worth the effort???

right i have a dilemma…

i have an 87 cabby, GTI, which i rescued from a cat D write off, only replaced bumper and boot lid and all okay.

since rescueing, i have MOT'd her and done over 6k in 5 months and loved every minute. i have put second hand avo coily's on, new top mounts, new wishbones and polybushed the front, fitted the VX 256mm brakes, new front and rear bumpers, grill, given her a machine polish and obviously a good service with leads plugs, fluids etc etc.

my next task is the roof. it needs a new headliner and outer skin, but i think i will be selling her soon because i'm doing too many long runs and the car is just too small to be practical for me. it looks like the roof will cost £200-£250 if i do it myself, and about £600 to get someone else to do it. i have had fun but money is tight and i have tried selling her as she is for £800 and didn't even get a bite.

the body is solid, and there are only 2 small pieces of rust anywhere, but the back end has been sprayed before the last accident and there is a slight missmatch of paint on the rear quarters.

if i was to do the roof, and get her sprayed will the fact that its a cat D really effect the value? i have photos of the damage to show it was nothing really but i know some people will just say no straight away.

obviously it would be a shame to break her into bits but i can't afford to loose that much money so would like some advise please…….

On an older car i wouldn't be so bothered by the cat-d if the car was mint - but I'd pay a cat-d price rather than minter money - I'd need to be getting a bargain….

Price is everything for your case I'd say - you won't get the money back that you spend on the car mate (for painting and new roof) - if you need to sell stick it on the bay with the accident damage pics - pics of the work etc and see how you get on

The only certainty in selling your cabby is that the demand will go up as the sun shines - maybe not the relative price you get for it, but you will have a better chance of selling….

sam hit the nail there really its a big put off becuase people who will buy will wont a car for sod all regardless it may of just been a fender bender

yeah i thought so  :cry:

i'm not doing this for the money, never have and never will! but a 10k pay cut and tripling annual mileage means i will probably just have to use her till the MOT runs out then break her. Its sad that cars are worth more in bits than as one but thats the world we live in i guess.

in the mean time i'll just make the most of her for a while     (and keep my eyes out for cheap solutions to the problems    

Out of interest how do you see if the car is CAT D ? i have never actually checked, just pressumed!

Its on the V5 isn't it?

HPI check? although i think this cost a couple quid to check