, so was expecting about £1800. The suspension noise wasn't picked up, neither was the inop boot release switch (likely circa £150-£200 to sort), they came back with £1400! Upon this figure being queried, I was told it was due to the dents and stone chips, I confirmed I was aware of the dents and had mentioned these to him upon our arrival, "but stone chips?" yes there are some chips but it's a 9 year old car, these are expected of a car of this age, he rolled off some shit about me not being accurate in the description, FFS who wouldn't expect a car of 9 years old not to have a few chips on the bonnet, bumper and wings and yes it is literally a few and nothing that would be queried by anyone buying a 9 year old car. Whilst I was fuming I made a call to a trader I know, gave all the details including the suspension noise and inop boot release, he offered £1600 over the phone, I drove straight to him, pushed him up to £1700, which I accepted, bear in mind he knew about the suspension noise and inop boot release, he drove it too! WBAC values really confuse me, I've had people sell them cars that are no way worth what they've been given and these people know that, yet I hear of people being offered stupid low offers for a car which is clearly worth more. Anyway all sorted now, I'm happy, Tina (most importantly) is happy (apart from having to give up her Fiat 500 that she loves!), we are on to a new chapter in car ownership. The staff are financially incentivised to reduce the offer from what is quoted online. It’s their bonus. |
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