What would you consider a big repair bill?

Akrasia

Scenario.

You bring your car into the mechanic for a service. It's a major service so it's not just an inspection and oil and filters change

The mechanic then comes and says your car requires some more work to replace consumable parts, like bushings, bearings, brakes, the odd leak or gasket etc

You trust that the mechanic is being honest because you've heard the rattles and creaks and suspected something was off.

What quote do you consider to be a 'big' repair bill

Akrasia

I was gonna add a poll to this but can't find that option

hoodie6029

Not to be smart but how long is a piece of string?

Depends on the car, labour rate, some parts might be dealer only, so very expensive.

I knew I had the potential for a bill for roughly half the value of the car coming up (new steering rack). Couldn’t justify it so I traded it in for a new car.

That’s my barometer for a big bill.

Akrasia

I left it vague on purpose because I want to see what people do consider to be a hefty repair bill

Half the value of a bangernomics 2k car could be considered hefty to some, or to others, it could be better value than normal depreciation on a more expensive car

If I owned a car worth 50k and I got a bill to repair something that was 10k, that's 1/5 of the value of my car, but i'd be seriously struggling to pay that cost, while a repair bill of 700 euros for a car worth €1400 is way more proportionate to the value of the car, but also way less in real terms, and could be justified on the basis that it's cheaper to keep the car you know running, than gamble on a car that may be someone else offloading a problem

sonyvision

North of 1k is expensive. Have my car 10 years, and the most expensive work done was the timing belt and service 700 notes together. I get the cousin now to service the car, change oil etc costs be 70 euro a year. Only changed discs ones, and pads every 3 or 4 years.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918178#Comment_119918178

is that per year, or per 'event'

I find getting the local cousin/neighbour to service the car ends up with lots of cheaper services, and then lots of smaller jobs all needing to be done together later on.

My car has had really low servicing costs, but then a wheel bearing went a few months ago, 2 hundred quid, fine, but now 330 for the full service and another 700 euros estimated to fix a few issues

From my experience, depreciation alone for any car is way more than 1k per year, so I'm happy to pay the servicing costs on a car I know, than gamble on a newer car that will cost more in depreciation plus all the servicing and maintenance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058273271/what-would-you-consider-a-big-repair-bill

About 800 euro per annum for general servicing over the last 3 years for a 14 year old car but also including the following:

Bushes- loads

Shocks

Springs

ball joints

Tyres - all 4

Rods

Brake pads

Brake Callipers

A few other things

Depends on make, model, driving style, milage - my car owes me nothing - yes servicing is high but milage low enough per annum overall in recent years but much higher before that so probably wore out most parts at that stage- I don't begrudge my car a fair chance at staying alive.

Akrasia

I agree

I think older cars have costs associated with repairs and upkeep, but that's balanced by zero depreciation

A newer car has more depreciation in a year than it costs to keep a decent 15 year old car chugging along, plus that newer car still has plenty of regular maintenance costs on top of the depreciation

nedkelly123

My Porsche 911 went in for a service in 2017 and they diagnosed Bore scoring

i had to bite the bullet ..

17k all in ....have it over 12 years now .. but when things go wrong they go spectacularly wrong...in a ring the credit union way ....

its been reliable enough and i drove to Belfast in it last weekend and it did 33mpg / 8.6 l/100km

i bought it for a steal in 2010 .. when you couldn't sell them at all

if i sold it tomorrow i would probably break even on all the maintaince / things i replaced + original cost etc

so overall it has been a cheap car

amacca

Got quoted a probable 3.8k for a turbo replacement.....body off job and if youbare going to do one then you would be mad not to get second done as well...

This was a couple of months after a suspension pump at 380 for the pump an 200 for the labour + a level sensor at 50 I sourced myself

Hot on the heels of brake pads and front rotor/discs the year before at approx 1500 and new handbrake assembly (servo motor etc as the nylon gears were on their last legs ) the year before that for about 1200 I think

Fantastic motor but tbh some second hand stuff can break your heart

I'm sure somebody will be along to ask what it was and then tell me premium brand/marque comes with premium running costs...which is true

But **** me it's not even planned obsolescence anymore ...I tried doing some work on it myself and its just deliberately making things as awkward to work on and as likely to fail after a couple of years as possible

There shouldn't just be right to repair...if we were serious as a species about sustainability there should be a lasts as long as possible with redundancy and as easy to repair as possible

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918342#Comment_119918342

You never mentioned what car.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918312#Comment_119918312

Prices then versus now are comical. Probably the cheapest car you will own.

