Motoring Discussion > Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? Legal Questions
Thread Author: Skoda Replies: 21
View Threaded 

 Sat 26 Mar 11 14:57 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
I've a year 2000 BMW 728i, but you probably knew that already because i harp on about it enough, but it really is such a nice machine. Unfortunately it's time has come.

Selling privately assumes i can actually find a buyer who wants to spend £2k on an 11 year old car with a widely perceived economy problem (parts + petrol). I have my doubts. I could give it away cheaply to ensure a sale but i'm wondering...

Is breaking it for parts a worthwhile idea?

There's quite a lot of newish stuff on it, discs and pads, shocks & springs. Wheels have been refurbed and are in great condition.

I've kind of got my eye on a front seat as an office chair project too... (incredibly comfy).

How do you solve the logistics problems as a driveway breaker? If the wheels are sold, it'll need to sit on some kind of dolly to get the shell out the driveway when the time comes, but that then means lifting it onto a flatbed with a hiab crane or something and it'd be a heavy shell... Unless the scrap man just drags them up the load bed but i'm sure that approach would wreck his wagon in short order.

1) Make it sparkling and advertise widely (small ad budget + internet forums etc.?) hope it goes for £2k+
2) Give it a thorough wash but no faffing about polishing paint and cleaning engine bay, advertise using free options, accept first offer over £1200
3) Break it on the driveway, advertise the parts on owners forums, ebay etc.

Best choice?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:01 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero
Does it have an MOT and does it run

(ie whats wrong with it?)

Based ont he answer above.

1/ Sell it on ebay as a driver

2/ Sell it on ebay for non driver spares/repairs

3/ Call it the junk man, currently 100 quid a ton taken away add 50 quid if you rock up with it yourself.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:09 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
MOT till July tax till April, no work outstanding and it's clean and tidy throughout.

Ebay's depressing me -->

cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-Y-BMW-728i-TIPTRONIC-AUTOMATIC-FULLY-LOADED-/120698894623?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item1c1a36f91f#ht_2799wt_907

I have almost half the miles on mine and my interior and exterior are in better condition, but mine is in a less desirable colour (glacier green, it's a light metalic silvery green).

Not even asking £1.5k and he can't shift it. Boo :-( They really are more undesirable than i thought, and its such a shame, it's an amazing place to be.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:12 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero


>> Not even asking £1.5k and he can't shift it. Boo :-( They really are more
>> undesirable than i thought, and its such a shame, it's an amazing place to be.

Buy his and make 1 goodun?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:13 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero
>> MOT till July tax till April, no work outstanding and it's clean and tidy throughout.

No work outstanding? so where did the 2k worth of work come from? will it get 12 months ticket?

If so get 12 months MOT on it, and ebay and or autotrade it for whatever you can.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 26 Mar 11 at 15:14
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:21 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
Yeah there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, drives perfectly, no rust, underneath is solid and in fine condition. I'll be shocked if it doesn't go through the next MOT.

Cost to run: Insurance, £360; Petrol, almost 500 miles / £105, Tax, ~£215 (?), Misc ~£400 = 2k / year. It costs more to run than i thought actually. I was going to make a case for keeping it there.

Ok, fleabay advert it is :-)
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:27 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
>> so where did the 2k worth of work come from?

Bad wording on my part, meant who would pay £2k to buy this car
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:31 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero
If it not gone in two weeks I'll give you 500 quid for it.

Serious offer. I'll even add 50 quid on top for your MOT fee for 12 months.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:10 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Fenlander
I've broken a fair few cars between 5 & 15yrs ago... wouldn't bother now though. You can make several times the value of a non-runner by breaking but in truth if yours is a complete runner I'd Ebay as-is.... your option 2.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 15:31 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - L'escargot
My neighbour disposed of both a car body and a static caravan by cutting them up with an angle grinder. He took the parts away in his trailer.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 16:00 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - corax
>> I've a year 2000 BMW 728i, but you probably knew that already because i harp
>> on about it enough, but it really is such a nice machine. Unfortunately it's time
>> has come.

Funny you should be thinking that, because I've just traded the old Touring in for a Toyota Avensis. Boring I know, but I wanted something more laid back and spacious. Besides I wanted to get rid while it was running nicely, before something like the clutch went - replacement would be most of the value of the car.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 16:15 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Bellboy
why not put a realistic price on it
a good description
some proper photos in good light
and autotrader it
if it doesnt get a response then you know nobody wants it
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 16:15 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
Mr Snail I wouldn't be able to see for the tears doing that :-)

Zeddo, double it and you've got yourself deal of the millennium, I'll even pick you up from Motherwell train station in my taxi.

corax, I don't know what to say. Wish you all the best with the avensis though, if you speak nicely to rtj70 I hear he was considering throwing away some good cardigans ;-p

Fl, I bet you've tons more space for breaking cars than me, I've a long driveway but it's narrow - everything would need to stay on the car until sold.

It's got a stay of execution for now. £1k doesn't buy a nice track toy so I'll maybe look into swaps next. Maybe find someone retiring from track days with a cherished little screamer.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 16:19 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero
>
>> Zeddo, double it and you've got yourself deal of the millennium, I'll even pick you
>> up from Motherwell train station in my taxi.

Nope they don't call me the Vulture for nothing. I fancy a cheap toy for a year, the key word is cheap, so my 500 +50 quid deal stands. I'll even get up to Motherwell to collect.

