Can/should I hire out my Omega, or sell it?

[ringway]

Good idea. And I could also SORN the car.

Thanks.

Paul.

 

[jaymanek]

thing is if stored unused, in a couple of years the car will have deteriorated badly..

best to sell it on to someone who may get a few more years out of her.

 

[bpsorrel]

Or put it into storage and take it out for a run every couple of weeks...

 

[ringway]

Thanks Jay.

She's covered only 94,000 miles, full history and is in fab condition for an 99T reg.


Thinks....

 

[prprandall51]

After you have stored it for a couple of years, it will be both undrivable and unsellable. At that point it will flip from being a treasured friend to a burden that you cannot get rid of. I have two Land Rovers that are testament to this fact.
Best to remember the good times and let it go. If it was a Peugeot 205 GTi I would also quake at the prospect of seeing it next as it flies by at twice the speed limit with a bean-can exhaust and a 2 GigaWatt speaker system blaring, but an Omega estate could well end up being well looked after and treated as an old lady should in her dotage.
Leaving it to rot on the kerbside is a waste of a great car and your money.

 

[renault12ts]

And if you store it make sure you leave the windows slightly open...enough to air the car, not enough to allow the cat in.

 

[ringway]

thing is if stored unused, in a couple of years the car will have deteriorated badly..

best to sell it on to someone who may get a few more years out of her.

This thread came to mind today and an update is in order.


Jay was correct. I should have sold the car and let someone else enjoy it for a few more years.

Instead, I decided to keep it (it was months before I sorted out the crankshaft sensor problem - there are two types for the 99 T-Reg ).

The car had very little use and a whole host of problems occured.

Climate control blew hot one side, cold the other, if it decided to switch on at all.
Auto gearbox became even more erratic.
Alarm would sound at any given inappropriate moment.
Exhaust rotted away.
The car was in excellent condition, but due to innactivity started to corrode badly.
Michellin tyres that had covered only 4-5000 miles developed flat spots which were felt at motorway speeds.
Electric windows wouldn't always work properly.
Battery was dead (only replaced a year earlier).
Front suspension required work at £270.

The list goes on...

Come MOT time, I had a car that was worth £5-600 on ebay (worth more to me) that needed £400 to get it through the test, without fixing the items that didn't affect the MOT.

Factor in the £50 Mot fee and RFL of £230 I had to lay out £550 on a car that was worth £600 at most just to pass the test, and I would still need to fix all of the other problems.

I let the MOT garage have it for £150 (no Mot fee charged so theoretically £200).

So, in January 2012, the car ended up being stripped of the wheels, tyres, leather interior and some panels and then off the the crusher.

I paid £18,500 for the car in March 2000 and never thought it would come to that.

So, think carefully if you plan to hang on to an old car. Sometimes it's best to let it go.

 

[Mr B.]

sale it get rid think of the cash you can use for some else

 

[bpsorrel]

I did exactly that a few years ago with a Jag XJ6 Sovereign that I'd bought at 2 years old ('92 car bought in '94) during a phase of very high earnings and I guess it was a treat!

I loved the car and basically kept it for 8 years (4 or 5 years too long...) until it became worthless and seriously expensive to repair as it became a drive ornament, not being used more than a couple of times a year! Should've let it go years before for reasonable money. Lesson learnt - I never get attached to a car or keep them too long....

 

[Peter DLM]

Hiring out a 10 year old Vauxhall? Was this a wind up in 2009?

 

[MOR8A]

This thread came to mind today and an update is in order.


Jay was correct. I should have sold the car and let someone else enjoy it for a few more years.

Instead, I decided to keep it (it was months before I sorted out the crankshaft sensor problem - there are two types for the 99 T-Reg ).

The car had very little use and a whole host of problems occured.

Climate control blew hot one side, cold the other, if it decided to switch on at all.
Auto gearbox became even more erratic.
Alarm would sound at any given inappropriate moment.
Exhaust rotted away.
The car was in excellent condition, but due to innactivity started to corrode badly.
Michellin tyres that had covered only 4-5000 miles developed flat spots which were felt at motorway speeds.
Electric windows wouldn't always work properly.
Battery was dead (only replaced a year earlier).
Front suspension required work at £270.

