Keep, or sell? What's it worth? Your opinion please.

[RM]

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling the pain of lockdown and the impact it's having on our life and finances. I hope everyone is keeping well?

I have a tough decision to make - I'm fortune enough to not be losing my job (for now at least) but I am taking a 20% pay cut for the foreseeable future. I am very lucky to be able to just above cover that one way or another, but I wonder if selling the Golf for something cheaper is wise, so the money can be used elsewhere?

Am I being unrealistic in thinking a 2017 MK7.5 GTi (non-PP) would fetch £16k+ on the used market?

If so, I could put £10k of that towards something not dull but not expensive to run (R56 Mini Cooper S I think) and find a better use for the balance.

Is it worth it though? Is the long-term value of the Golf and it's overall flexibility better to hold on to? I don't like head vs heart decisions (heart often wins).

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated.

[Watts]

I would hold on to it for now. Lockdown rules don't allow for viewing cars for sale, dealer forecourts are closed. You'll be limiting potential buyers and I'd suspect just end up with rude offers from chancers.

[fredgroves]

I'm not sure that buying a R56 Cooper S will be cheaper to run.

Cheaper to buy maybe, but its an older car, with all the usual older car problems.

As has been said too, there probably is no way execute the sell or the buy at the moment either.

[RM]

Thanks, I appreciate this isn't an instant thing either way, but it's useful to get opinions ahead of any ability to do something about it!

The R56 Mini idea isn't perfect, but it's quite depressing when you start looking at what's available at that sort of price range. The choice isn't great if you want any sort of driving entertainment, without risky reliability and high service costs.

[kmpowell]

Having owned 2x R56 minis in the past (a Factory JCW, and a JCW Cooper S), they are great but age has now caught up with them and they do really need to be bought with a good warranty, and you will be compromising massively on space (they are tiny!). A fJCW really is the pic of the bunch if you can find a good one, but I'm not sure I could recommend one over a Golf if you already have one.

Getting a good price for your car will be difficult because nobody knows what the market currently looks like. Plus you'll potentially be rolling into a car that could end up being a worse proposition for you due to having instant negative equity from the dealer mark-up and the depreciation curve.

It's understandable to start looking for 'cost cutting' when things look bad, but unless you have too, stick with what you have is MO. In 2011 I sold my automotive love (a 1M!) by panic selling when I thought I would be made redundant, but in the end I wasn't and to this day I massively regret it, not just financially!).

For the sake of £6k, it would be too risky for me. Factor in negative equity, cost to change etc etc in another car and realistically you are probably only going to be saving £3-4k, and that's if you get what you want for yours.

[monkeyhanger]

^ Wise words above. Between the dealer expectations of margin on yours and markup on the Mini, you'll be getting rid of an £18k sticker price car for £15k to swap for a £10k sticker price car worth £8k privately. Keep the Golf.

[RM]

Wise words indeed. The practicality bit doesn’t bother me, but the financial risk doesn’t stack up when you spell it out like that. This is supposed to be a sensible move at the end of the day.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with used prices generally once some sort of normality resumes. I’ve no choice but to sit tight for now, but it’s good to hear other people’s views and experiences.

[dubber36]

The only way to release meaningful money out of the car is to swap for a £2000 sensible car and be prepared to accept that it will have its faults.

I'm sure there are other ways you can cut back to save money rather than realising a loss on your car. I've not spent a bean in weeks, on anything other than food and utilities. I've not been earning much, but I'm actually better off.

[monkeyhanger]

The only way to release meaningful money out of the car is to swap for a £2000 sensible car and be prepared to accept that it will have its faults.

I'm sure there are other ways you can cut back to save money rather than realising a loss on your car. I've not spent a bean in weeks, on anything other than food and utilities. I've not been earning much, but I'm actually better off.

The biggest question is is whether the OP actually owns the car outright.or is PCPing. If PCPing, we're talking about possibly a bit of equity in the PCP which will only be realised if trading in. If owned outright, there's a lot more money at play.

If you normally have disposable income for trips, pubs and restaurants, and are working from home or are furloughed with seriously reduced fuelling costs, it's hard to spend that money right now. I ended up paying my 2020/2021 Council tax demand in one lump as soon as it dropped through the letterbox. I've saved in not going  out and doing a bit of business on ebay.

[Crockers]

Yes it’s a worrying time. We have 2 cars - a Volvo XC60 2019 model and my GTI 2016. Both paid for. Trouble is with our trip to South Africa and now lockdown and both being “Shielded”
I doubt that both cars together have done more than 50 miles this year. It has made us think seriously about having 2 cars. So am contemplating letting the Golf go. Still not sure as I do love it but the current mileage and the future unknown is playing on my mind. So I do relate to how you’re feeling.