Dilemma ??? HELP! (please!)

[Anonymous]

Right....I'm in a bit of a dilemma about my car.......

Basically, I've been thinking of selling it for ages now to get something cheaper until I could get a decent GTE or GSi....Nova that is.

Anyway, a lad I know is selling a White GTE for only ?495 and I've been and seen it today, and apart from the odd tiny blemish, it's mint. He's bought it only 2 weeks ago, but he's only 18 and can't afford the insurance, hence he's having to sell it.

He's interested in buying my Antibes off me 'cos he should be able to afford the insurance on that, so....finally getting to my point......what do you think my Nova is worth, considering all the work I've put into it.

I'm going to say to him that we'll do a swap, plus some extra cash from him to pay the extra buying mine, 'cos it's easily worth more than he's selling the GTE for! BUT, I don't want to seem greedy...trying to get his GTE plus cash for the price of mine, which after all, is a modded Antibes!

What do peeps recon?

My Novas got the spec as follows: (for full spec and pics, see: http://www.novabug.co.uk/FeatureCars/MyCar.html )
1.3 SR engine, Weber 32/34 DTML, only 4K since fully re-built 1.2 head fitted and only about 8K since bottom end was re-built.
New GTE spec front brakes, Puma lowering springs, SR front bumper, GTE/GSi skirts, GTE rear bumper "flick", standard rear spoiler, slide/tilt sunroof, central locking, digi dash etc. plus new rear arches welded on this year, new driver's door, and both sides have been re-sprayed. It had new front wings a couple of years back too, and it looks mint. It could do with a new bonnet 'cos of a dint in the leading edge, but other than that, it's rust free.

It's also got a JP stainless zorst, Mountney steering wheel, Aluminium foot pedals, Sony CD-Radio head unit and elecy windows (plus a few other bits), but I'd keep 'em to transfer to the GTE, so I'd be selling it with a standard GTE steering wheel and zorst.

The GTE is completely standard apart from a set of Astra GSi 15" alloys (like Ged's).
The engine sounds sweet, the interior is mint, and like I say, there's only a few very small blemishes on the body.

My Antibes is insured for ?1500 but obviously it's not worth that, so what do you think is a reasonable price to ask, bearing in mind I'd be removing some of the mods. I may swap the alloys too....me keep my current Cav GSi 15" for the GTE and sell the Antibes with the Astra ones (there's five of those btw).

(Sorry this is a bit long winded!)

[Anonymous]

Just been looking at the pics and the spec of your car Rich, and to be honest if i was you id keep the car and just change the engine :) Rich, your car looks mint, keep it mate.. :)

cheese@novaload.org.uk

[Anonymous]

Yeah. looks sweet

[Anonymous]

keep it Rich. you have obviously put a lot of hard work and graft into it, why give it to some 17 year old to write off!!

[Anonymous]

i reckon you keep it. do an engine transplant from a gte. after all who has got a 1.6 antibes. then ask who has got a 1.6gte. youve done the car how you want it so why swap. yours is better than a gte.

(btw rich ive had to go into hidin since you told everyone i used to have a saxo):O

[Anonymous]

keep the car lad.
engine transplant it instead! I would, we all would!

[Anonymous]

Bugger......that's really got me in a tiz now! I want a change of car and every one says to keep mine....lol! ;)

So you guys like mine then....um...well, I haven't got a clue what to do now. The thing is, even though the GTE's got the odd blemish on it, it's still in better overall condition than mine....it may look mint in my pics, but my home-done re-spray isn't as mint as it looks....I'm quite happy with it, but it's not exactly up to a professional finish.

There's some rust under the arches and on the front cross-member/valance, and some in the boot floor...nothing serious mind, but this GTE really is solid as a rock....it's only so cheep 'cos he needs to sell it.
I've known his older bro for years as he works at the local garage where I've always had my MOT's done, plus he's best mates with another lad I know who's Dad owns another local garage, so I can be sure that it's a sound buy!

