What to fix before I flog?

And I think it probably goes without saying that anything I fix ought to pay for itself. I'm not going to mint it up at a cost of £300 to sell it for £200 more...

I'm not sure I'd bother with any of the bodywork, except for the cracked paint on the bonnet. Perhaps have a go at tapping out the new dint on the bonnet and the two tiny ones on the tailgate, if you can get to the underside, but none of those shown would significantly put me off the car. As you say, the warning light and the somewhat poor economy are what would worry me as a buyer, so I'd spend the cash on that, or at least spend a good chunk of time figuring out what the problem is. *I* wouldn't take a 2k punt on a car with 'something wrong with the engine', even though I'd probably be able to fix it with a bit of work - Joe Public will be even less disinclined, I would imagine.

"Doki" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Even if it means it sells to the first person who sees it, rather than lingering and pissing you off for a month or two?

Definitely get the fault codes read and investigated because that's likely to put off most buyers.

The cracked paint on the bonnet is definately the biggest job on the car. I would expect to be paying for the full bonnet to be resprayed because there's little chance of blending that. The best course of action may be to get a quote for the bonnet being repaired so that a buyer can see it's not a major issue.

Aye. I've no idea how you go about getting the fault codes read on these. Do most garages have a universal reader now?

messagenews:h7lkvh$cpg$ snipped-for-privacy@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...

Whereabouts you live? I have a mate in St Albans who sells and fits diesel tuning boxes at his workshop and he has a reader.

"Dr Zoidberg" wrote in message news:h7m9cp$kk9$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org...

I know. But I know they'll read them within about half an hour, and if the car's computers throw a fit, I can blame them ;).

Ebay is a better indicator of what stuff is actually fetching at the moment... and I suspect you won't like what you see if you check out recently completed auctions for these.

I take it the 'fault code warning light' is the engine management light coming on?

How often does it come on?

Oh, and incidentally... is it a 90 or 110bhp?

-- JackH

snipped-for-privacy@heffalump.dur.ac.uk...

Forget the dents - they're par for the course on something that age / mileage, really... well bar the pinch on the nearside of the bonnet, anyway.

Just make sure you clearly point them out to any prospective buyer before they travel to look at it.

The scratches? They don't look that bad overall - a combo of t-cut and touch up brush will have it looking much more presentable at little cost other than elbow grease.

Going back to the bonnet, just touch in the crack of the paint and leave it at that - anyone expecting a minter for the sort of money they go for now looking at eBay, is having a giraffe.

-- JackH

I already have, and I don't. Even webuyanycar is offering more cash than they're making on Ebay at the moment. I suspect / hope there is a fair sized contingent of non-ebaying types who would be keen to buy one that's in the Autotrader a fair whack cheaper than the rest.

Probably once a week. The message on the screen "Anti pollution system defective", which is apparently a catch all error for more or less any sensor flaking out.

Hmmm... I've not looked at that site at all - what's their policy on things like dents etc, when they're giving a valuation?

What's the bottom line on it, then?

Just out of interest... like.

Hmmm.

Assuming it's the same as the 307 HDI 110, it's almost certainly the DPF having problems regenerating etc.

Sortable, but a PITA... and an expensive one unless you're happy wielding a grinder / welder etc. ;-)

Good stuff - much nicer to drive than the 90bhp.

-- JackH

They're Carcraft. They'll lure you in with a good price, and then attempt to bum f*ck you when you get there.

You can enter them in through a slightly flakey web interface, and they knock off what they think. I would guess it'd be around £40 per panel.

Least I'd take? I'm not sure, probably around £1900 for the time being, but that really does depend on what interest is like when I get it advertised.

Fortunately, only the 2.1 engines fitted to the 406 came with a DPF. I've had the codes read, and it looks very much like a sticky EGR valve.

I can't imagine what the 90 brake car would be like to drive. Horrible, I'd imagine. It was just about OK when it was chipped to 135 brake...

Anyone actually used them? I wonder if the ads are true...

I suspect they're very much like the "We'll buy your house - NOW!" type people, and offer a good chunk less than market value.

Yes - the ads seem to cover themselves by saying 'up to'.

From what I've heard (and all the disclaimers that implies) they offer a decent price, then when their +ACI-rep+ACI- arrives, he tries to knock the price down +ACI-a lot+ACI- for every imperfection he can find. If it is Carcraft then that sounds eminently believable to me :)

Could you translate the +AC1- please? ;-)