Do I repair or look to replace

lazer-zxr

I'm currently trying to get out of a lot of debt. So my motoring needs to reflect this.

Our car is a 2002 2.0 HDI Xsara Picasso. Bought for £1000 5 years ago.

My thoughts are, do I continue to run this car, or (we don't need as big a car as I have a company car aswell) get a smaller reliable car, a 2005 Yaris for example.

Current car:
March 2014 had sills welded up and repainted to get through MOT
March 2016, passed MOT with 1 replacement tyre

Current problems:
Crankshaft pulley needs replacing, local garage will do this for £60
Rust is showing where the welding was done ... could be an issue in a year or two?
Central locking doesnt work, but this doesnt bother me.
Great MPG, but probably matched or bettered by a smaller car.
103000 miles

Tax is £130 per year, which is more than if I bought a younger little car (£30 / year)

So, do I fix the devil I know .... but then what if the clutch goes etc? Will it become a money pit?

I can't make sense of the dilema. My priority is cheapest motoring in the next 4 years witha 5 door car. Annual mileage 10k.

Any help appreciated.
Thanks.

Nobbie1967

Keep it until something expensive needs doing. £60 is nothing in the sheme of things. Where the rust is coming through, sand down and slap on some rust treatment/paint. If it's low down you could use underseal. Any car you buy could have issues as well, so best stick with the devil you know.

Prothet_of_Doom

I have come to the conclusion (after making a few stupid mistakes over the last 30 years of motoring), that if you have a car worth less than £1000 that works, is road legal, and needs less than £500 spending on it (not including tyres, brakes and servicing) to get another years motoring, it will probably be cheaper than buying something more than £1000, which is unknown to you.

The reason I ignore the cost of tyres, brake and servicing is that I already budget for these in my monthly budgeting (- I know I'll do 18000 miles in the next 12 months, so I'll probably need 4 Tyres at £70 each, discs and pads at about £80, and I'll service it twice - and use the best oil and filters I can justify. )

A bit of rust no longer matters since I learnt to weld.

I however am torn with the advise I'd give you. Do I agree with "better the devil you know" or do I say "It's a Picasso. Scrap it"

I'm biased and for some reason I hate them with a vengeance. Not sure why.

s_b

keep it
build up a contingency plan in case something like the clutch plogs
never let cheap road tax determine a short term gain

arcon5

Nothing to say the clutch wont go on a new car though

lazer-zxr

Thanks guys ... its advice like this that's going to be invaluable to me getting out of this debt hole. I'll get the £60 fix done and have a look at the rust when the weather improves.

DominicH

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I have come to the conclusion (after making a few stupid mistakes over the last 30 years of motoring), that if you have a car worth less than £1000 that works, is road legal, and needs less than £500 spending on it (not including tyres, brakes and servicing) to get another years motoring, it will probably be cheaper than buying something more than £1000, which is unknown to you.

Yes, that's how I look at it. Taking my current car as an example, I'd probably get £1,200 for it on a good day. But from my perspective it has something that other cars don't -- I know for a fact that it has been looked after and driven sympathetically. Therefore, although outwardly similar cars can be bought for about £1,200, the replacement cost to me would probably be well over £2,000 -- that is, to get a car that I was confident was as good (I'm not saying that there aren't equally good cars out there for £1,200, just that I cannot know which ones they are.)

So the "spread" between repairing my car and replacing it is about £800 bigger than it might seem at first glance. That pays for quite a lot of repairs.

mcjordi

central locking problem will most likely be the door loom being snapped.. if you peel back the black rubber protectant you will maybe see some snapped/broken wires connect em back together and fingers crossed your locking will work..
barely even run in with 100k on a diesel

bigjl

Another vote for putting money to one side whilst keeping the current car going

The 2.0HDi engine is a great engine.

bigjl

mcjordi wrote: »

central locking problem will most likely be the door loom being snapped.. if you peel back the black rubber protectant you will maybe see some snapped/broken wires connect em back together and fingers crossed your locking will work..
barely even run in with 100k on a diesel

Central Locking problems could also just require a BSi reset.

Anybody with electrical issue on a Citroen of this vintage should give it a try. Nothing to lose and the procedure is widely available by doing a Google.

http://www.citroenownersclub.co.uk/bsi-reset.html

mcjordi

bigjl wrote: »

Central Locking problems could also just require a BSi reset.

Anybody with electrical issue on a Citroen of this vintage should give it a try. Nothing to lose and the procedure is widely available by doing a Google.

http://www.citroenownersclub.co.uk/bsi-reset.html

possibly but having owned several citroens its always been the door looms