ZT-T gone, now an Audi w@nker. Piaggio Porter still poorly.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Ah, yes, no getting out of that one. No point taking it for a different MOT. Maybe just shop around for quotes on the work?

Thanks. as I say, I've never had reason to doubt them before. Don't have the time to go touting it aroud to save a few bob, the question is do I spaff £1,100 on this 24 yo car or get a couple of hundred back to put into another mistake  a cheep bargain.

[Wibble]

I feel a bit guilty for alerting you to the Audi now. But it’s still a low mileage car and I’d be tempted to just get it done, rather than buy another cheap unknown car, which could shit itself in a couple of months. For the time you’ve had the Audi, a hire car would have cost more, plus I got to meet you and @bramz7

[Sigmund Fraud]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

the question is do I spaff £1,100 on this 24 yo car or get a couple of hundred back to put into another mistake  a cheep bargain.

Thing is, unless you do your own spannering, most repairs on a sub-£1000 car will not make economical sense.

To use the Audi as an example : A home mechanic would buy a £15 bag of universal ball joint boots and spend the best part of a day dismantling the front suspension to replace them. A garage would never replace just the boots, they would quote for four upper arms and 4 hours of labour to be on the safe side - that's already equal to what the car was bought for !

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Wibble said:

I feel a bit guilty for alerting you to the Audi now. But it’s still a low mileage car and I’d be tempted to just get it done, rather than buy another cheap unknown car, which could shit itself in a couple of months. For the time you’ve had the Audi, a hire car would have cost more, plus I got to meet you and @bramz7

No need to feel guilty, it's a good car. Rubber deterioration is shite. Meeting you both was great, to be repeated, hopefully. 

[Wibble]

10 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

No need to feel guilty, it's a good car. Rubber deterioration is shite. Meeting you both was great, to be repeated, hopefully. 

Hope so mate

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Thing is, unless you do your own spannering, most repairs on a sub-£1000 car will not make economical sense.

To use the Audi as an example : A home mechanic would buy a £15 bag of universal ball joint boots and spend the best part of a day dismantling the front suspension to replace them. A garage would never replace just the boots, they would quote for four upper arms and 4 hours of labour to be on the safe side - that's already equal to what the car was bought for !

Yup. 40/30 years ago I was more hands on. Have some knowledge, less enthusiasm, or facilities now. Those bolts look evil tho

[Matty]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Thanks. as I say, I've never had reason to doubt them before. Don't have the time to go touting it aroud to save a few bob, the question is do I spaff £1,100 on this 24 yo car or get a couple of hundred back to put into another mistake  a cheep bargain.

I'd never look at it like that. The days of cars with a ticket and 300 max bills are long gone. If you like the car, and the bones of it are right then mend it. There's a lot of massive bills out there for much more complex cars that you already have a rake more money tied up in.

[Sigmund Fraud]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Yup. 40/30 years ago I was more hands on. Have some knowledge, less enthusiasm, or facilities now. Those bolts look evil tho

Those bolts are evil, though this being a low mileage London car may have limited the corrosion that usually gets them stuck.

There is also a special tool for the job - it's basically a drift that fits on an air hammer and drives the bolts out fairly easily. So if you have a local VAG specialist, it may be worth giving them a call on Tuesday as labour costs may be lower ?

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

There is also a special tool for the job - it's basically a drift that fits on an air hammer and drives the bolts out fairly easily. So if you have a local VAG specialist, it may be worth giving them a call on Tuesday as labour costs may be lower ?

We do have a main dealer, but I'd guess their higher hourly rate would negate any time saving. No harm in asking, though, thanks.

[High Jetter]

After much deliberation I bit the bullet and chucked the Audi at the garage.  2 new  arms, 2 wishbones, one rear spring - and the dearest part was an O2 sensor at £127 + VAT. Labour came to £390 odd, parts £390 odd, total including the MOT and VAT was £985. Picked it up on Monday, it's driving nicely.

It's got a weird habit of very occasionally turning the hazards on when started - and the only way to stop them is turn off and start again - hitting the hazard button does nothing. Any ideas?

MIL is still on, I'll just have to live with that I think. ABS light comes on occasionally but I've been told that's the brake light switch.

Oh and I'm covering for my delivery driver this week as he's on holiday. I was in the van calling at one of my customers, a car main dealer, when I had a DOH! moment. I should at least have had a word with them, they're an Audi dealer! Though it's probably way too old for them to know much about it, TBH.

 

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

It's got a weird habit of very occasionally turning the hazards on when started - and the only way to stop them is turn off and start again - hitting the hazard button does nothing. Any ideas?

Sounds to me like the alarm going off? Perhaps someone has disconnected the siren? 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Sounds to me like the alarm going off? Perhaps someone has disconnected the siren? 

That's good thinking, but I have accidentally triggered the alarm and the siren worked then. I'll check it again though.