Going abroad to work for 5 months. Sell or keep the 172?

[Paddy_g46]

Basically I have a job in France that I may be there for 4-5 months. Do I keep the 172 and keep paying £80 a month to insure it plus tax on top of that and let my dad look after it till im back or should I sell it and get what I can for it now?

The car is a black 2003 172 with 82k miles on the clock. pretty good condition, few marks on body. had a lot of new parts in the last 12 months, by my guesses I would get £2-2.2k for it as it is now. How much is it going to depreciate in the next 5 months?

 

[andywa]

Keep it and either leave it with your dad or take it with you. It's only 5 months. So you'll need something when you get back.

 

[RDH]

I'd keep it. It's worth peanuts as it is and in 5 months any depreciation will be seriously negligable.

 

[Paddy_g46]

The thing is I'm off to work a ski season where I get paid sweet FA, £120 a week, and although I have savings to live off as well the insurance alone will be using up 1/6 of my wage/income and that's before I factor in car tax. I reckon in the 5 months I am away it is going to cost me £500 just to sit on the road outside my house. I'm thinking I might just be best pocketing the £2k and putting it aside to get another car when I return. Also there is a small chance that I may do a bit of travelling when I return in which case I should probably get rid.

 

[-Jason-]

Drive there and save flight/train.

 

[Grigaaa182]

Cancel insurance, tax etc and store in garage or similair if possible till return..

 

[rob5gt]

its up to you buddy, i mean i love mine and you may get another car and not have the same feeling! They are on the slide as in price but you never know in 5 months time they could be worth more. If yours is really tidy too. They are cracking cars in my view and its the best car i have ever owned! But i see your point too

 

[montana]

Cancel insurance, tax etc and store in garage or similair if possible till return..

Yep, that's what I would do, SORN it and then get it locked up somewhere

 

[Paddy_g46]

Drive there and save flight/train.

my travel is all paid for by the company I am working for.

Cancel insurance, tax etc and store in garage or similair if possible till return..

Suppose I could do this, would need to find somewhere to park it though!

 

[DaveDreads]

If you sell it and get another 1*2 when you get back, you could end up with a car that could give you no end of problems,
atleast you know the history of your car and as you said it has alot of new parts on it and you know it's realiable.

SORN it, cash in what remaining tax it has, cancel your insurance and store it somewhere for a few months.

 

[andywa]

Cancel insurance, tax etc and store in garage or similair if possible till return..

This sounds like a plan.

 

[Truffs]

Keep it, as someone that has staff in France doing the type of work our doing chances are you may well not do the whole 5 months.

 

[Paddy_g46]

Ok, I think I will spend this week trying to find somewhere/someone to look after it for me off the road.

 

[Paddy_g46]

Keep it, as someone that has staff in France doing the type of work our doing chances are you may well not do the whole 5 months.

What line of work are you in? I did a season last year albeit only for 10 weeks (I was on a reserve list and got sent out late) and I left the car at home then but obviously didn't cost me as much over 10 weeks.

I cant see why I wouldn't see out the full time unless i get injured/sacked lol

 

[Truffs]

I'm a director of a holiday company and we have summer couriers and winter staff, we only do France.

The turnaround and the amount of people that actually do a season is rare hence why you got sent out at short notice and for 10 weeks. Out of all my summer staff this year (over 70) we had 7 that did from day one until the end

 

[DB.]

I'd keep it. It's worth peanuts as it is and in 5 months any depreciation will be seriously negligable.

This

 

[16v_paddy]

I would SORN, cancel the insurance & rent a garage to keep it in while you're gone, will save you the hassle of selling it plus the hassle of finding another 1 when you're back & the possibility of having to spend the money all over again to either get it to the same standard or fix/maintain.

Look on gumtree, local ad-mags. Also look for & ask what the local council or housing associations have available as well. For example I'm renting a garage from a housing association for £7 per week

 

[M4D M4X]

Cancel insurance, tax etc and store in garage or similair if possible till return..

This
But if you aint got somewhere to store get a council garage and rent, you'd need something when your back so saves the hastle looking when your back.

P.s u lucky f**k i'd love to do a snowboard season

 

[M4D M4X]

Truffs YHPM

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

If you're going to SORN it, fine, however is it worth still insuring ?

