Am I mad...

jeffk

I have a 2002 car, i am the second owner of the car and have looked after it and know the history etc

Brought it in to get checked and told a few things wrong with it, wouldn't tell me price as either didn't want to do it or wanted to spread it out

The things wrong with it

1. Clutch release bearing nosy, told the sleeve is sticking by the garage who put in secondhand gear box and new clutch etc 7 years ago, he said E350, other place wont say
   
2. Passenger rear wheel MIGHT be seized, need to investigate, said was afraid to open it
   
3. Front brake carries corroded
   
4. Exhaust broken inside center box

Told by places the engine is bulletproof and there is about 100K (I think thats right way to put it? ) or less as secondhand gearbox had 20K less

Told by garage lads selling E500 good cars, but then I have to scrap my car as no one will buy it, then if i go with toyota again looking at 6k or so for car and maybe 500 for mine (money I dont have)

So would I be mad to put that work and money into the car and keep it going for many more years (hopefully)

colm_mcm

What car is it?

jeffk

colm_mcm wrote: »

What car is it?

Toytota Corolla

chicorytip

jeffk wrote:

So would I be mad to put that work and money into the car and keep it going for many more years (hopefully)

None of the repair jobs needed are cheap. You could end up spending 800 euro on a car worth only half that amount. You could indeed get many more years reliable motoring from it so it all depends on whether you like the car enough to want to keep it.

mikeecho

I think you're mad.. but that's just what the doctors tell me.

jeffk

The once place I went to won't just say x, paid E35 for inspection and now 3 times I called today and going to ring, going to text on price of work.

If someone said like you a figure than I have something to work on, even worse case upper price and if lower then a bonus

I don't want to end up with some car I hate, with basically 4 wheels and a motor, no modcons (radio with usb being one thing, after that power steering which i guess isnt a modcon)

Isambard

chicorytip wrote: »

None of the repair jobs needed are cheap. You could end up spending 800 euro on a car worth only half that amount. You could indeed get many more years reliable motoring from it so it all depends on whether you like the car enough to want to keep it.

It doesn't really matter what the car is worth. €800 is a lot cheaper than a replacement car would be.

Drive it on to the next NCT and see what they say.

jeffk

Isambard wrote: »

It doesn't really matter what the car is worth. €800 is a lot cheaper than a replacement car would be.

Drive it on to the next NCT and see what they say.

Sadly thats not till August and herself lives in Navan, so dont fancy going down the M3 and worse case happens :eek:

Del2005

jeffk wrote: »

Sadly thats not till August and herself lives in Navan, so dont fancy going down the M3 and worse case happens :eek:

For €800 you are going to have a reasonably good car if you get your own car repaired. Any 2nd hand purchase is a gamble and the ods shorten on getting a dud when you start looking at sub €1k cars.

You definitely need to get the wheel sorted ASAP because that could catastrophically fail when driving. The rest can be spread out but the clutch will be next as you could be immobilised if it fails.

DaveyDave

At least you know the history of your car. If you get it repaired it should be fairly trouble free. You probably won't get anything in the same condition for anything near €800 and you won't know what repairs would be upcoming on another car.

TheBoyConor

just on the wheel thing, it is either seized or it isn't. There is no maybe about it. Jack up the car and spin the wheel and rock the wheel back and forth.

Even if the bearing is noising a little bit while driving it is still fine. It won't fall off. The bearing would want to be gone fierce bad altogether before it would be at risk of the wheel falling off, as in noticable clunking or really bad grinding sounds. Although a bit noisy and an NCT fail, a bit of wear on a wheel bearing isn't imminently a danger. I drove my old car with whirring wheel bearings for quite some time. Despite the mild annoyance of the noise they made, it was driving perfectly fine.

Similarly with the clutch. While it might be noising, that doens't mean it is immediately going to fail. It may last years more despite making a rough noise. I bough my almera for peanuts as it was sold as seen with a bad clutch. I got almost 2 years driving out of it with a noisy rough release bearing and mild slippage before it actually came to the point where it had to be changed to remain drivable.

