When do you decide to draw the line with a car?

[Isaac Hunt]

MGZR bought £600 ish in 2013. Can do all myself, handy with spanners.

 

About 6 weeks after purchase, ominous noise from cambelt area, stop driving, was going to do belt anyway. Turns out it may have had a belt ( I predict a secondhand head, conclusion reached a few months later). Tensioner has been fitted wrong way, common mistake according to my local MGR specialist from whom I purchase tensioner, one of the manuals shows it fitted the wrong way FFS.

 

Belts, Tensioner, Waterpump, good to go. Car purchase and parts now at about £675.

 

Two months later , CRB fails. Threw a complete clutch in it even though I had a good used CRB to hand. Car and parts now at £750

 

Threw two new tyres at it and whacked it in for its first MOT with us.

 

Fail on TRE and two CV Gaiters. FFS the gaiters were ok when I did the clutch 3 months earlier. New TRE and CV Gaiters and MOT and car and parts are at £875

 

All good, then the OMGHGF. Multi layer gasket rotted so I threw an elastomer gasket on it. New fanimold gaskets, re-used stretch bolts (bit of clenching as they were done up, stretchbolt roulette.

 

Car and parts now £926

 

That was 5 years and 55k miles ago. Since then, O&F, couple of sets front pads, that is all.

 

Car cost inc depreciation and parts less than £200 a year.

 

Paint falling off car due to moody lacquer on a ‘repair’ before we had the car.

 

Sometimes, when you get them sorted they can be good. It is a roulette though. Not sure if I would pay someone else to do the work though, costs really mount up with labour.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bramz7]

Echoing others....

 

It really depends on the following for me:

 

1) Do you really like the car enough?

2) Will the repairs get the car to a level where expenditure is unlikely other than servicing for the time being?

3) Will the money you plan on spending on it get you a top example of something else you fancy?

 

I had a 156 estate which would have cost £1k to pass an MOT, so I had it scrapped. I didn't even really like it. Even if I had, it had a 'self destruct' vibe about it.

[mark1986]

Going through the same dilemma myself this weekend. Likely to push through with the MOT this time as a) I need a car to get to work and haven't seen anything remotely interesting as a replacement. 

 

I am very much hoping (and fairly confident having been over the car pretty comprehensively) that anything else requiring fixing will be firmly within my own capabilities for the foreseeable future. 

 

Watch that comment come back and bite me