car failed MOT HORRENDOUSLY- what now?

northern_munky

Whatever you do don't scrap it until you have had at least two or three quotes on how much the repair will be, you might be able to get it fixed for £300 and you'd never get a decent car for that money.

As for the brakes, It could have a leak from a wheel cylinder which he spotted while underneath, or maybe its a corroded brake pipe or handbrake cable frayed. All depends what the fail sheet says????

epz_2

northern_munky wrote: »

Whatever you do don't scrap it until you have had at least two or three quotes on how much the repair will be, you might be able to get it fixed for £300 and you'd never get a decent car for that money.

As for the brakes, It could have a leak from a wheel cylinder which he spotted while underneath, or maybe its a corroded brake pipe or handbrake cable frayed. All depends what the fail sheet says????

£300 is close to what you could get a differnt car for, look at it like this you have one garage which has no vested interest saying its so unsafe they are not prepaired to even test the brakes, basicly doing themselves out of business.

then you get a second quote and they tell you they can fix it fif you give them £300, who are you going to trust? its not like we are talking about saving a couple of quid on a fridge etc, this thing could cripple mame or kill the op and their passengers.

unfortuanly it seems the op paid over the odds for an accident damaged car which has had its history hidden, you live you learn, the reall mistake is to keep throwing money at a dog because you spent so much on it in the 1st place.


dook let us know how you get on with your new car, i would also get the garage that warned you to check it out before you buy it, also put your future business way. an honest and professional garage is worth a lot it terms of them not ripping you off and actually doing the maintenance properly thus preventing components failing early

northern_munky

epz wrote: »

£300 is close to what you could get a differnt car for, look at it like this you have one garage which has no vested interest saying its so unsafe they are not prepaired to even test the brakes, basicly doing themselves out of business.

then you get a second quote and they tell you they can fix it fif you give them £300, who are you going to trust? its not like we are talking about saving a couple of quid on a fridge etc, this thing could cripple mame or kill the op and their passengers.

But that could be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. £300 does not get you much. None of us know how bad this car is, it's all speculation and that's why it is bad advice to tell someone to scrap their car without knowing the full story. Maybe the garage are right and it isn't worth repairing but where's the harm in asking for some quotes, it doesn't cost anything.

Yes it is dangerous in the state it is now but it won't be after it has been repaired and MOTd, most garages and mechanics are competent and trustworthy (I know, I worked as a mechanic for 13 years) and if it can be repaired for £300ish then that's the route I'd take.

Sarahjovi

Just a quick 2 penniths worth from non motor techie women!

I had a Saab 900 approx 16 years ago, it cost me £25 a week then just to drive a few miles to work a back! And the repair bills were horrendous and it had to go into a Saab garage to be sorted (I did try other garages, but they couldn't fix it!).

I currently drive an R reg Rover 100 which I bought off Ebay for £330 (I took a chance). I put it through the MOT this Feb and all it needed was a pair of windscreen wipers to pass! (very lucky I know). It costs me £20 every 2 - 3 weeks in petrol, depending where I go. I've had 3 of these cars altogether now (last 2 were actually Rover Metro's), the last one got written off in an accident last year (rear ended by a much bigger car and the one before that got stolen and burnt). However, they seem to be cheap to buy and cheap to run, the only major problem seems to be rotten wheel arches.

Its very bad luck to have bought such a rotten car with a years MOT, do you have anyone with a bit of Car knowledge who could come and look at a car with you, when you go to buy!

I hope you manage to buy something a bit more decent!

Cheers

Sarah

dook_2

The second garage is looking at the car now but he referred to the guy who did the MOT as a 'cabbage'! He said my car is definately not dangerous and it is fixable (he thinks). Now I don't understand why the MOT tester would tell me its so dangerous if he didn't believe it. The only explanations I can come up with is a) it's true, b) he's mad or c) he said I could leave my car there and he would scrap it for free (but he wasn't pushy about it or anything). The new machanic showed me the rust and it didn't look that bad (but then, as I think we have established, I am not a mechanic )

The brake test thing is a bit weird, he doesn't specify how my brakes failed it was just a general statement about they hadn't passed (I don't know the exact wording as the fail sheet is with my car at the garage), but page 1 said he had not carried out the test.

It's all very strange.

Keith

An item can only "pass" the MOT test if it is tested, as he did not do the brake test because of the rust, could mean it failed on them as it was not tested on them.

manda1205

lots of places dont like welding, i know i dont so i farm it out to anybody i could, holes look worse than they are usually, Ka's dont really rot too badly except the obligatory patch on the sill below the door shut



they can only really rust on the sills, floor to sills and maybe some bits on chassis rails and floor pans even if all that was gone it could be fixed for 300 or so then just underseal it to get the job done without all the paint costs theres not alot to rust on a Ka

no car would fall in half thru rot if its that old, your 1st man doesnt like hot rocks on his head when welding i'd guess

running to other garages saying its been condemed wont do you many favors getting it done cheap tho but if the 2nd guy seems genuine worth seeing what he says

no doubt if you left it with him for scrapping it would be driving past you next week with a full ticket, he must have thought he couldnt lose, no welding free car worth a grand fixed up job done

flang

KrisPringle wrote: »

Dont get a mini if your concerned about safety, they are deathtraps.
For your budget i would recommend a Vauxhall Corsa 1.5 TD.
They are cheap to buy and run. They have an isuzu sourced turbo diesel engine which is highly reliable (mine had 149k on it when i sold it, i saw the car a year later still on the road). You could probably get a facelift one with the colour coded bumpers, airbags etc... for a shade over a grand.
Either that or maybe a seat ibiza. Both reliable cheap to buy/run cars.
Hope this is of help

Kris

I had a corsa 1.5TD and it had 185k on the clock
Unfortantly someone crashed into and wrote it off!!! so it sat on my drive not started for 5 months! when my claim was sorted i got the scrap yard to collect it. it started first time!!! unbelieveble!

moonrakerz

dook wrote: »

Apparantly it has awful corrosion all underneath (the mehanic said he put his thumb through the chassis by accident)

Just come across this thread - chassis on a modern car ? some mechanic !!!

Jenny_S

if you go for a mini, check that the rear subframe isnt rusty, thats what mine failed its mot on this yr, the garage probably put a dodgy mot on it when i bought it coz it wasnt safe.