Shitey Vauxhall opinions

[grogee]

I've been offered the chance to own Vauxhall's finest shitery: a 2006 Meriva 1.6. It's out of MoT and judging by the MoT history it needs brake pipes, shocks and ABS reluctor rings. All of these jobs *sound* quite simple and I've done them before on other cars. The parts are absolute peanuts in terms of cost, I think it helps that there is a glut of Vauxhall shite out there and parts suppliers have lots of volume. Eg front shocks for £20ea, rears £15ea.

The story is, I think, that the old fella has given up driving but hasn't got rid of the car because (I imagine) he was hoping he'd get better. Granddaughter has taken selling responsibilities. It hasn't had an MoT since it expired in Jan 2020.

The car is up for £200. Parts, at the outside, and including a good service are £350. Worst case I could sell for £1000, on a good day £1500, obviously with full MoT. In addition it's likely that the Mrs' Espace is about to expire due to unfathomable electrical faults and she will need alternative wheels, so may end up keeping it. 

If we sell that's a minimum of £550 profit (excluding all the running expenses like tax and MoT). Is this worth taking a punt on, or should I leave this for the earth to reclaim?

[Andyrew]

If your up for it then go for it. Parts are cheap as chips and plenty in breakers for other parts.

If the abs rings and brake pipes are shot I'd expect most things to be corroded so expect a bit of a fight with things. 

A grand sounds mighty optimistic to me, I'd have guessed half, but having never bought or sold a meriva I'm only guessing here. 

 

 

[Cookiesouwest]

A touch optimistic on resale price but still a profit to be had, as long as you don't include your time for fixing / fitting parts.

[Bren]

Go for it - if you sell £8-900 tops. It's a 14 year old vauxhall.

[grogee]

Forgot to say it's 75k with full history (although I'm not sure granddaughter understands what that is) and working air con. That's what's attracting me to it.

Yeah there will be fights to be had for sure, I've already factored in the new drop links that will be required because the old ones NEVER come off without needing the angle grinder.

[Agila]

You probably would technically make more money breaking it for parts

Get it for close to bridge money as possible and take off the easy and good bits. 

Weigh the rest in.

Out of those options break or repair I would choose neither. Both sound like a complete waste of time and effort.

I'd only repair a car if the resale cost was guaranteed to be a lot more when fixed.

It's too much effort for something that low in the market. 

[Jazoli]

I think you are over estimating its value by quite some amount when £600 will buy you one with 12 months ticket and working AC on autotrader , it'll be worth what you pay+what you spend fixing it, if you want a cheap car with working AC go for it but you are not getting rich from it

[New POD]

48 minutes ago, grogee said:

I've been offered the chance to own Vauxhall's finest shitery: a 2006 Meriva 1.6. It's out of MoT and judging by the MoT history it needs brake pipes, shocks and ABS reluctor rings. All of these jobs *sound* quite simple and I've done them before on other cars. The parts are absolute peanuts in terms of cost, I think it helps that there is a glut of Vauxhall shite out there and parts suppliers have lots of volume. Eg front shocks for £20ea, rears £15ea.

The story is, I think, that the old fella has given up driving but hasn't got rid of the car because (I imagine) he was hoping he'd get better. Granddaughter has taken selling responsibilities. It hasn't had an MoT since it expired in Jan 2020.

The car is up for £200. Parts, at the outside, and including a good service are £350. Worst case I could sell for £1000, on a good day £1500, obviously with full MoT. In addition it's likely that the Mrs' Espace is about to expire due to unfathomable electrical faults and she will need alternative wheels, so may end up keeping it. 

If we sell that's a minimum of £550 profit (excluding all the running expenses like tax and MoT). Is this worth taking a punt on, or should I leave this for the earth to reclaim?

A working meriva with 12 months mot is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT WORTH £1000 

It's a £50 car now, and £600 max privately. 

Serious man maths you are involved in there. 

Not saying don't buy it, but your reasoning is ballocks. If you are buying to make a profit. It needs to be 1/4 what she wants.  Imagine she got a quote for the work? Parts prices woukd be 3 times what you quote and there is £400 of labour.  

If you need a replacement then maybe it's a cheap way for you, but for profit ? There's 100 quid and lots of hassle***

I would love to be wrong and am prepared to be shot down in flames.  But Prophet of Doom is really profit from doom. 

