Hi All

I recently bought a coupe off of my sisters boyfriend, he was a member of this forum but I am unsure what his user name is/was. I put the car through it's MOT and spent a fair bit doing so. I do a lot of driving for my job and didn't realize the fuel economy would be so bad on this car. I cannot afford to run this car so I need to sell it and buy my initial choice of a diesel Mondeo (boring I know).

The thing is I have absolutely no idea what the car is worth. I have looked up prices on this forum but most cars seem to fall into to the category of very well looked after or not looked after at all. This particular coupe falls in the middle.

The previous owner spent a lot of money on upgrades such as new front springs, a front mounted inter cooler and custom downpipe. It has many other engine modifications which I am unsure about as this is the first coupe I have ever seen inside. The outside and interior all all stock apart from a turbo gauge that has been fitted.

The bad bits are-

Paint peel on roof and bonnet as well as boot. Indicators don't turn off automatically. There were a few advisories on the MOT such as, couple of tyres almost at legal limit, exhaust is not properly attached, front light lenses are not clear. The leather seats are a bit worn in the front and the console has sticky plastic. The battery also has a habit of discharging when the alarm is set, I have no idea how to rectify this so never set the alarm after finding out that was the issue.

Other than that the car seems fine, it was quick and stopped accordingly over the 3 weeks I used it for. For the MOT it had some welding done, new brake discs and pads all around, new brake pipe to the front and a bearing or joint needed replacing. The owner said the cambelt was done about 2 years ago but I could find out exactly when as he always used the same garage even though we are based in Cornwall, this was a Fiat specialist in Oxford.

I know this isn't much to go on but any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to sell the car on here as this car was the previous owners baby and I don't want a local chav to buy it and destroy it.

Hi Tim.

I'm really surprised at that statement. The Coupe should be brilliant on fuel for a 5 cylinder petrol turbo - perhaps something isn't right?
If you are simply looking for a diesel then I understand, but for what the Coupe is, the fuel economy should be very good. I do many miles a week and return at least 33mpg.

As regards value, it's what someone wants to pay, most of the things you mention are normal. If you have plenty of history, the car drives well and isn't rotting from underneath you could expect anywhere from 1 - 2.5k. More pictures and details would be needed to know that for sure.

Good luck with your diesel search.

How much did you recently pay for it? That may be an idea what its selling price should be.

Really tricky question to answer.

I would say generally £1500-2000 for a good condition, standard example (maybe some light mods) that's not been bastardized or has any big issues. Good service history.

Paint peel would turn me off as resprays aren't cheap. Indicators not cancelling is a standard feature on Coupes these days and lights can be polished up a treat.

£2000 - £3000 for a model in great condition seems fair.

The biggest thing I'd want to see when we start talking about engine mods is receipts and history from a specialist.

Of course, if its a known car around here that'll help us (and you!) find out more about it, so post it up.

I think how I'd approach this situation is to work out how much it owed me. So how much you gave for the car plus work done. See where that puts you. If you then go through the for sale section you should get a feel for the price based on condition.

The other thing is you mention it needs tyres. Things like that make a car sound uncared for. You may have to factor that in to your price, or spend some more money to make it more saleable.

I'm not meaning to sound harsh (but you did ask!) - I've been keeping an eye on Coupe prices and particularly what's sold and what hasn't recently, as we're half-in the market for another, but in no hurry. On the basis of the above, I'm sorry but IMO that's a 3-figure car maximum. Too much wrong and potentially wrong (and some of it costly to fix). I've seen cars advertised in apparently much better condition, some with stacks of extras, which are not selling at £1000-£1200, and on the other hand there have been a couple of minters recently at around £2000.

I confess I'm more out of touch with everything these days than I used to be, but going on your list above, I'm thinking:

Paint peel on roof and bonnet as well as boot. £500

Indicators don't turn off automatically. Annoying but not compulsory to fix. Maybe cheap if you can DIY

couple of tyres almost at legal limit, £160?

exhaust is not properly attached. Cheap if it's just a hanger, more if the exhaust is damaged/faulty

front light lenses are not clear. What do a pair of headlamps cost? £100? Possibly you could polish them out

The leather seats are a bit worn in the front £100+ for a pair of seats?

the console has sticky plastic. Cheap refurb if you DIY but time-consuming

The battery also has a habit of discharging when the alarm is set, I have no idea how to rectify this so never set the alarm after finding out that was the issue. You could live without the alarm, if that IS the cause, or be into a new battery, or worse wiring issues. £0 to £hundreds, depending

You could very easily have a 4-figure bill to sort that lot out, and that's if things like the rust which needed welding have been full sorted and don't need more work. And finally, an unknown cam belt situation adds another £450 instantly.

Sorry…

Hi all

Thanks for the responses so far. I bought the car for 400 and spent that again on parts and mot. Thing is I'm unsure whether 800 is a lot to ask considering the bad points. I will take some pics and take a look through the receipts to give you all a better idea of the car.

I forgot to mention that it only has a blue key and no others apart from the fob. It is a sprint blue r reg and has about 12000 miles on it. I am the third owner from new. It also also sorn now as I got a tax refund. It has about 10 months mot left

I have been keeping half an eye on prices recently to try and find a complete car with bad bodywork as a donor for an Alfa 155 conversion.

They seem all over the place at the minute depending on the sellers view of condition, so the history mentioned above seems critical for good looked after car.

I know you're new Tim, but your posts are beginning to look more and more like an advert for the car, especially if photos go up as well.

This isn't allowed on here and there are plenty of Coupes for sale, in all sorts of conditions, on here, as well as Ebay, Pistonheads, etc., where you can get an idea of price.

Even if you can't get an idea, then you only need to work out what you want/what it owes you and ask for that as your price.

It's what everyone else has to do, sorry.

This is a section for buying advice, not how much your car is worth.

This thread will now be locked and if you do wish to sell your car, please read the instructions in the selling area.