MOT coming - Any help please?

Johnwatson_2

Hi All,

I have few advisory items on my MOT and was wondering anyone can help with how much will it cost to get them fixed (i.e. cost of part and labour).

Car is Citroen Xsara 1.4 - 2001 make

1 Offside front suspension arm has a slight play in a ball joint

2 Rear engine mounting deteriorated.

3 Front engine mounting deteriorated

4 Nearside front Macpherson strut has a slight movement at the upper attachment

5 Offside front Macpherson strut has a slight movement at the upper attachment

6 Play in steering rack inner joint.

I checked other cars (to buy) and that cost a bit. Hence, I was thinking if I can get it repaired then would like to keep this car.

Help is much appreciated.

Swampey2418

Cost of repair is probably a lot more than what the car is worth...You could Email a local garage and get a fixed cost for repair plus MOT, but then its no guaranteed pass that it wont fail on something else

colino

Just to clarify, the car has passed its MOT and these are advisories on a 13 year old car?
If so, you've won a watch, have the car rechecked by a trusted, local, recommended garage to see how quickly they need attention - if at all.

trollopscarletwoman

Johnwatson wrote: »

Hi All,

I have few advisory items on my MOT and was wondering anyone can help with how much will it cost to get them fixed (i.e. cost of part and labour).

Car is Citroen Xsara 1.4 - 2001 make

1 Offside front suspension arm has a slight play in a ball joint

2 Rear engine mounting deteriorated.

3 Front engine mounting deteriorated

4 Nearside front Macpherson strut has a slight movement at the upper attachment

5 Offside front Macpherson strut has a slight movement at the upper attachment

6 Play in steering rack inner joint.

I checked other cars (to buy) and that cost a bit. Hence, I was thinking if I can get it repaired then would like to keep this car.

Help is much appreciated.

Get a good back street indy garage to give a quote.

As these are advisories the vehicle has an mot (how long?)

With all that on the mot certificate potential buyers are going to be put off or negotiate lower so if if the vehicle runs fine then get some quotes on the work.

After all another vehicle will cost a lot more than these repairs and as they are advisories do they really need to be done?

Depends how you feel about it or wait until next mot and see what happens.

Joe_Horner

A quick search suggests parts price of around £75 - £100 for the lot. I don't know the Xsara at all, but on most cars you'd be looking at around 2 hours labour on top to fit.

Bear in mind that all of those items are "tester judgement" - there are no fixed limits for play or deterioration on them. That means that the fact they were an advisory (presumably) last year doesn't necessarily mean they'll even be noticed this year, let alone fail.

arcon5

Suspension arm about £30+1 hour labour.

Strut most likely the rubber mount deteriorating... £40/ side maybe + labour (1 hour per side).

Rear engine mount - probably about £25. Front £50... labour unknown. Can't be more than a couple hours.

To be honest, unless you're hearing knocking or it's running rough or something you don't even necessarily need to deal with it as a matter of urgency.

Joe_Horner

arcon5 wrote: »

Suspension arm about £30+1 hour labour.

It looks like the Xsara (as with several PSA cars) has a separate ball joint bolted to the arm, so it's actually quicker and cheaper to replace just the joint - around a tenner for the joint itself and 30 minutes easy spannering to fit it and have a brew.

arcon5

Joe_Horner wrote: »

It looks like the Xsara (as with several PSA cars) has a separate ball joint bolted to the arm, so it's actually quicker and cheaper to replace just the joint - around a tenner for the joint itself and 30 minutes easy spannering to fit it and have a brew.

Is it bolted or riveted in place though? If the latter, it's usually just as quick to replace the whole arm. So for the sake of £20 it may just be worth having the whole arm done and not having to worry about the other two bushes.

Although that's just personal preference really.

Joe_Horner

Fair point, depending if it's still on its originals of course (any past replacement will have been bolted). Personally I'd always break out the angle grinder and lump hammer rather than replace the full arm if it's not needed but I like getting violent with cars

arcon5

Ye good point - seeing the age of the car it could well have already had a new joint bolted on.

You would have been handy to have around when I did the wishbone on my focus a couple months ago - the plan was to angle grind the rivets, but one of them was slightly inset and I simply could see a way of physically removing them without killing the arm in the process. Replace the whole lot in the end.

Although i've since read drilling through them is a popular option.

AdrianC

colino wrote: »

Just to clarify, the car has passed its MOT and these are advisories on a 13 year old car?
If so, you've won a watch, have the car rechecked by a trusted, local, recommended garage to see how quickly they need attention - if at all.

^ THIS.

If this is a car that you're running gently into the ground, then I wouldn't worry about any of 'em. You have a new MOT.

1/4/5/6 may be an issue at future MOTs, but are fine at the moment. Early signs of old age.
2/3 won't ever fail an MOT, but may cause noise and vibration in the car.