A Shiter's Day ( MG and Vx Cavalier content)

[CortinaDave]

Well yesterday was a proper shite filled day for me which started with this in fife at 9am:

 

 

And ended in Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria with this at 3am:

 

 

The ZT had served me well: paid a grand for it back in August last year and got a full years motoring and 30k out of it without much issue. By this august though it had a waning clutch, a dodgy ecu, a need for new rubber, a knackered in tank fuel pump and a snapped bonnet cable so I decided to move on and get rid.

 

Parked it up in the drive and did very little with it til I took a notion to list it on the ZT forum on monday for £350 non running, no MOT with all faults delared. within a day a local guy had bought it for full asking which was a bit of a result I think given it was otherwise going over the weighbridge.

 

Went to work and at 7pm headed south for the lake district to collect the ebay tat thread cavalier i won the other day.

 

got there at 10pm and its -2c. the car seems a belter - floors are weld free, arches are perfect, engine is whisper quiet and bar a bit of sagging on the roofcloth at the very back i cant pick much fault except.....

 

Alternator fooked. it was charging enough that I reckon itd have got us home during the day but as it was dark o clock with the lights on we got around 10 miles before it was stone flat and conked out.

 

A jump start worked for a few more miles before we realised we were pissing against the wind so I rang the RAC.

 

Recovery guy told me the RAC have to pay £3.50 PER MILE base to base to recover cars and so faced with a 170 mile each way tow to get it back to Fife they offered to take it back to carlisle and fit a new alternator at their expense which they duly did.

 

Picking it up tomorrow. Given I've now got a bloody tidy cavalier with it one major fault fixed gratis for just over 300 quid I'm delighted

[AnthonyG]

Sounds like a result.

[nacho man]

Result that it still has some rear arches, cavaliers are great cars. Lets see some more pics when you get it back so we can perv.

[CortinaDave]

Yeah I'm chuffed. Have to get back to carlisle to collect it but its only an hour and a half on the train from edinburgh and as it drove really well bar the non charge issue, im happy to just train it down and drive it back up.

 

Its got a really full service history, timing belt done last year and all work up to 2013 at a vauxhall dealer. All it needs is a half decent set of cavalier alloys for the win.

[cort16]

I thinking conking out on the way home normally bodes well for a long term relationship . It's just throwing all it's cards on the table right off the bat. Is it a 2.0 8v?

[worldofceri]

Getting a new alternator fitted in lieu of a tow home sounds like a major result.

 

I'm tempted to A-frame my Beetle to the Outer Hebrides and see if I can get a new engine out of them.

[CortinaDave]

Cort - its got the 2.0 16v ecotec. I'd rather have the 8v but the engine seems well serviced and pretty sweet for 135k.

 

RAC must hemorrhage cash in this kind of situ. I think i pay them about 100 quid a year. Going by the guy last night, the tow company would have billed RAC for the sharp end of a grand to haul my ass home... As it is they've still had to wear a 40 mile tow to carlisle, and the supply and fit of an alternator so its probably still been a sore one.

 

Still - works for me! Apparently its quite common they'll cough up for repairs rather than a tow if you're  a long way from home.. so theoretically they'll stump up for quite a bit of work rather than wear £3.50 a mile over a long distance

[CortinaDave]

OK so - cutting a long story short, the garage fitted a new alternator and my mate went to pick it up. He got five miles and its died with a flat battery again so the problem aint solved.

 

he's stranded in carlisle as we speak and ringing the RAC. Heres the thing - when you turn the ignition to pos. 2 - the battery light isnt coming on.

 

Any ideas of fuses etc to check??? its a 95 ecotec 16v

[Hertz]

Bad earth maybe on the Alternator?

[Richard]

Is it a rubber mounted alternator? I know some Vauxhalls had them. If it is and the earth wire is broken a jump lead between the alternator body and engine block will get you home.

[skattrd]

Battery light broken? Wasn't there something about if the light doesn't work then neither does the alternator on some motors?

