Yes it appears that it is my car that's being discussed.
I guess in the interests of impartiality I shouldn't really enter the debate on valuation. Ultimately a car is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, as long as that price matches what the owner is willing to sell at. I have had interest from a few people, of course interest doesn't imply a sale... it's only been advertised on here and Pistonheads, so I've not really made any effort to sell yet (will be going in Auto Trader soon). However I'll give my reasons on why I have priced it where it is. I should add that I asked for a valuation on here previously, and I got very little response... interesting how things change when a newbie asks
As much as some of you guys really don't like LPG systems (aka "fart gas" as it is affectionately known on here) I know through personal experience that it significantly increases the value of an old, big-engined car like the Omega. When I was looking around I could have bought several similar MV6s to this for far less, but that would have been a false economy as this car has saved me over £2000 in fuel costs during my ownership compared to a petrol model. So I was more than happy to pay "over the odds" as some may believe, as the car has near enough paid for itself.
Yes, there are cheaper models out there, but comparing like for like I don't think you'll find much. There are very few dual-fuel manual Mv6s (or 3.0 manual Elites), and among those how many have been properly maintained? There are a
lot of sheds in the Omega marketplace. The way I see it, you can either buy a cheap car and spend a lot of money getting it up to standard, or buy a good one in the first place that someone else has spent the money on. A car is only as good as its last owner
. As a good example I know someone who bought an LPG'd 1997 Elite about a year ago, bartered the price down to £1300. Within a few months of ownership he'd spent over £500 replacing suspension components, brake discs etc. That was parts costs only -- he's a mechanic so done all the work himself, otherwise labour costs would have increased the cost even more. He knew about those issues before buying, and used them to barter the price down.
In summary, show me an advert for a similarly specced Omega going for ~£1k that has been properly maintained (mine has had recent wisbones, subframe bushes, cam cover gaskets, coolant change, plugs & leads, heater bypass valve, full cat-back exhaust, etc etc). One that's just passed an MOT with no advisories, and has plenty of life left in all the consumables like brake discs/pads, tyres, etc. Also one where absolutely everything works on it, because anything that has broken has been fixed or replaced -- every bulb in the interior works, every pixel on the MID, climate control works 100% etc. Find one where the interior is immaculate and looks like it could have come from a 60,000 mile car, etc. One that has a properly installed multi-point LPG system with certificate, not one of those crappy single point systems that seem to be bodged onto all the cheap LPG Omegas on the market. Oh and most importantly find one that isn't crawling with rust, the photos of mine speak for themselves
.
Basically it comes down to: Yes my car may be listed a little more expensive than some others, but which is going to be more expensive in the long run? Purchase price isn't everything
I'm in no desperation to sell, ideally I'd like to go back to having only one car for road tax and insurance reasons (I don't do the mileage any more to justify it), but if it doesn't go I'll probably use it for a Europe tour this summer -- at a fuel saving of 20p/mile compared to using my BMW it could quite easily save me a good £4-500 on that trip alone. Hence why I'm in no hurry to let it go for peanuts, although I am open to reasonable offers
Thoughts? Am I opening a can of worms here?
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Topic: Looking at an LPG MV6, what's a fair price? (Read 2093 times)