Repair or buy new? 3 January at 5:58PM in Motoring 19 replies 744 views

CarolK

There is a national company called 1st4u that provides its members with access to discounted car repairs. It may be worth checking their charges before you make a decision

facade

If you are sick of throwing money at a car you don't like, why not get a brand new one?

A Dacia Sandero costs £200 a month to borrow and hand back after 4 years, it shouldn't need any major spending, and is about what you are throwing at the clio.

You could furiously save towards paying off the finance early and save some interest, but buying a car with borrowed money is not cheap.

I wouldn't waste money paying dear for some-one else's cast off, there is always something wrong with a car that has been traded in, if there wasn't the owner would keep it.

Goudy

facade said:

If you are sick of throwing money at a car you don't like, why not get a brand new one?

A Dacia Sandero costs £200 a month to borrow and hand back after 4 years, it shouldn't need any major spending, and is about what you are throwing at the clio.

You could furiously save towards paying off the finance early and save some interest, but buying a car with borrowed money is not cheap.

I wouldn't waste money paying dear for some-one else's cast off, there is always something wrong with a car that has been traded in, if there wasn't the owner would keep it.

That's not a bad shout.
Particularly if you can reduce what you borrow to the minimum.

Dacia don't do discounts, so shopping around the likes of Carwow isn't going to throw up any mega deals, but you have the Clio to trade in and use some of your savings towards a deposit.

Say if you could round up your trade in with some savings (what you'd pay on on repairs) to around £3500.
You'd need to find 36 monthly payments of £120.
Then either trade it in again, hand it back or settle the outstanding balloon payment of £7000.

casperchameleon

Goudy said:

The spring and track rod ends are fairly cheap parts, it's labour that would bump the bill up.
Worth shopping around some local garages for quotes.
Worth getting both sides springs and track rod ends done.

There are a few national chains that would fit an exhaust and with a bit of searching you could probably find a discount code.
Same goes for the tyres.
My Misses just asks for money off, tells them see works for the NHS and with a flash of her ID badge they give her 10% off at a certain national fitting chain.

The heater and radio, is that a power issue?
Does the fan not blow on any setting?
Have you checked the fuses?

Noise, what sort of noise, a squeal or a screech. A rumble or a rattle?

How bad is the oil leak?
Do you have to top up the oil by a litre regulary, is it dripping off the bottom of the car or is it just a weep?

If it's a 1.2 petrol, it could be a problem with the dipstick and filler cap.
The filler cap can stick and this can force the dipstick out of it's hole if it's not clipped in place.
There's some good Youtube videos about the problem.

It kind of sounds like a toy car being wound up… if that makes any sense

macman

Every time you post on this car, you seem to report new issues (now heater and radio, possibly just blown fuses). These problems cannot have all occurred at once, so what have you actually spent on maintenance and servicing in the last few years? What do you actually budget for maintenance and repairs annually?
Some of these 'faults' are trivial, i.e new tyres and exhaust. They are consumables, and going to need replacement on any used vehicle eventually.

Grumpy_chap

macman said:

Every time you post on this car, you seem to report new issues (now heater and radio, possibly just blown fuses). These problems cannot have all occurred at once, so what have you actually spent on maintenance and servicing in the last few years? What do you actually budget for maintenance and repairs annually?
Some of these 'faults' are trivial, i.e new tyres and exhaust. They are consumables, and going to need replacement on any used vehicle eventually.

It is actually quite pertinent for anyone operating an old car to distinguish between "needs doing" and "nice to have".
"Needs doing" is any work to keep the car safe and reliable - essentially so that the car "just works"
"Nice to have" is any work that just makes it nicer, but the car will "just work" just as well without.  I'd put a radio fault in this group.

It is then also helpful with an older car to have some understanding of what you can do or cannot do yourself.

Finally, an understanding of risk with any work - my old Focus had a faulty LCD display for the mileage and message screen but the car "just worked" without that.  I assessed changing and it looked like a repair my Nephew could do, but we both decided against as the risk was, if we messed up, we'd leave the car not working (risk of affecting the CPU).

sheslookinhot

facade said:
, there is always something wrong with a car that has been traded in, if there wasn't the owner would keep it.

That’s just nonsense. Thousands of people will change cars, simply because they want a newer/different car .

facade

sheslookinhot said:

facade said:
, there is always something wrong with a car that has been traded in, if there wasn't the owner would keep it.

That’s just nonsense. Thousands of people will change cars, simply because they want a newer/different car .

Ask any motor trader who buys from auction

casperchameleon

Update - for anyone slightly interested 

the engine is knackered and needs replacing 

amongst this needs £200 of work to get it through MOT

this will certainly be a life lesson to look after my next car!