Anyone sold a quite new PC before?

[SlickShoes]

Hello, I love my PC but my car is currently broken, I am already £400 in the hole and it looks like costing at least another £700.

I need some advice on the best place to sell a PC? Ebay seems logical but the 10% they take is not ideal, so that would leave gumtree as the only real option.

I paid over £900 for it, I know I won't even get close to that, is £650 realistic or is it really pointless even trying to sell it?

 

[steaky360]

Well if you were to put it on gumtree I'd opt for a higher starting price (as people will likely haggle). It certainly is possible to sell a PC though. Absolute sickener your circumstances are forcing you down this route though, very much a shame.

Make a big point in the advert about the transference of the warranty though, I'd say thats worth a fair bit in itself!

 

[Grimezy]

Uhhh the thing with custom PC's is they are so niche that unless it is a £400 PC on ebay it's not going to be that appealing to somebody. Think back to when you were buying yours, would you have bought one second hand off ebay or gumtree? I'm fairly sure you wanted it to be your own creation in the absence of building it by at least selecting all of your own parts.

Ebay would be your best bet and you could probably give £650 a go. Gumtree is not ideal and I've heard a lot of people accuse it of being a bit of a scamming site at times as there is not the level of protection that ebay provides when purchasing/selling. Your absolute best bet would be trying to find a friend/work colleague/family member who might be interested in it or maybe even advertising it on facebook. Just reassure people that there is transferable warranty and it is a reluctant sale due to car issues.

 

[vanthus]

I agree with what's already been said,and also add that my wife's used Gumtree quite a lot,but makes it a rule that the goods must be collected,although that cuts the number of potential customers,this way the customer gets to see the item and the wife gets the cash,deal done.

 

[SlickShoes]

Cheers, for the replies, I am trying to think of ways that I can keep it but I want to be prepared for the worst.

I do agree though I wouldn't have bought a second hand one, the only thing it really has going for it is the 1 year warranty.

I'll try locally first to avoid the chances of scammers, I have been bothered with scammers on ebay before too, it's just a massive hassle to sell something thats actually valuable because of scammers, if it was a bunch of smaller things I was selling I wouldn't feel so apprehensive about it.

No one want to employ me part time to play games for them?

 

[steaky360]

Yup, I was going to point out I've bought and sold many things on Gumtree and although occasionally have been stung (few fridge freezers that blew up when I got them home) they are the minority and I think enough people know that for the market to still be very buoyant. Its far more difficult to get stung if you are the seller though, as Vanthus pointed out, insist items are picked up or they pay for it first if they want it delivered. As part of the sale.

 

[Grimezy]

The thing with selling locally to people you know is that if it does blow up they assume it's your fault!

Out of interest, what's up with your car and what car have you got? £1000 seems ridiculous for a repair unless of course you have a lovely 13 plate Audi A3 sat in the driveway which then it's probably a grand per service.

 

[vanthus]

The thing with selling locally to people you know is that if it does blow up they assume it's your fault!

With electrical goods we show the buyer it's in working condition and always make it clear it is sold as is,no comebacks,no guarantee.It's up to them,to take it or leave it,that's the chance you take with most second hand goods.Although in this case it may be possible to transfer an existing warranty,I'm not sure about that.

 

[SlickShoes]

I think what's wrong with the car is the ECU, it is a Peugeot 207 09 plate, it's been in 3 garages, one claimed to have fixed it by replacing a sensor but the car died again within 12 hours of being "fixed". The symptoms are, all the electrics fail, the warning lights all go on, the car doesn't turn on, when you open the door the wipers clean the window (haha have to laugh at that last one).

Anyway I have spent £400 diagnosing and "fixing" it so far, if they replace the ECU then that costs £700.

The PC is the only thing I have worth that sort of money, so it seems logical to sell if I have to, the original £400 I have paid OK but another £700 I can't afford at all.

EDIT:

I can transfer the warranty from PCS since it's not tied to me but the computer, so that is good, I can sell it to whoever and not bother about it breaking since it has a warranty. I really don't want to sell it though!

 

[OneZeoN]

Sell the broken car....then sit in a dark room playing games with no stress

But seriously is the a way to get a small loan or family member to "lend" you the £700
Selling the pc will be terrible if you like your gaming etc

But needs must i suppose

Good luck!

