Car D.I.Y.

[CXRAndy]

I've recounted before a colleague ending up scrapping her modest Renault hatch back because a wiper motor failed. To be fair the part itself was a perfectly reasonable fifty quid or whatever but the labour required was over £1500 as half the car had to come apart to get at it. I later wondered if they could have more simply cut a hatch somewhere and mig'd a patch on it afterwards since it didn't have to look pristine given the alternative was scrappage

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I presume they were talking of the front wiper motor? A Haynes manual or online pdf would show how to get the scuttle plate off. For £1500 labour I'd be having a go myself

 

[Profpointy]

😮

I presume they were talking of the front wiper motor? A Haynes manual or online pdf would show how to get the scuttle plate off. For £1500 labour I'd be having a go myself

I don't know the details but as told to me the labour quote was considered by the owner as reasonable for the amount work albeit totally uneconomic to have done. Dunno if was a main agent or not

 

[Drago]

I've recounted before a colleague ending up scrapping her modest Renault hatch back because a wiper motor failed. To be fair the part itself was a perfectly reasonable fifty quid or whatever but the labour required was over £1500 as half the car had to come apart to get at it. I later wondered if they could have more simply cut a hatch somewhere and mig'd a patch on it afterwards since it didn't have to look pristine given the alternative was scrappage

There's something similar doing the rounds in the VW van world.

The motor that controls the heater settings can fail. Officially, the entire dash has to come out and the labour is also about £1500 odd.

Independents go by the "book" time, so while their hourly rate is lower it's still a lot of hours and typically still a grand or more.

Keen DIYers have looked at the problem and discovered that only part of the lower dash needs to be removed, so the job can be actually done at home in less than 2 hours.

One guy has twigged it's quicker still to remove the drivers seat (4 bolts) and lay on your back looking up under the dash, making it less than an hour.

But VW dealers want to charge for removing the entire dash because that's the approved factory method from which the book time is derived.

We can be fairly certain someone with some nouse could have fixed that Renfault for a lot, lot less than £1500.

 

[Profpointy]

There's something similar doing the rounds in the VW van world.

The motor that controls the water settings can fail. Officially, the entire dash has to come out and the labour is also about £1500 odd.

Independents go by the "book" time, so while their hourly rate is lower it's still a lot of hours and typically still a grand or more.

Keen DIYers have looked at the problem and discovered onky part of the lower dash needs to be removed, so the job can be actually done at home in less than 2 hours. One guy has twigged it's quicker still to remove the drivers seat (4 bolts) and lay on your back looking up under the dash, making it less than an hour.

But VW dealers want to charge for removing the entire dash because that's the approved factory method from which the book time is derived.

We can be fairly certain someone with some nouse could have fixed than Renfault for a lot, lot less than £1500.

Surprised the garage themselves did''t suggest a bodge as they got nothing given the car was scrapped

 

[CXRAndy]

My relatives have a similar skewed mentality to getting rid of perfectly serviceable cars. The last two cars, BMW needed full set of brakes, granted not a cheap job from BMW. Still worthwhile and economical.

The other was their VW toucan diesel (the one smaller than the Tourag)

Needed a turbo, egr etc after driving locally for too long. Again £3-4k job. Soon as they spent that traded it in. I know it made the car fully functional, but, they just lost the repair cost with no benefit. Keep the car a least for another year to recover from the financial cost of the repair

 

[fossyant]

You are onto a 'cruising for a bruising' if you can't do any DIY on a car. BIL got rinsed by his Ford dealer when he took his Kuga in for a service. Low miles, and it had been sat for a while at the start of covid. 'Your brakes are corroded and scored' - that will be £500 please. There was nothing wrong, other than a few trips round the block and a bit of heavy braking wouldn't have cured. £200 max for discs and pads !

I've had it in the past from a 'tyre garage' - oh your discs are looking a little 'lipped'. Me OK.... Ignored them. The new pads I fitted didn't cause any scraping, so carried on !

 

[Profpointy]

I've had it in the past from a 'tyre garage' - oh your discs are looking a little 'lipped'. Me OK.... Ignored them. The new pads I fitted didn't cause any scraping, so carried on !

