A 240 dilemma: time to do some sums

[Wagon Sailor]

The car is a 3-owner 1991 240GL Estate. The body is generally tidy although the tailgate, though good, is the wrong colour. It's a few weeks overdue for its MoT and I've collected parts to get it back on the road, including an exhaust section and the rear suspension.

On further examination, there is rot on the front o/s inner sill and a bit of the floor plan. The front o/s chassis leg is also rusted near the cross member.

So here's the thing: I think the car may be worth as much a £2000 with a year's ticket but probably no more. I estimate the necessary work to cost anywhere between £700 and £1500.

On the one hand, I don't want to see another otherwise good car go to the garage in the sky, and on the other, I'm at a stage in my life when I'm trying to jettison complication.


Ho hum.

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Wagon Sailor

The car is a 3-owner 1991 240GL Estate. The body is generally tidy although the tailgate, though good, is the wrong colour. It's a few weeks overdue for its MoT and I've collected parts to get it back on the road, including an exhaust section and the rear suspension.

On further examination, there is rot on the front o/s inner sill and a bit of the floor plan. The front o/s chassis leg is also rusted near the cross member.

So here's the thing: I think the car may be worth as much a £2000 with a year's ticket but probably no more. I estimate the necessary work to cost anywhere between £700 and £1500.

On the one hand, I don't want to see another otherwise good car go to the garage in the sky, and on the other, I'm at a stage in my life when I'm trying to jettison complication.


Ho hum.

Two nasty prongs !☹️🤔

[CosmicBike]

I guess it depends on what you value it at. My 240 is a daily driver (well, halfway as it gets shared with the V70), I'm currently rebuilding the rear suspension and driveshaft, so far the bill is around £400. I can't have a car on PCP for that, so money well spent.
You can buy a MIG welder and the parts for much less, and DIY?

[Lancee]

Originally Posted by Wagon Sailor

The car is a 3-owner 1991 240GL Estate. The body is generally tidy although the tailgate, though good, is the wrong colour. It's a few weeks overdue for its MoT and I've collected parts to get it back on the road, including an exhaust section and the rear suspension.

On further examination, there is rot on the front o/s inner sill and a bit of the floor plan. The front o/s chassis leg is also rusted near the cross member.

So here's the thing: I think the car may be worth as much a £2000 with a year's ticket but probably no more. I estimate the necessary work to cost anywhere between £700 and £1500.

On the one hand, I don't want to see another otherwise good car go to the garage in the sky, and on the other, I'm at a stage in my life when I'm trying to jettison complication.


Ho hum.

I guess you are fishing the forum for a reliable indication of the cars final worth ? You may need to add some more information and pictures for this ?

What's it worth as scrap ?

As a worst case scenario factor this figure with the cost of the MOT work and sell it for the total with a clear conscience that you have saved it for another year, or more ?

How much of a conscientious gambler might you need to be ?

[Bob 1967]

Check to see how bad the rust is first.
You might get away with a wire wheel on a drill and some underbody stone chip.
The welding ,where needed could be a diy job.
Once you get the equipment,( I have seen stick welders used(3mm rods) as well as mig)
there are plenty here that can give tips to help you along.

[Wagon Sailor]

CosmicBike: You can buy a MIG welder and the parts for much less, and DIY?
Good thinking. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to work on cars in the way I used to.

Lancee: I guess you are fishing the forum ...
Not at all. 240 values are all over the place, as other threads show. Despite that, I'm fairly convinced that the car would not get back what I'll need to invest in it.

Bob 1967: Check to see how bad the rust is first.
It's become structurally weak.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Wagon Sailor

The car is a 3-owner 1991 240GL Estate. The body is generally tidy although the tailgate, though good, is the wrong colour. It's a few weeks overdue for its MoT and I've collected parts to get it back on the road, including an exhaust section and the rear suspension.

On further examination, there is rot on the front o/s inner sill and a bit of the floor plan. The front o/s chassis leg is also rusted near the cross member.

So here's the thing: I think the car may be worth as much a £2000 with a year's ticket but probably no more. I estimate the necessary work to cost anywhere between £700 and £1500.

On the one hand, I don't want to see another otherwise good car go to the garage in the sky, and on the other, I'm at a stage in my life when I'm trying to jettison complication.


Ho hum.

Originally Posted by Wagon Sailor

CosmicBike: You can buy a MIG welder and the parts for much less, and DIY?
Good thinking. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to work on cars in the way I used to.

