City Coupe Passion 450 How to Sell!

[BecksClandrew]

Hello Peeps,

Alas, my smart 450 2001 city coupe passion LHD car's engine has seized up and I am having to sell it because of a lack of technical knowledge. I was wondering the best way to go about this? It has long MOT (until next September) and aside from the seized engine there doesn't seem to be much wrong with it. It seems a shame to scrap it entirely when someone could have some fun stripping the engine down. Is there anywhere good to do this (maybe on this forum)? Or (because the engine is dodgy) would it be best to scrap it for parts (I know someone who will do this) and sell it off piece by piece.

Words cannot describe how upset I currently am.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

BecksClandrew

[TheAlmostInvisibleMan]

Who has confirmed it is an actually seized engine ?

Symptoms and a bit of prequel please ?

[Chris3005]

The tone of your post is that you'll be very sorry to lose it - are you sure it's not repairable? Which part of the country are you in?

One possibility might be to talk to http://fudgesmart.co.uk/ - they fix poorly Smarts but also buy dead ones to dismantle for parts. Maybe they would have a look at it and quote you a price to fix it and a scrap price they'll pay for it?

[BecksClandrew]

Hello

Thanks for the quick responses Chris3005 and TheAlmostInvisibleMan. I was very sad yesterday (I've known the car since it's birth) and Smart cars have a unique ability to weedle their ways into your heart.

The AlmostInvisibleMan - according the the garage the engine ran out of oil somehow (we check it regularly so no clue how this happened) and the engine has seized. It's tight but it turns. We took it on a long journey about two weeks ago then it has sat on our drive for a week or so. When I went to turn it on, there's a click sound and what sounds like an attempt to start but nothing happens. Thought it was the starter motor but when the garage fitted another the same thing happened. They said it will require and engine strip down etc. I trust the garage they'e done some work on it before and don't mind if my father-in-law does work on it. Because the engine strip down would cost a lot to do in the garage and my father-in-law is drowning in other projects and has no room to do it it may not be worth it for the price of the car (although I am having extreme difficulty finding a comparable car for sale to learn how much my car is worth). Please let me know if you want more information. I'm new to this world

Chris3005 - I live in Coventry. To repair it would cost a lot of money (about a grand to do the strip down plus any parts that need adding says the garage) as I have no-one to do the work pro bono. If the car is dead my father-and mother-in-law have an ebay business and would be willing to strip the car for parts themselves (father-in-law would be willing to do this) and then I know a charity with a garage that teaches young people about cars and mechanics that I'd donate the engine to so they can strip it down as part of the project. That will not happen for at least six months as they have other projects ongoing so we are in the process of buying another Smart. I shall contact fudgesmart and see what they say about it. It seems a great shame to scrap a car when its parts could live on in other vehicles.

Thank you both again. Please let me know if you require more info.

BecksClandrew

[lil.smartie]

Get them to un-stick the alternator..... best guess and much more likely than a starter or siezed engine.

[uyn178]

Get your Father-in-law to take the alternator belt off and then see if you can start the car. Don't run it for too long if it does start as the alternator belt also runs the water pump!
THese cars are prone to the alternator seizing up and giving the impression of a seized engine! If you can get it started, then loosen the alternator by using lots of Plus Gas / WD40 / Diesel sprayed into the alternator and (I think) a 24mm ring spanner on the nut on the end of the alternator to work it back and forth until it turns easily. Put the belt back on, tension it properly and start the car!

Garages that do not specialise in smart cars often get things wrong and want to charge vast amount to swap parts which are not required.

John

[BecksClandrew]

I am disproportionately happy I may be able to save my little car (in a good way). Thank you John and lil.smartie. I shall try this and hopefully it will get it back on the road.

If anyone else has any thoughts please let me know in case this doesn't work. I'd be scrapping it very reluctantly.

Becks x

[dpmike]

The repairs may cost more than a replacement car and that is a basis for insurance write-off, but it's more complex for you. A comparable replacement could fail the same way soon after you get it. But if you have the engine rebuilt (if that is indeed the problem) then you have a much better car. If you sold it after having that done it should command a much higher price than one similar to before it failed.
Likewise, anything you buy is an unknown. When I bought older vehicles I would always end up spending significant time and money fixing minor or even major faults. With your current Smart you are up to date with faults - meaning you've presumably fixed the ones that need fixing and can live with any others. That assurance must be worth something in peace of mind if not cash.

I've no idea what your values are but I'd suggest that you should only move to scrap it if the cost of repairing yours is more than, say, £1,000 over the cost of a similar, unrebuilt, one to replace it.

[BecksClandrew]

Thanks for the advice, dpmike. Scrapping it will be a last resort as I am surprisingly emotionally attached to it.

[SMARTLY]

Before you do anything check the oil level and top it up as necessary