Price check - advice please

[Jimbo]

Whilst the ad's not even been up a couple of weeks, I want to check that I'm in the right ballpark before spreading it to a wider audience. Obviously I'd prefer the car to go to someone on the forum who will use and enjoy it rather than parting it but it can't just sit in the garage gathering dust forever (well I guess it could...)

Here's the ad: https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=74939.0 - I went to town with pictures! Obviously I could attempt to sell elsewhere and play up the strong points and ignore the others (buyers beware) but that not really who I am. Alternatively I could sell the hardtop separately and sell the car a lot cheaper.

So, £1700 - too high, too low, too impatient or too honest 

[Carolyn]

With hardtop - a bit low, I would say.  Having said that - the club is not where you'll get the best price.

[MrChris]

As @Carolyn said, you'd definitely get a better price outside of the club. I'd say it's a good price given it has the hard top (you could sell that for £1000 on its own, then the car is a mega-bargain in my opinion).

I think the thing that might be putting people off is the mention of rust, oil leak and suspension corrosion, plus the need for new tyres.

If you're advertising it elsewhere, let people do their own research with regard to the MOT advisories, maybe don't show the pictures underneath (I actually think it looks alright underneath) and just show the car in its best light. The price reflects the work needing doing.

If it's not too much trouble, get the oil leak sorted.

I think I'd be tempted to sell hard top separately, then advertise the car for £1000 or so and it'll probably go in no time. I think you could get more.

[Jimbo]

Cheers for the pointers both, yeah it's certainly not completely rotten yet! Will ponder separating and get something listed outside the club at the weekend.

[Joesson]

@Jimbo

I checked the "value" of my 2002 PFL earlier  this year with We Buy Any Car. com and they offered £1720 / 1750.
So your asking price for a FL with hard top is, I suggest, too low.

[Bossworld]

I'm struggling to get anywhere, I put part of it down to my location (pretty far north) and the other half down to mileage. Lots of watchers on eBay, quite a few views on AutoTrader but no bites. The irritating thing is that there are plenty of MR2s on for far more than either of us are asking, on AutoTrader and eBay, so can't really go any lower pricing wise. Not least because a conservative parting out estimate is easily £3k, and I'd imagine you'd clear £2k (I'm only claiming more as I've got TTE bits + a better hood/recent subframe, tyres and front headlights).

If you've got the time, it'd be worth trying to treat some of the rust on yours.

Your alternative (which I've also weighed up) is to offload the car while it's warm outside as a summer runabout, and store the hardtop until the autumn/winter where you should get a good £900+ for it separately.

I'm banned from the Facebook group for blocking an administrator years ago so I don't know if they sell any quicker on there, but on 'public' Facebook, again I've had very little interest.

The other consideration is whether we're both being too verbose in the adverts. I've picked up an Arbath 500 earlier this month and to say the seller has exaggerated the good bits and kept the bad bits quiet, is an understatement. Yet I bought it regardless.

[Ardent]

For what it's worth.
You may have nailed it. Too cheap. Everyone thinks problem. I know I have under priced stuff, just for a quick sale and not being greedy. Nothing, not a sniff.

There is a car with a dealer I'm interested in. Last time I looked they had upped by £300 as not sold.

Just a thought.

[Jimbo]

Some more sage advice, thanks all. Yeah I've certainly bought cars that were talked up to gloss over the rough areas.

I imagine like a lot of people running a fun second car is becoming a less affordable luxury. Even before this the basic running costs of having two cars just didn't make sense (let alone the £1000s spent above tax, MOT and servicing) and I was hoping to consolidate down to one at some point. I'm also fairly time poor at the moment, I'd love to set aside a few weekends to myself and get stuck in but I know that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Maybe the to get the hard top off either way, it's not going to get any more rusty out in the sunshine and a nice coating of mud could hide the worst of it