Engine's had it... how can I sell the car?

rich_g85 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:25

My girlfriend's car is a T-reg 1.4 306 LX. Been hearing a 'knocking' noise coming from the engine of late- took it to the garage for their opinion today.

Been told that there are two problems - one is 'piston slap' whatever that is and the other is a knackered 'thrust bearing' in the clutch.

All in all, the engine's had it. Any suggestions on the easiest way of selling it? Bearing in mind ebay has free listing on motors this weekend.....

Phil W · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:26

Sell it as spares or repairs ?

Dogbreath · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:31

Piston slap is literaly the pistons rattling around in the bores due to wear. It's annoying but will probably not expire imminently due to that. The clutch thrust bearing isn't very expensive, but it's a PITA to change, you have to remove the gearbox.

Ebay isn't a bad idea, but you could put it in your local paper quite cheaply, or one of the yellow bargain papers.

rich_g85 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:31

Phil W said:
Sell it as spares or repairs ?

Good point, it's still a runner so I guess it's got that in it's favour...

rich_g85 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:34

Dogbreath said:
Piston slap is literaly the pistons rattling around in the bores due to wear. It's annoying but will probably not expire imminently due to that. The clutch thrust bearing isn't very expensive, but it's a PITA to change, you have to remove the gearbox.

Ebay isn't a bad idea, but you could put it in your local paper quite cheaply, or one of the yellow bargain papers.

The chap at the garage said that to put it right it would need a new engine, and a new clutch.

I enquired about the rough cost of a re-conditioned engine which he said would be around a thousand pounds, or a 2nd hand one we'd be looking at around £700-£800 all in.

Which is simply not an option.

-westy- · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:40

rich_g85 said:
The chap at the garage said that to put it right it would need a new engine, and a new clutch.

I enquired about the rough cost of a re-conditioned engine which he said would be around a thousand pounds, or a 2nd hand one we'd be looking at around £700-£800 all in.

Which is simply not an option.

Out of interest mate, which garage did you take the car to?

rich_g85 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:42

-westy- said:
Out of interest mate, which garage did you take the car to?

DCB in Yeovil- on the Lynx trading estate. Old's Peugeot wanted £55 just to give their opinion!

-westy- · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:45

rich_g85 said:
DCB in Yeovil- on the Lynx trading estate. Old's Peugeot wanted £55 just to give their opinion!

Along Lysander road? or am i thinking of a different trading estate?

Try popping out to the Breaker's at Henstridge - nice set of blokes, they should be able to help you, if not give advice.

rich_g85 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:50

-westy- said:
Along Lysander road? or am i thinking of a different trading estate?

Try popping out to the Breaker's at Henstridge - nice set of blokes, they should be able to help you, if not give advice.

That's the one, just near 'Topps Tiles' before you get to Wickes.

We will of course be paying a visit to the garage in Taunton we bought it from- it's only out of it's 3-month engine and gearbox warranty by a few weeks.

tb2000 · 17 Mar 2006 at 18:55

£700-£800 sounds a bit over the top, especially considering it's only a 1.4 TU engine. I would've said the car's got to be worth doing though as it's a T reg?
Shame your not up my way as where I work we'd normally charge around £500 if not a bit less for the engine fitted and done for that job, if i'm not mistaken. Change the thrust bearing at the same time.
A while ago we supplied and fitted a good 70,000 mile 1.3 engine in a blokes Escort van for about £450 ish iirc, so you can get a ballpark figure there.
Shop around, i'm sure you'll be able to find a garage that'll be able to fit it a lot cheaper than your first quote, anyway.

moon man · 17 Mar 2006 at 19:56

wonder if this works

Dup · 17 Mar 2006 at 20:17

If you're mechanically sound (can undo bolts etc), quite a few people break dead cars and sell them for parts and make more than they would for selling the full thing.

The best option would be to advertise locally, and ebay as a last resort. Driving/transporting a dead car = dangerous/costly to the buyer and could lead to extra hassle for yourself.

It's deffo a case of spares or repairs if you want to sell though.