Argh! Car problem as I am about to sell to become DF!

Ostinato

Hey!
Some of you helped me the other week basically come to the conclusion that as a student I should be enjoying being young and spending my money on myself basically, instead of being in a big overdraft debt that I used to buy a car and I should basically go back to a wee cheap runaround just to get me about.

I was getting excited in doing so (as sad as I was lol) as I have always been careful with money and dont like being in the red like this!

Anyway just as I was going to start organising it for sale I have had an engine light come on and a warning of anti pollution fault. It is a peugeot 307 and i have googled it and basically it is an extremely common problem which isn't serious or anything and my car has been running fine even with it. It is usually caused by cheap supermarket petrols being used and stuff....

Anyway I have been trying to get rid of it anyway and obviously just wanna sell the car asap to get out of this red... but feel a bit down atm as just as I am about to I get a stupid light on and it's kinda thrown things off track

I know someone probs still would buy it with the light on but it would definitely impact on the price which I am not really wanting to do as I boguht it only a month ago!

In addition, my MIL said she would happily buy the car for the price I paid forit which is obviously a brill solution for getting a quick sale which I am happy to do - but obviously I am going to be honest with her but I would rather just try and get this damn light sorted before I sell it to her so its all fine as of when it left me!

LOL dont really know whether im posting for advice or just a good moan really lol but just really peeved with it atm

savingmummy

Grr b****y cars lol!
See what your MIL say`s, you may be pleasantly surprised

Maybe worth posting on the car forum http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=70 to see if any one can advise x

Ostinato

Thanks very much for replying really appreciate it! Thought my thread was slipping away there with no responses haha!

Yeh I have told my OH about the problem and she knows herself that it isn't actually a major fault... I imagine she would be quite uneasy buying it though with an engine light on lmao.... stupid thing coulda got me debt free

niccatw

And it might still do that.

Try and stay positive; on the plus side, it's a common problem,so it shouldn't be too difficult to fix. Do you know any-one that can recommend a reputable, reasonably priced mechanic? Then at least that way you can get it looked at and get a price. That might help put things in perspective and you can discuss it with you MIL knowing exactly howmuch of a problem it is. Good luck

Ostinato

Yeh good point thanks, my dads mate is the guy who has always serviced and mot'd the car and stuff so we know he is reputable. Guess I could get it to him and see if he could look.

Thing is online there really have been sooo many cases of it and like they have all been fixed with different stuff! some people put in the expensive petrol and it went away (didnt work for me :@) and others had to get sensors refitted and stuff!

savingmummy

How much is it going to cost?
Could be worse and could be off the road iykwim!
All is not lost just yet, try and see if you can get help with getting it sorted out on the cheap. There are always a man who knows a man about

roddydogs

Supermarket Fuel causes a "Fault" Is this True?

savingmummy

roddydogs wrote: »

Supermarket Fuel causes a "Fault" Is this True?

We`ve never had a problem ourselves but it has been known to be a cause of problem to some peoples cars apparently.

ceejaydee23

It is true that supermarket fuel, isn't as good a quality as the likes of shell or BP, my mums ford fiesta kankaroos usng tesco fuel, and we have found that Shell is so much better quality you get more miles for what you pay as your not filling your engine with so much crap from the poorer quality fuel

Neenie_o

I had this problem with my Clio - It can be anything from a faulty sensor in the engine management system (it was once) to my coil packs needing replacing.

If it's a faulty sensor, it usually costs about £20 for a plug-in at a small independent garage (where they plug the car into the computer to assess the fault and can usually just clear it off for it never to return again) and when it was coil packs it cost me closer to £80....

I wouldn't read too much into the fuel thing. The first time it ever happened I got told off by the man in the garage for letting my fuel tank run down and then the engine had sucked up grit (I am a bit of a miser, but I usually fill up within 10 miles of my petrol light coming on). He charged me about £40 to put some cleaning stuff through it and the problem came back after a week. I took it somewhere else in the end, and it transpired it was the coil packs that were the problem.

Hope that helps

EDIT to above - It's worth noting that the coil pack\fuel incident did have an impact on the way the car was running and that's how I know it wasn't fixed the first time regardless of whether the light was on. Also I have been told that if the light is on the engine will be running differently (burning less\more fuel, giving less power etc) as it's a system designed to stop a potential fault from damaging the entire engine.

Ostinato

Okay thanks very much for the help.

I guess I have no option really but to take it somewhere to get it checked out and hopefully get it sorted out.

Have also just discovered I have a hole in my windscreen washer reservoir :mad::eek::( I tried filling it up and it all spilled out the bottom so I made sure all the tube and everything was connected right up which it now is and it is still leaking out. I could cry! lol I just wanted to get a nice quick sell to my mil so I could be out of debt and enjoying all my money again but its turning into one thing after another.... Oh and the cd player has also just suddenly stopped working and wont turn on! :@