So my car needs a new engine..

unkel · 27-11-2017 02:02PM

Deleted User wrote: »

all he charged me for was the battery itself, which he said was €100 ex vat (so €113.50)

Not that it makes much of a difference to all the money spent, but the VAT on a battery is 23%, not 13.5%

Horn is the first thing the NCT test, as soon as they start driving the car into the building. No horn = fail.

bear1 · 27-11-2017 02:29PM

After spending so much on it at this stage I really hope you manage to get the horn and other electrical items fixed.
However, and I hate to say this, I've a feeling you'll be updating this thread soon enough with yet another fault.
If if passes the NCT I'd drive it until another fault shows up and flog it.

27-11-2017 07:10PM

zilog_jones wrote: »

Sounds like the BSI needs reconfiguring to reflect what accessories are present in the car. You can do this with Peugeot/Citroen Diagbox software and cables - DIY job if you're handy with computers (PM me if you're interested, I have the cables but no more PSA car). You may be able to reprogram the spare key with this as well (not certain).

Reverse light could just be the switch, or maybe also a configuration issue (BSI configured for wrong gearbox or something?).

Yep, I believe you are correct (also about programming the key, if i am lead to believe correctly).

Reverse light is indeed the switch. Apparently it's 'dead'. Normally if i drive with no seatbelt, a no-seatbelt jingle will play, and if you put the car into reverse, it stops the jingle, but that isn't happening either. I've already had it confirmed that's what's wrong with it (except i couldnt think of the word switch.. i was thinking 'fuse' or 'relay' for some reason).

unkel wrote: »

Not that it makes much of a difference to all the money spent, but the VAT on a battery is 23%, not 13.5%

Horn is the first thing the NCT test, as soon as they start driving the car into the building. No horn = fail.

Well 13.5% is what he said, i wasn't gonna argue. I know the horn is a fail, but it's (apparently) an easy fix. The car will fail the NCT anyway, as the front bumper is still fcuked from the badger i hit.

My list of issues to get it through the NCT are as follows:

- No reverse lights (switch in gearbox needs replacing?)
- No horn (actual, physical horn, under the bumper, needs replacing)
- Front bumper is cracked, fog lamp cover is missing, bulbs are all over the place (will need to get a panel beater to sort out).
- Few bulbs need replacing (brake light and a parking light)

The car's NCT is friday. It'll fail, but upon failing, it'll have 28 days for a re-test, at which point it'll be well ready for a pass.

It's booked into a panel beater for next tuesday and the fog lamp has been ordered. I'm gonna spend about €400 but i'll have a new looking bumper for it. (and this has nothing to do with the engine crowd or auto-electricians or anything, just happened to be bad luck).

I'd say if I could have gotten the bumper sorted sooner, it'd have gone through the NCT on friday.

I think a lot of ye on here are much more pessimistic about the C5 than I am. It'll be dying with me, it'll never be resold or have any market value.

unkel · 27-11-2017 07:27PM

Deleted User wrote: »

I think a lot of ye on here are much more pessimistic about the C5 than I am.

I think we can all agree on that!

bear1 · 27-11-2017 07:41PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Yep, I believe you are correct (also about programming the key, if i am lead to believe correctly).

Reverse light is indeed the switch. Apparently it's 'dead'. Normally if i drive with no seatbelt, a no-seatbelt jingle will play, and if you put the car into reverse, it stops the jingle, but that isn't happening either. I've already had it confirmed that's what's wrong with it (except i couldnt think of the word switch.. i was thinking 'fuse' or 'relay' for some reason).

Well 13.5% is what he said, i wasn't gonna argue. I know the horn is a fail, but it's (apparently) an easy fix. The car will fail the NCT anyway, as the front bumper is still fcuked from the badger i hit.

My list of issues to get it through the NCT are as follows:

- No reverse lights (switch in gearbox needs replacing?)
- No horn (actual, physical horn, under the bumper, needs replacing)
- Front bumper is cracked, fog lamp cover is missing, bulbs are all over the place (will need to get a panel beater to sort out).
- Few bulbs need replacing (brake light and a parking light)

The car's NCT is friday. It'll fail, but upon failing, it'll have 28 days for a re-test, at which point it'll be well ready for a pass.

It's booked into a panel beater for next tuesday and the fog lamp has been ordered. I'm gonna spend about €400 but i'll have a new looking bumper for it. (and this has nothing to do with the engine crowd or auto-electricians or anything, just happened to be bad luck).

I'd say if I could have gotten the bumper sorted sooner, it'd have gone through the NCT on friday.

I think a lot of ye on here are much more pessimistic about the C5 than I am. It'll be dying with me, it'll never be resold or have any market value.

I think maybe people would react the same to any car that would cost such an amount of money within a short period of time and yet still need more money to get it to pass the NCT.
There needs to be a cut off point where you cut your losses and move onto the next.
But in saying that, you will have a car when all sorted that will have had a complete rebuild so you may as well drive it into the ground.
I'd be very hesitant spend a cent more on it though if it gave more bother.

