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

[Guest]

I get a bit scared spending large amounts of money on a car that will never return it. A decent V6 with a new belt and a years ticket is what? £1000- £1200 in decent nick? If it owes you less, but you can liquidate it for more, then it's worth doing. Spending a grand on something you'd get £500 back for isn't worth it. I always worry about sinking a load of money in, then it asks for more and more, and you can't get rid because it owes too much. Get the belts and mot done, then the clutch goes.. do you carry on? Suppose this can happen to anything at any time, but makes me jittery.

[bangernomics]

I do like it. Theres not much around under a grand that floats my boat as much as the ZT's do.

 

It blats up and down the 200 mile round trip to my missus house at the weekend without issue, and its run all year on fuel from the scrappy.

 

I think though the water pump is the tipping point. That involves doing all the timing belts and even at mates rates from my local tame mechanic itd be hundreds.

 

As it stands I'll keep running it as is til may and probably bail it, albiet with regret, 20k miles for 350 quid has been one of my best cars to date

Hasn’t colc got one for sale? Pull best bits and bin it.

 

 

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[1duck]

If you like it then you need to find someone whos breaking one. You could potentially fix 90% of that for a couple of hundred quid if you found a breaker with fresh brakes and 2 decent tyres. The question is finding one though as that perfect donor will only turn up the day after you've either spent £500+ on parts or scrapped it.

 

I'll just wait for the flaming shall I? Yes I would reuse brakes if they were in very good condition and could make sure I put the pads and discs back together in the same order. Years ago I'd have just reused the discs and bought new pads but these days the pads seem to last longer than the discs.

Jesus, I just bought new front discs and pads for my civic it was 40 quid...I mean I can't really talk because I buy part worn tyres which I suppose is just as bad actually thinking about it, but for some reason second hand brakes make me shiver at the thought.

[Isaac Hunt]

Difficult decisions. I read somewhere of a guy who would never spend any money on a car, throw it way and get another was the view.

 

To ‘stay ahead of the game’ you need a sequence of cheap cars that will deliver as your ZT has done. Two cars at £500 in a year and your a grand down, less bridge recovery value.

 

Given your history with it, I’d have a crack at getting it through the test.

 

BUT many a time I’ve been down a scrapyard for parts only to find the car I’m taking them off is in better nick than the fekking car I’m fixing.

 

Water pump and belt is a bit of a challenge, assume your playing cambelt roulette at the moment in which case anything can happen.

 

It’s hypothetical replacement could shite a cambelt or a clutch within weeks of acquisition. So assume you get £100 scrap, replacement car for £400 + swopover costs and your in for £350 ish. Then in a couple of months if your replacement goes pop, your £350 less £100 + the whole round again, your up to £600.

 

Beating the system, where the system says you have to pay for your motoring by depreciation or repair costs can be done, but takes some doing.

 

 

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[sierraman]

Jesus, I just bought new front discs and pads for my civic it was 40 quid...I mean I can't really talk because I buy part worn tyres which I suppose is just as bad actually thinking about it, but for some reason second hand brakes make me shiver at the thought.

You can quite easily judge the condition of brakes usually. They’re also rarely in real terms abused beyond what they are designed for. Plus they deteriorate quickly when left so if pulled off a car that’s just come in they’ll be ok, you couldn’t part some out that had been sat on something for six months they would be fucked. Tyres on the other hand could be sat for years, I once went to buy some Contis with 4mm of tread on them, checked the date code and they were nearly 14 years old. Where had they been?

 

Tyres also could have been run under pressure or twatted up kerbs every day.

[burraston2006]

I generally don't get attached to motors. They are just a money pit disguised as a lump of metal. I try to average £600 per year ( purchase and parts) which in my mind is 3 months payment on the BMW/Audi you'll never own. If the mot failure is consumables tyres, brakes etc it'll get done otherwise here comes the bridge! This system seems to have worked for me for the last 8 or so years. If it was mine I'd get shot of it.

[mercrocker]

I'd probably keep the ZT.....A grand would maybe sort it out.   If you know and like the car and it hasn't rotted are you going to get something as good for a grand?   £500 Rover/MGs seem to be getting thinner on the ground and will all likely need another monkey spending on them - there's your £1000.  

[The_Equalizer]

As far as I am concerned cars aren't cheap however you try and play it. Someone on here recently stated that the car you currently own is the cheapest one and there's a lot to be said for that. It is not easy picking a decent second-hand car especially in the Autoshite price range. People normally get shot of cars at this price because there is a big bill either now or just round the corner.