I like to keep car right but do most of my own work. My daily A5 which is long in the tooth now produces hardly any bills beyond basic servicing. 2 rear shocks in the last year is the only out of the ordinary and they cost under 100 quid total.

I have another car that I did a complete engine disassembly and rebuild and spent more than the value of the car on that but it something I plan to keep.

In general, I'd be very upset at an unexpected bill of over 1500 but the strange thing is, the newer cars are more likely to produce such bills.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918355#Comment_119918355

Sorry Range Rover tdv8....and I'd say I didn't fare too bad compared to some over 5 years even adding fairly standard yearly maintenance on top of that....it got moved on before yhe most recent demands it made...

I still miss it.....when you weren't stressing out about the next bill it was hands down the most comfortable car I've ever driven and no slouch on the road either.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918146#Comment_119918146

The thing is, its based-on parts needed, and labor charges, regardless of the value of the car itself, Say the invoice comes to €1'000 on a car valued at €5'000, so it would be make your mind up time, or it could be a car valued at €30'000, so a €1'000 invoice would seem reasonable. Ghe above is a pretty rough guide, but you get the idea. Same labor and same value parts, but on two different value cars.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918342#Comment_119918342

Yeah, but that would seriously limit the amount of money car dealerships would make on sales due to people not trading and buying new.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918410#Comment_119918410

Can't argue with that, ....hopefully though we might as a species move some way towards less dependance on unnecessary waste and creating jobs/profit etc in less ultimately destructive ways

It's sickening to see the waste hardboiled into so many things and while it's productive in some ways it would be better if we weaned ourselves off it imo

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918228#Comment_119918228

The thing is, if you really want to get maximum value from your car, be it a new or an 2nd hand one, you literally drive it into the ground, paying all the costs along the way, This happens quite a lot in other Country's, but here in Ireland we are funneled into changing our cars regularly. The whole system is geared to you changing your car regularly, which means for most people, borrowing each time you change your car. Keeps the car dealerships, the banks and the Government happy. Just try getting insurance on any 10- or 12-year-old car here,,,yet that's not a problem in other countries, once the car has a valid NCT. Anyway, the moral is, if you want to get maximum value and return for your investment in your car, be prepared to drive it to the very end.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918385#Comment_119918385

What were the main problems you had with the Range Rover? I've heard different stories about them, from if you like spending quality time in your local garage, they are practically designed for that, and the story goes you can take one into the desert, but you will come back in a Toyota. But I've never heard anyone say something bad about how comfortable they are, just like you have said. I remember many years ago the company I worked for had a land rover breakdown wagon, with a crane mounted on the back (long wheelbase model) In terms of work, it was really great, but for comfort not so good. No danger of ever falling asleep while driving it, and mechanically, it didn't give much trouble either, but then again, it was new at the time, But seems like the Range Rover was a different animal entirely, problem-wise.

kippy

Great topic. Have a tendency to buy 5 or 6 year old car and run it for 7 or 8 years. Maybe more. However as some have said this is getting less economical to do because of part, labour and general repairability costs.

The emerging trend ind relation to cars are they are being marketed like a phone, with newer/better features in a newer car which coupled with the repairsbility issues make a mockery of the environmental concerns.

On the topic I have a Bill close to 1k on a ten year old car currently after spending 500 a few weeks ago and 600 earlier in the summer on it. Car work about 5 or 6k but have had it about 5 years.

