What it cost me

"Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction" (rustholes-are-weight-reduction)
05/30/2017 at 17:23 • Filed to: 208 GTI, CARFLIPPING

In front of Eau Rouge

To own a 208 GTI for a bit less than 3 months.

I bought my little GTI on March 3rd. It had 46.000 km, was sold with a set of summer tires on OEM wheels, and a new set of winter tires on some cheap aftermarket wheels installed on the car at the time.
I did the necessary paperwork to import it from Germany to France, I’m used to this.
The first things I did when I got the car was getting a set of OZ superturismo, and a set of used, but almost new Pirelli runflat tires, they came factory on an Audi, the seller swapped them for 4 season tires, they had less than 1000km on them.
I also got some satin black vinyl and spend the biggest part of a week-end covering the sideskirts and fender flares.
It was also the first car I took to the dealer to do the service, which was a weird and expensive experience for me, but the Peugeot stamp in the service manual was important for resale value.
I recently got a pair of tires similar to the ones on the oem wheels to replace the two worn ones for the sale.

It was my daily driver for almost 3 months. It took me to and from work everyday. It took me to Spa Francorchamps, to the Nürburgring, I almost soiled my pants and the cars seats while driving with friends around said Ring. In total, I put about 7000km on it. I also put it up for sale a few weeks ago.

This evening, my neighbor came by, his Seat Leon recently shattered its 2-Mass flywheel and clutch (had the same thing on my A4). He said he’d liked my 208 since I got it. He checked it out, we took it for a spin, and he said he would take it. Apparently he already has things figured out with the bank, and he will get the car next week.

So, I just sold my fun little hatchback, and while I’m happy I got to drive it for quite a few kilometers, I’m a bit sad. I feel that way every time I sell a car I like. So you might think: why do you sell them then? 2 reasons: I like to change cars often, it allows me to drive exciting cars for cheap, and there are a lot of cars to try out.

Oh, yeah, the numbers:

Car: 12.500€
Registration and plates: 520€
Wheels and tires: 460€
Vinyl: 30€
Tires: 90€
Oil change: 185€ (Really? Really.)
Inspection: 40€
Total: 13.825€

Sold for: 14.700€

Costs (excluding insurance and fuel): -875€
Costs (considering I still have the OZs): -1.235€
Costs (considering I’ll sell the winter wheels): -1500€

So I basically got paid to drive a nice little hot hatch for 3 months.
Car flipping: sometimes you win.

DISCUSSION (11)

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 17:28

Nice that you managed to make a profit. Although it is sad to see one of our travel companions go.

So, what will be the next one? Are you going to daily the broken CrossGolf?

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/30/2017 at 17:32

I don’t know yet, I wasn’t expecting it to go that fast. Maybe a convertible for the summer.

I might drive the Golf in the meantime. My dad kind of likes it, my parentd might keep it

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 17:33

Mmmm, at this price point you would have gotten a very, very, very nice RWD car in the name of E92 BMW 3 Series. Someting with a nice 6 cyl engine.

But who am I, to give wisdom the Alfa 147 owner.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa
05/30/2017 at 17:40

Heyyyyy....

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=245037367

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 17:41

That would be nice, though you would need to hang onto it a bit longer to have a decent flip in that case, as Convertibles tend to be worth more in spring (or at least that seems to be the case in the Netherlands).

Nice that you found a car for your parents by accident, it is definitely a better car than a Peugeot Partner.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 17:42

Shame to see it go after such a brief ownership! I feel like I am losing family when I finally sell my cars, no matter how crappy they are. I legitimately cried a bit when I found out my old Subaru wasn’t really financially worth fixing for me at the time I sold it, and I’ll probably keep my little Accent for as long as I can too...

It may be my South Korean ecocrapbox, but it’s MY South Korean ecocrapbox and we’ve been on some adventures together! :)

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/30/2017 at 17:44

Yeah, but there are some evergreens, a crx or mx-5 are pretty stable in price

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
05/30/2017 at 17:47

I tend to care way too much about my cars. If I keep them too long, it hurts even more when I eventually sell them. But I’ve got my keepers

Steve in Manhattan > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 18:14

Any acceptable Alfa convertibles in the price range? They say you have to at least once ...

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > Steve in Manhattan
05/30/2017 at 18:37

There are, but if I where to get an Alfa, I would probably get the cheapest one O could get to keep the losses down

Steve in Manhattan > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
05/30/2017 at 19:07

Fair enough.