Service Gone Expensive!

[jeebowhite]

Just had my car back from its 10 year service (122k miles...) and its looking interesting for the MOT

Advisories include:

1 tyre needed (2.0mm across)

Wheel allignment needs doing (rear toe is past 16 degrees)

sidelamp bulbs need replacing (one so may as well do both!) - currently LED's though

Rear plate bulbs flickering (LED Bulbs again)

Coolant staining around engine metail pipe housing (its fine because the leak is plugged anyway!)

battery jump post strap loose, not securing (I dont know if they mean the post itself, or the earthing strap, as the earth strap needs tightining up with a proper bolt, its currently bodged lol)

12v live on battery not totally tightening (they refer again to none ford battery!)

Brake fluid replacement (£45)

Cambelt / Chain renew - Unquoted! (gulps)

Rear brake discs and pads need replacing (95% worn!) quoted £189

Front brake discs and pads need replacing (£229)

Rear Exhaust Pipe going into rear box corroding - £264

Both rear trailing arm bushes starting to seperate - £690

Sump Pan corroded but no leaks yet - £421.24

So total cost for all parts repaired - £1882!

Thinking I will be tackling some if not most of these jobs myself! I found a full set of disks and pads for £100, as I cant afford the 50 - 70 per corner, I think they will have to do! even then I recon I could still get a good 50k miles out of them!

As for the exhaust pipe, the trailing arm bushes and sump plug... who knows!

Haynes, Here I Come!

[iantt]

Ouch!! Common problem is the rear trailing arm bushes, why are they quoting so much? Complete arms? Just get the offending bushes replaced. Probably an hour a side plus the bush from motor factor then get tracking checked.

discs and pads diy.

leave exhaust until it falls apart then get cheap one fitted

Never seen sump corroded on 1.8 yet.

Well, cambelt/ chain , that could be expensive, most people on here think theres only 1 belt to change, wrong, also chain or belt also dependant on age.

[jeebowhite]

Yeah need to try find the right bushes and then call a few garages but yeah I recon they quoted the arms, brakes I am tempted to give them a go, especially as I can get all four corners for 100,will take some time no doubt but I recon a piston windback and my socket set and I might just get away with it. Exhaust, well not sure how cheap cheap is but yeah I would do the leave it for now at least till its red. Timing belt (cam belt) has already been changed, but not the chain or the fuel pump belt. I recon I should be able to get most of it done for 500,i just don't have the 500 lol. Might look for used disks and pads as a get me by if I can get them dirt cheap, not as good as new but if it buys me a year or two then it's worth it....

[iantt]

The chain or belt should have been done at same interval as the top cam belt, wouldnt fit used discs and pads, not for the cost of new are not that bad, do discs really need doing?

if budgets are tight , wait until mot and see what it fails on and just fix for that

[jeebowhite]

Chain wasn't known to the mechanic but I was mainly concerned of the belt as I knew it was cracking, and yeah disks are 95 percent gone

[theredfox]

who quoted these prices to you

[AdeMk1]

Wow, I think someone is trying to have your pants down there James with those quotes, did they magic them out of thin air?

Ive known some garages quote silly prices because they dont want the job, so you will go elsewhere, but that even makes MY eyes water!

[jeebowhite]

Local ford dealer lol, I like em but jobs like these don't go to them lol

[Phil 87]

Ouch that's expensive. For that money you could almost buy a half decent car. Obviously if you can do some of it yourself that's the way to go.

[Goodkat]

The majority would see that bill and think it is time to get a new car. If it is Ford I am surprised they didn't try to get you to sales dept

Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone

[thatfiestaguy]

The majority would see that bill and think it is time to get a new car. If it is Ford I am surprised they didn't try to get you to sales dept

Sent from my Gen 1 WAP phone

XD

[jeebowhite]

so very true!

1 tyre - I can just pick up a part worn round the corner for £26

Wheel allignment - Local business will do that for £25

sidelamp bulbs - currently LED's though - Free as I have a few

Rear plate bulbs - Free as I have a few

Coolant staining - Well thats a previous leak, so I might just steam clean it...

battery jump post strap loose - I have a bolt so I can resecure this properly... free again

12v live on battery - Just buy a couple of battery post shims for £4 and fit those, that should sort that.

Brake fluid replacement - Could probably do this myself for £10, so not sure if I will proceed or if I trust myself!! Oh and I just found a Gunson EEZIBLEED system that will allow me to drain the fluid, so even then, £26 to do the job myself!

Cambelt / Chain renew - Well, I was expecting this anyway, I will be getting them done in a few months when I hopefully have the money for it!

Full pads and discs - All brakes can be replaced for £100 if I can do it myself, wont be race spec, but it should at least keep the car safe and legal....

Rear Exhaust Pipe - I could pick up the rear for £49 and get someone to fit it!

Both rear trailing arm bushes I have seen some people have managed to buy the bushings for around £50 and then fit them for about £120

Sump Pan - I could pick up a sump kit for about £20 as to whether or not I could fit it is anyones guess :P

So total cost for all parts repaired - £1882 from Ford oh and I forgot to add the £600 for all the belts and chains!)

My minimum so far: £430 - I recon I could get someone else to change the belts for about £300 all in.

On a plus side though, the only essentials for the MOT are the tyre, bulbs and brakes, so even then, all I need to spend at the moment is about £150 to get it through the MOT, then just get the other jobs done as soon as I can thereafter....

