Fix up or sell as is?

Howdy folks,

Starting to look like I'll be moving on from the world of the Honda Accord, so I've got to decide how to go about selling mine.

It's an 06 2.4 Type S. Got all the toys, 65k on the clock, full service history either Honda or specialists (I take it to ABP). Mechanically it's brilliant, had new shocks for MOT 2yrs back, passed last MOT with no advisories, 2 front tyres have done around 2k, Michelin pilot sports all round, all in all a very good car. However, the paintwork lets it down. It needs some work doing in various places (paint rubbed off rear bumper from a bike wheel, scratch on rear arch, lacquer peel on bonnet, things like that), also, all 4 wheels need a refurb. I reckon it needs £600-£700 in paintwork, and the wheels doing.

Now, would you:
A) Sell the cars as in, advertise on forums such as this where the new owner will appreciate the mechanical qualities of the car, and can sort the paintwork if and when they want to (and price it accordingly)
B) Spend the money on getting it in tip top condition, and aim to sell for top money?

I keep an eye on autotrader from time to time to look at sale prices, they hardly ever come up, there's one on there now similar to mine for £5k, which is what I would expect to get for mine if I got the issues sorted.

Opinions?

no idea about the specific questions, apart from the obvious ....you may not get the money back


if the one on autotrader is a delaer, deduct £1k for a private sale. There was a website that I found that gives an indication of sale prices, I bookmarked it on another laptop though. I think it was Glasses, might have been Parkers. But anyway, it shows dealer sale price and private sale price, and generally on cars around 8-ish years old, £1k difference

Use CAP for valuations, they're regarded as the market leader for valuations in the trade currently. They offer free mileage adjusted valuations for private sales here.

If it was a dealer car it would probably have those bits sorted during the prep, but as Brian says you may not get the money back.

The £1k difference makes sense when you consider that I was taught that a £1k profit was the number to aim for in used car sales. You buy at trade price, do your prep work/advertising/etc. and then get it listed up at the price CAP spews out for a dealer car. Hopefully that leaves you with the potential to make more than a grand in profit, as that way you have some wiggle room to come down on price and let people think they've given you a hammering and got a good deal

Obviously the above doesn't apply to the bloke who sells £500 wonders off of his waste land plot by the train station etc., but is probably applicable for any car over about £4k and provided by a dealer that knows what they're doing!!

The problem with trying to do the same thing with your own private car is that you don't really have a reference point for its starting value, so you won't really have any way of knowing if the money you spent on prep will have increased it's value... :unsure:

I think these valuations are useful for run of the mill cars, but FL 2.4 Type S's are pretty rare as it is, Parkers seem to think my car is worth £2,500, which is waaaay out. The last Type S I saw on Autotrader was an 07 2.4 for £7.5k!

I need to get £4k for mine, question is, would I get that with the issues it currently has? I can fix some of the paintwork for alot less than other parts, for example, local bodyshops wants £300 to paint the bonnet, I doubt I'd get that back when it comes to selling.

See on Pistonheads there an 06 plate 2.0L Type S auto for £6k! It's really difficult to judge the prices when they hardly ever come up for sale.

Run your reg and mileage through CAP, their prices are based on market data (I'm not sure if Parkers are, but CAP and Glasses are the industry standard guides at any rate). I've made a guess at the reg date and spec and it CAP's at £3525-3825, if I had to guess I'd say the lower end is based on Cap average condition and the higher end is based on CAP good condition.

With that in mind I'd say that £4k may be strong money considering the bodywork issues. It might be worth fixing the more prominent issues like the lacquer peel and the alloys and then leaving the smaller marks.

^ I'm on the other laptop, it was Glasses that I'd bookmarked

Ah balls, maybe it's worth less than I was hoping then.

I would have thought £5k with everything fix would be a good target, or £4k as is.

Dammit, might ruin my new car plans then.

Edit - Mine you there's a fecking Cat D 06 plate with 100k on the clock on Autotrader for £4,100, private sale too. and another 06 plate @ £5k. These prices are all over the shop.

don't forget that the autotrader prices are asking price and do not indicate the actual sale price (or whether there was ever a buyer)

Yup, the market value has no effect on people going rogue and chucking their car up at whatever value they like, it's just very unlikely they'll achieve their asking price.

Yeah fair point.

Well guess I could drop it down to £3500, I paid £5250 for it 2yrs ago, but that was before I ruined the paintwork :lol:

I've got a good few months to sell it anyway. Think I'll repair the minor stuff as it's easy enough to get sorted, and possibly the bonnet. I'll leave the wheels, then try my luck at £4000.

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skinnyman said:

Yeah fair point.

Well guess I could drop it down to £3500, I paid £5250 for it 2yrs ago, but that was before I ruined the paintwork :lol:

I've got a good few months to sell it anyway. Think I'll repair the minor stuff as it's easy enough to get sorted, and possibly the bonnet. I'll leave the wheels, then try my luck at £4000.

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I'm currently looking to buy an accord 2.4. Is it still for sale. I have dropped you a PM with my details.

Replied to PM but will post in here too.

My new car is ordered, but won't be arriving until September, so I'll be needing the Accord for the time being.

Hoping to get some of the issues solved between now & then too.