Help! Advice req for HP on a now unusable car!

evsie

Re : Help! Advice req for HP on a now unusable car!

Hi all,

Long time reader but rarely a poster. I originally posted this in the finance forum but was told this may be the best place for advice.

I really need some sensible help and advice if you could spare it!

The situation is that I have a car that is unusable due to a fault and I cannot afford to repair it. I have made 26 payments on time with 34 payments left to go before it's totally paid off (with lloydstsb Black Horse).

I can't afford to repair the car currently, and while the HP payments are affordable its frustrating that Im paying for a vehicle and having to take the bus each day rather than use the car._pale_

What advice would you give to me and others in my situation with a car thats a big paper weight that cant be sold off due to HP?

What options are realisticly available to me? :think:

As always, thanks in advance for your time and help.

Best wishes

Silk

Hi Evsie,
Whats the make and model and year of the car and whats the fault as far as you are aware ?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

hi evsie, welcome to the petrolhead side of MSE! in order to help out here, as posted above by silk we need to know these details in order to help you further more.

some cars seem extortionate to fix! but if you give us the what youve been told is worng with the car, its symptoms, and make and model and year we maybe able to assist or point you in a direction to cut the cost of the repair or even maybe do it yourself or by a partner or friend.

evsie

"Hi Evsie,
Whats the make and model and year of the car and whats the fault as far as you are aware ? "

Hi Silk, Its renault Megane Scenic 5dr 1.9litr Diesel 2004 model.

Long story short it had been a month after warranty had finished and appears that the Dashboard unit has started playing up but worse than that the turbo seized. The garage thought the engine had somehow been 'starved of oil' and been damaged though I will be seeking a 2nd opinion. Its been sat on the drive dead as a dodo for 12 weeks and with winter coming im just nearvous the thing will seize A whole bundle of odd issues. It initially started to spout light cloudy grey smoke when accelerating and was fine otherwise. Then one day it went !!!!!!! and the smoke stopped but we lost power and a god awful rattling started in the car.

"hi evsie, welcome to the petrolhead side of MSE! in order to help out here, as posted above by silk we need to know these details in order to help you further more.

some cars seem extortionate to fix! but if you give us the what youve been told is worng with the car, its symptoms, and make and model and year we maybe able to assist or point you in a direction to cut the cost of the repair or even maybe do it yourself or by a partner or friend. "

Thanks kindly for the reply also, atrixblue.-MFR-.

The vehicle will start fine, trouble is that when running once in gear it starts to rattle like a coin in a can and doesent have much power. It rattles so much that id fear totalling it if i went faster than a 15mph.
Its just typical that I didnt choose an extended warranty as I could have had it fixed for free lol. Thems the punches eh!

I will hope to get more details soon but due to long hours at work Im waiting till im paid to get another garage to have a gander at the car.

I used to be fine with older cars but these latest ones are a nightmare to service let alone repair due to Engine Management Systems and all sorts of stuff Ive not clue about. I am certainly hoping I can repair it but still haven't had a good answer as to whats wrong from my local garage.

My concern is if its more to repair it than to pay off the HP im stuck in a catch 22. Its a right pain but if your on HP and your cars dead, its up poop creak without a paddle time im guessing.

chrisw

Have a look at your HP agreement. One's I've had in the past enable you to hand the car back once half the payments have been made. Although you would obviously lose any equity in the car (if any), at least it will be a worry off your hands.

Silk

evsie wrote: »

Long story short it had been a month after warranty had finished and appears that the Dashboard unit has started playing up but worse than that the turbo seized. The garage thought the engine had somehow been 'starved of oil' and been damaged though I will be seeking a 2nd opinion. ...............

My concern is if its more to repair it than to pay off the HP im stuck in a catch 22. Its a right pain but if your on HP and your cars dead, its up poop creak without a paddle time im guessing.

Hi evsie,
Understand the problem ....I imagine they think the turbo was starved of oil and if seized is logical and common as is the electrical dash problem to the car.

My first thoughts would be to sort the turbo ...lots of recon units about and would expect to pay around £300/ £350ish and then you would have labour on top ...maybe do some of it yourself ??..the oil starvation could be build up of carbon etc and will need cleaning through etc.

Interestingly the dash problem on that vehicle year 04/05 is a well known problem and I'm sure as recently as about 18 months ago dealers were subsidising repairs to them and charging customers about £100 ...worth doing a bit of research and asking your local dealer the question.

If you could get the car sorted for those sort of prices it's not as bad as you may think at first glance esp. if you can source a decent diesel mech

burtonlee

Evsie, as Chrisw has said check your HP agreement but I am 99% sure you can hand back now over half the repayments have been made - it is known as a voluntary termination, you will not gain from any equity (if applicable) within the vehicle.




I work as a car salesman for Honda (don't hold that against me though will you :P )

atrixblue.-MFR-.

sounds like a failed turbo, but to make sure, check all turbo pipes for splits and blockages and air filter replace it if it looks old. remove pipes (they come off and go on in one way so easy to put them back on) squeeze the pipe along its lengh looking for splits along the way, if you find a split then replace that pipe from a scrappy or ebay.

i'm not sure on the 1.9 diesel if they have whats called a dephaser cam fitted to them (for veriable valve timing) these can sound like a bag of spanners when they go, open bonnet left hand side of engine youll have the timing belt cover check if the rattling is coming from there! when they go the engine cant hold revs and stall periodically on start up, power will decrease alot may smoke a little due to the inacurate timing control due to faulty dephaser.

the dash thing is a problem all over the range of early megans and is a pain, although renault may help the cost.

Silk

burtonlee wrote: »

Evsie, as Chrisw has said check your HP agreement but I am 99% sure you can hand back now over half the repayments have been made - it is known as a voluntary termination, you will not gain from any equity (if applicable) within the vehicle.

The problem is the OP hasn't made half the payments yet ...

The situation is that I have a car that is unusable due to a fault and I cannot afford to repair it. I have made 26 payments on time with 34 payments left to go before it's totally paid off (with lloydstsb Black Horse).

burtonlee

whoops! misread it as 26 of 34 payments made!

that said you can always try your luck with the finance company, a situation I have heard of is a VT after a third of payments have been made although I have not had any experience dealing with this type of VT

LandyAndy

I think you'll find that after a third of payments have been made it can't be repossesed without a court order.

It is definitely half the financed amount has to be repaid prior to a VT. Note that if there is a final balloon the 50% mark may be very close to the end of the repayment term.

I did a VT not too long ago and it went smoothly but it is expected that the vehicle will be in a typical condition for a vehicle of its age. So, a non runner needing an expensive repair would leave the OP with a bill from the finance company to repair the car.