I would find it hard justify buying a newer car after recent investment in this one but car costs in general really annoy me.

sgthighway

Anything over 450 would be expensive for my 9 year old Toyota. To compare another poster above I have not replaced any of these items:

Bushes- loads 

Shocks

Springs

ball joints 

Rods 

Brake Callipers 

Driving on good roads and low mileage so lucky. Toyota is cheap reliable but very boring.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918528#Comment_119918528

It’s an awful pity we’re penalised for keeping older cars given the mantra of reuse recycle - I can’t possibly be doing more damage to the environment keeping an old petrol car on the road vs paying a company to produce a brand new electric car for me and all of the energy and pollution that takes to do that.

Im not a conspiracy theorist but really some days, you do wonder how these decisions get made and what’s really motivating them - penalising older cars is also a further tax on the poor- that’s certainly not right when it comes to the 17 United Nations sustainable goals that were signed up to

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918672#Comment_119918672

All of those hit me in the last 3 years so it was 11 years old at the time. Fcking ramps and potholes would be the main cause along with reasonable high annual mileage at the time.

If my commute was just a few miles daily I’d probably have saved a few grand in parts replacement but it’s still much cheaper for me to pay these bills than buy another car - I’ll have to bite the bullet at some stage but need to make sure I buy the right car at the right price as I tend to keep them until they’re worth little or nothing

spurious

2007 Skoda Roomster worth a hopeful 2800. Put a new (to me) engine in it about a year and a half ago, cost 1700 with a few other bits and pieces.

Haven't really had any issues with it since. Will drive it until it sits down forever. I would consider spending anything more than 400 on it now to be a lot. It's being replaced piece by piece and I think we have done most of the big ones.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918543#Comment_119918543

It's too complex afaic

It wasn't that bad but there are so many interconnected systems and sensors etc...when one thing fails it can be an ordeal....its also a lot of stuff packed into a small volume which makes it a pain in the hole to work on..so more labour hours.especially on the V8 model I had...jobs that are more straightforward on other cars/jeeps can be body off jobs too....so lots of labour hours before you even talk about parts

A big problem I had was getting someone to work on one (beyond a service) ....if it was a big job an indy that specialises in them could be saying I'll get to it in 4 or 6 weeks....that was the main reason I said bye bye....official dealers would put you on an indefinite waiting list and be more expensive so there was no easy way of skipping a queue

Some of the complexity and problems are down to luxury stuff such as air suspension....which generally works fine over a decent period but its one other thing to fail that won't be giving you grief on something with springs....it makes the thing go over bumps etc like they weren't there however and putting in a set of springs instead kind of defeats the point of having one

Then there's shite that I don't agree with on any car but its going to be harder and harder to avoid, like electric handbrake....so a lever attached to a cable has been replaced with a switch, a servo motor with nylon gears to pull two cords, if the drums stick and you push your switch then the motor turns, can't engage/disengage the brakes so strips the gears....solution = replace everything...as drums not adjusted properly from purchase...1.2k as its a bitch to get at....Now I thought that was a balls but its similar on stuff like insignias....just more toys that give a modern feel to something but are inferior imo to their predecessor....in a manual with an electric handbrake hillstarts are harder..then again part of my dislike is how do you pull a handbrake turn with an electric handbrake😅

I'm also convinced there's so much electrics the alternator has too much to do...but that's a personal theory....also a balls to get at

Then there's complexity introduced by regulation...eg: asshat egr valves...they are on everything I know but two of them on it for each bank of 4 cylinders...again they work fine over a decent amount of time on most but when they fail its a big palaver or you can do a delete ......

Bottom line they are a rich man's tax write off....buy new, enjoy probably one of the most comfortable things you can drive, get issues sorted under warranty and pass on to the next lad

If you buy secondhand over 10yr old then expect issues....with most you will pay a premium to sort issues ...over five years it might not be that much of a premium money wise when you average it out but if you are not going to work on it yourself be prepared for a lot of frustration and downtime as you are waiting around for issues to be fixed...

The older defenders are a different beast altogether, they are much more basic, I quite like them but they come with their own issues too.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119919584#Comment_119919584

Thanks amacca. That took a bit or writing!!! So, I'll be having a rethink, 🤔. I've heard plenty about how comfortable they are, but benefits are outweighed by the problems.