27-11-2017 11:32PM

bear1 wrote: »

I think maybe people would react the same to any car that would cost such an amount of money within a short period of time and yet still need more money to get it to pass the NCT.
There needs to be a cut off point where you cut your losses and move onto the next.
But in saying that, you will have a car when all sorted that will have had a complete rebuild so you may as well drive it into the ground.
I'd be very hesitant spend a cent more on it though if it gave more bother.

Ah I can see where you're coming from. It's still under 10 years old, so it'll get a 2 year NCT. It'll (hopefully) continue to rack up high miles in that time frame, and so it'll be interesting to see how it gets on.

If it has another big, expensive set back in the next 24 months then it'll probably be time to go car shopping, although if this job hangs around (high mileage) then I might look for a comfortable, but old banger, that i can hop off the walls and not care about at all.

The C5 is just my perfect car, to be honest. I find it incredibly comfortable and love the look of it. It has a big cargo area, the dashboard is the best i've ever seen in any car, it's economical and it has all the bits specc'ed that I want.

So it's hard for me to throw it to the dismantlers, if i can get it back on the road again. Paying over 3k to get it healthy is a tough one, but at the end of the day it was still the most sensible thing to do. I could have bought another Citroen C5 for the money i've spent, but sure the engine could go in that in the next 6 months and I'd be back to where i started.

At least now i continue to plough ahead in a car that i know and i know it's been effectively rebuilt in the last 6 months. haha.

unkel · 27-11-2017 11:48PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Paying over 3k to get it healthy is a tough one, but at the end of the day it was still the most sensible thing to do. I could have bought another Citroen C5 for the money i've spent

I'll probably speak for the majority here when I say I don't think it was the most sensible thing to do. The sensible thing was to dump the car on donedeal and buy another (more reliable) car for the money you were about to spend

That said, you are a decent man and we all wish you the very best and we all hope your issues are soon sorted and the car will give you another 100k km of trouble free motoring

bear1 · 28-11-2017 12:06AM

unkel wrote: »

I'll probably speak for the majority here when I say I don't think it was the most sensible thing to do. The sensible thing was to dump the car on donedeal and buy another (more reliable) car for the money you were about to spend

That said, you are a decent man and we all wish you the very best and we all hope your issues are soon sorted and the car will give you another 100k km of trouble free motoring

The whole thread reminds me of the Passat.
It would **** itself every quarter and in April it almost cleared out my savings in repairs.
And I regretted ever doing it.
Happiest day of my motoring life when the car was sold and I'd never go back.
Funny how I ended up in an Alfa then

28-11-2017 02:24PM

OP, in fairness the coding etc. issues you see are very minor and now as you have a mechanically solid car just keep driving the thing and repair it when is needed. There is no reason why the car can't do another 10 years of service if you look after it. Personally, if I liked a car I would keep it on the road until something terminal like if there was structural rust or another engine failed. The C5 is a nice car and in lots of ways the new models are not a match on it, just basically built cheaper and also lighter to be more economical.

Gearbox, suspension, electrics can all be repaired. The worst you could do now is to get rid after all the expensive works are done.

ectoraige · 29-11-2017 11:57AM

unkel wrote: »

I'll probably speak for the majority here when I say I don't think it was the most sensible thing to do. The sensible thing was to dump the car on donedeal and buy another (more reliable) car for the money you were about to spend

That said, you are a decent man and we all wish you the very best and we all hope your issues are soon sorted and the car will give you another 100k km of trouble free motoring

It's the "more reliable" bit that's the problem. When all is said and done, when buying a used car, you're taking a punt that it'll turn out to be reliable in the long term. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

29-11-2017 01:34PM

Deleted User wrote: »

- No reverse lights (switch in gearbox needs replacing?)

My dads mate has this problem in his old auto merc,
he wired up and hot glued a miro switch like this one

so when you pulled the lever back into R it hit the switch and turned on the light.
It was glued right behind the lever in plan view and that passed!

JohnBoy26 · 29-11-2017 06:48PM

ectoraige wrote: »

It's the "more reliable" bit that's the problem. When all is said and done, when buying a used car, you're taking a punt that it'll turn out to be reliable in the long term. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

It carries little risk buying something with a good reputation for reliability and getting it checked over by a reputable mechanic

30-11-2017 04:00AM

I agree with above regarding 'the devil you know'. I was considering just buying another C5 (I think it looks well in red, and that in itself was tempting me) but knowing my luck the car could blow it's engine again in no time. At least I know my C5 has a reconditioned engine with a warranty and it'll be safe enough.

Today I got my horn fixed (wahey) and an assortment of bulbs replaced. Tuesday the car is off to a Panel Beate for the fog light and front bumper to be fixed up.