The service history on my "new" Honda Civic was mostly stamped by a certain "tyre garage" as you put it. I commented to the salesman that that didn't exactly give a great level of confidence and he did laugh to be fair. Anyhow bought the car and apart from a slow leak in one tyre, fixed by a more respectable tyre garage simply by refitting the same tyre, and car seems fine. 10 years old, 120,000 miles, £3k. A pal had a different Honda from new and did quarter of a million trouble free miles in it, and it's still going strong, so hopefully I'll get a few years out of it

 

[Drago]

I've had it in the past from a 'tyre garage' - oh your discs are looking a little 'lipped'. Me OK.... Ignored them. The new pads I fitted didn't cause any scraping, so carried on !

My Dad had this discussion at his Lexus (the Japanese Merdedes) dealer a few years back.

" your discs are excessively worn."

"No they're not."

"Yes they are."

"No they're not."

And so the discussion went until the exasperated service adviser asked;

"And how would you know?"

"Because I've degrees in mechanical engineering and metallurgy, and I had my micrometer on them yesterday,"

Thwt shut them but, but there's an ironic twist. My Dad complained about attempts to sell him work that was not required, and they gave him his next set of discs and pads for free by way of an apology. So their attempt to upsell ended with them giving the items away.

 

[Bristolian]

The dealer repair situation is ridiculous these days. £2k to repair a headlight

I know these LED cluster with auto anti dimming features are fantastic, but as the car gets old, it pretty much makes a viable car scrap if you as you have found out.

Actually, it's worse than that because all I am fixing is the indicator; the rest of the light works perfectly well

 

[Bristolian]

My relatives have a similar skewed mentality to getting rid of perfectly serviceable cars. The last two cars, BMW needed full set of brakes, granted not a cheap job from BMW. Still worthwhile and economical.

The other was their VW toucan diesel (the one smaller than the Tourag)

Needed a turbo, egr etc after driving locally for too long. Again £3-4k job. Soon as they spent that traded it in. I know it made the car fully functional, but, they just lost the repair cost with no benefit. Keep the car a least for another year to recover from the financial cost of the repair

That has always been my philosophy in the past but when you get a car that continuously needs money spent on it you have no confidence in it lasting for a year without further costs - actually I'd settle for three months of trouble-free motoring - there comes a time when cut and run is the right thing to do. I think that time is now.

In the 14 months that I've owned the E220 I've laid out £2,423 in parts and (cheap) labour. It's predecessor, a C220, only cost me another £500 in almost 8 years of ownership.

 

[Pinno718]

So I'll do it myself. 20 litres of VW 507.00 spec oil, enough for three services, was only £46 delivered to my door, so the savings are significant.

If you are going to do it DIY, there is plenty of stuff out their regarding what's in the service. Such as brake/clutch/power steering fluid changes. It often surprises people how extensive some of the services are.

I provide the service pack as well as doing what I can (without a ramp) and hand my car over to a local indie so they can set the digital service stamp*. My last service was a shade over £170 which included a brake fluid change - sometimes difficult to do with ABS systems.
This, when I have completely restored my 944 (mechanically) including rebuilding the engine myself. It's a funny dichotomy to be in.

*If you intend to sell it in the future, no one is enamoured by 'I did it myself' with regards to servicing which leaves me no choice but to have that dealer (or reputable) indie 'stamp'.

 

[Drago]

I have the full service sheet. Onky thing I can't do is software updates.

BTW, I'd have trouble changing the fluid on electric PAS!

I don't intend to ever sell. I'm 57 and it's the last motor vehicle I'll ever buy. I don't want to be driving beyond my mid 70's so I'll likely be letting it go in 18 years or so, by which time it's value will be minimal anyway.

 

[Pinno718]

I have the full service sheet. Onky thing I can't do is software updates.

Yes, it's a bit of pig

 

[Pinno718]

I hope my beemer lasts until I stop driving but that would make it 32 years old if I stop driving at 70.
I think I might buy an identical one for spares.

 

[Drago]

My Volvo is 20 now with 45k miles, but that's a garage queen that only comes out in the summer.