Sales advice needed please!

[mikelondon]

Thought this was better here as it's not strictly a classified ad!
I have a lovely 96P 1.8F (well my wife does) and she wants to sell it on the basis we have too many cars and something has to go!
We are only the second owner and it has 14k miles on it! yes only 14k...no typo or zeros missing.
Has a black hard top and also a personalised MGF plate - question was do you think we will get more splitting the car, plate and hardtop rather than selling it as a package? didnt know where else to ask - the MGF forum seemed like the best place!
Also any guidelines price wise would be ideal - sorry for asking what I'm sure are blatantly easy to answer questions for those in the know!

Many thanks

[colintf]

Hi and welcome.

I would try selling as a package.

Pricewise its hard to say, guess it depends upon how fast you want to sell.

Any pics or further details?

[Green Squirrel]

I looked recently and the going rate for early *F*s seemed to be around the thousand pound mark for a good example and half that for a rough one - BTW only having 14K on the clock will do nothing to aid the sale as people will think:-

1/- It has been clocked

2/- It has stood around decaying internally rather than being used.

Probably get more by selling the hardtop on its own and the Reg Plate if it is good.

Either way good luck - we decided as we have had our car (The Green Squirrel) since new in February 1996 that we will keep it - who know one day it might appreciate in value!

[Mykel]

I bought a W reg MY2000 with 33k miles on it and - although in stunning condition rustwise - the previous (single) owner stuck to keeping the car quite original ... including water pump, cambelts and tensioner ... after almost 11 years!

So if the service history on your wife's MGF is properly kept (changing bits and pieces according to age, not mileage) I do not see any problems with this.

I'd suggest someone from your area could come along and have a good look at her (the car, not the wife).

[ElectroSoldier]

I would have the agree on the millage front.
14k wouldnt be an attraction, it only means it needs a service history based on time as opposed to miles.

The hard roof and the plate will get you the best part of 800 to 1000 if your lucky, hardroof 250-450 depending on how well it looks. plate, who knows!

Its rather sad isnt it?
I can feel the disbelief already, but its true, an old MGF isnt worth a whole hell of a lot.
I wish I had known the real state of the market before I paid over the odds for mine 9 months ago ((((

And yet people see a nice looking MGF and think "huh, hes got money" LOL!

[mikelondon]

Nice one fellas, thanks for the responses.
That's kind of what I was thinking - I need to replace the lining on the hardtop as it's gone a bit baggy but it's in fantastic external condition, no scratches or marks at all. The plate...just can't tell..have a quote of £500 from one of the reg transfer websites but I do think its a nice plate - P444 MGF.
Car wise..external good condition, few marks, nothing that wont t cut out, has the full service record although not all dealer based, but have the complete record nontheless.
Only real issue I can see is it hasn't had the head gasket done - no idea how much that will affect the cost. Looks like I'm looking around £800 - £1k for the car? Will get some pictures up.
I wouldnt be selling it but we just dont get a chance to drive it and its such a waste just sitting there - we have a ZS as well which is the wifes main car and is more practical with the kids etc.

[brgmg]

Hi, if you were local I would be interested in the car. I'm in Surrey. It won't sell to anyone Chinese as 4 is a very unlucky number to them. In fact triple 4 means "sure to die"... Anyway, if you PM me I will give you my email address and maybe you could send me some photos.

[Mykel]

If she has been driven properly, warmed up before revving up and so on, the original head gasket actually needn't be too much of a problem. As long as all the other bits and pieces are well serviced, no signs of leaks and oil/water clean and free of mayo ... no problem at all.

What colour is she, which trim, and are any mods done (like de-cat) that prevents her to be exported? As it is a P reg, she will be liable for import to Canada this year, or we could get her over to the Continent for some crazy nut like me wanting a RHD original.

In any of these cases, you could sell the private plates as they would be useless anyway.

[mikelondon]

She has been very lightly driven to be honest, my wife is no girl racer! No leaks or any kind.
She is "proper" red - not sure what the official colour is but it's the lovely pillar box/fire engine red - not the iffy orangey or marooney one. Black trim, all original including the radio. Only thing been replaced/modded is the aerial! There are a few marks/scuffs on the alloys but nothing I wouldnt expect for a car that age (and they were there when we got her!).
Sorry I dont want this turning into a sales thread!!
I think I'll split it into three unless I get a stonking offer for her as is. Cheers for the help.

[GazMG]

That style of plate is around the £250 mark as a selling price as I've been looking at getting one - I'm not sure it's worth as much as what you might have envisaged.

[adrianclifford]

Mike, if the car registration site will give you £500 for the plate take it, it's worth half that to be honest. If that's what they think they can sell it for then I'll be surprised but on the whole keep it and sell it seperately I would think. Offer the hardtop seperately I would say, if it's in good condition you may get up to £500, maybe a little more if you're lucky but now's a good time to sell with summer coming along soon. Make it and the number plate an option on the car if you decide to advertise it.

A very low mileage '96 F is still a '96 F, you have to ask yourself, who wants one so old ?, try a private sale, you can use the classifieds on here for free as you know, try MG Enthusiast magazine and if you're a member of the MGCC Safety Fast too. If you put it on Auto Trader or Exchange & Mart you might be lucky but the value will not reflect the car's condition I'm afraid. If I were buying I would be budgeting £600-£700 for a new gasket, water pump, cam-belt and tensioner without anyting MoT or service related and, as has been correctly said, a '96 F is only likely to get £1000 and that's top in my opinion ,so I wouldn't offer anywhere near that.

It's a shame, you look after your car for years, give it the best treatment and when time comes to say goodbye, for whatever reason, the return value makes you wonder if it's worth it. Cost up the tax, insurance etc and divide that by the mileage covered over the years and you wonder why you didn't use the car more ..

By the way, it will be Flame Red.

[Rob Bell]

Definitely split - hard top and the registration plate will not add significantly to the sale price of the MG, but sold separately should net around 1k.

The car itself? Low mileage will still sell, although for all the reasons mentioned above, people should really look to buy on condition rather than strictly the recorded mileage. But you won't have problems on either score.

We're entering the spring season now, and soft top prices are on the up. If you look at on-line price guides, early MGFs are now valued at around £1500 - so I would float it at around this level and see whether you get any bites. A well presented flame-red car on a nice day - I think it could be difficult for someone to resist

Good luck - and if you want to use the classified section here, please do! It is free!

[dmlt]

probably the saddest threads I have read, I bought my 2001 MGF a couple of months ago for £1,500. I have spent just under £1,000 trying to get it "good". I wish I had done more research and bought a much loved car from someone like you. Good luck in you sale. Also Mike, if you still have/want to sell the hard top please PM me with a price. Im sure I could give it a safe home.

dave

[Charless]

I would find it hard to resist even now, in spite of having rather a lot of Fs already! However I could resist a hard top (- what on earth is the point of that?) and a fancy plate (ditto).

[mikelondon]

For those who may be interested I sold the car via ebay in the end (dirty word I know) but it has gone to someone who i know will look after it properly. Sold eventually as a package for £1400 - probably a fair price, could have maybe squeezed another couple of hundred by splitting but at the end of the day I needed the money for a deposit on another car - also pxd my ZS - so currently MG-Less!!!!

[Charless]

Mike, looking at the classifieds, that probably guarantees it a long, distinctve and cossetted life; much more appreciated than if left in this country! It is very sad how little these sturdy, reliable and FUN cars go for over here now. Lucky Canada!