My only outstanding issues now will be no reverse lights and one I completely forgot about, my windscreen washer bottle is broken (from the badger). So I need a new connection thingy for that. I'm assuming that won't be the biggest difficulty I face. There's a wiring loom in the engine bay that's dead (mechanic checked it with a phase tester today) and that I am lead to believe is the issue behind my reverse lights. I hope to have it sorted out by the end of next week (along with any other issues that stand in the way of a fresh NCT disc).

EDIT: Switch! Switch is the bastard of a word I couldn't think of! (in relation to the reverse lights).

05-12-2017 12:45AM

Car went in for NCT on friday.

Failed on reverse lights, driver side fog/indicator and tinted windows.

So I'm delighted with that. All things I expected, and all a visual re-check.

Today I got the windscreen washer bottle fixed. Was a 5 minute job. Apparently it was the motor that snapped, a 'plug and play' piece.

Tomorrow it's off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Panel Beating. Then reverse lights and wallah! back to where I was 3 months ago... :rolleyes:

thedeere · 05-12-2017 01:27AM

You need to name it now op, it’s no longer a car.

frozenfrozen · 05-12-2017 01:42AM

The 'C-5 digit repair bills'

clfy39tzve8njq · 06-12-2017 04:54PM

I've read this from the start OP and I have nothing but admiration for your reaction to set back after set back.
I think if all that happened to me someone would have died :-)

JohnBoy26 · 06-12-2017 06:59PM

Cairo Shallow Ignoramus wrote: »

I've read this from the start OP and I have nothing but admiration for your reaction to set back after set back.
I think if all that happened to me someone would have died :-)

Its my wallet that would of died

Lofty123 · 02-01-2018 09:59PM

Don't leave us all hanging, did you get it through the nct? Is it still going? I really hope the answer to both questions is yes!.

CIP4 · 24-02-2018 03:07PM

A C5 was driving behind me yesterday and reminded me of this thread any update on the car KKV. Hopefully it has settled down and is going well.

sdraobs · 14-03-2018 08:00PM

Love this story. who cares for Top Gear/ Grand Tour. This C5 story is the real world.

Wonder if RTE would commission a 30 minute program about this story. If anyone is thinking of entering RTE Storyville competition this would be a great documentary winner. TV programs are never aimed at middle aged men anymore. its for millennial, or women.

Everyman has suffered problem with his car and wants to emphatise (spelling?!) with others.

I reckon the Original poster would be great in the program with his lack of taking it too seriously.

bear1 · 14-03-2018 09:10PM

Anytime this thread pops up on my feed I just think "Christ don't say there's another issue with it"

colm_mcm · 14-03-2018 09:15PM

I’m kinda the opposite, I think ‘is it all working properly yet’

josip · 14-03-2018 11:21PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Car went in for NCT on friday.

Failed on reverse lights, driver side fog/indicator and tinted windows.

What do you do when it fails on tinted windows?
Do they have to be replaced?
Is it simply a film that can be removed?

ayux4rj6zql2ph · 15-03-2018 12:28AM

This post has been deleted.

22-03-2018 07:19PM

Guess what happened to my car... again..

jacksie66 · 22-03-2018 07:23PM

This post has been deleted.

22-03-2018 07:38PM

jacksie66 wrote: »

Ah stop...

Well, not so bad in that it's still driving, but the noise was the same, and was getting louder and louder, so i was on my way to do a bit of work and had to stop mid-way.

Thankfully I was in Trim, so only about 30 mins from the lads. Brought the car in and got a lend of a friend's car (this was yesterday).

They rang me this morning; same as before. Big end is going in the car and it'll be about 1.5 - 2 weeks before i see it on the road again. In the meantime I'm back in their courtesy Golf.

They sound a bit confused about it all.

But I don't mind this time. I have their courtesy car straight away so I'm not missing out too much thankfully. I won't be as annoyed or under pressure now. Let them take their time to sort it.

colm_mcm · 22-03-2018 07:41PM

And they’re covering it?

Gravelly · 22-03-2018 07:41PM

Deleted User wrote: »

jacksie66 wrote: »

Ah stop...

Well, not so bad in that it's still driving, but the noise was the same, and was getting louder and louder, so i was on my way to do a bit of work and had to stop mid-way.

Thankfully I was in Trim, so only about 30 mins from the lads. Brought the car in and got a lend of a friend's car (this was yesterday).

They rang me this morning; same as before. Big end is going in the car and it'll be about 1.5 - 2 weeks before i see it on the road again. In the meantime I'm back in their courtesy Golf.

They sound a bit confused about it all.

But I don't mind this time. I have their courtesy car straight away so I'm not missing out too much thankfully. I won't be as annoyed or under pressure now. Let them take their time to sort it.

Is this the second time the big end has gone? If so there’s obviously an oil starvation or alignment issue they missed the first time.

So my car needs a new engine..

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