A bit eye-watering one might think for a couple of penny-pinching OAPs. But not really. At 92,000 miles nearly, the two front suspension bottom arms had to be replaced because their rubber bushes were coming apart. And after 12 years those big bolts had to be freed using heat and effort to avoid damage. So parts and labour came to more than 400 quid, MoT fee 50, oil and filter change at my request, a couple of light bulbs and the associated fiddling and cleaning up of contact blocks etc, and the dreaded VAT, brought the bill up to 588 or thereabouts.
OK so far. But the garage also lent us its courtesy car, a perfectly nice little Peugeot thingy, so that we weren't left stranded or begging the cousins for lifts or car loans. No charge for that. And we will get a free wash and valet - much needed, believe me - as soon as we want at the washing/valeting outfit the garage has an account with.
Good garages are like gold. And this is one of them.
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Interesting. Not sure I'd spend £600 on an old Cruiser. I mean the car, no the poster. ;-)
I'm about to blow a similar sum (well, 100 quid shy of your bill) on our 2002 Golf TDi - MoT, cambelt, water pump (metal impeller requested), aux belt, brake fluid, fuel filter. Hope the MoT doesn't present any surprise expense. The car's still worth a coupla grand, 91k on the clock, so just about worth doing. I was going to do the autobox fluid and filter, but I reckon it's not worth it as I expect the car will get sold when the cambelt's due again (4 years). Should still get the best part of a grand for it then in a private sale.
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>> Not sure I'd spend £600 on an old Cruiser.
Maintenance costs money comrade. But changing cars costs even more unless you are very adept indeed with this buying and selling malarkey.
The Cruiser isn't a bad motor at all, and it's reliable. Everything important works, and herself is happy driving it (whereas some of the cars we've had have been a bit of a handful for her). No point in changing yet unless we suddenly get rich, which seems a bit unlikely.
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Ouch AC ! But I suppose if it now gives you another year or two of low grief then it's probably worth it. I'm surprised GB hasn't been round to fettle it to run on Calor gas yet.
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>> fettle it to run on Calor gas yet.
It's a far-from-lightweight 140hp 2 litre Humph, leisurely or raucous depending on the degree of hurry.
You need a big engine with lots of torque for that. A Bristol or Grand Cherokee V8 or similar. Only in my dreams unfortunately... one advantage if you can afford that sort of car is that they are exempt from the congestion charge. Of course so are Fiat 500 TwinAirs and a few other frugal low-emitting (at certain speeds anyway) vehicles as well as hybrids.
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500 quid doesn't go very far these days, and if you're happy with the service and the job done there's no need to feel bad. Money well spent if you like the car I'd say.
The "oil inspection" on SWMBO's X3 diesel was done yesterday - 350-odd quid including brake fluid change and whatever else they did (haven't seen the invoice yet). But no more scheduled servicing for the next 2 years or 20,000 miles, so pretty good value really.
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I havent even spent 500 quid in total on 5 services for the lancer.
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At what rate are you costing your time, Z?
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>> At what rate are you costing your time, Z?
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Zero cost for Zero, as he is retired, I guess.
Nicole may even give Zero a credit/reward for the time if it meant Zero was at home messing around on the car rather than getting up to lonely-mischief of train-spotting.
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Zero cost for Zero, as he is retired...
Is that a valid argument, though? To quote Bonnie Raitt
Life gets mighty precious
When there's less of it to waste.
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Yep, maintenance does cost money.
See i don't look at a cars book value when judging whether to spend on it or not, on paper it might be worth only the amount i'm spending, but i'm spending to keep it and i know what else the cars needs or rather doesn't need, so a car might only be worth £800 if for sale and i'm spending 6 or so but it might be worth it to me.
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Well, quite gb. It's absurd to cavil over maintenance costs when one is pouring hundreds of quid's worth of precious dwindling overpriced hydrocarbon resources into its throat every year. Of course the Chrysler is a bit of a pig to work on and its bits can be hard to get and dear. But then I am judging by Skoda Estelle standards...
Skoda Estelles (and Mitsubishis according to some) apart, though, cars usually cost more than people expect.
'The car started as a toy for rich gents and then became a cheap copy of that. So woe betide us, sooner or later, if we don't pay up like the cheap copies of rich gents we are assumed to be.'
Smug of me to quote that again I know.
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Yes, GB, that's the test. The repair-or-replace calculation works for insurers (and such as domestic appliance like what used to be Radio Rentals) where they face an immediate cost either way and just want to know which one is lower. But 'value to me' and even emotional attachment are legitimate considerations when it's our own money we're spending.
Besides, in the situation you describe, what else could you actually buy? A car the same age as yours, only without a bent or worn-out thingy, that's all - and who knows what else waiting to go wrong with it. If replacement with something much newer isn't an option, fixing something old but otherwise sound, as the man in the song says, makes quite good sense.
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Of course, when man maths come into play the numbers can be altered to whichever suits - i.e. that cam belt change is going to be expensive, lets get rid and spend thousands on a new car.. :-)
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AC, the trouble with fuelling is that it is a huge cost and there's no denying that later designs do use the stuff more efficiently, well at least on paper they do and in the right sort of open road cruising, its balancing that fuel usage against other costs often associated with keeping these new breeds of technical wonders up to scratch.
I would have done the same as you and got the Cruiser fit and well for another 12 months of mimser avoidance, its also a bit of an indulgence not having a Eurobox, i hate the things with a vengeance, far sooner something a bit unusual or if i'm going to have a standard car i'll have something like Corolla/Lancer, designed purely as a totally reliable easily and cheaply maintained durable workhorse, don't find good simple engineering boring in the least.
WdB, yes its that balancing act again, there comes a point when its gone beyond reasonable expense, i suppose the secret is in deciding when is the right moment to say 'enough', if you can time that right you've cracked it.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Wed 9 Jan 13 at 21:11
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MoT... under £600 - Alanovich