All that you said about the electronics in modern cars I agree with 100%, especially the electric hand brake. In my last car, an 2014 E class MB, it actually worked perfectly in terms of holding on a hill or at the lights, and moved off smoothly when the accelerator was pressed, but in my latest acquisition, a 2.0 VW Passat, has an automatic hill hold function, but it can slip slightly between the time it releases and starts to move forward. With bumper-to-bumper traffic stopped on a hill, its nerve-wracking, so I just use the manual switch, and let the engine overcome the brakes. Its not the best practice in the world when it comes to wear and tear, but given today's compo culture, its the best option.

A very positive point with the Range Rovers, in their sales spin, the salesman was saying Quote " Unfortunately perhaps, but with some very rare exceptions, the majority of Rover drivers will never experience what this car is really capable of." unquote. For once a salesman was telling the truth. They are fantastic, I've seen one mount a high footpath (12 inches) from a standing start. He put the front wheels against the footpath, and fiddled around with some switches, and accelerated. You could feel the power building up, and then up it climbed onto the path. Remarkable performance. They do what it says on the tin, so all the more its a pity the glitches they are prone to.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918869#Comment_119918869

My daughter, when the 3rd child arrived, bought a new Roomster solely because the rear middle seat could be moved forward, and the theory was it would prevent them fighting (some hope) that was back in 2008, (and while the kids have grown up, they're still fighting, but anyway) She kept that car about 8 years, until there was 480'000+ klms on it. Was always serviced on time, and got what it needed when it needed it, but it never needed any major repairs. But in the end, she traded it because she was afraid that something major would go wrong, with big repair bills. A year after, she met it again in the city, still going as good as ever.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918652#Comment_119918652

Well, if you track your mileage from date of purchase, and all costs involved, Purchase price, fuel, tax insurance etc (Thats what I do myself, but at one stage in my life, it was part of my job) Then add up your total costs over the year, and divide the costs by the mileage, so you get your costs per KLM. You will find that each year your costs per mile will reduce, even if you hit a high-cost year, when expensive repairs were needed, over time these will average out. The main thing is how long you are prepared to keep the car. The longer the better.

Patrick2010

A work colleague recently paid 3.5k on repairs for a 3 year old Audi A5

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119919812#Comment_119919812

When it was working it was the best luxury jeep I ever had .... it could tow too, on the rare occasion I had to tow with it, it had to tow very heavy loads and you would hardly know they were there. A peach of an engine with bags of power imo.....

Pity about the other stuff.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920013#Comment_119920013

Ouch!! I'd be fuming on a 3yr old car!

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119920899#Comment_119920899

That would be a game changer all right....I wonder what went wrong? Easy to see how and why every 2 years some people religiously change their cars, especially when they hear about cases like this. While the best way to recover some value from this would be to drive it into the ground, having an obviously important part like this fail, would make anyone lose confidence in the car itself. And generally, while any make can have problems (check Car-Recalls.eu) I'd have confidence in the Audi brand, having owned an A6 at one stage.

DaveyDave

Depends on who you ask, my girlfriend got grief from people in work for spending €350 in VW on a major service when all her colleagues go to indie garages. These would be the same people who can't tell you what's on their €200 full service...

When I was cycling 200km a week on a bike I was probably spending €200-300 a year on bike parts and maintenance/cleaning supplies while doing most of my own work so spending €250-350 to have someone else service a car isn't expensive to me and it's not something I can or want to do either.

I don't think I'd consider anything to be a particularly big service bill, suspension and brakes are consumables and are to be expected over time and infrequent enough to not hurt the wallet too much. As long as brakes and suspension don't need to be done at the same time I probably wouldn't consider it too big of a bill. My only gripe would be something failing prematurely or something big going like the turbo.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921407#Comment_119921407

The problem with modern cars and their electronics, is that the whole electrical system is interlinked, just like a spider's web, a fault in one area, can cause problems in another, plus when a part needs replacing, it has to be "introduced" to the system to get it to "accept! it. Then there are simple things like light bulbs, which were minor items in the past when it came to replacement, not anymore, in lots of cases now, you will have to replace the whole light unit,,,and that can be pricy. And list goes on and on. On the subject of main dealer V indys, bear in mind that behind the fancy frontage and plush waiting area, the quality of the service boils down to the mechanic. Hes the important one, so I'd have no hesitation in using the Indie. He will not have the same overheads as the main dealer, so can be more competitive in pricing. if you find a good one, hang on to him, and it will pay dividends.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119919584#Comment_119919584

