Car broken, outstanding finance.

cjasmith84

Hi,


I have a 2007 Grand Picasso 2.0hdi Exclusive EGS, purchased last March at a dealer price of 5700 it came with a 12 month warranty, I chose to pay for the car over four years, its been a lovely car and as served me well. In typical Citroen fashion it eats through bulbs like I eat hot dinners, and has more squeaks than a bag of squirrels, but this is something you get used to over time.
But one noise over the past week has really got my goat, its only apparent over speeds of 35, and gets louder the faster I go, it can only be described as a whine and at 60+develops into more of a clack, like an old 1950s rattle they used at Football matches :T
Various sources originally pointed at wheel bearing, but the noise seemed to come from the middle lower engine area, but a few opinions also mentioned diff/gearbox bearing, which isn't good! :mad:


With the Mrs chewing my ear about this noise, I took it into my local garage, and I took one of the lads on a road test, he confirmed possible gearbox bearing, but it is something hard to diagnose without removing the gearbox, disassembling it etc, even then they wouldn't take the job on due to the nature of the gearbox, but said it would cost between 1k and 1.5k, just to do this, without added parts.


I had a word with my local Citroen dealer who just want 900 just to remove the gearbox and again, diagnose.


Another garage referred me to a gearbox, specialist, who advise worse case scenario, a new gear box would be needed at around 2k,


In a nutshell, I simply do not have this sort of cash, in either physical form or in credit. So now although the car still drives ok, I do suspect this could go at anytime, rendering it totally useless.
So the problem I have is what do I simply do about this?
Could I contact the finance company and negotiate a final settlement fee, and hope the resale of the car as spares/repairs could cover this? I don't particularly fancy defaulting on it and they take it away, one garage actually suggested on the quiet that if it is insured (which it is) to actually set fire to it!:rotfl:
My warranty has obviously expired, so that's a no-go.
I am a little bit stuck on ideas, any suggestions ideas will be appreciated.


Chris.

AdrianC

Why not get your local garage to remove the box, then send it to a gearbox specialist for dismantling/bearing replacement, then returned for refitting?

What box is it?

Retrogamer

Perhaps the gearbox oil has leaked out or is low. I'd get the oil replaced and avoid high rpm through the gears and should hopefully not get any worse.

forgotmyname

Get it diagnosed properly, It maybe a cheap repair the sooner you sort it. The longer you leave it the more expensive it will get to repair the current box.

Do you have breakdown cover? Typically it will fail when your furthest from home or in an awkward situation and leave you stranded.

Used gearboxes from £60 on ebay.

cjasmith84

AdrianC wrote: »

Why not get your local garage to remove the box, then send it to a gearbox specialist for dismantling/bearing replacement, then returned for refitting?

What box is it?

Hi, It is the EGS type gearbox, a clutchless manual with optional auto, if you like.


The majority of garages I have spoken to have said this is the case, they would remove it and send it to a specialist, as by the sounds of it, bar Citroen, they simply do not have the expertise to repair it.
The problem I have is purely cost, it is at least an 8hr job, just to remove the box. The labour intensiveness of this job is widely reported.
Add on the cost of any supplement parts, in theory I could pay a garage to remove it, only to be told a new box is required at upwards of 2grand.


Perhaps this just an expensive lesson in car ownership.

Marktheshark

French Auto strikes again.
Had two in my time and both were nightmares.

AdrianC

cjasmith84 wrote: »

Hi, It is the EGS type gearbox, a clutchless manual with optional auto, if you like.

Yeh, I thought it might be. That explains the diagnostic session, and explains the reluctance to go near it.

cjasmith84

Retrogamer wrote: »

Perhaps the gearbox oil has leaked out or is low. I'd get the oil replaced and avoid high rpm through the gears and should hopefully not get any worse.

Although I cant guarantee, this particular gearbox is a sealed unit and the oil is in for life, therefore in theory, the oil never needs changing. A chap on the Citroen forum said this.

AdrianC

There's "sealed-for-life" - as in physically impossible to change - and there's "sealed-for-life" - as in not on the service schedule, and when the box dies for lack of adequate lubrication, that's the end of life...

cjasmith84

AdrianC wrote: »

There's "sealed-for-life" - as in physically impossible to change - and there's "sealed-for-life" - as in not on the service schedule, and when the box dies for lack of adequate lubrication, that's the end of life...

That sounds more accurate, I have just looked into this further and although it is not a serviceable item, the oil would need changing... Once the gearbox has been removed, usually in the event of a repair/replacement. :mad:


I am just copying information from the C4 forum, I can barely change a headlight bulb :rotfl:

forgotmyname

As above no they are not sealed for life unless you dont mind the box having a shorter life due to lack of oil changes.

Oil degrades over time its a fact.