Save or scrap?

Rahbob

Last summer I bought a Renalt Megane and had it serviced etc.

Unfortuntely at the weekend the car stopped and had to be towed back.

Having spoken to the garage apparently they think the timing belt has jumped (?), which apparently means the valves and pistons are all mangled up inside.
It will cost min £1500 to fix, but the first thing they would have to do is take the engine apart to see if the pistons are OK, so we would straightaway incur £200-300 labour. If the pistons are damaged, which is apparently pretty likely, then he says the best thing is to get a reconditioned engine which would cost around £2-3k.

In other words it looks like it would cost as much to repair the car as it did to buy it in the first place.

Am I wasting my time having it looked at or should I just cut my losses? It seems such a shame.

sutters

Is it a reputable garage? Not sure I would trust them at that price. maybe get a second opinion and failing that it is amazing how much money you can get for a failed car on ebay. We sold a car that the buyer only wanted for the engine! Still got over £300 and it had failed on loads. We were totally honest about the MOT and photoed all the failed points and put them on the listing too.:)

Rolandtheroadie

http://www.renaultsparesshotts.co.uk/ used these guys a couple of times, with a £1500 guestimate, initial labour costs to find out the damage, i'd send an email and get a price on an engine and a quote on fitting from a couple of garages in your area.

Kilty_2

Get quotes elsewhere but it's most likely a bin job. (sell it as a non runner on eBay)

RaCinG_SnAkE_3

Rahbob wrote: »

Unfortuntely at the weekend the car stopped and had to be towed back.

Presumably you heard an almighty racket coming from the engine before it died? If not, then you may have been very lucky.

petrolhead69

Try and source an engine from a scrappy, or buy a damaged runner from a salvage auction. depends on the value of the car weather its worth fixing. You can buy a nice enough t&t old passat for a grand so it really depends on if the car is worth more than the value of the repair or if your better off scrapping it, Whats the age, mileage and condition?

Hammyman

Skip the diagnosis - engine is toast. Buy a recon one for around £1000 and pay them to fit it. For £3k you can get a brand new engine from a main dealer with change.

jase1

If the cost of the replacement engine plus what you'd get for it exceeds the value before the disaster, get rid.

Else it's in your interest to get it sorted. Even if you sell straight away afterwards you've protected your money to some degree.

It sounds as if replacing the engine is viable though -- I'd suggest max you'd get on ebay would be £800 in its current condition.

You could probably sell the knackered engine for a few quid on the bay as well -- useful for bits.

Lirin

Dependant of the value of the car, both sentimentally and financially. Scrapped a car recently that would have taken under 100 in parts for me to fix- because long-term, it was better as a donor car for parts for another one! Was a shame to let it go though, but out of the two I had of that model, that one was the oldest/highest mileage.

I would get a second opinion- you don't say the age etc of the car, which plays a big part. Megane parts are so easy to source secondhand.

paddedjohn

what year is the megane? its a waste of cash stripping the engine down as its more than likely knackered, dependent on the value of the car i would plump for a second hand engine from a breakers rather than a recon unit.

colino

If your not doing the work yourself, a secondhand Renault with a blown engine pretty much writes the script for itself. If you do plough more cash into it you still have a secondhand Renault - that has emptied your piggybank. Be realistic about its predicted value after investing more cash into it and then consider ebaying as is and getting something else.
P.S. Remember to get your next one serviced and cambelt changed regularly!