[lfc]

hi guys/girls,the car failed the mot yesterday(vectra b 1996 saloon) on the following things: 1:nearside front power stearing ram(s) leaking from a failed joint 2:nearside rear brake pipe excessively corroded.and 3:rear exhaust has a mounting that it does not fully support the exhaust system....this is taken word for word off the failure sheet,now this garage where i took it as quoted me £500 + just to do the leaking power steering rams which i think is way over the top (considering the car's value in today's market) i know everybody has to earn a living but to rip people off come on. would like to hear your opions and how much should we be looking at for the total cost of all repairs many thanx......

 

[DTIscott]

get some pictures up of the bits that failed

 

[wurzelgummage]

yeah its expensive - but consider this - the steering rack has to come out of the car and i cannot think of a worse job to do - you either have to drop the subframe and exhaust while hanging the engine and box from a skyhook or else you take the engine out of the car - an absolute bollix of a job

 

[Oracle]

Bit dear yes, but as said labour would be a fair whack of the cost.
Your right too, given the price of cars these days unless its something special to you i'd buy another.

 

[derkins]

The market value of a car has NO bearing on what it will cost to fix...garages aren't ripping people off at every opportunity - they don't do discounts 'cos the repairs are worth more than the car...it costs what it costs.

It'd be £500 if the car was worth £50 or £50k.

It's an MOT failed '96 Vectra with a £500+bill to fix it - worth £400 on a good day as it stands... By the time you pay to get it fixed you'll never recoup your outlay even if you sold it straight away with a 12mth MOT.

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh - but I KNOW what it's like to spend £800 on a car that was only worth...£750.

 

[eddieace]

i like to think that even though you've spent the money on a large repair thats more than the value of the car you are in the knowledge that it has been replaced and unlikely to go again in the future of you having it (in theory). however if you went out and bought another car that was equal value of said repair to avoid this repair you have no idea what will end up going wrong th new one. maybe even the same problem you had first off!

if you do, you know its done
if you dont, will the next one?

 

[derkins]

i like to think that even though you've spent the money on a large repair thats more than the value of the car you are in the knowledge that it has been replaced and unlikely to go again in the future of you having it (in theory). however if you went out and bought another car that was equal value of said repair to avoid this repair you have no idea what will end up going wrong th new one. maybe even the same problem you had first off!

if you do, you know its done
if you dont, will the next one?

Yeh, but if the repair bill is coming in at say £650 all in to get it through the MOT...£650 would get a similar ages vehicle with 10/11 months MOT already on it...and the existing car car be parted out / sold / scrapped for additional funds.

Sure there is a risk that what you buy may go tits-up and it's SO easy to convince yourself that an broken car is basically worthless - so you might as well pay to fix it to use or sell. It's a tough one - but from the outside - ie. NOT my car, my opinion is that after the repairs the car will be worth...the cost of the repairs and nothing more...maybe less.

 

[solorider]

but there is anither thing to think of,you could spend £650 on another car,how do you know that this car has not been botched to get it through an mot? it could fail at any time,second hand cars are a risk at the best of the times,or you could spend £650 on your currant car which you know is reliable and has no major problems that you know of,unless your car had major structural problems i would say get it done,at least you will have a couple of years motoring in your car

 

[hixxy9241]

a garage quoted me "atleast £300+" to replace my brake lines for the MOT which i wasnt happy with so i went to another garage and they did it with MOT for £170 i think lol

see if you can get 2 more quotes from garages and see what they come up with

also theres always little run arounds in the cars for sale section on here

free plug lol
http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?t=181369

 

[CDX DI]

Get some more quotes.....then decide whether to keep or replace with a new one. (which would be my route)