Drive shaft broke, should I buy a new car?

kimwp

My drive shaft (driver side, honda jazz) broke and a friend is saying the other might go, so I should buy a different car.Would it be sensible to get a different car (or replace the other drive shaft)?

Edit: thanks to a brill AA mechanic, a local garage replaced the drive shaft on the day to avoid me being stranded. So the car is fine at the moment.

Andyjflet

Morning, drive shafts are consumable items so I would get the broken one replaced, use a garage you trust or is recommended to you. The Honda Jazz is considered a good car for longevity and reliability. 

MattMattMattUK

kimwp said:

My drive shaft (driver side, honda jazz) broke and a friend is saying the other might go,

Lots of things "might" go, but one drive shaft breaking is rare, let alone two. Take it to a reliable garage and get them to have a look the remaining drive shaft to make sure it does not have any damage. 

kimwp said:

so I should buy a different car.Would it be sensible to get a different car (or replace the other drive shaft)?

Replacing a drive shaft for a Jazz would cost around £300-350, doing two at the same time cost around £450-500 (car already on the ramp, the part is only £80-100 so you are paying for time and skill), but the garage will tell you if the other side needs replacing or not. You need to weigh up the cost of that, vs the value of the vehicle, vs buying another vehicle which will likely have it's own issues. 

kimwp

Thank you both, the broken drive shaft was already replaced (I have edited the original post to make that clearer). I'll talk to my garage. I was fine carrying on with the car as is, but my friend made me wonder if I was being too blasé.

darrensurrey

If you want peace of mind, then get your trusted garage to check all the suspension parts. Or do a pre-MOT test where they run through everything. When's the MOT actually due?

kimwp

darrensurrey said:

If you want peace of mind, then get your trusted garage to check all the suspension parts. Or do a pre-MOT test where they run through everything. When's the MOT actually due?

MOT was done in march. I don't think MOT would check integrity/cracks on the drive shaft?

paul_c123

Did it really snap? Or did the CV joint break up, which can happen if the boot is split and lets grease out and/or water/dirt in. Or they can just wear out with age and then break. If it goes it will have been making a noise for some time, getting worse.

Certainly worth checking the boots on all the other CV joints (there will be 4 on a car, but you've probably just had 2 replaced).

How old and how many miles is the car?

Any fails on the MoT or previous MoTs for boots, which were fixed with a new boot but not a new joint?

An old car can break down but then a new car can too. You can't guarantee it won't, since it has many thousands of moving parts.

kimwp

125k miles
 No mot advisories/fails for boots

facade

kimwp said:

darrensurrey said:

If you want peace of mind, then get your trusted garage to check all the suspension parts. Or do a pre-MOT test where they run through everything. When's the MOT actually due?

MOT was done in march. I don't think MOT would check integrity/cracks on the drive shaft?

Drive shafts are covered in section 6.1.7 of the MOT testers manual.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/6-body-structure-and-attachments#section-6-1-7

It would depend on the opinion of the tester, and things can deteriorate with mileage since the test, but visible signs of imminent catastrophic failure ought to be flagged up at the test.

kimwp

facade said:

kimwp said:

darrensurrey said:

If you want peace of mind, then get your trusted garage to check all the suspension parts. Or do a pre-MOT test where they run through everything. When's the MOT actually due?

MOT was done in march. I don't think MOT would check integrity/cracks on the drive shaft?

Drive shafts are covered in section 6.1.7 of the MOT testers manual.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/6-body-structure-and-attachments#section-6-1-7

It would depend on the opinion of the tester, and things can deteriorate with mileage since the test, but visible signs of imminent catastrophic failure ought to be flagged up at the test.

Ooh thank you! So that confirms, no sub-surface scanning or inspection for surface cracks. 

paul_c123

What's the reg number of the car, so we can look up the MoT history?