How to get rid of a car with problems?
Discussion
I’ve got a 2013 Peugeot 208. A few scratches and 120k miles on it.
It’s a good enough car if high mileage and has sailed through its last few mot’s and I’ve no reason to think it won’t pass one next month.
However it has an intermittent fault that puts the engine fault light on occasionally. It can go months fine then it comes on for a few weeks/months then goes off again. A code reader hasn’t picked up anything unusual. It drives fine with the light on.
I want to get rid of it and buy something newer from a dealer.
Do I trade it in and get pennies for it or try and sell privately with/without disclosing the fault? If I get the light put out it could run for months before it comes back on.
I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ that punts on a faulty car but would I be able to sell it if I was straight about the fault?
Buy a cheap OBD2 dongle and download an app on your phone to clear the light when/if it appears.
Put it through an MoT so you can show it is not spewing out too much nasty stuff (ie. there's not an actual problem the light is trying to tell you about).
Then IMHO you have a clear conscience when trading in - I've had cars that have random CELs come on and go out and work perfectly the whole time. Might be just damp weather or a leaky fuel cap etc. Especially if the code reader isn't giving any clues.
Put it through an MoT so you can show it is not spewing out too much nasty stuff (ie. there's not an actual problem the light is trying to tell you about).
Then IMHO you have a clear conscience when trading in - I've had cars that have random CELs come on and go out and work perfectly the whole time. Might be just damp weather or a leaky fuel cap etc. Especially if the code reader isn't giving any clues.
You could advertise it with the exact problem expressed, empathizing the fact you've tried to have it looked at, that it drives no differently when it happens etc etc.
Selling stuff is a balance, no one does a complete honest assessment list of everything beforehand ready to hand to potential buyers when they turn up, if the issue you have is basically all that's stopping you saying it's a good/great car then to someone it will be a great car and they will come to look at it fearing a lot more than a engine light that doesn't stop the car working. Cambelts/head gaskets/battery drain etc etc will all come to mind.
If the code clears and doesn't come back instantly then anyone with a code reader can sort it come MOT time if they can't resolve the issue etc. Lot's of lower priced car buyers are more resourceful/ok with this sort of thing.
It will effect the price so you'd have to weigh that up with the p/x WBAC offers.
It's not like you are selling a death trap etc so do what makes you feel 'ok' about it all.
Selling stuff is a balance, no one does a complete honest assessment list of everything beforehand ready to hand to potential buyers when they turn up, if the issue you have is basically all that's stopping you saying it's a good/great car then to someone it will be a great car and they will come to look at it fearing a lot more than a engine light that doesn't stop the car working. Cambelts/head gaskets/battery drain etc etc will all come to mind.
If the code clears and doesn't come back instantly then anyone with a code reader can sort it come MOT time if they can't resolve the issue etc. Lot's of lower priced car buyers are more resourceful/ok with this sort of thing.
It will effect the price so you'd have to weigh that up with the p/x WBAC offers.
It's not like you are selling a death trap etc so do what makes you feel 'ok' about it all.
I traded in a Honda Civic with an intermittent electrical fault on the boot lock which I hadn't been able to get rectified. I told the dealer and he thanked me for being honest, didn't even adjust the part ex valuation.
I think honesty is best when selling cars to avoid comeback. You could trade it or sell it privately and just be upfront about the nature of the fault. I'm thinking the value of an 8 year old 208 with 120k miles is fairly low anyway. Get a part ex or wbac quote off the internet and then sell it privately with a realistic price to reflect the problem. As said, it'll help a lot if you get a fresh MOT for private sale. Personally if the car is only worth a couple of grand I'd just trade it to save hassle.
I think honesty is best when selling cars to avoid comeback. You could trade it or sell it privately and just be upfront about the nature of the fault. I'm thinking the value of an 8 year old 208 with 120k miles is fairly low anyway. Get a part ex or wbac quote off the internet and then sell it privately with a realistic price to reflect the problem. As said, it'll help a lot if you get a fresh MOT for private sale. Personally if the car is only worth a couple of grand I'd just trade it to save hassle.
Just WBAC’d it and it’s worth £1170.
That’ll get knocked down because it’s got a few scratches and only one key.
I’ll see if I get anything as a trade in before I decide what to do with it. On consideration I’ll declare the problem either way.
I’ve no qualms about selling it privately as that particular problem has been ongoing for a couple of years at least.