My advice would be to drive it on until it either becomes undrivable or fails and NCT. You'd be surprised how long some things can last when you are driving a bangernomics car.

colm_mcm

jeffk wrote: »

Toytota Corolla

Get rid and trade up to an 06/07 high spec one. Better than putting money into your own I think.

jeffk

I'll be going to mechanic to price it tomorrow to see.

If 800 or so, better than about 5k up in cavan for auris on a quick look, higher milage as well

Thanks for replies etc, food for thought

Nonoperational

No guarantee a 5k Auris won't need work either.

colm_mcm

jeffk wrote: »

I'll be going to mechanic to price it tomorrow to see.

If 800 or so, better than about 5k up in cavan for auris on a quick look, higher milage as well

Thanks for replies etc, food for thought

An Auris would be a step down in all but safety. You’ll still a well sorted last of the line Corolla for under €2k.

jeffk

colm_mcm wrote: »

An Auris would be a step down in all but safety. You’ll still a well sorted last of the line Corolla for under €2k.

Not many on Toyota site, a lot have no picture then looking at Limerick Galway etc to get cheaper

colm_mcm

Have a look on dungdeal

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars/Toyota/Corolla?year_to=2007&year_from=2005&fuelType=Petrol&numDoors=5&mileage_to=160000&engine_to=1.4

rizzodun

colm_mcm wrote: »

Have a look on donedeal.

So that's where you found that dreamer!!

colm_mcm

rizzodun wrote: »

So that's where you found that dreamer!!

Yeah, what a gem

jeffk

colm_mcm wrote: »

Have a look on dungdeal

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars/Toyota/Corolla?year_to=2007&year_from=2005&fuelType=Petrol&numDoors=5&mileage_to=160000&engine_to=1.4

I'm guessing if I went that route, I'll end up scrapping this car as no one buy it now

colm_mcm

I’d guess your still get €200 for it.

jeffk

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’d guess your still get €200 for it.

Via private sale or would a dealer take it towards a car, say that one in bray

colm_mcm

Private sale. I can’t see a dealer wanting a broken Corolla, but to be fair they might still want to get the deal.

At this price point, I wouldn’t bother with dealers, it’s the owner that’s had the car a while you want to buy off.

jeffk

colm_mcm wrote: »

Private sale. I can’t see a dealer wanting a broken Corolla, but to be fair they might still want to get the deal.

At this price point, I wouldn’t bother with dealers, it’s the owner that’s had the car a while you want to buy off.

If i had a mechanic to go and/or look at it if I got a good deal on one, then I'd jump at one

But I don't, regular one tends to want to patch it up to keep going and other one recommended is messing me around just to price a job

jeffk

Back from mechanic, full check and diagnostic

About 1K work, but then rust on back is bad so won't pass NCT

Left a local garage with 4 to 5K budget to see if anything comes in

6K for this car ten years ago, so please god the same will happen again

corks finest

jeffk wrote: »

colm_mcm wrote: »

What car is it?

Toytota Corolla

get rid of- loads of nice little honda fit imports , automatic,cheap ,dependable

Del2005

corks finest wrote: »

get rid of- loads of nice little honda fit imports , automatic,cheap ,dependable

A JDM severely restricts the amount of insurance companies you can get quotes from.

inforfun

Was in a similar situation in january, op.

03 car in need of quite a bit of work, new tires, service, probably timing belt and anything else the nct might have thrown up.

Ended up buying a '12 car for €6250 and they took the old one of my hands for€250
Of course that costed me more than fixing the old one up.
But, insurance quote went down €250 from 600 to 350, motortax went down from 514 to 200
Car has new timing belt, serviced, 4 more or less new tires and nct'ed till april 2020.

Had the 03 car for 9 years, never really failed me and it was a bit sad to let it go but it was the smart decision to be honest.

jeffk

Del2005 wrote: »

A JDM severely restricts the amount of insurance companies you can get quotes from.