Lancee: I guess you are fishing the forum ...
Not at all. 240 values are all over the place, as other threads show. Despite that, I'm fairly convinced that the car would not get back what I'll need to invest in it.

Bob 1967: Check to see how bad the rust is first.
It's become structurally weak.

Good morn Wagon Sailor,

Thank you for sharing that with us. I think you already know the answer: unless you have an emotional attachment to the motor car such that you don't mind it becoming a money pit, it is time to move on.

Your 240 is a 1991 model and so a long way from the historic car premium. If the rust is bad enough to cause structural weakening then it will need new panels welding in and redecorating. If fixing it yourself isn't an option then paying someone else to do it will be expensive, and at the end of it you may well have similar issues next year, once old cars start rusting it is rarely localised. I'm not seeing the values of large, thirsty 30 year old motor cars increasing.

If you have to weigh it in for scrap then it is worth £250. It is a pity the previous MoT has run out as that means another owner would have to trailer it away adding perhaps £300 to his/her costs. It might still be worth advertising as a 'spares or repair' project; if it had even a short MoT that might make £800-£900, but as a non driver I suppose £500 might be nearer the mark.

So that is the sensible thing to do. We (in the 200 series corner) often allow our emotions to rule and spend irrational amounts of money on projects that make no sense though; if you decide to spend the £1,500, fix the 240 and keep it you won't be any different to many of the rest of us.

Alan

[Wagon Sailor]

Thanks, Alan. You're right of course.

When the roads marked 'Head', 'Heart', 'Wallet' and 'Botheration' all meet at the same crossroads, decisions become easy. The old-car-conundrum happens when one of them is missing.

My next move should be to test the accuracy of my vague estimate of repair costs. In the meantime, the 240 has to sit on grass until the New Year ...

[john.wigley]

It is not only in the 240 corner that one may encounter the dilemma now faced by 'W.S.', Alan.

I make a point of putting my cars in for their MOT well before the due date so that I can see what work may be required to secure a 'pass' and allow time to carry it out (if necessary).

In 2016, my 1987 745, which I had owned for 18 years, failed on advanced underside corrosion. If interested, this can be viewed on the .gov MOT website (D768LCE). I was told by a garage that I trust implicitly that the necessary repairs would cost in the order of £500, with the prospect of more being required in succeeding years. I reluctantly decided that this marked the end of the road for the car as far as I was concerned and sold it to a member of this forum for spares / repair. Thus I have the small satisfaction of knowing that I may have helped to prolong the lives of other members' cars.

I was recovering from a heart attack at the time and, later in the year, replaced it with the V70 that you saw at Calvert on recently.

Occasionally, it is necessary to allow the head to trump one's heart in these matters!

With best wishes to 'W.S.' whatever path he may choose.

Regards, John.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

It is not only in the 240 corner that one may encounter the dilemma now faced by 'W.S.', Alan.

I make a point of putting my cars in for their MOT well before the due date so that I can see what work may be required to secure a 'pass' and allow time to carry it out (if necessary).

In 2016, my 1987 745, which I had owned for 18 years, failed on advanced underside corrosion. If interested, this can be viewed on the .gov MOT website (D768LCE). I was told by a garage that I trust implicitly that the necessary repairs would cost in the order of £500, with the prospect of more being required in succeeding years. I reluctantly decided that this marked the end of the road for the car as far as I was concerned and sold it to a member of this forum for spares / repair. Thus I have the small satisfaction of knowing that I may have helped to prolong the lives of other members' cars.

I was recovering from a heart attack at the time and, later in the year, replaced it with the V70 that you saw at Calvert on recently.

Occasionally, it is necessary to allow the head to trump one's heart in these matters!

With best wishes to 'W.S.' whatever path he may choose.

Regards, John.

You are absolutely right of course John, the same situation applies to all oldish motor cars, motorcycles and other machines. For cars between about 15 and 35 years old it is a particular problem as they aren’t quite old enough to start rising in value with the historic vehicle premium, but too old to be worth spending more than top drawer change on. Perhaps WS’s 240 has done quite well to achieve 30 years.

I never saw your 745, but I suspect you made the right decision. When cars start rusting they only get worse; your V70 I saw at Calverton has turned out to be a good motor that will have cost a lot less to run than persisting with the 740.

I agree about submitting vehicles for the MoT test early. I have registered all my cars and motorcycles with the DVLA reminder scheme and get them tested as soon as the email arrives the month prior.

I don’t know WS’s 240 estate, but in this case I can’t see it will be worth investing more in. Perhaps he should look around for a nice 15 year old V70 estate for about £1,500 that will last him another decade?

Alan