IT LIVES! IT LIVES! IT LIVES! (Was: The End...?)

[highlander]

Coupe failed its MOT today

2x new front tyres (235/35/R19, at around £120 each, plus fitting)
New brake discs and pads on all four wheels (excessively scored/pitted)
3x new brake pipes (they say they take an hour each to change, so it’s the labour costs that kill on that one)
Brake imbalance between the front wheels (they can see the brake calipers aren't applying pressure evenly)
Handbrake not applying to rear left wheel (little or no effort on one side)
Leaking exhaust (possibly just a new hanger required, so that one is not too bad)
New indicator bulbs (cheap fix)

... and that’s just the stuff I can remember... will be picking it up around 4:30 - 5:00 PM so will get the full failures/advisories sheet then.

They're talking about around £800 - £900 plus VAT, so between £960 and £1080 inclusive, so I've told them not to bother doing any of the work.

I'm totally gutted. On top of that, she could do with a new set of springs and shocks, a wheel refurb, and a respray. Unless my numbers come up in the Euromillions, there's no way I can make the sums work, so I'm going to have to replace the car with something else (pretty much anything else) that has an MOT.

So upset right now.

[Doggy]

Ouch! Feel for you Graeme.

(I can truly empathise, since mine's in for it's MOT as we speak).......

Worth getting some quotes on doing the brakes? The discs/pads/shoes can be bought for £150 ish, brake pipes don't cost much, it's the labour that's costly. Somebody with a half decent workshop could do it all in a day
Couple of part worn tyres to tide you over?

[Welly]

You won't like to hear this but apart from the brake pipes the rest is just brake 'service' stuff even the calipers will sort themselves out after a good clean and lubrication of the slide pins etc.

I do understand though you might not have the room/kit/experience to do the work yourself but it really shouldn't be anywhere near enough to write the car off.

Why not think about changing the wheels back to standard, you'd probably pick up a set of 16" with tyres and maybe ebay your 19's for cash moneh.

Having written that I can also understand you might be thinking not to spend more on it and cut your losses but if the car is otherwise ok engine/box/structure wise you might be better the devil you know.....

[PeterN]

If you can find a good tame mechanic you should be able to get it a lot cheaper, have a look at the price of spares on ebay. I have just fitted a new cam belt, tensioners and water pump, cost me about £65.00. A new set of front pads were less than £20.00 and a very easy job.

Peter

[Doggy]

I'm sure you could get it done cheaper and still be worth someone's while doing it.

FWIW Mine failed too - but only on a wiper blade + advisory on the windscreen.

[steve_earwig]

Oh crap, mine's got it's MOT (or local equivalent) tomorrow and this doesn't bode well

Sorry to hear about yours Graeme. I'm sure you could get those costs down considerably, especially if you were prepared to get your hands dirty. I realise this might be heading you off down the path where you have to keep fixing it because you spent so much fixing it but, as Welly said, what would you be replacing it with - something unknown with its own list of troubles?

[highlander]

The rap sheet:

Code: Select all

Reasons for refusal of a Test Certificate:
001 (both) Side repeater incorrect colour [1.4.A.2f]
002 (both front) Direction indicator incorrect colour [1.4.A.2f]
003 (both front) Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm [4.1.E.1] **DANGEROUS**
004 Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases [7.1.2]
005 Offside rear brake excessively fluctuating [3.7.B.3]
006 Nearside rear parking brake recording little or no effort [3.7.B.6a]
007 Front Brakes imbalanced across an axle [3.7.B.5b]
008 (both to rear hoses.) Brake pipe excessively corroded [3.6.B.2c]
009 Offside (front to rear) Brake pipe excessively corroded [3.6.B.2c]

Advisory items:
010 (both) registration plate deteriorated but not likely to be misread [6.3.1d]
011 (front and rear) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened [3.5.1i]
012 Under-trays fitted obscuring some underside components
013 Engine covers fitted obscuring some components in the engine bay
014 Oil leaks at engine area.rear subframe corroded.

And you know what, looking at it in full, it's not as bad as I had expected. There's no mention of pads at all, and the discs are listed as an advisory.

I had an offer of assistance from mark.w from the Coupe Club; he's actually in Glasgow at the moment, which is only a few hours drive from here. He's kindly offered to come up and lend a hand. Tyres, I can take - I can't drive the car to a tyre fitters unless they also do MOT work, so I can maybe source the tyres and get 'em fitted. If Mark can help with all the brake-related stuff, I'll be much closer to a pass. And his car will be laden with alcohol on the way back.