It's going to take less work to get it mint that mine would take, and that's being honest. I do love my Nova though...argh....see my dilemma :O

Remember the GSi I went to look at a couple of months ago.....that was only ?700 for a H-plate GSi, but it was knackered, and only worth ?500, but this GTE really is a bargain....most ?500 GTE's are rust buckets with knackered engines....oh, I don't know what to do. I'm going to have another proper look at it tomorrow, as I was only going past today to popped in the have a quick browse....my Dad had seen it first and told me about it. He'd even stopped him self to have a good look round it, and he recommended I should go and have a look....it's rare for my Dad to do that, showing how good it is.

I know my Antibes is miles rarer than a GTE....especially in white, but I really want a GTE!
I've had the Antibes two and a bit years now and I'm needing a change.....I was going to get a MKIII Cav SRi so at least I'm thinking of getting another Nova now!

Cheers for you advice though lads......I'll have to see how it drives tomorrow.....it might not be as good as I think once I have a proper test drive and inspection of it, so we'll have to see.

BTW.....what do you guys recon my Novas worth then, just out of interest. I'm asking 'cos I may still sell it, even if I don't go for this GTE.

[Anonymous]

If u put it that way...!
GTE sounds a bargain ...drive & see.
From the pics ur Antibes is good looker, but as u said reality is what matters. You know more than any1. And being from a garage kinda family, its gotta be pukka!

(I aint even gonna guess for prices...)

[Anonymous]

its only worth what someone is willing to pay. just ask him then dont accept his first answer and then barter with him. its hard to put a value on something which you have done so much work on cos of sentimental value.

[Anonymous]

sy is right mate - let him have a good look round your car and have a little test drive on a car park somewhere and then let him make you an offer - just make sure he knows exactly what is included in the price to save arguements later.

[Anonymous]

I'd say your car is worth about ?800 mate

fair enuff, i know, and u know, and everyone else knows that hours and hours of work have gone into it...but the buyers doesn't know that...to him it's a 1.2 with 1.3 engine and alloys...:(


Nova Community
Visit: www.RoyBacer.co.uk
Email: Ged@RoyBacer.co.uk

[Anonymous]

Cheers Ged....I thinking the same thing....about ?800.
I'm planning on going up to see him again today, so I'll ask what he thinks to that price. Like I said though, I'm taking a few of the mods off of it, so I don't mind letting him have it for less...after all, the GTE is very cheep for what it is I recon.

I'm keeping the JP zorst, elec windows, Mountney steering wheel, foot pedals and ICE and I may keep my Alloys too since they have lower profiles fitted. I could get it for a little less too if I let him keep the Astra alloys since there's five of 'em and they're in better condition than mine.
He (Richards his name!) knows how much work I've put into my Nova 'cos he's seen me working on it this summer.....a few times he's stopped buy to have a chat whilst it was striped down, covered in paint dust etc, so I'm sure he'd be willing to offer a decent price for it.

Anyway...I've got to log off now and phone him to arrange to meet later. Then, ring round for insurance....shouldn't cost too much since it won't have many mods.....no engine mods at all in fact, just the zorst plus I'll get it lowered asap ;)

[Anonymous]

Rich it sounds like you are trying to talk you self in to buying the car and I don't blame you. Sounds a bargin. Go for it.

[Anonymous]

why dont you buy the GTE, stick all the stuff that you like from your 1.2 onto the GTE then sell the 1.2 for a dirt cheap price. all happy.

[Anonymous]

Guess what guys.....I've gone and done it :D

I know own a VERY nice bright white GTE :D

Right...the plan now is to swap the JP zorst, steering wheel, elecy windows and a few other bits and bobs to the GTE, then sell the Antibes.

I can't decide which alloys to keep though....so I now have another dilemma!

The Astra GSi alloys on the GTE are mint...no curbing, scratches etc but the tyres are huge profile (195-55-15s) and they don't all match.
My Cav GSi alloys on the Antibes have mint 195-45-15 tyres, but they're a little curbed in places and could do with a re-furb.

The Astra alloys are much rarer, so what I think I'm gonna do is keep those, but have the tyres swapped over from the Cav alloys.

What do ya recon?

