Just when you think you are getting on track.....

dubgirl

.....there is always something to spoil the fun! After what seems a long time, we are finally getting on track financially and feeling in control, however we now have a problem with our car. it is an automatic (focus) and we have recently been having problems, which my OH has worked out is due to something with the gear box (dont fully understand). However in short, it is going to need work doing which could well be £1000+ which we do not have. We do not know what to do or where to find the money. We do need a car - OH needs it to get to work, although at a push I can get the bus to work. There is no way OH could get the bus due to the hours he works and distance to and from work. I feel we are going to end up getting finance and getting a new car, which we dont want to do. OH looked at one garage that was offering finance with 38% interest!!!!
Any suggestions gratefully received.

RAS

Hi

Buy a banger for a short while? then save up for the repairs?

Even try www.freecycle.org, they occasionally have cars for free.

protector

Have you considered getting a spare part from a scrap yard?
Granted it might not be ideal but there's always a chance that a similar car has been written off after a crash as an uneconomical repair, but with a fully working automatic transmission still in it.

I don't know how much of the cost you mentioned is parts and how much labour, but that might cut a fair chunk off the overall price.

Maybe you could bring it to a local college. I believe some run mechanics courses and might give you a cheap repair.

In fact (another option) you might even have a "car club" type thing at your local council estate. Some offer mechanic training and sometimes even access to a race car to work on provided they stay out of stolen cars - you should get very cheap labour at places like this.

I hope this is of some help.


My current thing "to spoil the fun" is my bank moving the goalposts on me - causing me real trouble right now.
Hope this helps.

dubgirl

thanks for that RAS but at the moment we dont even have a couple of hundred quid for a banger othewise we would probably do that

Protector - I'm going to discuss those suggestions with my OH - not usre how much of £1000 is labour, i think that it extra on top.

protector

Wow, £1000 plus labour is not cheap at all.

I'm not sure how common car schemes are. I know for sure there's at least one on Manchester (not much use to you, I know) and probably others.
I would have thought a place like MK would have one though.

If you can't find one easilly, try calling the council's youth work department - they'd probably be your best bet.


On the college front - maybe look up local courses (both for youngsters and adult education) and then contact the colleges that offer them and see whether they do repairs.



On the banger front - a couple of hundred is a lot less than £1000 plus labour - it might be worth keeping that in mind for a last resort.


Also need to consider how the cost of repairs to your current car stack up against simply (not so simple, I know) buying a replacement - might be a false economy with such an expensive part.

dubgirl

The car is worth about 2500-3000, but we would likely to get considerably less if it was part-xchange. I am going to check out if there are any car schemes in MK. We dont really want to get another car and certainly cant afford one.

protector

Well good luck with it.
Hope it works out well whatever happens.


Just thought of another possibility. I really don't know how feasible this is with modern cars, but would there be a possibility of a haynes service manual for your car, a scrap-yard part and a weekend of getting filthy under the car with a borrowed jack and some stands?

That would probably be the cheapest way of going about it (provided you could actually complete the repair and didn't need to tow it to a garage afterwards to get it finished) and you'd certainly come up trumps on the "money-saved-o-meter".

I know a fella who's Dad had his car up on stands every few weeks when they were hard up - kept the thing running way beyond it's sell by date doing that.

Anyway - I really should get back to work.
Hope it goes well and keep us posted.



P.S. Does your name have anything to do with Volkswagens? "Vee Dub"?
Just curious.

dubgirl

Hi protector, OH has already been working on the car with the beloved Haynes by his side on various other bits that needed attention. However he told me that he wasnt going to touch the gear box.

Yes my user name is connected to VW - old ones that is.

Redbedhead

Dubgirl I am also in MK so I can recommend a few good mechanics who are 1 man bands and therefore a bit cheaper. Have you actually had a quote from a garage? I would get that first if I were you before making any decisions.

Could your OH get lifts in to work with a colleague for a period of time if the car does 'die' or if it can be fixed?

protector

Agreed on quote from local garage - they are often cheaper.


Dubgirl.

I wouldn't have thought there would be much to it if he was just replacing the box, opening it up and diving in might be a different issue but probably still doable - at least it might be an option if all else fails.

Thought so on the dub front too. Bugs, busses, vans, singles, doubles, notches, love the lot.
Thought I'd found a dirt cheap zwitter a while back but someone beat me to it. Still ain't bought a dub yet though - had saved almost enough for a nice one a while back, then work dried up (or I became lazier - one of the two) and the savings dwindled.
I don't suppose you have a dub to back you up do you? Granted, they won't make as suitable a daily driver as a Focus, but at least you'll keep moving.

dubgirl

thanks for the replies.

redbedhead - its nice to know I'm not the only MK bod here on the forum. I will deffo bear in mind numbers for mechanics. We havent got a proper quote yet, which we will do before deciding on anything. OH is currently an agency driver and so not working in the same place all the time so lift to work is difficult but would definitely do if he could.

protector - yes OH has a 68 beetle, but currently off the road awaiting a bit of work in order to pass MOT. it was a restoration project which has taken about 6 years as and when can afford it. OH has had a number of beetles and vans in the past. Probably a lot easier to fix than the focus, but not so practical with 2 yr DS and lanky greyhound.