[Rusty_Rocket]

Eco has the alternator bolted directly. It needs a working battery light to charge properly but even then, I'd say that wouldn't flatten a battery in 5 miles.

Suspect an alternator fault..

[Cavcraft]

CavalierDave

[CortinaDave]

Not if i cant get the bastard home I wont be. RAC have told me to FRO, so I need to sort something else out.

 

WhiteVanMan's in Melrose with an a-frame but he aint answering his fone at the mo.

[John F]

Cavaliers are for WINNERS. They just are.

[Danblez]

What? RAC have not fixed your car or given you a lift home? Together with Freds recent experience of them I would be giving then a wide berth in future.

[sierraman]

Pulling up a blank probably but is the alternator connected up properly?

[CortinaDave]

RAC were really good on the night, but have gone all arsey today. Moral of the story is i should have just had them haul it home there and then.They wont touch it now. I reckon I'm going to fire back down with three very heavy batteries and just drive it home. Easiest plan

[Cavcraft]

I'd take them to task over that. I'm pretty sure they will recover you for a fault, but not again for the same thing. Bearing in mind they had the fucker repaired for you, how can they refuse now?

[CortinaDave]

I spent the afternoon arguing with them and I cant be arsed anymore. They wanted to take it back to the garage but were saying they wouldnt cover anymore costs blah blah

 

some shit in our ts and cs blah blah

 

Essence is, theyre not touching it so I just need an easy way to get it back

[Bren]

Cracking buy.

 

I will never understand how vauxhal went from superb cars like this to hateful junk like the vectra C and insignia.

[Cavcraft]

Cracking buy.

 

hateful junk like the vectra C

 

 

Steady now, my internet lawyers are watching.

[2MB]

Surely their initial attempt to fix the problem (to save themselves money) means that they are liable?

[CortinaDave]

The long and short of it is - because I bought the car 15 mins before the breakdown - it wasnt taxed as of course the new rules state tax doesnt transfer. I was planning just to tax it next day once I'd got it home.

 

Ts and Cs state they dont touch an untaxed vehicle, so im bang to rights and actually lucky they didnt pick up on that the other day. I taxed it yesterday, but its still classed as the same breakdown so dates back to weds night.

 

Its shit, but tough titty for me. It was the area manager that came out today and he was actually threatening to call the police to tell them it was untaxed for 24 hours.

 

The reason they were so arsey is when my mate picked it up from the garage today it turns out RAC had decided instead to only pay for some of the work, not all - and left me with a bill for £178 - that led obviously to me going mental, as I hadnt authorised the work, and while they had told me it MIGHT have been the case that they wouldnt cover it all - they would ring me beforehand to authorise - and if i wasnt happy with the quote they'd still relay me home

 

They'd just bashed on and done it anyway, so I was on the phone for hours about that - my argument being that if they'd relayed me home I'd have got an alternator for £50 and done the work myself.

 

So eventually the bill came down to the £50 and so they weren't best pleased to get a call ten minutes later saying it was broken down again!

 

It is what it is. I think the best way forward is to give up on that particular avenue! I have however already cancelled my membership

[cort16]

What a shower of shite. Sounds like the rac have lost the plot.

[CortinaDave]

In fairness, I was fully prepared for a Ts and Cs fest from them when it was down to a case of them having to cough up for a 300 plus mile round trip relay. Just didnt think of that angle!

[Noel Tidybeard]

i think we need to change our location judging by the thread content lol

[trigger]

What with Freds drama and now yours I'm pretty pleased I'm not with the RAC now.

[oman5]

They are not the cheapest, but I have never had a problem of any kind with the AA, you are covered no matter what you are driving and no age limit on vehicles. They recover you to your choice of destination.

Last time I called them out, the guy was over the moon to be working on a volvo 740. "Proper car, that is. None of this electronic bollocks like the moderns."

They also seem to be very clued up and will normally try and fix it there and then.

 

Nice cav, they were a damned good all rounder.

[cort16]

The only time I had an issue with the aa was when they sent a contractor. They had no interest in trying to fix or diagnose the problem they just stuck it on a flat bed and took me home. Other than that they've been really good .