 

[Grimezy]

Ah I see, I'm glad you mentioned what car it was as I'm currently in the market for a new car and even though everybody has told me to stay away from French, I do find myself sniffing around now and again as you can pick them up dirt cheap compared to the likes of VW's, Seat's, etc. Gutted to hear about that though We got a little 207 work van for our london office as they didn't want anything too massive because of parking, etc and I had a little go in it and it seemed great. Tis the problem with new cars now though, electrics are a bugger to fix and garages charge through the roof for it!

Is there any chance you could find a reconditioned ECU and just pay the garage for labour? Or have you asked around a few places to get quotes for ECU's rather than taking the word of the first garage? I know when I had my exhaust replaced I paid through the roof for it when really if I'd gone away and shopped around a bit I could have found it a lot cheaper. Saying that, my exhaust fell off as I pulled into the garage so I didn't really have a lot of choice!

Like Zeon said though, is there any way you can get the money a different way? If it were me, I know my parents wouldn't be able to afford loaning the money but I could perhaps speak to my manager and ask for like a cash advance that they'd take back from my wages each month type thing (or depending on your salary just a pay advance of next months wages and then scrimp for a month and a half or however long it is?). Or after a quick google there seems to be plenty of sites out there that offer car repairs finance. I googled Car repair finance and this was the top link: http://www.carrepairfinance.co.uk/. The interest seems a little steep but say you borrowed £700 over 6 months you'd only pay back £843 which realistically would probably save you more money than the loss you'd have from selling your PC. I was also going to suggest something like a Tesco loan but I'm fairly sure you have to borrow at least like £2000 for one of those. I'd definitely look into a short term loan rather than loosing £500 from selling your rig.

Edit: Just had a quick ebay search and there seems to be a lot of Pug 207 ECU's for sale on there from salvage cars, etc that go for around £150. Obviously I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with yours so I wouldn't want to link you to a direct one but I wouldn't be put off by buying from ebay. I know plenty of people who have been quoted £500+ to get a part for their car and they've found it at least 50% cheaper on ebay and occasionally they come with a small amount of warranty.

 

[Rakk]

I think what's wrong with the car is the ECU, it is a Peugeot 207 09 plate, it's been in 3 garages, one claimed to have fixed it by replacing a sensor but the car died again within 12 hours of being "fixed". The symptoms are, all the electrics fail, the warning lights all go on, the car doesn't turn on, when you open the door the wipers clean the window (haha have to laugh at that last one).

Anyway I have spent £400 diagnosing and "fixing" it so far, if they replace the ECU then that costs £700.

I feel your pain, I had to get the ECU on my car replaced about 3-4 years ago, they wouldn't even order the ECU in until I gave them a hefty deposit (about 400quid if I remember rightly) for it, luckily I had the funds available at the time (though the account I was using to save for a mortgage deposit did scowl at me)

 

[SlickShoes]

Cheers again guys, every time I mention it's a peugeot people that had one in the past assume it's the ECU so it seems like a regular fault that seems to happen! It's a nice wee car to drive, I have the sport version, not as nice as my old golf gti was though.

I am thinking about whacking the money all on my credit card and trying to pay £150 a month to it, I have plenty room on the credit card just don't like using it if I don't have to. It seems like selling a PC is a lot of hassle though and the value drops fast even if it is a great computer. I will have a look at the ECU's they have on ebay, I have shopped around a bit but other garages here won't touch it and all tell me because it's electrical I need to be taking to the Peugeot dealership.

I wouldn't let it put you off buying a Peugeot completely but it's put me off, when I first got the car it would rattle something fierce whenever I went over 50mph, luckily it was still under warranty then. Now this is all happening so I think when I am done paying for the car in a couple of years I will be trading it in for something else, not that I think other brands are any more reliable just getting a glut of problems puts you off.

Aye the big bank loans have hideous interest rates too, thanks for all the suggestions it's made me look at it all a bit more logically, rather than just flogging my beloved new PC.

 

[Grimezy]

Glad to hear you might have a change of mind A pc will last you 5+ years which is probably longer than your car at this rate! Not worth selling it for a repair.

