some mistake?? (car trade-in question)

Gary

Gary

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I've got an MG ZT-T 190
its 2004 with 40k miles on it and in pretty good condition

the insurance group is very high (because parts are apparently expensive - which they are not), so i cant really afford to get my missus insured on it. I could also do with getting something a little less thirsty (i get about 22 mpg)

So, i went to look a citroen c4 1.6 diesel today. 30k miles, and £8000

i asked how much mine was worth as a trade in and he came back with £4000!!!!!!!!!!!!

parkers guide says over £6k for trade in, another guide i've seen says £8k (a bit generous me thinks) and the cars generally sell for about £8k.

I've traded in cars before, and i know they offer you a low price, but do you guys think they made a mistake with this offer? even wewillbuyyourcar.co.uk offered me £5500

(note, this is not an opportunity to tell me what you think of MGs or Citroens, i just want to know if you think the price was a fair offer)
 
They probably don't want it and will offer you a stupidly low money offer just in case you accept. Sell it privately, you'll get more of its value.
 
badgerbaiter said:
I've got an MG ZT-T 190
its 2004 with 40k miles on it and in pretty good condition

the insurance group is very high (because parts are apparently expensive - which they are not), so i cant really afford to get my missus insured on it. I could also do with getting something a little less thirsty (i get about 22 mpg)

So, i went to look a citroen c4 1.6 diesel today. 30k miles, and £8000

i asked how much mine was worth as a trade in and he came back with £4000!!!!!!!!!!!!

parkers guide says over £6k for trade in, another guide i've seen says £8k (a bit generous me thinks) and the cars generally sell for about £8k.

I've traded in cars before, and i know they offer you a low price, but do you guys think they made a mistake with this offer? even wewillbuyyourcar.co.uk offered me £5500

(note, this is not an opportunity to tell me what you think of MGs or Citroens, i just want to know if you think the price was a fair offer)
Click to expand...

Sell the car privately and buy a Volvo 850 T5.

Get one for a grand and it'll pee all over an Mg ZT-T

Fuel consumption is a tad better than 22mpg, averaging 28.

Insurance prolly aint so dear either.

And you'll have 4 or 5 grand to spend on shiny new kit.
 
I think the time of year affects car prices too and most folk are looking for the smaller cars now, dealers probably find it hard to shift a big motor now and end up putting it in the auctions. I agree with the others and try and sell privately . Mind when you buy a motor from a dealer you lose about 1 or 2 grand when you drive it out of the yard.
 
what you've got to remember is the MG isnt an appealing buy for most people, it'd more than likely sit on his forecourt for a long time as a trade in, therefore hes not going to offer you much for it.

sell it privately and when you go to buy a car take a couple of grand in cash, usually helps haggle the price down!
 
As someone who spent 5 years in the motor trade it is a sad fact that these fine cars are seriously undervalued. Problem is they have a bad reputation in the trade, mostly fuelled by ignorance and rumour making them unloved second hand cars. Keep the car and spend the money you would have spent on the Citroen on fuel, it'll work out cheaper.

Unfortunately never never ever use a Parker's guide, they bare no resemblence to "trade prices" in either CAP or Glasses Guide and people in the trade only use these books as the are "gospel".

Personally I like em, my wife has a ZS 120 and yes it's been niggly and lost a fortune but it keeps going though we got some stupid PX values a while back hence we kept it.
 
i just looked it up on glass' guide:

Trade-in - excellent: £6,320.00
Trade-in - average: £5,660.00
Trade-in - below average: £4,981.00
Dealer Retail price £8,130.00
Private Sale price: £6,901.00

so, i'm thinking the guy either looked up the wrong car or was drunk or both.
wasnt as if it was a dodgy back street dealer either, it was a Peugeot main dealer.
 
I have one Sprint in Vermillion, one 1500HL in Brown (my avatar) a Focus and the wife has the ZS.
 
Sell it privatly, the dealers will not be your friend...but then they never are. They are interested only in cars they know that wont sit on the forecourt for too long...or they know they can sell on to the auction houses...as thats where alot of the trade in cars (over 3/4 years old) now go. High Spec/ Sport Models dont always appeal to the Joe Public driver.

On the other hand if you have any questions re your C4 there is a good Owners Club at www.c4owners.org which can help answer any pre purchase questions you might have. (Mods - Soz if I'm not allowed to link to other sites)

[Geek Mode]If its the 110 EGS C4 Diesel you looked at you can get over 75mpg out of them if driven carefully, and over 800miles on a full tank[/Geek Mode]

From another happy C4 driver :)

1230811258_6e8d8d73a2.jpg
 
thanks rich.. yours looks very similar to what i have in mind (i.e. the nice wheels, and not the horrible ones!)
so, you recommend the car?
we had a c5 and it was awful. but i like the look of the c4.
does it have decent punch on a motorway say accelerating from 70-80?
 
Mine is the 2.0 Petrol, although they do the VTS in 2.0 Diesel as well...differences between the two vary...basically Petrol is on the boil all the time and will wind round to shy of 9k before the dash starts flashing red. Diesel is more relaxed cruiser as you'd expect has the lower down grunt(Petrol has 5 speed/ Diesel has 6). Diesel VTS does'nt have some of the options that are avalible on the Petrol VTS. Spolier, interior options etc....

If you are looking, the VTS may not provide you any savings on what you currently have, Insurance/Tax on the Petrol is steeper than normal.

1.6 Diesel can be re-mapped to pretty good figures. Some of the guys on the above forum have had it done and have no problems. Spend a tenner joining up and you can save more on the remap. The guy who runs the forum has his high milage C4 mapped and is running a long term report. As my previous post some members have over 80mpg and in excess of 800 miles on a tank of diesel.

Depending on the age of the C4 you are looking at, the only thing I would ask the dealer to do is check its history as with all early releases there are a couple of recalls (nout serious).

I've had mine nearly three years and am chuffed as nuts with it. No problems normally associated with Citroen, and is a bit "different". The only "normal" car I've ever owned where people stop and talk about it.
 
yeah thats the main reason why i was thinking of a c4... its a bit different to everything else on the road.

i would have to be the diesel, though, as that the main reason i'm changing cars - i need to save on fuel costs.
no re-mapping for me. i used to work for Lotus and i know how much goes in to testing the engines and getting the right engine map.
 
I know with the remapping is one of those things you either take or leave...I'm in the same camp as you,. if they could have tweaked it to go reliably faster/fuel returns they would have.

I believe of the diesels the 110bhp EGS (flappy padle) box is the one to go for as this brings back the best returns. There is also a 1.696bhp (IIRC) Diesel as well...£35 tax and obviously less performance. Depends on what your needs are. The Diesels are also used by Peugeot, Volvo, Ford etc...

I dont want to go on the hard sell mission, but if you want to join the forum do so, its very friendly and not rigorusly moderated and everyone has a good laugh...bit like here really! :puke: (I've always wanted to use that smiley!)
 
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