There was a great show about JDM, well worth watching, amazing to see how old some cars where and what was done to them :cool:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8358972/

Farfromhome02

If it was me,Buy another dungwagon for 1k,don't go mad spending 5/6k on what could be another pile of scutter,get one with as long a NCT as you can,just because its 5/6 k doesn't mean it's going to be hassle free,could be the opposite

jeffk

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

If it was me,Buy another dungwagon for 1k,don't go mad spending 5/6k on what could be another pile of scutter,get one with as long a NCT as you can,just because its 5/6 k doesn't mean it's going to be hassle free,could be the opposite

Its a garage owned by Europcar
The mechanic that checked the car today recommended him as he does work for him and said I can bring the car up before I get it to be checked
Herselfs father bought two cars off him and never had an issue

So hopefully all that will lead to no issues, but if there is I wont be long in going back to mechanic or garage after (hopefully) being told its ok

Plus ive 5 months till NCT, so thankfully I have time to look at cars etc, so should give me time to make sure its the right one, rather than need it now, any car do

Farfromhome02

jeffk wrote: »

Its a garage owned by Europcar
The mechanic that checked the car today recommended him as he does work for him and said I can bring the car up before I get it to be checked
Herselfs father bought two cars off him and never had an issue

So hopefully all that will lead to no issues, but if there is I wont be long in going back to mechanic or garage after (hopefully) being told its ok

Plus ive 5 months till NCT, so thankfully I have time to look at cars etc, so should give me time to make sure its the right one, rather than need it now, any car do

If you trust him then it's up to yourself,good luck with it,you can get great cars for 1k,someone else's dirt is another man's treasure

jeffk

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

If you trust him then it's up to yourself,good luck with it,you can get great cars for 1k,someone else's dirt is another man's treasure

If i had my way id fix my car

If not, spend 1-2K on a decent car and in time move on upgrading as I went, but im clueless about cars and dont have anyone in the know or a mechanic to do nixers etc so my hands are tied :mad:

Thanks for the good luck ,ill need it im sure

Farfromhome02

jeffk wrote: »

If i had my way id fix my car

If not, spend 1-2K on a decent car and in time move on upgrading as I went, but im clueless about cars and dont have anyone in the know or a mechanic to do nixers etc so my hands are tied :mad:

Thanks for the good luck ,ill need it im sure

Were are you based? Surely a lad on this site with a knowledge of cars could help you out,just throw a few Bob for the help

jeffk

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

Were are you based? Surely a lad on this site with a knowledge of cars could help you out,just throw a few Bob for the help

In Blanch, I had help picking a car for herself from here alright :cool:

Might just give the garage time and see, if anything goes wrong have to drive to Navan as no mechanic here, so hopefully if the same one id bring it to says it ok from the off, then wouldn't be issues

Break out the rosary beads etc

Farfromhome02

jeffk wrote: »

In Blanch, I had help picking a car for herself from here alright :cool:

Might just give the garage time and see, if anything goes wrong have to drive to Navan as no mechanic here, so hopefully if the same one id bring it to says it ok from the off, then wouldn't be issues

Break out the rosary beads etc

Pm me,might be able to help

zilog_jones

The issues in the OP sound fairly normal for a car of this age, though "wheel might be seized" doesn't make any sense to me - if the bearing's seized, the wheel won't move!

I'd be much more concerned about the "bad" rust, what are we talking about here?

jeffk

zilog_jones wrote: »

The issues in the OP sound fairly normal for a car of this age, though "wheel might be seized" doesn't make any sense to me - if the bearing's seized, the wheel won't move!

I'd be much more concerned about the "bad" rust, what are we talking about here?

I think that description is more an indicator of the garage rather than car, especially when another place says drive on

Rust is rust I'm guessing, 1k on those issues and im guessing throw another few hundred fixing rust

Said NCT really coming down on rust

Boom_Bap

I've an 03 Corolla and have been telling myself to upgrade. But all that goes wrong are lights, tyres and brakes. Nothing major has ever happened to it that I can remember.

I'm just waiting for it to fall over, and will keep replacing the consumables until that day. It recently bombed through the NCT with no hassle. Even a mechanic recently told me (just replacing tyres) to hold on to it until it dies.

I've heard the word 'bulletproof' being mentioned a few times from mechanics about the Corolla of that vintage.

Compared to my other 2012 car that is just problem after problem. So my 2 cents is to patch it up, probably cheaper than replacing and the car will keep on going.

zilog_jones

jeffk wrote: »

Rust is rust I'm guessing...