[Anonymous]

did you part ex yours to the lad then. is the fgte rear lip on your car attached to a standard sr bumper. any chance you would sell it. i cant find the lip without havin to buy the whole bumper.

get some pics of the gte on your site so we can all have a look

congrats
simon :p

[Anonymous]

take the tires and wheels to a tire fitters and get him to swap them all to the gsi alloys. cost a couple of quid but at least youll have good alloys and tires

[Anonymous]

I ended up not part exchanging mine.....it's a bit too highly modded for him to get insured.....shame cost he really wants it, but he didn't realise how modded it is!

It's better in a way though, 'cos it gives me more time to swap parts over....plus, I can't use the GTE just yet 'cos I've got to get it taxed, and before I do that, I need my insurance documents, and I've not phoned the insurance company yet.

I've done a bit on it already.....just checked it over again and made a small list of things to do on it. It's little electrical things that could do with doing, like the boot light doesn't work (blown bulb), the under-bonnet light doesn't work (needs a new plunger switch), the glove-box light doesn't work (it did at first, but I think I dislodged the bulb by accident!) and the rear wiper doesn't work (loose earth of similar I suspect....my be the relay)....so basically, nothing major at all :D

Oh, the hand-brake cable vibrates a bit at tick-over, but I'll sort that when I swap my zorst over.....the one on the Antibes vibrates just the same, but 'cos I knocked something when fitting the zorst!

I oiled the sunroof mechanism too, 'cos it was a bit stiff, but it's as smooth as the one in my Dads new Corsa now.

As for alloys.....I've decided to keep the Astra GSi alloys, 'cos there's loads of Cavs locally fitted with the Cav GSi wheels, so I'd rather have the "much rarer" Astra ones. I'm going to do as you suggest SY, and swap the decent 195-45-15's over from the Cav wheels to the Astra ones, and visa-versa.
My Dad wants the Cav alloys for his Corsa.....I don't think he's really serious about it though. Anyway, that'd leave my Antibes with his Corsas 13" steels with 155 tyres...hum, I don't think so!

I'm planning on selling the Antibes complete with body kit etc, but I may sell the GTE "flick" separately......it makes a big difference to the car though, and could make all the difference between a sale and a none sale. I'll have to see.

It should be ready to be on sale by next week, assuming I can find the time to get all the bits transferred before then, and get the GTE taxed etc....I'll keep you posted anyway ;)

P.S. I took a few pics tonight, but I accidentally set the camera to "low-quality", so most of the pics aren't that great!
Here's one to be going on with till I take some better ones tomorrow:
http://www.novabug.co.uk/FeatureCars/MyGTE1.jpg
My TWO Novas :D Like my scale-sized model facing the camera too...lol....it's an in-set pic in case you didn't guess...lol.
I forgot about the clear front indicators...another mod included on it.
I've got the receipt from when the last but one owner bought it, in December 99....he paid ?1450 for it!
My mate who I bought it off, only paid ?550, and of course, I got it for ?495!
It's got a decent Pioneer pop-off head unit too, and Pioneer speakers in the parcel shelf.

[Anonymous]

mint Astra wheels :D

looks like 'wheel' be amongst the small number of nova's flying (well, as much as a 1.2 fly's lol) wiv em on in the land! :p

excuse the pun


Nova Community
Visit: www.RoyBacer.co.uk
Email: Ged@RoyBacer.co.uk

[Anonymous]

if you do decide to sell the gte 'flick' let me know.

cheers sy

[Anonymous]

Looks like it Ged....nice to have wheels that are a bit rare ;)
Is the K&N fitted yet btw?

sy....I'll keep you informed mate.
I'll mail you later on too. I've got to log off now to phone the dreaded insurance company :O I'm almost 24 though, so I can't see it being much to insure. (he says finger's crossed!)

[Anonymous]

yup, K&N is fitted, it's coming off on sat thogh cos it's makin my car run like shit in this cold weather, so i'll put it back on in feb or summit, when it gets a tad warmer...


Nova Community
Visit: www.RoyBacer.co.uk
Email: Ged@RoyBacer.co.uk

[Anonymous]

yup, K&N is fitted, it's coming off on sat thogh cos it's makin my car run like shit in this cold weather, so i'll put it back on in feb or summit, when it gets a tad warmer...