[New POD]

Ask MikeR for an oppinion on the Meriva. 

It won't be polite. 

[grogee]

Fair enough, but those part prices are what I looked up and the labour is £free because it's me. As for sale price, I'm only going on what I've seen similar cars going for on the Bay - which could be codswallop, I grant you. 

[Split_Pin]

Unfortunately these are worth very very little at the moment. From memory the 1.6 is a timing belt not a chain like the smaller engined, has that been done? If not it's worth even less so I'd forget about value.

Parts are peanuts as you say but can you be arsed with brake lines on a car like that? If so then go for it and replace the Espace if it's got electrical gremlins that cannot be solved.

 

[beko1987]

Check the strut tops on the shocks (if fronts). The tops fill with water and rust, I had to take the shocks off and to a garage for oxy and rattle gun action. 

Bar that their just a corsa/combo, looked after the ex's for the 4 years we had it. Things like abs rings and stuff, if its so far rusted on it'd probably be cheaper/easier to buy used hubs and fit etc. Their an ideal car for fixing on the cheap as there's tons of cheap parts! 

They are however utterly hateful to drive. No power, horrible seating position, awful a pillars, I hated the clutch etc... Obv ymmv etc! 

[New POD]

So £550 plus your time.  

As a business opportunity? No.  If you need a car, have the time and want to own one, then maybe. 

At £50 instead of £200 it would make more sense. 

[Jazoli]

Ebay sold petrol ones of the same year average around £420

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Cars-Motorcycles-Vehicles/9800/i.html?LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=15&_stpos=LA9 6DH&LH_Complete=1&_fosrp=1&Model%20Year=2007|2006&_dcat=9858&Fuel=Petrol&_nkw=meriva&_pppn=r1&scp=ce0

[grogee]

Furry muff. The runes of Autoshite seem to be telling me to look elsewhere. But I have to ask, as I don't already know... where does one go for MoT failures? I'm after a project that would need mechanical fettling to get through MoT. I can't do welding because I'm hopeless but I can do everything else just about. Do I just turn up at a scrapyard and ask what they've just had in?

[Agila]

5 minutes ago, grogee said:

Furry muff. The runes of Autoshite seem to be telling me to look elsewhere. But I have to ask, as I don't already know... where does one go for MoT failures? I'm after a project that would need mechanical fettling to get through MoT. I can't do welding because I'm hopeless but I can do everything else just about. Do I just turn up at a scrapyard and ask what they've just had in?

Type in mot failure in ebay, gumtree etc. Loads for sale. Or spares or repairs

 

Also a scrappers won't sell you one. That's how they make their money. They can afford to sit on the parts and have economies of scale.

[Cavboy80]

These Merivas are half decent cars, if it's a car needing work then £100 tops plus the cost of the parts. BUT i'd rather replace brake lines on this over chasing electrical gremlins on a Renault.

Try bidding the owner down, some people have a strange idea of value but if you can get it for less then it'll make sense

 

[Jazoli]

18 minutes ago, grogee said:

Furry muff. The runes of Autoshite seem to be telling me to look elsewhere. But I have to ask, as I don't already know... where does one go for MoT failures? I'm after a project that would need mechanical fettling to get through MoT. I can't do welding because I'm hopeless but I can do everything else just about. Do I just turn up at a scrapyard and ask what they've just had in?

Put up a wanted ad on FB, it works and you'll get the chance to buy direct, "Mot failures bought" or something like that, just be prepared for people to have unrealistic expectations of their failures value, there's very little money to be made in all honesty when you can buy a working mot'd car for £500 these days, plus there'll be not as many around as every car is still being given an automatic extension.

[grogee]

"Ask MikeR for an opinion on the Meriva. 

It won't be polite"

and

"These Merivas are half decent cars"

That's democracy, folks. As it goes I think I'd rather spend £200 on something I really do want as opposed to something that just popped up locally. Also, the Renault electrical gremlins are due to go to A Man That Knows More Than Me on Monday. Depending on what he says, the MumBus will either live (if he can fix it) or die (if he can't). Have to say, the Espace has been excellent for the 3-4 years we've had it. 100k+ miles, but Nissan diesel engine. So blimmin useful for taking stuff to the tip, picking up 2nd hand sofas, driving the offspring to Devon with their wheeled devices etc etc. I've had to do a few little jobs like clean the EGR and change thermostat housing but it's generally been pretty dependable.