It will cost me 500 quid in fuel to get it home.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 17:52 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - corax
>> corax, I don't know what to say. Wish you all the best with the avensis
>> though, if you speak nicely to rtj70 I hear he was considering throwing away some
>> good cardigans ;-p

Ha, thought you'd have some kind comments, although I would have thought the cardigans would suit a man called Skoda...

:)

>> cherished little screamer

Not a screamer but I tested a Seat Ibiza TDi before I bought the Avensis. I was looking for the 130bhp FR but couldn't find a good one, so I tested a Sport with the 100bhp engine. Have to say I was mightily impressed. It felt more solid than it looked, and with 177 lbs ft of torque, it pulled itself along very well if you were in the power band. The engine dominates the car, it's like a mini truck, but I found the noise to be OK - more concerning was the stiff ride and the road noise - but I did take it on the A12 which probably has the worst concrete surface in the country. Must be a stonker with the 130bhp engine. It got to 70mph in no time, and easily held it's own amongst the traffic. A couple of mechanics put me off with stories of expensive things going wrong engine wise around 90-100000 miles, so I gave it a miss, but in some ways I would still like an FR - maybe next time. I guess it's all down to the servicing again.
Last edited by: corax on Sat 26 Mar 11 at 17:54
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 18:16 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - -
Corax, you've gone Avensis and not Accord!

Are we going to have a report and update or have i missed the action...as usual.

Skoda, is it fuel or is the car just one too many in your stable?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 18:39 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Skoda
>> Skoda, is it fuel or is the car just one too many in your stable?

Just don't have a need for it anymore GB, I still like it a lot and it's been a great car, can't help but wish it was something I could use for track days sitting in that space though.

Bit apprehensive doing track days in the Skoda, i need it as a daily driver just now. Everyone says track days are non competitive and it's even written into the rules, but in my limited experience you don't half get some monkeys who seem set on stacking your car with theirs.

Will stick to tuition days with it where you're pretty much the only person on track.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 18:52 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - -
I wouldn't be using my road car for track days either, the costs of foot to the floor driving can be eye watering.

My lad has twice ripped the gears out of his Scooby gearbox getting carried away with enthusiasm, now running around 300hp on his RA with all the mods needed, the trouble is such power being dumped with lightning quick changes and no wheelspin to take the shock means the weakest point, 3rd gear gets completely stripped from the shaft..

You don't want to know how much it costs each time i assure you.;)

Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 19:41 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - Zero
>> Bit apprehensive doing track days in the Skoda, i need it as a daily driver
>> just now. Everyone says track days are non competitive and it's even written into the
>> rules,

The rules dont physically prevent a rush of blood and launching your daily driver messily into the armco. Only takes some fluid spread over the road or a wheel onto the grass.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 20:00 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - corax
>> Corax, you've gone Avensis and not Accord!

I couldn't find a decent one in the right spec for the right price GB. And I don't know how I would have got on with the boot and it's small opening - I need to take a mower to the allotment in the summer, and it could have been a bit of a squeeze. Anyway the Avensis came up - a facelift 1.8 petrol model in Decuma grey which I like, and it drove well. It's a known quantity, my dad has one and they are bombproof, no worries with the boot - it is a huge hatchback, you can get a bike in there easily.

I haven't picked it up yet, but I doubt there'll be a report unless somethings wrong with it. Not much to say really - they're quiet, refined, switch like gearbox, good ride and handle well despite what journalists say - they're not the sort of car you chuck around. They tick all the boxes if you want a strong, reliable workhorse. They look heavy but are actually light for their size - very easy to drive and economical at 40+mpg. Some might say boring but they are a really well designed car. I would have held out for an Accord but they're just not versatile enough.

The dealer was great and he gave me a good price for my aging Beemer, so the deal was done. I'll be sad to see it go and no doubt there will be things I'm going to miss, but it's the same with any car. Anyway, you'll have to excuse me while I tootle off to Marks and Spencers - I spied a rather nice cardigan in there earlier - Skoda will be pleased!

Hope the LPG conversion is going smoothly.
Last edited by: corax on Sat 26 Mar 11 at 20:01
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 21:00 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - ....
How's the Toyota set for E10 corax for when you tootle over the channel ?
Is that an issue with a 728 too Skoda ?
Reply to this message | Report message
       
 Sat 26 Mar 11 16:16 
 Breaking A Car - For The Inexperienced? - RattleandSmoke
You could try advertising in gangster pubs although do you really want the 7 series to end its way transporting dead bodies?

All the gangs here love old BMW 7 series like that, very quick, has the image and cheap enough just torch after the murder.
Reply to this message | Report message
       
Latest Forum Posts
Thu, 1 May 2025 18:07
Non-motoring
by CGNorwich
Conclave
“believe religion gave a set of rules to those too ...
Thu, 1 May 2025 17:59
Motoring Discussion
by Ted
Ridiculous !
Not necessarily! OOps, shouldn't say that. Ted ...
Thu, 1 May 2025 17:15
Motoring Discussion
by tyrednemotional
Ridiculous !
>> >>I'm off out to cruise round and impress the ...
Thu, 1 May 2025 17:01
Non-motoring
by bathtub tom
I'm gonna get thumped!
Walking to the shops this PM, confronted by a ruddy, ...
Thu, 1 May 2025 16:57
Motoring Discussion
by Bromptonaut
Ridiculous !
>> Some 4 day old chicks for sale in Bude ...
Thu, 1 May 2025 16:52
Non-motoring
by bathtub tom
Conclave
I'm firmly in the atheist corner (until the second coming, ...