Electric handbrakes are utter madness. If my mechanical handbrake needs to be serviced it's really obvious. An electric handbrake can not give a warning before failing

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119921908#Comment_119921908

I couldn't agree more tbh

They are just another source of unnecessary stress in life afaic

ofcork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119918672#Comment_119918672

I have a 10 year old toyota same havent replaced any of the above only bill has been 950 for the dpf to be redone,got a egr fault this week so will see what comes of that.

Mech1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119919584#Comment_119919584

well now, I'm a independent Land rover specialist, and I couldn't have explained it better myself.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119925803#Comment_119925803

So over and above what would be considered "normal" costs, you had a bill for €950 over the 10 years? So €95 per year ? And how many miles / KLMs did you cover in those 10 years (approx)? Thatspretty good going by any standards.

jmreire

Well, I'd be VAG / FORD myself, and worked a bit with Toyota also. Well out of the car business now after more years than I care to think about, but still like to follow what's happening...but now.at a safe distance though☺️ A few years ago, a friend of mine called me and said very excitedly, I've just bought a Range Rover,,,top spec, and you won't believe the bargain I got. Come and have a look. So I did, and he put it through its paces, and it was impressive, to say the least, armchair like comfort, enough switches and warning lights to make you think you were in the cockpit of a Boeing 747. But the delight was shortlived,,,and he soon found out why he had got such a bargain. It literally broke his heart, and 3 mths later, he traded it in for something more reliable. And now, a few mths ago, another friend has bought one. Again, top spec, lovely looking car, and he intends to rejuvenate it as he says himself. I can't help but admire his optimism, considering he is an IT engineer, and this will be his hobby. We will see. If you had to list the 5 (or more) things most prone to failure in the Range Rover, what would they be? And once rectified / replaced, how likely are they to give trouble again?

Thanks,

Jim.

ofcork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119926610#Comment_119926610

Actually have the car 8 years put around 130 k km on it,had my last avensis over 7 years and no big bills either.

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119927362#Comment_119927362

Definitely, overall modern cars are generally much more reliable, and capable of greater mileage then the ones made in the 60' 70's 80's etc. Of course, back then driving conditions were much worse too. The older cars may have been easier to fix (which was just as well as the frequently broke down) But any village worthy of the name would have its own garage and be doing good business. Oil and filter changes were set at 3'000 miles for VW, and 5'000 miles for the majority of other makes. Anything with 70'000 + on the clock would be considered as to be soon needing an engine. Tyres, after 5'000 miles would be entering the "Bald" category, and needing re-molding. So yes modern cars are much better in every way.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058273271/what-would-you-consider-a-big-repair-bill

How long is a piece of string??

Hotblack Desiato

Guy I work with had repeated expensive problems a few years back with the electric handbrake on a Passat, left him stranded at least once. Stupid device, a solution in search of a problem. Probably invented because Americans can't drive properly - for the few who have manuals over there, you can actually buy stickers which say this 🙄

Wouldn't it be easier to just say "Caution - Incompetent at wheel" ?

In the 70s and 80s my mother's cousin drove a succession of Renault 4Ls. Traded in every year for the next brand new one. Got a lift in one or the other a few times, the gearstick coming horizontally out of the dash was mad. I suppose the cost to change would have been quite predictable each time and she never had a car out of warranty. A sort of PCP plan before PCP was invented!

We bought a Corolla 15 years ago (it was 3 years old then) and fully intend to run it into the ground. Has been ultra cheap motoring up until now anyway - apart from tyres, wipers, oil, filters, the only expense has been an electronic flasher relay (about €60, going around the Walkinstown roundabout to the Toyota parts depot on hand signals was 'fun') and one set of brake pads all round which turned out to not really be needed but I changed them anyway, cheap parts and an easy DIY job. Petrol so no DPF etc worries, and chain cam engine so no belts to snap. It averaged 6.0L/100km the last time I went Dublin-Galway and back. It's still under 60k miles though so maybe the engine is still a bit tight 😝

My motorbikes cost me a lot more to run but that's another story 😊

But to answer the thread question - the car isn't worth much but its history is known, good cheap low mileage replacement cars are very hard to find, so we'd probably be prepared to pay as much as its book value to keep it going provided we were confident that the repair would work in the long term.