Nova Community
Visit: www.RoyBacer.co.uk
Email: Ged@RoyBacer.co.uk

[Anonymous]

hmmmmm,rich,how much is your nova going for???-I fancy something a tad more reliable,and a 1.3 may shift a bit more,grrrr I really want to sort my gte out now :( but it would be finacial suicide for me!-if you want any parts for yours,I have a good vaux spares place locally!-plus my gte-where abouts in sheffield are you btw?

I want some 15"s!

[Anonymous]

Ged.....so your learning the ways of K&N and cold weather then....yep, it was always a prob for me with the Pierburg 1B1 carb, and that was on my current 1.3 engine.
It's been perfectly fine with the Weber though, even though my K&N is blinking huge!

The problem might just be the Pierburg....it's not the best of carbs, in fact, I used to get carb-freezing symptoms in really cold weather even with the standard air-box when I had the 1.2 engine still in. I think it was just a crappy carb though...on it's way out I think.

I thought you were rigging up a hot-feed pipe from the manifold? Have you not done that then?


Rob.....I've just got your e-mail. I'll reply on there in stead of on here....makes things a little easier ;)


BTW.....I found something extra nice about the GTE today.....I was looking through the spokes of the alloys at the front brakes and noticed that the rear disk shields have been folded back...I thought "there's usually only one reason for doing that"........so I had a closer look at the brake disks and callipers......it got a bloody big brake conversion :D
I think they're the older type from an 8V Astra GTE or Cav SRi 130 or whatever. I did notice they felt more powerful than my Antibes ones, but I didn't really get much chance to drive it properly.....once it's taxed and insured (got to phone insurance back tomorrow...I left it too late tonight!), I'll be able to drive it properly and see just how good they are. All I know is that when I drove the Antibes afterwards, the brakes felt shit by comparison, but I just put it down to the more powerful servo on the GTE.

[Anonymous]

stop gloatin rich. lol. the new nova looks good from the pics on your site. ive seen many a gsi but never with that wheel style. very nice to see a change. i want a gte now after all your rantin and ravin. plus my sr is turnin to rust. X-(

[Anonymous]

aye thats a nice ickle motah rich :) u bangin ur lowered springs on too? wud look well nice then with those astra wheels

sweet car for 500 beans considerin the condition, top buy!

=======================
If there's grass on the pitch... :D

[Anonymous]

gloating? lol! I'm like a kid at Christmas aren't I :D

I've wanted a white GTE for so many years it's unbelievable, and to finally have one is mint.....sorry if I go about it for a while...just give us a slap ;)

As for lowering...I will be doing at some point, but not yet. I'm selling the Antibes lowered 'cos it looks a million times better that way, and hence, will sell quicker and for more.
I'll probably get some Puma springs for the GTE 'cos I think they're mint on the Antibes. Not yet though...have to sell the Antibes first in order to get some spare cash!

BTW...here's a set of new pics taken today, using the high quality setting on my camera, so they're a bit better than the other pics!

http://www.novabug.co.uk/FeatureCars/MyGTE3.jpg

[Anonymous]

Astra wheels, astra wheels, astra wheels!

we should start an owners club for astra wheels rich...lol


Nova Community
Visit: www.RoyBacer.co.uk
Email: Ged@RoyBacer.co.uk

[Anonymous]

lol@Ged

We'd have to be selective about membership though.....can't be doing with 13" steels joining the club :p

[Anonymous]

that GTE looks well clean mate!! I would say you have bagged a bargain there! the wheels look good also, definately keep the astra ones!!!

Garages sticking to their promises???? not likely!!! :(

[Anonymous]

Hey rich I'll buy it off you for 525, go on m8, u'd be making a profit :) looks well clean! quite rare in novaland these days :)

top motah

=======================
If there's grass on the pitch... :D

[Anonymous]

Cheers John mate ;)
Stokie...cheers too, but you can't have it...it's mine! lol! ;)

All I need to do now is work out a way of fitting my JP zorst, 'cos it won't fit the GTE down-pipes....doh!......see my other post in technical!

[Anonymous]

hey rich you though about sellin me the flick yet. i reakky want it or where did you get it from if you wont sell it.

hows life with the gte. how much did you get the insurance for.

sy