Here's the thing though - the tyres are fine on the outside (middle to outer edge) but completely bald on the inside (middle to inner edge, and the corner is worn down to the canvas). That smacks of alignment issues, or incorrect camber, or something suspension-related. No? The car has only done 5,400 miles since its last MOT, and there were no advisories then about uneven tyre wear, or scored/pitted discs, or anything of the above list at all, as it happens. Maybe just this test centre being pernickety? (it's not the same garage; I actually forgot about my MOT until Thursday of last week, when I found it lapsed on the 15th, so I took whatever appointment I could get).

[GingerMagic]

As you say its not too bad a list.

A few bulbs, help from Mark doing the brakes ( he loves* sorting the handbrake.. ) and a set of number plates are £10 delivered from tinternet.

Rear subframe could be an issue, but a generous helping of Hammerite may help

[steve_earwig]

I'm reading that offside rear brake disk fluctuating as a warped disk With the handbrake and imbalance I think you'll be changing the lot. Umm, yes pernickerty, but tyres through to the canvas, wow, not seen that in a while. They might not have been bad enough to notice on the last mot but yes, alignment, maybe just tracking as nothing's loose but it'll need the whole lot checking really.

[highlander]

As you say its not too bad a list.

A few bulbs, help from Mark doing the brakes ( he loves* sorting the handbrake.. ) and a set of number plates are £10 delivered from tinternet.

Rear subframe could be an issue, but a generous helping of Hammerite may help

Interestingly, the subframe was once the subject of an advisory for corrosion. But I didn't touch it, and subsequent MOTs have not mentioned it again. So yes, this one seems to be dependent on the garage.

Brakes aside, the only other one I'm worrying about is the exhaust; "major leak" ? Not sure. It's a stainless steel cat-back system, so hopefully it'll be the join between the stainless part and the cat, rather than the cat itself, the downpipe, or the exhaust manifold.

About the only thing on that list I can manage without parental supervision is the bloody bulbs, and I'm fully expecting to come away from that job with less skin on my knuckles and less blood in my veins than I had before I started.

[Doggy]

I got caught out with 2 front tyres in a similar state a few months back, wound up having to change a wheel by the side of the A14 which wasn't fun.
I check mine regulary, (or so I thought). Whatever went wrong, happened PDQ.

Good to hear you've got a potential solution. I know you'd really miss the coupe.

Remember you don't need to take on the advisories straight away.

[Welly]

That list isn't too bad at all, I reckon you could sort out the whole lot for less than £400 tops. I'd get some part-worn's up front and then get the alignment checked/adjusted.

The brakes should pass the test once stripped/cleaned/new pads. And definitely pass with new discs.

Bulbs = easy.

Brake pipes are the worst part but not the end of the world.

Sub frame = wire brush and a rattle can of satin black.

Exhaust would probably need a quick looking at by an egg sauce place if you can sneak down there? might just need a new gasket between the flange joint or a new clamp or something. Can you hear the leak?

I've never seen someone put Engine Covers and Undertray's down as advisories that's just pointless. Almost looks like you got the MOT tester's first ever job after passing his MOT training.

It's just a shame* you're so far away as I'd willingly* offer to help*

[steve_earwig]

Oh crap, mine's got it's MOT (or local equivalent) tomorrow and this doesn't bode well

Passed (hoorah!) I'll write it all up later but it's looking something like 160 quid insurance (3rd party ), 60 quid window duty/stamp tax and 40 quid for the test itself.

[benczuk]

Maybe just this test centre being pernickety?

Anyone that picks up on the colour of indicator bulbs are being pernickety to my mind.. What do they use, a dulux chart?

[gumby6371]

Not that I think you'll need it all but I've just priced up new brakes for my 2.2 saloon on ECP's website which I'm guessing will be similar to your coupe and it came to a touch over £150.
That includes discs and pads all round plus handbrake shoes and replacing all 3 cables, you may not need all or even any of that but it if you did it's not tricky to do yourself with minimal tools and access to youtube. Pretty sure farmerpug has done guides on there but if not bunnybr certainly has.
A stiff brush and a tin of underseal will sort the rust out.
Bulbs are obvious but a small pair of hands may be required!
Exhaust will hopefully be pull apart, clean, re-seal and refit.
Whip the offending wheels down to your nearest part worn tyre bloke as a temporary fix, pay for tracking and better tyres when you have an MoT on it.

The only bit I'd be looking for help with would be the brake lines, possibly worth ringing a few mobile mechanics locally (probably not the cheapest method but I'm assuming its not legally roadworty.

In short £250 max for the bits you can sort yourself plus whatever the brake lines cost but you'll probably spend a lot less than £250 when you find out what you actually need to pass the MoT