Sell as is or fix and sell??

[cactusjack]

*THIS IS NOT A FOR SALE ADVERT*

Advice needed on how to finally get rid of my FR?

Car has been sat around for a fair few months with 150k on it after my wife bought a Nissan Joke! I've been tinkering in the garage with it whilst its not been in use, running it up etc, changed cambelt, waterpump, thermostat, coolant tank cap, coolant temp switch (had an overheating problem and was burning coolant), new aux belt and tensioner, alternator pulley, gear selector lever, oil change, oil and air filter.

Both front wings have usual rust problem, severe but sponges removed now! I have a replacement new wing for the nearside but not fitted or painted. Offside will need replacing too (£45 ECP with sale/discount code). Both doors have the usual locking mechanism microswitch problem, had to strip and clean them as the doors wouldn't close, they're fine now but the microswitches still don't operate as they should so no interior light on or lights on buzzer when doors open, hazards flash when unlocking as they should but not when locking (all doors etc are closed and locked and alarm still arms), bonnet was open for the whole time it was in the garage so it could be the bonnet mechanism that thinks its still open? Needs tracking/alignment, the blower is intermittent, and a/c needs re-gassing too.

Car has just failed its MOT today on a OSR caliper binding (sort of knew that previously), OSF spring broken (didn't notice before, still drives normally with no untoward noises etc), NSF brake excessively fluctuating. i'd be inclined to say new discs and pads all round to be fair as had advisories for pitting/corrosion etc.

It's a 54 plate with 150k in red, with full service history, relatively new tyres. it just looks naff! it's been an absolute workhorse for me though and I love it, remapped approx. 175bhp, a hoot to drive, clutch slips only when you try to nail it from low revs.

3 questions:-

How much is it worth fixed?
How much is it worth as is?
What would you do?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Badger]

How many doors?

With the mileage, year and lack of MOT, don't expect to get much over £400 for spares or repairs.
With MOT and fixed you could push closer to £900-£1000

Depends on time and ability - I would fix and sell, but overall, the parts alone would be at least £100+

 

[R3k1355]

IMO you probably should have sacked it off months ago, you must have spent a pretty penny on it already and really it's still worth close to ****-all.

 

[cactusjack]

Cheers for the replies, it's a 3 door. All in all it'd have about it £300-£350 on it in the last year, sadly I'd be hard pressed to sell it as an mot fail with those faults like Badger says, not worth anything really. But, needs must etc... You've got to spend money to make money.

 

[Badger]

Or find someone who wants a little project...

 

[Arkaig]

List it on ebay while reserving the right to sell it off ebay, or with a massive reserve. This way you can gauge how much you might get for it

Its amazing what people will buy. They're good cars and getting rarer by the second. Don't scrap it.

For me the main obstacle for buying it would be the MOT. If I had to tow/trailer it away it adds a whole world of complexity and reduces the value to me more than the repairs would cost you. You could stick rock bottom ebay/ euro car parts discs & pads on it and get a spring and caliper from a scrappy. Do it yourself and you could probably get it roadworthy for under £100.

 

[General]

I agree with the above, Ebay this and see what it fetches...never know, you may get more than you expect for it!

 

[cactusjack]

Appreciate the insight guys.

It's all fixed, for road-worthiness, with a fresh MOT.


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[Badger]

Good work, these cars are getting rarer every year.

 

[cactusjack]

Thanks, I'd love to keep it as it's been a brilliant car for me since I bought it in feb 2012. Sadly I can't justify keeping 3 cars for 2 of us, and she wants a new boiler!

 

[Badger]

When I started looking for one in 2011, there were plenty. Now I can find more being broken for parts than for sale

 

[cactusjack]

This one might be going the same way! Turns out it's still not quite as fixed as I thought...

Had it up for sale, a guy who knew what he was looking at came and viewed it and I went through all the history and problems etc as I'm an honest guy, test drove it, liked it, bought it. Great stuff...

Came back 15 mins later for a refund as it had now decided to overheat, blow no hot air, and generally annoy him (he stated before he test drove it that he didn't want another car with a cooling problem, he'd had a few!). None of this came to light after I rectified my earlier cooling problems and running it up/test driving it a few times etc...

I've drained down, flushed the rad and the heater matrix, tested the thermostat, refilled, ran up and bled the system. The rad fans kick in, the thermostat works, all pipes get hot, no overheating when taken for a spin, but the heater only blows hot when revved/driven, and with the heater blower only working intermittently its becoming bloody trivial. There's no indication of head/gasket leak (not pressure tested yet) or a leak anywhere for that.

Either it's got the mother of all air locks or its got a blockage that hasn't been shifted by flushing, or its just trashed, I've had enough now of taking one step forward, two steps back. Thumbs down!

 

[Arkaig]

Bummer.. Leaking at the heater matrix at the bulkhead? This often doesn't leave much of a trace

 

[cactusjack]

Thought that, checked it out and it seems fine. Centre console is off and passenger half of the dash is pulled away, I've had the bottom of the heater matrix box off and can see and feel all around the bulkhead connection/foam/seals. Dry as a bone, no evidence of a leak from anywhere in that area or engine compartment side.


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