It would be fuel-efficient too if the Mrs was able to turn the A/C off (she has it on 16 degrees, summer and winter).

[Cookiesouwest]

Get her a zafira if the renault dies

[omegod]

Fun Meriva fact, if you have a code for a power steering fault you can trundle along to a main dealer and have a brand new power steering motor and gubbins fitted for gratis 

[sierraman]

21 hours ago, grogee said:

I've been offered the chance to own Vauxhall's finest shitery: a 2006 Meriva 1.6. It's out of MoT and judging by the MoT history it needs brake pipes, shocks and ABS reluctor rings. All of these jobs *sound* quite simple and I've done them before on other cars. The parts are absolute peanuts in terms of cost, I think it helps that there is a glut of Vauxhall shite out there and parts suppliers have lots of volume. Eg front shocks for £20ea, rears £15ea.

The story is, I think, that the old fella has given up driving but hasn't got rid of the car because (I imagine) he was hoping he'd get better. Granddaughter has taken selling responsibilities. It hasn't had an MoT since it expired in Jan 2020.

The car is up for £200. Parts, at the outside, and including a good service are £350. Worst case I could sell for £1000, on a good day £1500, obviously with full MoT. In addition it's likely that the Mrs' Espace is about to expire due to unfathomable electrical faults and she will need alternative wheels, so may end up keeping it. 

If we sell that's a minimum of £550 profit (excluding all the running expenses like tax and MoT). Is this worth taking a punt on, or should I leave this for the earth to reclaim?

Sounds like a load of agg to me. Are you sure you want the purgatory of selling a sub £1500 car?

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Sounds like a load of agg to me. Are you sure you want the purgatory of selling a sub £1500 car?

No - that's why I either scrap them or take them down to the auctions. Too old and fecked about too many times with buyers to do otherwise (plus by the time we're finished with a car it is truly tat).

[Split_Pin]

14 hours ago, Cookiesouwest said:

Get her a zafira if the renault dies

Isn't @Lord Sterling thinking of moving his on?

[paulplom]

I sold @NorthernMonkey my mothers when she packed in for £250 iirc. Fully working and mot'd. That was a 1.6 'design' I think.

[sierraman]

Maybe get in touch with the local testing station, they’ll get loads of cars through for tests that fail uneconomically they could put you on to. That said factor in your time and effort I can think of easier ways of earning a few bob. You’ve also to deal with the ‘best price’ idiots as well plus all the losers wanting you to hold it until their giro clears. 

[Dan302]

On 6/11/2020 at 5:50 PM, omegod said:

Fun Meriva fact, if you have a code for a power steering fault you can trundle along to a main dealer and have a brand new power steering motor and gubbins fitted for gratis 

Only if it's less than 10 years old and under 100k miles, I tried to get my dad's done a year or two back. 

[beko1987]

11 hours ago, paulplom said:

I sold @NorthernMonkey my mothers when she packed in for £250 iirc. Fully working and mot'd. That was a 1.6 'design' I think.

I sold @tabact amys old one for £250. I don't think their worth any more than that, for but £250 their good value... 

[beko1987]

3 minutes ago, Dan302 said:

Only if it's less than 10 years old and under 100k miles, I tried to get my dad's done a year or two back. 

We paid a bloke in chinnor £350 to replace ours with a brand new one, said when he took it out it poured with water, was notchy as fuck at the end. Can't imagine its a particularly hateful job anyway, get it up nicely on stands and because its a bigger corsa c on a corsa c subframe there's lots of room. Eva was 8 months old at the time though and I'd not progressed to that level of spannering (for £350 is think twice now tbh...) 

[beko1987]

Talking of front subframe, rot was starting in ours too, when my mate used to do my tests he pointed it iut but said it was minor, and it wasn't picked up again in the next tests it had with other people when he moved away. Think tabact had it noticed though, can't fully remember now. 

I've got the cam locking tool for the 1.6 16v of you want it? No good to me anymore! Easy belt change though, plenty of room!