And to be honest, I think every car is different and brand barely has anything to do with it. Everytime I tell people I have a Punto they wince in terror, especially my VW fanboy friends. Funny that in 2 years they've paid out more for their vw's for repairs than I have on my punto. But then I read reviews online and my punto gets slated so I don't know if I just got lucky *touch wood*. There are a lot of minor niggles with mine but nothing worth taking to a garage for yet, saying that I assume all these little things will get picked up on an MOT :L

I don't have a credit card myself as I haven't needed one up to now but I wouldn't be afraid to use it. It's what it's there for and depending on the card you have you should be able to pay it back interest free for a certain amount of time shouldn't you? It'd only be 4 or 5 months of scrimping ;D

 

[Keedar]

Its funny how people saying that the french cars or vw are crap Everything is about luck when you getting a car.Had Merc C class and after year of usage engine goes to hell Had many makes and only Mercedes was bad.Sorry forgot about opel vectra where alternator fully gone after 6 months time.Other makes like audi,ford,vw,volvo,fiat marea (my first car) was great and never had any issues with them.So everything is about luck and same as electronic stuff.Ones i bought 51" 3D Plasma Samsung tv and after 2 months have to replace it for 50" 3D plasma Panasonic.My friends have cars like citroen or peugeot and they are really happy.Thats why i am never buying cars from private sellers.I am always trade in in SIMI dealers where i am getting one year warranty.I know i will pay like 1.000 euro more but i can be sure that everything whats wrong with the car will show up in one year time

Hope you understand me

Dont sell your pc try to find some help from friends or family.I know its very easy to say but give a try and good luck.

 

[SlickShoes]

Haha yeah my car had a warranty when I got it but that has sadly passed now, the car is only 4 years old so to be forking out an extra £1000 on it already is just sad, I was expecting to pay lots when it was 6/7 years old. It only passed it's MOT 3 weeks ago too!

I am checking out the credit card situation, the interest isn't too bad if I actually manage to pay it off in about 4/5 months.

To add to the misery my washing machine has just packed in as well and i have found a leak in my bathroom! I'll just put my headphones on and play the PC and pretend nothing is wrong!

 

[rickne]

Its funny how people saying that the french cars or vw are crap Everything is about luck when you getting a car.Had Merc C class and after year of usage engine goes to hell Had many makes and only Mercedes was bad.Sorry forgot about opel vectra where alternator fully gone after 6 months time.Other makes like audi,ford,vw,volvo,fiat marea (my first car) was great and never had any issues with them.So everything is about luck and same as electronic stuff.Ones i bought 51" 3D Plasma Samsung tv and after 2 months have to replace it for 50" 3D plasma Panasonic.My friends have cars like citroen or peugeot and they are really happy.Thats why i am never buying cars from private sellers.I am always trade in in SIMI dealers where i am getting one year warranty.I know i will pay like 1.000 euro more but i can be sure that everything whats wrong with the car will show up in one year time

Hope you understand me

Dont sell your pc try to find some help from friends or family.I know its very easy to say but give a try and good luck.

I hate French cars. My reasoning is I generally think Peugeot's are ugly and Renaults are expensive to repair pieces of turd. ( I worked for Renault for 5 years)

The problem is I drive a Ford S-Max which is a lovely car but it has a PSA engine. So I kinda have to suck it there. But for a 2 litre 143 bhp people mover it certainly shifts.

 

[keynes]

I hate French cars. My reasoning is I generally think Peugeot's are ugly and Renaults are expensive to repair pieces of turd. ( I worked for Renault for 5 years)

The problem is I drive a Ford S-Max which is a lovely car but it has a PSA engine. So I kinda have to suck it there. But for a 2 litre 143 bhp people mover it certainly shifts.

I have no clue what a PSA engine or 143 bhp are :wacko:
I had a Peugeot 307 for about 3 years without any issues, lovely car and easy to maintain.

 

[SlimCini]

Can't you just take out a new 0% purchase interest credit card then cancel it once you've paid it off?

 

[Grimezy]

I have no clue what a PSA engine or 143 bhp are :wacko:
I had a Peugeot 307 for about 3 years without any issues, lovely car and easy to maintain.

I believe a PSA engine is an engine made my Citreon/Peugeot which is French who Rickne clearly loves. And 143 bhp is brake horse power. That's how many horses you'd have to run over before it would stop while travelling at full speed