Ouch - car service and MOT

[Rhythm Thief]

Oh a nice cheap car then... £300 is an axle set of tyres for either of my cars .

I've found tyres for mine at £33 a corner. I've just spent two or three hundred quid on my car - an engine rebuild and new shock absorbers - but it's funny how it isn't really important when it's your hobby as well. I really enjoyed rebuilding the engine, especially firing it up for the first time when it was all back together.

 

[jayonabike]

I have an 08 plate volvo v70, 2 new tyres for the front was £200, full service the other week was £490!

jay

 

[Happiness Stan]

310 quid?

My Mercedes garage charges that for my driving into their forecourt.

 

[wafflycat]

310 quid?

My Mercedes garage charges that for my driving into their forecourt.

*snork*

As a fellow Merc owner, and as MrWC also has a Merc, even though they are little baby Mercs, we know exactly what you mean!

 

[tyred]

I find it costs very little to keep a car running when you do the work yourself. I have also gathered up a lot of spare parts for my car over the years (mostly for free). I have a complete spare suspension, engine and gearbox and assorted body panels (all free and stripped of a crashed car a mate was sending to the crusher). The same car also donated 4 perfectly good tyres. The car cost 300 Euro in the first place and the only parts I have bought in the 45,000 miles are some O-rings for the for the fuel injection and part of the exhaust system.

 

[Hilldodger]

My Skoda cost £150. I've had it eight months and spent nothing on it.

Got to tax it tomorrow - it'll cost more than the cars worth

 

[tyred]

My Skoda cost £150. I've had it eight months and spent nothing on it.

Got to tax it tomorrow - it'll cost more than the cars worth

But you're so nice to it, you even painted the windscreen....

 

[BentMikey]

I used to have a 528i so I'm used to the big time. And I'm not likely to be doing a cambelt change myself, LOL.

 

[Hilldodger]

But you're so nice to it, you even painted the windscreen....

 

[al78]

I find it costs very little to keep a car running when you do the work yourself. I have also gathered up a lot of spare parts for my car over the years (mostly for free). I have a complete spare suspension, engine and gearbox and assorted body panels (all free and stripped of a crashed car a mate was sending to the crusher). The same car also donated 4 perfectly good tyres. The car cost 300 Euro in the first place and the only parts I have bought in the 45,000 miles are some O-rings for the for the fuel injection and part of the exhaust system.

Yes, but you do have to know what you are doing, else you could do even more damage, maybe end up killing someone if you bodge something and are really unlucky.

How easy is it to do car repairs, compared to bike repairs? I know one issue with fixing bikes is sometimes it can be very fiddly doing the adjustments (e.g. getting brake blocks positioned correctly, getting the gear indexing correct).

 

[wafflycat]

MrWC is entirely capable of doing the vast majority of work required to a motor (he trained as an engineer and has tinkered with cars all his adult life), the problem is the time required. His workload is such that basically he doesn't have the time. So it's off to a garage we go. Of course, as soon as a car is out of warranty it does not do to the brand dealership as the charges are *extortionate* as well as the local Merc dealerships' service departments being our far from favourite places due to their ineptitude. Luckily we have a friend who is a mechanic who works in a local garage and the cars go to him, where we are charged a reasonable amount.

 

[GrasB]

I've found tyres for mine at £33 a corner.

Now that's the sort of money I'd be willing to spend on tyres for most of my old cars; Mazda 323, 'cento sporting, etc... but to spend that kind of money on tyres for a twitchy at the best of times sports car or a car with a enough torque & chassis to keep up with a Porsche 993 (911) Turbo on the twisty stuff you're talking ditch finder territory.

I've just spent two or three hundred quid on my car - an engine rebuild and new shock absorbers - but it's funny how it isn't really important when it's your hobby as well. I really enjoyed rebuilding the engine, especially firing it up for the first time when it was all back together.

+1 this is one thing I miss about my old hill climbers, fiddling & fettling hours of fun putting it all together, that turn of the key wondering if it'll all work & then the adulation as the engine bursts in to life.

 

[cyberknight]

£310 - that hurts! OTOH just imagine how much worse it would be owning two cars. This one's for the missus, I use the bike for work.

Mine was £600 last year for a service and MOT.

I am still in shock the wife hardly uses it and i feel strange when i drive it maybe 1-2 times a month.

 

[GrasB]

Often the lack of use puts service bills up as things get tight, corrosion can set in, etc.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

we have three, and the wife walks to work and I cycle ..... ridiculous, one is going in May when the MOT s due