Cars gone t*ts up and can't afford to get it fixed, Help??

falko89

We had an emission light on our Vauxhall Zafira, took it to a mechanic and he said we need a new EGR valve, I work min wage and this thing costs £100 so it took me a few weeks to gather the money up for the part, took it back to the mechanic he puts all in and then discovers that wasn't the problem at all, its some throttle valve which costs £180, the place we bought the EGR valve from won't take it back, the mechanics looking £60 for work today, I simply can not afford this, the mechanic said he removed the part as he tried the car and it was going ok without this faulty part but could not guarantee. I have 3 kids and can't put them at risk really, but no car no job as we live in the back of beyond, I'm really lost as to what to do. Only option I can think of is leaving the car back and buying a new one on HP.

muckybutt

falko89 wrote: »

Only option I can think of is leaving the car back and buying a new one on HP.

So if you cant afford to get it fixed, how could you afford to buy a new one ?? that doesnt make good moneysaving !

Options : Get a small loan to cover the parts cost and fitting.

Shop around for the parts required, have a look on ebay or phone around a Vauxhall scrap dealer.

Then find yourself a decent mechanic who knows what they are doing to begin with.

falko89

muckybutt wrote: »

So if you cant afford to get it fixed, how could you afford to buy a new one ?? that doesnt make good moneysaving !

Options : Get a small loan to cover the parts cost and fitting.

Shop around for the parts required, have a look on ebay or phone around a Vauxhall scrap dealer.

Then find yourself a decent mechanic who knows what they are doing to begin with.

We are paying this one of £120 per month, no one will give us a loan as we have low credit ratings and are on a DMP, We didn't pass the credit check to get this car and had to get a relative to put it through in their name, I've phoned around everywhere local I can think of to get this part, £180 is the cheapest I have came across, add another £30-£60 to fit, more than a weeks pay for me.

forgotmyname

So if you stop paying they chase you and your relative for payment.... OUCH...
I presume your relative is in a better financial situation so they probably wont hesitate taking them to court for the money that you owe.

If you cannot afford to pay a garage to do the work then that leaves you the option of doing it yourself.

I started fixing my own car after being overcharged once too often.

Mintstrel

falko89 wrote: »

We had an emission light on our Vauxhall Zafira, took it to a mechanic and he said we need a new EGR valve

Did you pay mechanic for diagnosis? If so tell him he was wrong and you bought part needlessly. Saying that, modern Vauxhalls are notorious for EGR valves going wrong. The joys of modern motors !!

falko89

forgotmyname wrote: »

So if you stop paying they chase you and your relative for payment.... OUCH...
I presume your relative is in a better financial situation so they probably wont hesitate taking them to court for the money that you owe.

If you cannot afford to pay a garage to do the work then that leaves you the option of doing it yourself.

I started fixing my own car after being overcharged once too often.

No I don't mean that, When we got this car some 4-5 years ago, the dealer took our previous car as part payment on this car, so do the same again.

We can't afford the part to begin with, Pay day loans is the only option I can think off, I know its gonna end in a disaster as won't be able to repay it on time but can't think of anything else.

So its trade in this car or pay day loan, what would you do?

falko89

Mintstrel wrote: »

Did you pay mechanic for diagnosis? If so tell him he was wrong and you bought part needlessly. Saying that, modern Vauxhalls are notorious for EGR valves going wrong. The joys of modern motors !!

Apparently the EGR and the other thing that is actually wrong are on the same circuit so trigger the same error code, the mechanic decided it was probably the EGR because as you say they have a reputation of going wrong.

Paperbird

Get on the Vauxhall owners forum, someone on there should be able to point you in the right direction for parts and tell you how to fit them.

As long as the car is running ok and has not gone into "limp home mode" you can still drive it,

gilbert_and_sullivan

Older simpler cars are the answer when you have very little money, easy to diagnose and fix, parts aplenty in the scrap yards.

Mass produced cars, with certain exceptions, are made to fail with increasingly expensive regularity, encourages replacement instead of repair exactly as intended, you have to beat them at their own game by not buying their rubbish.

Get hands dirty, learn to fix your own, free yourself from working only to buy poor quality junk and have it constantly mended.

forgotmyname

As the above post if your on a budget you want something older instead.

Less to go wrong and cheaper /easier to fix.

£180 for an EGR valve, I remember when you could pickup a full reconditioned engine for close to that.

sun-n-moon

How about fixing it and then flog it so you can buy an older, reliable motor, then you won't have to worry so much about repair costs, and you can pay some of your debt back. Modern cars are a nightmare when they go wrong. One of my cars is a 1995 Fiesta diesel. No power steering, no electric windows etc. Totally reliable, cheap to run and I can fix almost everything on it as most of the stuff is bolt on using a standard socket set. I paid £220 for it 9 years ago. My other car is a 99 Mondeo which has a lot of electics but it only cost me £600 3 years ago and if I get a big bill I can scrap it and walk away without any worries. There are plent of older, simple, reliable motors about. Modern cars are too much of a gamble IMO, especially for somebody in your position. The new emission laws are responsible for a lot of problems. Personally. I can afford newer but don't see the point. Better things to spend my money on. Good luck with your decisions.