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Any Mechanics out there?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Basically, my MOT is due to run out Monday, and having left it till the last minute i took it to a garage today because i finished work early (probably the only opportunity i'll get)
Been to the garage a few times before and the cars always passed, this time its under new ownership but the guy seemed nice enough, said he should be able to do it there and then, so i let him.
Anyway it failed its test, on a fair bit, i'll give the list of stuff i can recall and the price they quoted so just wondering if i'm being ripped over - like i said he seemed a nice enough guy, didnt pressure me, even when asking his opinion over weather or not i should get a new car instead, he refused to give a definitive answer and said its my choice, while there was nothing else he could see other than a couple of "recommendations" he listed, he wouldnt say that next year there wont be a number of new problems (Fair enough i say, so far all sounds honest enough.)
It failed on:
Various bulbs - registration light, offside front something etc...
One set of brakes and pads (and he recommended the other set)
Ermm.. CSV Boot seal (i think thats what it was called) links the driveshaft to the axle or something!
But then it also failed on its emissions, so hes ordered a replacement lumbar? and a new cat
Now he's priced it all up on worse case scenario, for the more expensive size of brake discs, pads, bulbs, the seal, lumbar and cat etc...
And including labour and everything its gonna be £470, now hes said regarding the emissions he can't say what is causing the issue, so first he will replace the lumbar sensor, and if that sorts it he'll send back the cat (which was £85)
So has he said he's based it on worse case, but warned me that even if its not that bad it wont save a great deal, little on labour more just the parts its costing.
Apologies for the woeful descriptions, im obviously not very mechanically minded!
I told him to go ahead and do the work, im half thinking now regardless i should have just said not to bother and put a couple of grand to it and got a newer car since this a W reg Clio!
Does the price sound reasonable? im sure if i had shopped around and done stuff like fitting my own brake pads i could have saved a bit of money here and there so saving £20 or so isn't the issue, just dont wanna feel i've been mugged!
Been to the garage a few times before and the cars always passed, this time its under new ownership but the guy seemed nice enough, said he should be able to do it there and then, so i let him.
Anyway it failed its test, on a fair bit, i'll give the list of stuff i can recall and the price they quoted so just wondering if i'm being ripped over - like i said he seemed a nice enough guy, didnt pressure me, even when asking his opinion over weather or not i should get a new car instead, he refused to give a definitive answer and said its my choice, while there was nothing else he could see other than a couple of "recommendations" he listed, he wouldnt say that next year there wont be a number of new problems (Fair enough i say, so far all sounds honest enough.)
It failed on:
Various bulbs - registration light, offside front something etc...
One set of brakes and pads (and he recommended the other set)
Ermm.. CSV Boot seal (i think thats what it was called) links the driveshaft to the axle or something!
But then it also failed on its emissions, so hes ordered a replacement lumbar? and a new cat
Now he's priced it all up on worse case scenario, for the more expensive size of brake discs, pads, bulbs, the seal, lumbar and cat etc...
And including labour and everything its gonna be £470, now hes said regarding the emissions he can't say what is causing the issue, so first he will replace the lumbar sensor, and if that sorts it he'll send back the cat (which was £85)
So has he said he's based it on worse case, but warned me that even if its not that bad it wont save a great deal, little on labour more just the parts its costing.
Apologies for the woeful descriptions, im obviously not very mechanically minded!
I told him to go ahead and do the work, im half thinking now regardless i should have just said not to bother and put a couple of grand to it and got a newer car since this a W reg Clio!
Does the price sound reasonable? im sure if i had shopped around and done stuff like fitting my own brake pads i could have saved a bit of money here and there so saving £20 or so isn't the issue, just dont wanna feel i've been mugged!
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Comments
VARIOUS BULBS?!? You should be shot. You should be checking them at least once per week. Bulbs tend to be pretty cheap, but can be fiddly to get at. Bank on around £5 per headlamp bulb, and a couple of quid for a pair of indicators or brake light bulbs. Labour would be more, but they're all easy enough to get at yourself. Though you'd likely need the headlamps adjusting if you're changing one of the bulbs as many headlamps need removing for access - TBH, do the pair, as the other side usually isn't far behind(both have a similar typical lifespan, and see the same amount of use - same as brakes, suspension, etc).
Oh... check your bulbs more often.
Shouldn't be much. Common cars - parts only - tend to come in at around £50 for a pair of cheap discs and pads. TBH, I've found cheap discs tend to be fine, but the pads can lack performance. Mintex pads tend to be cheap and pretty good.
CV boot. It's a rubber boot that sits over the CV joint. It's vital, as this joint needs to remain very clean and watertight, and to retain the grease in it. If it's not been split long, you may get away with just changing the boot, cleaning the joint and packing it with fresh grease. A proper jobs means pulling the driveshaft out(often a nasty job on older cars, as the suspension is well-corroded and bolts can shear off, forcing the strut to be removed and drilled/tapped). Easier boots exist - they come with a split in them. You cut the old boot off, clean it up, fill with the new grease, slide the boot over and superglue it. TBH, if you're only planning on having the car for a year or two, it'd save you a lot of labour and would probably last the distance, but it'll always be something of a bodge over a proper boot.
It's a Lambda sensor. It sits in the exhaust and gives your cars ECU precise information about the state of what's going out of the exhaust, and lets the ECU adjust the fuelling to make it run at its best. As the sensors age, they tend to give poor information(typically leading to increased fuel consumption), as well as being slower to respond and making the car feel less nippy. Typically £30-£50 for the part, plus fitting.
However, if it's been overfuelling for any length of time, you run the risk of poisoning the catalytic converter. They can't tolerate unburnt petrol - which is a result of an engine running fuel-rich. Cheap cats tend to be quite spartan inside, and fail a lot faster than a decent one. You'll be looking at ~£100 for a decent quality one, I'd imagine. For the part...
TBH, £500 seems pretty fair for it all. Chuck it in and all of the above should still be okay in a years time, making the next MOT cheaper. Who is to say that a newer £2500 car would have less problems? If anything, they tend to be at around the price-point of a car that's just come off finance, and there are some awful still-financed cars out there...
Personally, I'd say only buy what you can afford outright. It's much cheaper than financing depreciation...
Thats a lot of money to spending on an MOT but for what needs doing sounds ok.
For five hundred quid there are some tasty little motors about these days.
Around here anyway.