The time has come to sell by PERFECT coupe LE. I am doing a 55mile (round trip) daily commute and its costing too much on fuel. About 26mpg driving very carefully is just too thirsty for the miles I'm racking up.

Anyway - a rough price please?

1998 LE (number 65) Red.
Cat D (I have photos of the damage and its literally a heavy door and rear wing scrape)
Full respray (£1900) worth done about 6 months ago including refurbed wheels and resprated rocker cover.
Re-trimmed drivers bolsters with new foam inserts. Now A1.
GT28R and Pro-alloy FMIC
Lowered 30mm on Apex springs/Koni and Gas-a-just shocks
Greddy Profec B elec boost controller.
Polished fuel rail and plenum chamber
Brilliant tyres all round - Toyo T1-R 225 width.
Pagid pads all round.
3G rear discs
DBA 9-slot front discs
Wiring mod and Walbro fuel pump
Full service history

**EDIT - oh, also a new clutch and cambelt etc in the last few months**

What do you think?

James

No idea on price James but a very sad day, understandable though.

Oh and having seen this in the flesh at the recent Dyno Demon RR Day, I can confirm that it looks

It's a shame about the Cat "D" James, as it's probably one of the mintest ones on the forum after that re-spray. 5K?

Cheers gents.

Yes, I'm sad to be selling up but its time to move on and get a more sensible (and economical) car.

Yes, the Cat D bit is a shame. I'm not expecting top dollar (even though its in top dollar condition) but a sale in a few weeks would be good - rather than a few months. So I'd prefer to pitch the price right first time. Quite hard on this one.

James

i dont remember any pics being posted since all the work was done. your best place to sell would be here.

i think you would be lucky to get more than 5k with the cat d status outside of the forum. maybe a bit more on the forum.

Thanks jaip.

Thanks for your advice on the price.

I'll be giving it a good clean a polish this weekend and post up a proper ad.

I'm going to view a car tomorrow afternoon - Mondeo TDCi Zetec S. http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www...00&max_mileage=

James

Damn you're going to miss the coupe!

Yep

James

Me too

James what does that thing (mondeo) do to the gallon?

Cat D should normally take 10-15 percent off the value but with Fiats a its usually a little more nearer 25 percent.

If you feel the car not recorded would be worth 5k then I would say between 4-4.5 would be about right.

Good luck with the sale you will miss her

Come one James, keep it! You've spent a fortune on it! Look at if from a profit/loss point of view. Won't the money you save just offset the money you lose in the sale?

Diesel is expensive too! Surely you can get 30mpg if you drive at 70 to work? Also won't the mondeo depreciate like no tomorrow?

How long will you be doing this job for? What about LPG?

Oh dear I'm talking to myself again....

Couldn't agree more - I'm doing 100 miles per day and I will not part with LE 1162 (aka Stealth...) Don't do it!!!

DBP

I've seen this car pre repair, and to me the damage looked totally superficial, absolutely nothing to worry about, so much so, I may be interested!

Ben

sorry but what does cat d represent?

Oh and sorry to hear your leaving the fold!

Cheers for the input gents.

Yes, I'm thinking carefully as I casually look around.

@ Mottles - Cat D is the least serious class of write off. It just means the insurance company decided not to repair and pay out instead.

@ EDz - yes, thats about the price I had in my head.

@ Warnysouth - the thing (Mondeo) does 40-60mpg.

I'm going to change the chip my LE back to the std one (I'm only running base boost) and change the ECU temp sensor and thermostat. Then I'll give it a coupe of weeks to give me a few more mpg than I'm getting now.

If it behaves (i.e. I get 35mpg+) then I'll keep it, otherwise its off.

James

In that case James, I think it'll be going.

Unless you're doing a lot of distance work, I doubt you'll get 35+mpg.

Good luck in whatever direction you take mate.

Sorry to hear you have to sell your LE James

I'm in a similar situation with my Scoob. New daily commute is just over 50 miles and I'm getting between 26 and 28 mpg and thats driving like a grandad

I looked at a couple of the 130bhp Mondeo's and they were pretty good. 45mpg all day and pretty nippy for a big boat too.

Will decide what I'll do come the summer.

Good luck with your sale, having seen your last coupe, I know your LE will be absolutely immaculate

Check for rust at the bottom inner of all doors .. there's a known issue with the wrong sealant used at manufacture, reacted with the paint,3 + years later, all the doors rusted .

I had a 52 plate blue zetec s ... tuning box on it makes it move .. but 40 mpg was a rareity ( and only 52mpg on a 400 mile round trip at grandad pace pre tuning box )

Next to no toys in them, Ford were proper tight .. the zetec S is just 18s, sideskirts and different bumpers . .

If your used to LE seats, be prepared to change the cheap tat the mondeo has in it.. no support at all, the main reason I got rid .

Handle nice, and cracking gear change ..

Thanks for the input gents. Thats what I'm going to miss about this forum - lots of friendly help

Yes I'll give it my best shot and see what the old girl can do. I won't be making any rash decisions.

The car I looked at the other day was the right price (under 5k for a 2004 04 plate) but it had been 20k between services and and the engine sounded like a bag of spanners, even for a diesel. Smart looking car though.

James

James - I don't believe I'm reading this - 55 miles a day really isn't much (I'm doing over 80)

Lets work this out...

26mpg from the LE (lets call it 27.5 after you've done the thermostat and changed the chip) = 2 gallons per day = £10 per day

40 mpg (ish) for a Mondeo TDCI or similar = 1.375 gallons = £6.87 per day

So - the Mondeo will save you about £3.13 per day - £15.50 per week - £60 per month.

Do you REALLY want to sell your GORGEOUS Coupe just to save the equivalent of two cups of coffee a day?

Word.

x2. Don't sell James you Will regret it! I miss second gear in my coupe already

Diesel costs more than petrol too so the saving will be minimal unless you do a lot of miles - a different car could cost you oodles in unforeseeable maintenance, at least you know where you are with the LE so .....keep the coupe

James,

I am with Nigel here, whats going on?

If you do sell, don't get a mondeo. I had a new one as a loaner for a day last week and it is quite possibly the most repugnant piece of junk that I've ever had the misfortune to sit in.

James, I can't believe you're selling, and I doubly can't believe I'm thinking about buying your second coop from you too....

Edit : That is to say, I bought Jap's standard 20VT earlier this year and it's a peach considering the mileage and what I got it for.

Ok, ok....

I'm going to give this a real good shot - and see how many mpg I can get in the process.

I'm also aware that the coupe is pretty much at the bottom of its depreciation curve and unlikely to lose that much more value in the short term.

I've also gone off the idea of a Mondeo. But quite like the idea of a Golf Tdi or a Merc C220 now

I think I need a track day or something to make me fall back in love with the coupe again. Let's get an event organised.

James

James - where are you travelling to each day?

My daily commute is A51 to Lichfield, A5 to Tamworth, then the superb B4098 to Coventry. Its the last bit that screws my fuel consumption - one of the best bits of twisty B road in the Midlands - even the bikers use it.

If I go the boring way (M42, A45), its about 3 miles further, but its straight dual carriageway. It uses quite a bit less fuel.

Is your car Unichipped? If so, why not consider having a lean fuelling / low boost map. When my car was running lean, I got about 50 miles more per tank - it wouldn't have been good to give it full boost, but I always set it to base boost.