End for my Mk1 Focus?

consumers_revenge

Hi,

I've got a zetec mark one that's fealing sorry for itself as its just failed the MOT and they are quoting 500+ to fix.

Im wondering if its worth saving her as shes 16 years old now but in pretty good shape other wise.

Whats gone?

Middle brake light - I can prob fix

suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated/excessive movement.



anti roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint

they are both N/S and they tell be they can do for £175 inclusive - does this seem fair?

and both the rearside inner wings by the anchorage points, looked and it some 2p long splits. Hes quoting about 300-350 to do both but that seems excessive ( especially when they quoted me badly for welding on a micra cross member last year! ) How difficult is this to replace/cost please?


Would be glad of any advice

Cheers

s_b

consumers_revenge wrote: »

Hi,

I've got a zetec mark one that's fealing sorry for itself as its just failed the MOT and they are quoting 500+ to fix.

Im wondering if its worth saving her as shes 16 years old now but in pretty good shape other wise.

Whats gone?

Middle brake light - I can prob fix

suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated/excessive movement.



anti roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint

they are both N/S and they tell be they can do for £175 inclusive - does this seem fair?

and both the rearside inner wings by the anchorage points, looked and it some 2p long splits. Hes quoting about 300-350 to do both but that seems excessive ( especially when they quoted me badly for welding on a micra cross member last year! ) How difficult is this to replace/cost please?


Would be glad of any advice

Cheers

get another quote

consumers_revenge

for the joints or the welding?

facade

I'd get new quotes for both.

If properly welded, you should get 2 years out of it, suspension joints are consumables on any car, so even if you pay £500 that isn't too bad for 2 years probably.

The car is worth a few pounds for scrap, and anything you buy probably wants money spent on it, so you are likely better off fixing it it you like the car.

The centre brake light not working at all is an advisory (they have to give you the benefit of the doubt that it is disconnected), if it is one of those multi-bulb ones and less than 50% of the bulbs come on then it is a fail.

k18dan

Chuck it on eBay for spares or repairs and buy another cheap motor with a years MOT

Bangeromics :money:

BeenThroughItAll

k18dan wrote: »

Chuck it on eBay for spares or repairs and buy another cheap motor with a years MOT

Bangeromics :money:

That's not bangernomics though, that's idiotonomics.


You could buy another cheap motor with a year's MOT that's in a worse state in other areas than the one you have. What if the clutch is about to go? The DMF failing? The engine oil hasn't been changed for a decade? None of those would necessarily fail the MOT, but could easily see you on the back of an AA truck within a week of purchase.


OP - If it's running otherwise well, the ARB link and suspension arm are consumables, and the welding will buy you some time, so get another couple of quotes, fix it, run it for another year or two (unless there is something else wrong with the car that you're aware of, you should get another couple of years out of it no bother).

consumers_revenge

Have found the chap that did my welding and hes quoting £25 an hour he will also do the other bits. All lights are out on the centre brake light ( not sure it ever worked TBH ). I believe the non welding bits are around £65 for the parts.


He will also put it through an MOT at the local garage he uses ( hes a classic car repairer by trade ) so fingers crossed

[Deleted User]

I thought centre brake lights aren't a legal requirement and therefore not a failure. Advisory yes as it's courtesy but sure it would be classed as a fail.

k18dan

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

That's not bangernomics though, that's idiotonomics.


You could buy another cheap motor with a year's MOT that's in a worse state in other areas than the one you have. What if the clutch is about to go? The DMF failing? The engine oil hasn't been changed for a decade? None of those would necessarily fail the MOT, but could easily see you on the back of an AA truck within a week of purchase.

.

Indeed - However if you always thought like that you would never buy a second hand car again..?

This is the point of Bangernomics - buy a car cheap with a MOT and run it until it dies or repair bills start coming in, then get rid and start again.

If the new £300 banger you have picked dies within in a week, chuck it on eBay for spares or repair, recoup as much of you outlay as poss and buy another.

Joe_Horner

Deleted_User wrote: »

I thought centre brake lights aren't a legal requirement and therefore not a failure. Advisory yes as it's courtesy but sure it would be classed as a fail.

Not quite. They're not required by law but, if fitted, must work.

But "fitted" means physically on the car and wired in. So:

If they're not there (even if they were standard fit) then they pass. Probably without even an advisory.

If they're there but don't light up at all then they pass because the tester has to assume they're disconnected (ie: no longer wired in so no linger "fitted". Should normally get an advisory for this one.

If they're there and they light up at all then that shows that they're wired in so they can fail for any of the reasons other lights can fail - wrong colour, less than 50% of a multi-light unit lighting up and so on.

BeenThroughItAll

k18dan wrote: »

Indeed - However if you always thought like that you would never buy a second hand car again..?

This is the point of Bangernomics - buy a car cheap with a MOT and run it until it dies or repair bills start coming in, then get rid and start again.

If the new £300 banger you have picked dies within in a week, chuck it on eBay for spares or repair, recoup as much of you outlay as poss and buy another.

You have a very different definition of bangernomics to most. All you're doing is buying unknown quantities for minimal cost and accepting the risk that they'll be complete sheds, rather than running a car at minimal cost for as long as possible.
Where you'd spend £500 to buy an unknown shitbox and risk it being dead in a week, I'd suggest spending that £500 to get your existing vehicle fixed and another year or two out of a known car represents much better value.