The list goes on...

Come MOT time, I had a car that was worth £5-600 on ebay (worth more to me) that needed £400 to get it through the test, without fixing the items that didn't affect the MOT.

Factor in the £50 Mot fee and RFL of £230 I had to lay out £550 on a car that was worth £600 at most just to pass the test, and I would still need to fix all of the other problems.

I let the MOT garage have it for £150 (no Mot fee charged so theoretically £200).

So, in January 2012, the car ended up being stripped of the wheels, tyres, leather interior and some panels and then off the the crusher.

I paid £18,500 for the car in March 2000 and never thought it would come to that.

So, think carefully if you plan to hang on to an old car. Sometimes it's best to let it go.

A sad story....I really like Omega's (need to be V6's though) the car you had sounded fantastic. I worked for Vauxhall and drove many many Omega's of all engine/gearbox and spec levels. I really loved them...they felt ''really quality'' by comparison to the rest of the models. Very comfortable, nice specs available etc etc. I do believe that a certain Mr Clarkson said something along the lines of.... there is no better car to travel in the back of! It is true though that if you dont use ''machines'' that they turn fairly quickly from something desirable to something of a big pile of trouble. I had that very experience myself with a Kawasaki ZXR750 L2 I kept it for years because I loved it but because I had another bike (Suzuki TL1000RW) and multiple cars the poor old ZXR just sat in the garage being cleaned and that was it. It got to the stage where I just had to sell it and it had all sorts wrong with it just because it had not be used! It was sad and a big nightmare too.

 

[ringway]

The problems for the Omega started when I got my 320CDI. The Vauxhall was always second choice. As with all my cars the Omega was cleaned regularly and very well maintained, but became my 3rd choice and through lack of time was then neglected.

It was a good car (at £32k new in 1999 it should have been) and I recall reading the What Car? Magazine report stating that if it had a BMW badge on the bonnet, everyone would want one. It was a comfortable car that was reasonably quick for its weigh and size and had super equipment to boot. It wasn't a Mercedes-Benz, though.

 

[ringway]

Hiring out a 10 year old Vauxhall? Was this a wind up in 2009?

It was a good car. Big load space, comfortable, quick and the equipment level puts some of todays models to shame.

My idea was to find someone I knew or a friend of a friend who I could trust not to abuse it. That way the car would probably survived a few years longer than it did.


It's clear the idea doesn't appeal to you, but I'm sure if I'd have tried to find someone who could have made use of the Omega it would have worked well for both parties.

 

[developer]

Hiring out a 10 year old Vauxhall? Was this a wind up in 2009?

At least it about a car - I thought he wanted to hire out his watch - I wondered if I was missing something about watches .

 

[wemorgan]

Paul, I suffer from the opposite problem to you. I sell cars too early, before I've had any real useful life from there. I'm sure there's a happy middle ground to be had. I wonder what the average time a forum member keeps their car for - off to start a poll! (http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/mbclub-polls/133437-average-how-long-do-you-keep-your-car.html)

 

[markjay]

As for selling...

Sadly Omega V6s no longer have any real selling value these days... not even the more-sought-after Estate, not any more. The Omega was always very cheap due to massive depreciation when new, and the V6 engine is an absolute killer in terms of selling the car. Not to mention the VED on post 03/2001 V6 cars. A late (post-2000) 4-cyl Diesel estate might have some value, but I think that's about it.


As for renting...

It is very nice to drive (and I ran a couple of the V6 Omegas for a total of 10 years prior to the Merc, as ringway knows...), but they were never very frugal at the time, and will definitely not be considered anything like sensible motoring these days.

In addition, in the unlikely event that the rental business with turn a profit, it will be taxable... not sure the whole affair is worth it.


I have a feeling that ringway is looking for a reason to not scrap the car... if so then I fully sympathise. I gave mine away for a mere £1000 in trade-in and it was a very fine low-mileage car. It just feels wrong.