My 21 year old MK1 Focus Zetec (101603 miles) was refused it's latest MOT due to rust underneath - sills/suspension wishbones/arches all both sides.

Quotes are £1000 to repair with one garage pointing out additional stuff the MOT tester missed - hole in back box (which there is as can hear it!) and needs brakes/discs

Question is do I pay for the repairs and hope for it to pass and potentially get another year or two out of it or...?

Couple of other things that also need doing are the speedo sensor (drops to zero and clock computer goes off completely) and my fog light/reverse bulb is intermittently working (not a bulb issue) and the clutch can get juddery sometimes when car first starts and gets moving (no juddering when on the move with gear change)

Is my trusty car becoming too much of a money pit now and is it time to bid goodnight??

My y reg started to go rusty on the sills etc apart from that nothing else wrong 1.6 petrol I just got rid off it and it’s not worth the costs sadly I then got a mk2.5 estate 1.8 diesel again nothing major dpf shake but that then died as the fuel pump went but they are chain driven so not easy fix sadly

i now drive a 2015 1.5tdci zero tax 

You need to do a + and - list. You'll have had the car for a while so will have an emotional attachment to it, impossible to quantify. Then the £1000, over a year that would be £83/month, can you comfortably get a replacement car for that outlay? If finances can stretch, probably is worth looking at a younger replacement, but I have always been a fan of repairing when feasible. 

I have just spent money getting a replacement rear subframe replaced in my 16 year old Mk2, to me, it was still worth the repair rather than throwing into landfill. I could drive my car for another 2 decades and still have a far lesser 'carbon footprint', rather than the purchase of one new car, if that sort of thing interests you (it doesn't me! LOL)

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

You need to do a + and - list. You'll have had the car for a while so will have an emotional attachment to it, impossible to quantify. Then the £1000, over a year that would be £83/month, can you comfortably get a replacement car for that outlay? If finances can stretch, probably is worth looking at a younger replacement, but I have always been a fan of repairing when feasible. 

I have just spent money getting a replacement rear subframe replaced in my 16 year old Mk2, to me, it was still worth the repair rather than throwing into landfill. I could drive my car for another 2 decades and still have a far lesser 'carbon footprint', rather than the purchase of one new car, if that sort of thing interests you (it doesn't me! LOL)

Thanks for replying. I'm generally a repair where possible person too which is why I've had the Focus so long. We've both equally looked after each other which is where the emotional attachment comes in, like you say!

It's so tricky to decide what's best and tbh I do such low mileage and sometimes go days without driving, perhaps I should not repair and go without a car for few months until used car market prices ease and spend a bit more on another car. 

2 hours ago, gibbo1471 said:

My y reg started to go rusty on the sills etc apart from that nothing else wrong 1.6 petrol I just got rid off it and it’s not worth the costs sadly I then got a mk2.5 estate 1.8 diesel again nothing major dpf shake but that then died as the fuel pump went but they are chain driven so not easy fix sadly

i now drive a 2015 1.5tdci zero tax 

Thanks. I think that's my gut feeling in that it's too expensive to repair. One garage say repair and another (the owner of which I know) says not worth it - the cynical side of me thinks the first garage just want my money! 

If you do get it repaired you might or might not get another year out of it, but next year there will be more rust that will need dealt with. I'm speaking from experience, I have my own welding equipment and the skill to use it and have kept cars going for years by doing welding repairs  every year but there is a point when it is just not practical to repair them anymore even if you are not paying for the labour as in my case. 

Pros and cons. When you buy another car you are always entering the unknown and possibly buying more problems that the previous owner may or may not have known about. I don’t know what you have in mind to spend on another car. Used car prices are quite high at the moment (but you might get an old diesel cheap in london due to extended ulez area.).    My brother had a 2007 fiesta which had some problems and decided it was better / cheaper to buy another car. He bought a 2009 focus on which a huge number of things went wrong over 2 years. In hindsight it probably would have been better to have got the fiesta sorted . He then took the focus to the scrap metal merchants because he felt he couldnt inflict that car on anyone else. He then bought a 2006 corsa which he has had for a year and its been good. But there’s a lot of luck involved in cars of that age/price. 

My wife had a 2001 focus which we sold in 2015 . Rust wise it was good other than a big hole rusted through on the underside of the front subframe near front suspension arm mount. I welded a big patch on it with my mig welder. I was surprised it went there.