Decisions decisions....MOT Stuff....

[timbob]

So, the Cavalier failed it's MOT fairly well this morning.

It needs a new suspension arm/bushes, new brake pipes, at least one new tyre, and various other serious-ish things, amounting to £450-550 worth of work.

That's just to pass the MOT. The engine is also leaking oil like a seive - it looks like the rocker cover gasket, sump gasket, crankshaft oil seal, and from around the gearbox bellhousing. I'm pouring in anywhere up to a litre of oil a week into it at the moment.

The coolant is also a gunky black/brown colour, which doesn't bode well.

So - it's N reg, 2.0 16v CDX with 128,500 miles. The same car, in better condition, with a lot less miles are up on Autotrader between £650-850.

Do I spend £500 on the MOT, then anywhere up to another £300+ on the oil leak problems to keep it for another year, or do I chop it in? Only then I've got the hassle of looking for a new car...I do fancy a Nissan 200sx s14, and I have the money in my inheritance to buy one, and insurance is fine, but I do a lot of miles. I could buy another cheap banger for a year instead though...

What do you reckon?

Oh, and - Fun cars, ~200bhp, reliable for under £4000 - any suggestions welcome!

 

[timbob]

Bit of an update - the oil leak isn't as terminal as first thought - they've cleaned up the engine, warmed it up, and taken it for a spin. Turns out it's not falling out the bottom of the engine. The nice oil coating on the blockmust be a build up over the last x thousand miles - so I'm not worried about that.

They've quoted £440 to put it through it's MOT, which I'm going to do - here's the reasoning:

That £440 will get me another year's motoring out of it - show me where I can get another car like the cav that'll be on the road for £440, and I'll take it. If I were to buy another cheap car, it's bound to need work doing on it - a new tyre or two or whatever. I always have a cambelt change on a new second hand car for peace of mind anyway - so that's not worth it.

Besides - this cav had a new clutch last november, and all the sensors that do go wrong have gone wrong, and have been replaced - so the car itself is a known quantity.

Motoring is expensive aint it!

[edit] A little more good news - one of the "leaky" brake pipes isn't leaking - it's just a glob of grease sitting there that the tester assumed had leaked from the pipe. And the £440 (now less, as that brake pipe isn't leaking) includes a full service - new plugs, oil change, other fluid changes etc. So it's not too bad afterall! I'll save the 200sx as a summer present when I've finished my first year at work!

 

[timbob]

Yeah, sorry mate - it's the X20XEV....

I fully appreciate the "once you've fixed it once, you're more inclined to fix it again" theory. Last year, it cost zilch to put through the MOT apart from the cost of the test itself - this is the first major expense I've had on the car - I changed the cambelt last summer myself, and tried my hand at fitting various sensors and stuff when they went wrong.

Rest assured if something else goes pop that's £££ to fix, it's going! I'm not prepared to pour money into a dead car. In fact, if the cost of this service/MOT was as little as £100 or £150 more, I probably would have said no.