No it's not, it really depends on how much rust we're talking about, how critical the location is, and what the cause was - because if it's from previous damage repair, or due to environmental conditions (e.g. car was by the sea for many years, or in an area where roads are salted a lot) then it could just be the tip of the iceberg of more rust.

The full NCT manual is available online for all to read if you want to know exactly what rust will fail.

jeffk

zilog_jones wrote: »

No it's not, it really depends on how much rust we're talking about, how critical the location is, and what the cause was - because if it's from previous damage repair, or due to environmental conditions (e.g. car was by the sea for many years, or in an area where roads are salted a lot) then it could just be the tip of the iceberg of more rust.

The full NCT manual is available online for all to read if you want to know exactly what rust will fail.

He said the back of the car into the sills

I suppose it's rush or the issues, you could fix one not both, end up well into decent car money by then

corks finest

Del2005 wrote: »

corks finest wrote: »

get rid of- loads of nice little honda fit imports , automatic,cheap ,dependable

A JDM severely restricts the amount of insurance companies you can get quotes from.

I'm with liberty - no hassles- was with another also a few years back no problems,but yes if a cars modified there'could be hassle,I'm on my 3rd import

corks finest

jeffk wrote: »

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

If you trust him then it's up to yourself,good luck with it,you can get great cars for 1k,someone else's dirt is another man's treasure

If i had my way id fix my car

If not, spend 1-2K on a decent car and in time move on upgrading as I went, but im clueless about cars and dont have anyone in the know or a mechanic to do nixers etc so my hands are tied :mad:

Thanks for the good luck ,ill need it im sure

Any car over 10 years has problems getting insurance am I right in thinking this?

jeffk

corks finest wrote: »

Any car over 10 years has problems getting insurance am I right in thinking this?

25PLus
AA
Aviva
Blue Insurance
BOI
FBD

Wouldnt quote me on this car

Quote me wanted 1.1K and Britton 1.2K so as good as wont quote

tuxy

jeffk wrote: »

25PLus
AA
Aviva
Blue Insurance
BOI
FBD

Wouldnt quote me on this car

Quote me wanted 1.1K and Britton 1.2K so as good as wont quote

Try AXA and Liberty, it may be possible to get insured for a little bit under €1k with them.

I just insured a 97 starlet with AXA for €765 (I have 6 years no claims bonus)

jeffk

tuxy wrote: »

Try AXA and Liberty, it may be possible to get insured for a little bit under €1k with them.

I got An Post thanks, but just showing the people who wont or as good as wont as over ten and then some lol

cml387

Probably of little help to the OP but while out walking the dog I amuse myself by looking out for the oldest car that passes. Invariably on a one hour walk I'll get down to 00 or 99, and invariably it's a Toyota Corolla.

jeffk

tuxy wrote: »

Try AXA and Liberty, it may be possible to get insured for a little bit under €1k with them.

AXA 895
Liberty "high risk area" need passport, drivers licence scanned in before will quote and I can look out the front of my house and see the building

I got An Post thanks, but just showing the people who wont or as good as wont as over ten and then some lol

tuxy

jeffk wrote: »

I got An Post thanks, but just showing the people who wont or as good as wont as over ten and then some lol

Yeah it's getting more difficult to insure older cars each year. BOI was giving me good quotes for a few cars under 15 years old unfortunately my car is 22 years old.

jeffk

cml387 wrote: »

Probably of little help to the OP but while out walking the dog I amuse myself by looking out for the oldest car that passes. Invariably on a one hour walk I'll get down to 00 or 99, and invariably it's a Toyota Corolla.

The older shape of them corolla was much nicer, then some of the rarer ones are the 3 door, I THINK sports spec, so let your imagination explain why they are rare :pac:

tuxy

jeffk wrote: »

The older shape of them corolla was much nicer, then some of the rarer ones are the 3 door, I THINK sports spec, so let your imagination explain why they are rare :pac:

Are you taking about the G6R Corolla that came with the ridiculously powerful 1.6 engine?
109 bhp, absolute madness!