Stick it on autotrader for £995 (free listing for under £1,000 if I recall correctly). Say sometimes EML light comes on, but doesn't affect running as far as you can tell and that it's done it for ages. If MOT is less than 6 months I'd get a new one put on (once light reset of course).
Or, do it the old fashioned way, if for no other reason than to keep a dying tradition alive... 99p no reserve on ebay, with all faults declared.
I also can't believe that it's not storing a code for an EML... any EML illumination should record a stored code, that even if the light goes away the code should still be there. You may need a PSA specific diagnostics to pick it up though rather than the generic cheapo readers.
Or, do it the old fashioned way, if for no other reason than to keep a dying tradition alive... 99p no reserve on ebay, with all faults declared.
I also can't believe that it's not storing a code for an EML... any EML illumination should record a stored code, that even if the light goes away the code should still be there. You may need a PSA specific diagnostics to pick it up though rather than the generic cheapo readers.
Last few times I traded in a car with a dealer they didn’t even start it up just searched online for price and that’s that it could have had a massive fault worn out tyres they didn’t care. One had a cylinder head problem he didn’t ask and I didn’t say the price was based on mileage not how it ran.
Put the car at a lower price if selling privately and mention in the advert about the problem. Then if they try to come back at you or lower the price because of the fault tell them no, it's already had the price adjusted for the issue.
OR
Get it looked at by the dealer. They will have the correct code reader for your car. Yes it's more than your local garage but usual code reader diagnosis is about £100 from a dealer.
Then get the car fixed.
Or
Take it to get part Ex say nothing.
OR
Get it looked at by the dealer. They will have the correct code reader for your car. Yes it's more than your local garage but usual code reader diagnosis is about £100 from a dealer.
Then get the car fixed.
Or
Take it to get part Ex say nothing.
Well I had the code looked at (my BiL has a garage so no excuse for not getting it checked out before. 2 minutes down the road)
The only code showing was the cat wasn’t functioning at peak efficiency. Which is to be expected I suppose as it’s still the original one. It’s reassuring that it’s not something serious or more difficult to sort.
So I’ll see what I get offered p/ex and if it’s not much I’ll sell it privately with the fault mentioned. (The lights off now and might not come back on for months)
Nice one. At least it isn't that bad.
I'd say it's probably a problem with the cat and I bet the levels are higher than what they should be. Hence why it takes a while for it to come on. What will happen is that the car will need to do X mileage before it registers. I think that if you did say a 100 mile journey it would come on without stopping or if you did say a lot of short journeys it would come on.
I had a similar issue where this happened. Turned out to be a naff sensor after the cat as I got the emissions tested at they were a little higher than normal like I mean barely over what it should be.
Might be worth asking the garage to test the emissions. So then if it is that you know what it is.
I'd say it's probably a problem with the cat and I bet the levels are higher than what they should be. Hence why it takes a while for it to come on. What will happen is that the car will need to do X mileage before it registers. I think that if you did say a 100 mile journey it would come on without stopping or if you did say a lot of short journeys it would come on.
I had a similar issue where this happened. Turned out to be a naff sensor after the cat as I got the emissions tested at they were a little higher than normal like I mean barely over what it should be.
Might be worth asking the garage to test the emissions. So then if it is that you know what it is.
Part ex price will be similar to WBAC. I’m sure they all use the same sources for valuation.
The cheapest 13 plate 208 on AT is £2k and that has 145k miles on it. Depends on the exact model obviously but I’d say you could list yours at maybe £1995 with a fresh mot and fault declared and expect offers around £1750 or so. All depends if the extra few hundred quid is worth the hassle to you. The last car I sold privately achieved just over a grand more than WBAC offer so was worth doing.
The cheapest 13 plate 208 on AT is £2k and that has 145k miles on it. Depends on the exact model obviously but I’d say you could list yours at maybe £1995 with a fresh mot and fault declared and expect offers around £1750 or so. All depends if the extra few hundred quid is worth the hassle to you. The last car I sold privately achieved just over a grand more than WBAC offer so was worth doing.
Unless the dealer is that sort of dealer who sells lots of cheap cars, they're just going to get rid of it ASAP themselves, weither through WBAC or similar or sticking it in a local auction.
If you're going to sell it privately, for my own moral high ground I would declare any faults I knew about.
If you're going to sell it privately, for my own moral high ground I would declare any faults I knew about.
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