Repair or Not Repair that is the question?

cheghead

My 05 Misubishi Colt has given me nearly 3 years trouble free motoring...until now.:mad:
It has an ABS fault and have been quoted posibly £900+ to put right!:eek:

Cars probably only worth about £1500 or so as a private sale. The garage has said they would consider p/x for £600 (may be negotiable) but that's against one for £4500.:(

I don't drive very far but really need a car to get about. Is it worth repairing or should I cut my losses and get rid now?

redux

I'd be thinking of fixing it, though maybe other people would not.

It's still only 8 years old, and even if you worry there's a risk of similar jobs occurring, if you buy a car of similar age and value it may be carrying the same risks, whereas if you decide to spend more on the next car you guarantee to be losing something on depreciation.

Is that a main dealer price?

motorguy

cheghead wrote: »

My 05 Misubishi Colt has given me nearly 3 years trouble free motoring...until now.:mad:
It has an ABS fault and have been quoted posibly £900+ to put right!:eek:

Cars probably only worth about £1500 or so as a private sale. The garage has said they would consider p/x for £600 (may be negotiable) but that's against one for £4500.:(

I don't drive very far but really need a car to get about. Is it worth repairing or should I cut my losses and get rid now?

Chances are they're giving you pretty much nothing for the car, as they'll have it worked into the profit on the other car.

Price around and get the work done - better the devil you know.

Paradigm

redux wrote: »

I'd be thinking of fixing it, though maybe other people would not.

It's still only 8 years old, and even if you worry there's a risk of similar jobs occurring, if you buy a car of similar age and value it may be carrying the same risks, whereas if you decide to spend more on the next car you guarantee to be losing something on depreciation.

Is that a main dealer price?

^^^^^ Wot he said.

After 3 years "trouble free" it's cost you nowt & there are no guarentees that spending the extra 3 grand will get you anything as reliable. Shop around & see if you can get the work done cheaper.

All cars develop faults but if you've looked after this one then it may be a case of "better the devil you know"

colino

Unfortunately a lot of cars, from the humblest to the highest appear to be experiencing very expensive faults in ABS (and other electronic systems) in their early middle age. You have to have it scanned by someone who really knows what they are doing, otherwise you could end up replacing/refurbing lots of expensive parts.
It could be anything from a sensor, a pump or a controller, there are always replacements, but you really do need to get a good tech to diagnose it first.

thefishdude

i would be inclined to get it fixed how ever i would deffinatly look around that seems a very expensive repair obviously not knowing the details of course. what sort of garage did you take it to ? main dealer ? somewere liek kwik fit? local independant ?

muddyl

As another alternative, see if a local college run moter vehicle courses. Some will do the work much cheaper and its all checked by time served mechanic teachers and they are insured like any other garage so you know your covered.

patman99

I had the ABS on my Skoda fail, so I looked around and found a specialist in Colchester who could fix it for £200.
As it turned-out, my ABS fault turned-out to be self-fixing as I had to do an emergency stop & ever since then the ABS has worked fine.

Anyway, speaking to the specialists, it turns-out the biggest reason for pump failure is down to an internal pressure valve failing. They strip-out the whole pump, replace the valves & reassemble (some other companies I spoke to simply drill the casing and fit an external valve instead).

Would certainly be cheaper to fix than the £900 you were quoted.

cheghead

Thanks for replies.

These are Mitsubishi main dealer prices. Unfortunately I have no alternative as the the diagnostic can only be done by them as a bog standard obd reader doesn't work on a Colt. (Uses MUT type which are very expensive and after checking no local garages have this diagnostic tool).

Car does have a few other issues. The gear change is not the smoothest for one.

I think maybe this is the time to get what i can for it!

Ionkontrol

Join a Mitsubishi owners forum and I am sure you could get that price down to a couple of hundred if you ask around for independent specialists.

scheming_gypsy

cheghead wrote: »

Thanks for replies.

These are Mitsubishi main dealer prices. Unfortunately I have no alternative as the the diagnostic can only be done by them as a bog standard obd reader doesn't work on a Colt. (Uses MUT type which are very expensive and after checking no local garages have this diagnostic tool).

Car does have a few other issues. The gear change is not the smoothest for one.

I think maybe this is the time to get what i can for it!

Did they say what the £600 was for?

If the Mitsubishi garage has used their diagnostic tool to find out what the issue is... then why do they need to do the work? the diagnostic tool has already been used, so if you can find out what work they're going to do, get an independent garage to fix it.