DaveyDave

I've only heard that early electric handbrakes failed, never see it come up here though. Obviously if there was issues they wouldn't be throwing them into every new car.

Larbre34

As others have said, the size of a bill is all relative.

You have to be clever when buying in the first place. Cars older than about 6 or 7 years, even with average mileage, are going to start racking up the bills, but by researching the brands, you can save thousands.

For example, certain engine types that may be shared across a few brands might have a poor record for eating through flywheels, clutches, mountings, turbos, throttle bodies, torque convertors, whatever. They're the sort of things that will begin to crop up on a 140k km car, even on one immaculately kept and serviced diligently.

My wife's motor is a 10 year old Volvo. Lovely driver, nicely specced, very economical. But I've already done the clutch and flywheel, various suspension bits and bearings, BCM module and its about to get its third belt and water pump.

I would estimate that over and above the annual service costs, I've spent ~€6,000 in just under 6 years.

I got the car very cheap indeed, with knowledge that some ongoing costs may be high, but thats the trade off.

Is a grand a year a big bill to keep an older car going? Maybe. But what would I be paying to PCP a new car of similar spec and economy? Probably 4k a year. Just to fund depreciation.

Horses for courses I'd say.

phelimb

I guess it's better the devil you know...our 07 fiesta needs a lot of work - timing belt (180k and never been done), fan belt (mechanic says it's on the way out) and clutch (defo needs doing). Add in the fact that the central locking doesn't work most times and the auto boot opening hasn't worked in years (previous mechanic suggested the solenoid needs replacing) and the boot leaks a bit. BUT, it passed the NCT a couple of months back. The car runs and drives fine.

So, do I spend maybe a grand to fix all the issues on a car worth little or nothing? My thinking is yes, we've had the car for about 10 years so know the history and have looked after it (yeah I know you could question that given what needs to be done). But what else could I buy for that money and have confidence it won't come with bigger repair bills?

As @newmember2 says "how long is a piece of string"...too many variables involved in the OP question.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119947212#Comment_119947212

Me personally I think now would be the time to sell before you have to pay the big bills. I just couldn’t justify doing a timing belt and a clutch on an 07 Fiesta.

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119947174#Comment_119947174

The passats were known for problems with electric handbrakes. Switches gave bother , so did callipers. The father had a 2008 passat. Handbrake gave a good bit of bother. Towtruck 3 times.

Got rid of the car for that reason

9935452

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119947696#Comment_119947696

They sound like big and expensive jobs but might be cheaper than you thing. I used to have a 02 1.4 petrol golf. Clutch and timing belt/water pump fitted in the local garage came in at under 500.

I wouldnt say that was expensive. You could buy something fresher needing more work

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119947160#Comment_119947160

With the Corolla, your one is still only a baby, Friend of mine bought 3 year old (1995) 1.3 or 1.4 petrol (not sure which). It was his daily driver from 1998 until 2021, when he retired it, and bought a 2011 Corolla. In that time, he covered 450'000 Klms. It was always serviced on time and got everything it needed when it needed it. On its last NCT, the examiner told him that the rear chassis were starting to rust, and if he was planning on keeping it, they would have to be done. Thats what triggered him to change. But I looked at it on a lift, and the rust was surface only, no holes or weakness, and easily repairable. So now, one of his nephews is using it as field car on the farm.( terrible waste) In its entire life, it never needed any major repairs. So if you were to divide the total service / repair costs by the mileage, it would be a very economical car to run.

ordinaryfella

For me, probably over 800 quid is a big bill. Have a 16 year old beamer and dropped 1100 on it recently for a sump gasket, misc gaskets and some turbo lines. Does make me think about trading up in years, but the cost to do that is so severe.