 

My take is I can buy a car the I would never have when new - my Merc CLK would have been close to £40K new in today's money. It cost me £1550 and I have spent about the same again over the last 32 months and 11K miles. It's probably a better car now then when I bought it, but there are still 'non-MoT' things to do. At the end of the day I have enjoyed motoring about in a floppy top Benz for, what I think to be, relatively little money and have a car that should have loads of life still in it. That said, I am very, very tempted by a X308 Jag.

[mercrocker]

There comes a point when you should stop adding it up anyway.....My Minor has had over 7K off me.   Seven poxy grand!   But that is over 14 years, which neatly works out at £500 a year.   Ten quid a week - for much of which it was my only car.   Plus I still have it....  

[sierraman]

I’ve never replaced a car and thought I ought to have kept the old one. I don’t know perhaps I look at it too financially.

[sutty2006]

When parts you need become rare and hard to find. I was bidding on a complete spare car on eBay with a dead engine. Got outbid by 40 quid. Unfortunately I was way over budget anyway and couldn’t afford any more. It’s probably been stripped or bangered now. Shame.

[leafsprung]

Given the airbag problem I would imagine your insurance may well be null & void. 

 

My first thought too.

 

I know there's lots discussed about the viability or not of older cars airbag systems but if the very worst did happen then it wouldn't be hard to prove that the cars safety features were not as they left the factory. For that reason alone I'd have reluctantly got rid.

 

(He says in full acknowledgement of having driven a Morris Minor daily with occupant crash safety features comprising a stiff upper lip and 3/8th of fack all else)      

[sierraman]

You wouldn’t be expected to be aware if the airbag would work unless it could be proven you had prior knowledge of a disabling fault with the system.

[stephen01]

I bridged a MOT'd, running, 54 plate, honda accord. It was a tool for me, a very good and MPG friendly tool but it needed too much doing to it to make it worth while. It was a shame but bridge money was as much as I paid for it and saved me the fucking about with ebay.

Would bridge again. 

[cms206]

I hate 75s and ZTs so I'd just bin the cunt off.

 

HTH.

 

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[coupso]

So... my 2002 ZT V6 has about six weeks ticket left. I paid £350 for it a year and a bit ago. its been faultless bar needing a thermostat back in september.

 

BUT... do I bin it when the test ends?

 

Here's where its at. I did twat a kerb which set off the seat airbags last year. I've replaced the seats and the wheel I cracked but getting the airbag system working again means a new airbag ECU and replacing the 3 rear seatbelts and pretensioners.

 

Theres a clunk from the front end - i suspect it needs 1 possibly 2 front arms.

 

2 tyres need changed.

 

the back box is knackered

 

It could do with front discs and the pad warning light has just come on.

 

And its developed a leak from what seems to be the water pump. Its minor but obviously its going to need done sooner rather than later and its a good few hundred quid as its an arse of a job.

 

Other than that it runs and drives brilliantly, is only on 108k and looks great.

 

So....bail out now when its been perfect bangernomics or spend the cash to get another year?

If you like it fix it up I reckon. Not sure about the water pump costs but the rest isn't too scary. Tyres, exhaust and front clunk should be easy sorted. The droplinks on these are almost service items and more than likely the cause of the noise. Cheap and easy to do. The seatbelt ecu needs coding to the car and the system reset. There's a lad in Tayport with a T4 could probably do that for you. Why replace the rears belts? Full set of discs and pads on mine cost £80 and a morning to replace.

 

It's saveable at reasonable cost but that's only if you want it. If you've lost the love punt it or bridge it.

 

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[anonymous user]

I usually draw the line just after I have spent loads of money fixing it and want it gone before anything else breaks.

 

Then start again with the next one.

[1duck]

You can quite easily judge the condition of brakes usually. They’re also rarely in real terms abused beyond what they are designed for. Plus they deteriorate quickly when left so if pulled off a car that’s just come in they’ll be ok, you couldn’t part some out that had been sat on something for six months they would be fucked. Tyres on the other hand could be sat for years, I once went to buy some Contis with 4mm of tread on them, checked the date code and they were nearly 14 years old. Where had they been?

 

Tyres also could have been run under pressure or twatted up kerbs every day.

 

Thanks for now making me paranoid about tyres too! I do know it's completely illogical and i can't honestly explain it, but I just think for the price of new brake pads and discs it's barely worth scrimping.  I might consider part worn discs maybe, but for pads...i mean what does a set of pads really cost? 20 quid? 

[Chris2cv]

I had a similar conversation with a customer this morning. Obviously working at a dealer, I should say trade it in, but I think it is often better the devil you know. The sort of people driving cheap bangers (which includes me) generally don't have money for a new car, so would be buying another cheap banger, but is it any better than what you already have?

 

 My Clio is worth nothing, but generally costs little to keep on the road and is still a good car. It bombs along and I like it, I will probably keep it until something disastrous happens, £500 repair etc.

