Car on Finance is a Money Pit

rsd060571

Hi

I purchased a used car one year ago. As my credit history is not great I had to do it through a lender who was slightly more expensive but I made sure it was within my budget,

Since buying the car it has been nothing but a problem. In December the Turbo went and cost £600 to replace. In the last month I have had to replace the brake pads, two tyres, the AC condenser and the EGR Valve.

Today it went for its MOT and failed spectacularly. It requires £1200 of work. I realise that buying used that things will go wrong but it is probably the worst car I have had for issues.

I contacted the finance company and basically they don't want to know.

To add to this I lost my job in March and so things are extremely tight anyway. I don't seem to have many options. Either I keep paying for the car and keep it off the road until such time I can afford the repairs or I voluntarily surrender it to the finance company as i can't afford to be paying for a car that I cannot use.

Any ideas or other options would be most welcome.

TadleyBaggie

Brake pads and tyres are wear and tear consumable items.

foxy-stoat

What is the work is needed to pass the MOT that would cost £1200?

What garage has quoted and what car is it?

What is your settlement figure?

rsd060571

Hi

Thank you for the responses.

I realise that Brakes and Tyres are consumables. I was just including the total spend so far.

The car was purchased through Advantage on HP. Settlement at the moment is around £5000.

To pass the MOT the car requires a new suspension arm and a Power Steering Ram.

The Power Steering Ram alone requires around 5 to 6 hours of labour at £75 an hour. The cost of the part is £375.

I have done a lot of the work on the car myself and whilst I can probably do the suspension arm, the power steering ram is probably a little more difficult without a ramp.

Thanks

gycraig_2

75 pound an hour ? Is the queen fitting it

Faintlol

Sounds like an official dealers price... try and independent shop - they are normally much cheaper. Try a breakers also for the steering arm potentially. Or shop around and get it yourself - not sure on your car but i could get a steering arm for £150-200 here in Northern Ireland pretty handy.

rsd060571

The UK Average is £67 an hour for labour with some garages charging up to £230 an hour.

I'm not sure the Queen would want to work on my heap.

takman

rsd060571 wrote: »

The UK Average is £67 an hour for labour with some garages charging up to £230 an hour.

I'm not sure the Queen would want to work on my heap.

That average will be inflated by dealerships and expensive areas such as London.

Where i am a local independent will be £55 an hour at most and the place i go charges £35 an hour for labor (£29 an hour mates rates) which i only use for big jobs i don't want to do myself even at that price.

So you really need to find a cheaper garage or make friend with a mechanic if your paying £75 an hour!!!