[BOF]

Just had my car back from its 10 year service (122k miles...) and its looking interesting for the MOT

Advisories include:

1 tyre needed (2.0mm across)

Wheel allignment needs doing (rear toe is past 16 degrees)

sidelamp bulbs need replacing (one so may as well do both!) - currently LED's though

Rear plate bulbs flickering (LED Bulbs again)

Coolant staining around engine metail pipe housing (its fine because the leak is plugged anyway!)

battery jump post strap loose, not securing (I dont know if they mean the post itself, or the earthing strap, as the earth strap needs tightining up with a proper bolt, its currently bodged lol)

12v live on battery not totally tightening (they refer again to none ford battery!)

Brake fluid replacement (£45)

Cambelt / Chain renew - Unquoted! (gulps)

Rear brake discs and pads need replacing (95% worn!) quoted £189

Front brake discs and pads need replacing (£229)

Rear Exhaust Pipe going into rear box corroding - £264

Both rear trailing arm bushes starting to seperate - £690

Sump Pan corroded but no leaks yet - £421.24

So total cost for all parts repaired - £1882!

Thinking I will be tackling some if not most of these jobs myself! I found a full set of disks and pads for £100, as I cant afford the 50 - 70 per corner, I think they will have to do! even then I recon I could still get a good 50k miles out of them!

As for the exhaust pipe, the trailing arm bushes and sump plug... who knows!

Haynes, Here I Come!

Absurd. Those prices are completely absurd.

The rear toe value, if it really is 16 degrees out, is way out. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed, but maybe that's what has caused your tyre to be worn away. (The price of a tyre will depend quite heavily on what size it is, but the only advice that I'd offer is that you should try to avoid 'Cheap chinese rubbish', and that not all suppliers of secondhand tyres are really trustworthy, so, if you go down the secondhand route, be very careful)

Even vaguely pointing in the right direction has to be better than that.

For your bulbs, can you just put back the old-fashioned ones? People like LEDs, but sometimes they are just more trouble than they are worth.

Coolant staining: who cares? It's not an MoT issue, and its not a driving issue. Same thing sump pan, provided that it doesn't start leaking. If it does, it is, potentially, a pain, though.

Exhaust? All exhausts are corroding, its what they do. If it gets to the point that it starts leaking, that's an MoT fail. At that point, a visit to an exhaust centre will probably get you a far better price.

Disks and pads: it might be worth asking your MoT man what he thinks of the disks, as they might be being conservative, there. In any case, decent quality pads are available at a reasonable price, and even getting someone other that Ford to fit will save you loads. Fitting yourself will save even more.

Brake fluid is a safety issue, but it isn't directly an MoT fail issue. I'd guess that the Ford people are just saying on the basis of time since the last change, rather than percentage of water absorbed, so you can probably do all the brake stuff at the same time, flushing the fluid once you've done the pads, etc. One warning about the 'Eazibleed' type systems; you don't always get all of the air out in one person operation; with two people (which isn't what is advertised as the advantage of them), you can always do it, so have an assistant, at least on standby.

Trailing arms are one thing that will be a bit expensive, if you buy the trailing arms themselves. More usually, an independent would remove the old bushes and press in new ones, and that will be cheaper. Still not cheap, but cheaper.

Battery: you can be surprised how little resistance it needs to make starting more difficult, and an intermittant connection while the battery is charging is real trouble, so you need to get this right. Fortunately, it is more about taking the time to do it well, than spending big money (and making sure that it is done up tight enough).

[Ianb]

James... Maybe you need to find a Vauxhall car show and go visit it... Might find you can get someone else's insurance to pay for all that...

Sent via carrier pigeon using Ford OC

[jeebowhite]

couldnt agree more Bof! I am not sure if they consider me to be insane or not...

As for the tyres, well, they probably would have been knocked that badly out at the last crash, as the car hasnt been aligned since! but the tyre wear is even as the entire surface is 2mm. So I suspect I havent noticed as in comparison to my usual driving, I havent driven it far at all. I do know however that it does have the tendancy to pull to a side, so I think there are a few minor issues with it, but between tracking and alignment I am sure it will be resolved!

The tyre for now will be a used tyre, just as a get me by, as when I get some money in a few months, I will probably splash out and get her a full set of new boots after I have paid for her timing and teraclean!

As for the bulbs, yeah I think I have standard filament, so will dig them out and probably put them in, but if not, I will probably just buy the new LED's as I prefer them overall.

As for the sump, yeah its got some life in it left, thankfully its not leaking and to be honest it will do fora bit longer!

As for the exhaust shop, aye, and cheaper still if I buy my own and let them fit!

As for the brakes, well I found a budget set online for £100! full disks and pads because they arent branded. I plan on at least attempting to fit them all myself, so it shouldnt cost me a fortune! unfrotunately I have to go with the budget variety as I dont have any money to pay for this, so it needs to come in as close to zero as possible!

As for the brake fluid, your right, it has been at least 2 years if not longer that I can see the fluid having been changed. I will probably do this at the same time as the pads, but I gather the way to do it, is to remove the excess from the brake reservoir, then start off the eazibleed on the furthest wheel, and as that is sucking out, you then need to continue to fill the reservoir with the new stuff. then when the new fluid is drawn through, stop the draw, and repeat on the other three wheels.

Trailing arms, I found the bushes for £30, so if I can find someone to do the work for me, then better still. Depending how much of a nightmare it is, I could even jack the car, remove the arms and drop them off at the garage, let them just pull out the old, and put in the new and I just fit the new ones. Must admit this is the most unlikely scenario, but another option none the less.

As for the battery, I am hoping the simple caps will do the job. Ironically though, I went out to the bonnet yesterday, popped it, and they are greased up from the service and not moving at all.... hmmmm - I will probably still do the shims to prevent future problems, but otherwise even then its only £4!

As for Ian, I would be more likely to buy a scrapped Corsa, drive it there and accidentally lose control as I go around, wiping them out...