 

The 2cv passed the sensible point of scrapping probably at least 15 years ago. I will never get back what I have spent on it, but it is appreciating, and I still enjoy it. Except in hurricanes.

 

 The moped has been on death row for at least a year, but it (mostly) just keeps going. It is worth nothing, but hasn't had a proper service in years, just gets patched when it breaks and owes me nothing. The next big bill will probably kill it and I will be sad. I always said it was just a tool and I wouldn't get attached, but it has served me very well. It amuses me when it backfires and scares pedestrians, I don't have to wash it or chain it, and don't really care too much about it, but yet I use it 5 or 6 days a week.

 

 Basically - What will it cost you to fix it, and can you get anything better for the same money, or would you just get a different set of problems?

[sierraman]

Thanks for now making me paranoid about tyres too! I do know it's completely illogical and i can't honestly explain it, but I just think for the price of new brake pads and discs it's barely worth scrimping. I might consider part worn discs maybe, but for pads...i mean what does a set of pads really cost? 20 quid?

Again you’d be picky, I’m talking about swapping off something that’s been a going concern, not something that’s been sat in a pool of rusty water for 6 weeks.

[catsinthewelder]

I've never reused pads or discs but if I was breaking a car to fix my broken example (something I've never done) I would swap bits over if it seemed worthwhile. 

 

In the past when you got through 5 sets of pads to a pair of discs I would have considered buying good secondhand discs to use with new pads.  Now I'd only do it if they were free and in front of me as modern discs seem to have a shorter life than pads.  If the donor car has new discs then it probably has new pads too which are already bedded to that disc.

 

On Thursday I'm hopefully going to raid a load of parts from my friends Rover before it gets scrapped.  Mostly wiring but I will grab the one good tyre for mine.  I know its fairly recent because I bought it when I owned the car 6 months ago.

[Zantimisfit]

What is a line? I am unfamiliar with this term.

 

They are normally red and come in packs of four and can't be crossed under any circumstances.

[captain_70s]

I don't.

 

Actually, that's a lie. If I don't like a car I'll stop spending money on it, hence ditching the Civic and replacing it with the Acclaim. The Acclaim probably isn't much cheaper to run in real terms but I don't resent owning it, so it's a fair trade.

[skoda_fan]

I’ve never replaced a car and thought I ought to have kept the old one. I don’t know perhaps I look at it too financially.

I'm the complete opposite and always regret getting rid. In fact I find it easy to acquire stuff, and hard to get rid. I look at it too emotionally.

[shoddybanger]

If a car develops an attitude and starts playing me, requiring unexpected maintenance in parts it shouldn't, and generally becoming a bothering nuisance, it's gone. With kids and a dog in the house, I will not tolerate a needy snowflake of a car.

[Sealtainn]

I have a policy of spending way more than the cars ever worth.

It’s served me well on the £350 Granada that’s had several thousand thrown at it, so much so it’ll never be sold and be passed onto my son.

 

 

 

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[clayts450]

I'm at this set of crossroads with the 620.

 

Failed its MoT last week - the work needed isn't too onerous, and I've sorted one thing out (iffy handbrake) already.

 

The upper control arms on the rear suspension need replacement (or rather the dust covers do, but I'd rather not piss about with tiny little clips and disintegrated rubber) and some cheap and cheerful* auction parts have been procured.

 

However, there is an innocuous looking 10mm bolt which attaches to a cover over the ball joint which, legend has it according to the 600 appreciation Facefart group, will shear off for fun. Advice is, get some heat on it. No torch. So £25 for a B&Q cheapie, more for a MAPP canister, in the hope the bolts come off.

 

 

The biggest PITA, however, is the leaking PS pipe which needs hoiking out and taking down to Pirtek, cost unknown.

 

Whilst fiddling around underneath I noted more tinworm than I first remembered - some surface rust on the petrol tank which looks to be salvageable but ominious nonetheless (not picked up specifically in the MoT, just the usual 'general corrosion on underside').

 

I also made the mistake of looking at the exhaust heatshield in a funny way - a rusty hunk of it dropped off.

 

So, £230 car. Owned it for two months. 54K on the clock. Mechanically perfect, but cambelt roulette. My self-applied Bangernomics rules - the repairs will likely cost less than the price I paid, ergo it should stay.

 

Decision ? Er....

[Jim Bell]

A fortnight usually.

[loserone]

I need to lend you the leaf for a fortnight

[New POD]

Daughters Bini needed a clutch. I paid £425.

2 months later it needs a gearbox.

I paid £300 she paid £400

They mentioned in passing some coolant or water lying on top of the gearbox housing.

 

Wife is suggesting that a 98k Bini which is only 17.5 years old should be replaced.

 

Like fuck.