£400 in insurance for 5 months (ouch) is better than losing a £3k car if it goes up in smoke or gets stolen... maybe you could drop the policy to TPF&T only ? Might save you a few quid a month and you'd be just as covered in the event of anything happening...

 

[olliewebbuk]

Do insurance companies cover uninsured cars though? I'm pretty sure you having your car SORN'd invalidates it, doesn't it?

 

[Kizza9]

If its sorn and declared off the road I wouldnt of thought insurance companies would cover it. Leave it insured for 5 months gives you peace of mind and build up no claims as well

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Only a lack of MOT stops your insurance being valid in the event of an accident as far as I'm aware. I don't know how it works if the MOT runs out, and it's stolen from a locked garage !? Nothing to do with an MOT there if you see what I mean...

Best bet is the OP rings his insurance and asks their advice !

 

[Craigus]

They can't drop much more than they are already.

 

[Ryanj]

Keep it, you'll only regret selling! And in all honesty from the prices I've seen recently Im not even sure you would get £2k for it, Ide sorn it and find a garage or something

 

[16v_paddy]

I'm pretty sure your insurance company will be able to change the cover so that it's protected while it's stored in a garage for not a lot of money

ie; not insured to be driven but insured the same way your home contents can be insured

 

[Rob]

Spend a day clearing my garage out (taking crap to the tip) and you can leave it in there for 5 months. True story.

 

[M4D M4X]

^ pic of the state of the garage 1st i say lol

 

[Rob]

It's not as bad as you may imagine... I just can't get my silly low car down the alley to put stuff in there.

 

[M4D M4X]

Lol, yes i was imagining a garage full to the roof with rubbish.
Good offer that, i assume garages up London area are quite rare to come across anyway.

 

[domjolly]

Declare it SORN, cancel road tax, put it in the garage and the get lay up car insurance from a specialist, I'm going to get it on my phase 1 as it needs some work (££££)on it and I need to save up to get it done. it covers theft, criminal damage and fire and looks like it will cost me £110 for the year mate, peace of mind and cheap

 

[Rob]

I don't use it, so why not help out CS members?

 

[Whalli17]

Keep it, you'll only regret selling! And in all honesty from the prices I've seen recently Im not even sure you would get £2k for it, Ide sorn it and find a garage or something

I've just gone to uni for basically a year, did exactly that, also bought car cover and axle standed the car, no ones stealin my baby

 

[SamP]

maybe you could drop the policy to TPF&T only ? Might save you a few quid a month and you'd be just as covered in the event of anything happening...

You should be able to insure it as off the road but still covered for fire and theft, costs pittance to do that.

 

[Fletcher]

Keep it. Better the devil you know IMO.

 

[Paddy_g46]

The only thing im thinking is that if I park it up, when I get back it will have no MOT and no tax, which will be a pain to get sorted again. Cant tax it till it's MOt'd and cant MOT it with no tax as I cant drive it on the road!

 

[SamP]

The only thing im thinking is that if I park it up, when I get back it will have no MOT and no tax, which will be a pain to get sorted again. Cant tax it till it's MOt'd and cant MOT it with no tax as I cant drive it on the road!

If you've got an MOT booked you can legally drive it to and from the MOT station. Dont forget to give it a shitton of stick and take the long way

 

[Rob]

The only thing im thinking is that if I park it up, when I get back it will have no MOT and no tax, which will be a pain to get sorted again. Cant tax it till it's MOt'd and cant MOT it with no tax as I cant drive it on the road!

Post office and MOT place around the corner

 

[Paddy_g46]

Can you drive to a pre-booked MOT with no tax though?

Post office and MOT place around the corner

I wonder if they will be as sympathetic as my usual MOT guy....

 

[Slammed172]

Can you drive to a pre-booked MOT with no tax though?

Yes. Just came back from NZ.

Car was SORN with no MOT and no Insurance.

Get insurance with cover note, pre-book MOT, as long as it ain't more than 10 miles away. And then TAX once you have your certificate. No biggie.

Regarding insurance only you know how safe your area is. I didn't insure mine while it was off the road as there was no chance of it getting nicked. However North London is a very different place..