What's with the rip-off pricing?

[Gurpreet]

Brought a Micra just after the new registrations were out and there was a little price crash...

1.3 it was with 13k on the clock... good condition... 2001 (51) plate for £2,800. 'S' trim so no fog lights or central locking etc.

Looking on auto-trader... same or similar models with 28-54k Miles are selling for £3,400+ EDITED

Its cheaper to buy an accident damaged 1.3 for under £1000 and spend £800 to bring it up to scratch.

Am I missing something?

 

[Arnold]

That seems like a very good price for a car with 13K on the clock, regardless of what accessories the car has.

A car thats been in a crash will not longer be HPI (is that right?) Clear, so regardless of repairs, that will probably reduce its value for the rest of its life.

 

[R05_Micra]

ive wanted to buy a damaged car and fix it, but as arnold says, it wouldnt be HPl clear, but you would save a few hundred quid....

 

[Gurpreet]

Cheers guys... I didn't know that but it'd probably get passed around the family anyway... like all my other cars... to my sisters, mates, work colleagues... who arent really fussed as they know it would have been well looked after... so it shouldnt be a problem.

Sometimes I feel these HPI checks are near useless... when my passenger side was hit.. while we were taking out the dent we found a lot of filler and primer... and signs of previous damage which was undeclared obviously so it had a bit of a history... and it worries me what other history it might have... then I started finding that things were missing like the odd bolt... which is why I know that if I make my own one I can check it over with a tooth comb.

Got hold of a 1.4 engine... but then I thought.. might as well start from scratch so I have the shell as well... I don't understand this pricing though... you could pick up an 'R' reg... BMW 3.18i with 40-80k for under £4,000 but anyway... glad I made the trip to the breakers..

 

[Swiper]

you should've bought this one!