Broken 2000/W 1.4 VW Polo - how much is it worth?

[sinister_stu]

... my guess is not very much!

I have a 2000/W 1.4E VW Polo, which is going to cost me more to fix than I'm willing to pay - £600 to get it through the MOT, which is due in the next couple of weeks. I was only going to keep it for the next 6 months anyway, and can easily manage without a car until my planned new car purchase at the end of the year.

The broken parts: Rear wheel cylinders and shoes. Rear shock absorber, front section of exhuast (with cat) and front windscreen. It has done 130k miles and is taxed for the next 9 months. I'd rate the overall condition of bodywork and interior as poor-average, if that matters at all.

I asked the garage if they were interested in buying it and they offered me £200, does this seem reasonable? I'm tempted to take them up on the offer as my google research suggests I'd get £150 to scrap it.

 

[4T5]

You'd probably get more than 200 quid for it private sale but you'd have to deal with all the messas. 200 quid is a fair price but bare in mind that a back street garage would do the work you mention for around 300 quid.

 

[sinister_stu]

Thanks 4T5- I've already been to 2 different garages for quotes and £520 (+ my excess to change the front windscreen) was the best of them. I have no doubt that if I scoured the area (West London) I'd find a better quote, but £200 and a hassle free sale of a broken car is quite a tempting combo right now...

 

[Kaka]

For reference I scrapped a 96/N Reg polo that was in very poor condition and got £170 a few months ago. Was meant to be something I could tinker around with but just sat in my garage for years untouched, so decided to get rid.

 

[kerrgreg]

Wow, shame your not handy with a spanner as most of those parts are pretty easy to change on the 6n2, Ive changed a fair amount of them myself infact.

Cars this age i think the outside condition doesnt seem to help the value as people just want cheap wheels. not looked at prices recently but a pair of rear drums complete should eb about £50 rear shocks can be got cheap especially if you arnt fussy about what they are (loads of cheap lowering kits about £150 for a set of springs and shocks) not saying they would be good but would pass an MOT and the front box cant be that much surely!

Sadly if your lucky you might get £400 privately but i expect people are going to be looking and worried about other problems since the mileage is over 100k its a petrol and the strerotype says they are only good for 120k! (yeah right...

 

[BodgeITandRun]

I sold my w reg 1.4 Polo on eBay as spares or repairs for 400 quid. It had lots of probs, sounded Mega rough until warm, filthy inside, lights all over dashboard, intermittent power loss, average condition body too. It sold almost immediately. If you are brutally honest about every single fault, they can't complain.

 

[sinister_stu]

Thanks for the replies guys.. good advice about putting it up on ebay. If I can't push the garage for a little more than £200 I'll put it on there.

kerrgreg - If I had somewhere to do the work I'd give it a go, I have the Haynes manual and the parts certainly are cheap!

 

[Avalon]

If you can easily manage without a car then what's the problem ?

At the moment it's worth £200 to you.

Your options are to do the cylinders, shoes and shock yourself and bleed the fluid for circa £70-80 in parts, that leaves the manifold/cat which is going to be circa £100 new or less from a breakers. You then need to allow for the new MOT (£40) and the screen excess (£50-75?). You're then into the car for getting on for £300 plus the £200 it was worth so you need £500 back on it to break even but you get the advantages of having a car to drive about in for the next 6 months. I wouldn't imagine you'd have too much trouble shifting it with 6 months MOT for £500.

On the other hand you could save 6 months fuel, tax, insurance and the risk of further repairs and take another £200 towards the new car fund while you're at it.