Gutted :(

[Fr0dders]

The clutch has gone on the vectra

My own stupid fault for fitting a remap basically and then enjoying it and pushing the limits of what the gearbox can take.

I personally would just fit the new clutch and get on with it.

But me and the wife have just had a massive row about it to the point that shes stormed out, and ive been told in no uncertain terms either the car goes or she goes.

Trouble is, im struggling to think of something that is going to satisfy her demands as to what she considers cheap

The vectra has so far cost me in 18 months and 20k miles

2 x sets of front tyres at £120 a corner - £480
1 x set of back tyres - £240
1 x set of brake pads £100
1 x years Tax - £405
1 x Service at £160 from vxl dealer.

and now £800 for new clutch.

So the car is going to have to be prior to 2006 to qualify for pre 2006 tax of £215. Also going to need a car with small wheels so the tyres dont cost £130 each. I dont care, and know this is the price you pay for good tyres but she does, and all she can see is that our last car had 15" steel wheels and needed tyres at £55 each.

Any ideas of something that help me pacify her that im getting something cheaper to run thats still entertaining to drive ? whilst still being a fully functional 4 door saloon ?

Save the debate that the costs are expected and not unreasonable, i know this. But this has turned into a massive issue, and i'm not willing to split my little boys parents up over a car. Its only a hunk of metal after all.

 

[Fr0dders]

arent the ST TDCIs notorious for being unreliable ?

that wont go down well when it needs a new turbo or new injectors



As for budget, whatever i can get in P/X for the Vectra so about 9k.

 

[Fr0dders]

ouch that clutch is expensive. Anyway won't you have to fix the clutch if you Part Ex the vectra if you have to do that why not just keep it or is at the point where its just a drain on your resources

Yep

however her reasonning is that if the £800 clutch will go, something else costing £800 will go too.

To be fair, id be ****ed if i said nothing more could go wrong darling ... then the turbo went or something.

 

[Fr0dders]

that clutch didn't last very long did it?

seems to be false economy selling this and then getting something else..
would you not have to fix the clutch before selling it anyway?

yes and yes ..

but all she can think of is "what else can go wrong"

I dont want to sell it, and believe better the devil you know and all that. Its only just had tyres and pads so wont need consumables for another year.

But all she can go on about is how much the car is costing and us needing to change...

 

[Fr0dders]

in the grand scheme of things, the running costs aren't actually that high. surely once she has calmed down, you can explain this to her?
i've spent over double what you've listed incl the clutch fixing a poxy diesel hatchback. motoring isn't cheap :/

there's not really much out there, unless you get something fast and fit 15" steelies

Even including the clutch that is 2k for 20k of motoring not really that expensive considering the performance on offer (Although it cost Evo that to run a new RS6 for 30k with a tyre and brake change around 20k) You could get a older car and still have the same costs.

I covered this in the OP

i totally agree that theres nothing outrageous there apart from the fact the clutch only lasted 40k. But it was remapped beyond its original spec and driven as it should so its no surprise really.

 

[Fr0dders]

Not meaning to sound too rude but...

She is willing to break up with you over a car? Doesn't really sound like a strong relationship...

Maybe instead of looking at diesel mondeos you should concentrate on saving your marriage?

i'm not sure if she would actually split us up and leave our child with only weekend access to me and all that.

But i really need to do something to diffuse the situation. This has been twisted into me willing to destory the family christmas by having a car that needs too much money spending on it.

Shes got in mind running a £500 banger 1.8 mondeo with cracked bumpers and scrapping it when it doesnt pass an MOT, but i really dont want to go back to driving an econo drossbox

Buy something older like a BMW or an Audi and what you 'save' in... I dunno, what would you save? You'll pay out again in repairs etc.

this is it

Buy a BMW and you wont be servicing it for £150 every 12 months. Vauxhall servicing is about as cheap as it gets.

Love to see her face when i tell her how much an audi or bmw costs to service....

 

[Fr0dders]

The only realistic solution sounds like giving up performance motoring and buying a Mondeo TDCi on 15 inch steelies

this is exactly what she has in mind.

I just dont know if pulling the wool over her eyes and trading it in for something with cheaper tax and slightly smaller wheels but otherwise identical costs would be a good or bad idea.

Makes a token gesture and i get to keep a car that is fun to drive.

 

[Fr0dders]

prepared to leave me over ruinning christmas by my selfish desire to have things that are too expensive and leave us with little left in our savings around christmas.

You know women, its not just "over £2000" its been twisted to far more than that. And yes its been running on for a while. I've been fighting it for months, sucessfully pointing out that it costs no more than most other cars

But then the £800 clutch tipped the balance and pushed a button.

 

[Fr0dders]

£4k audi s4. over 300bhp, drinks for fun, bomb proof drivetrain

unlucky though fella

what sort of running costs is an S4 going to throw up.

whats servicing like ?

 

[Fr0dders]

It's either convince her to keep the Vectra OR its ecohatchback time, I dont think there is an acceptable or viable middle ground. I cant think of a single performance saloon thats going to be noticeably cheaper to service or put tyres on.

but tbh trying to buy something thats ok and lots cheaper to run aint going to happen.

Sadly i already thought this

but thought the creative minds and extensive knowledge of OcUk might unearth something i havent thought of.

appears not.

As already suggested, will have to get the car fixed and let her choose an alternative. Then pick it to bits by pointing out how similar it is to run.

 

[Fr0dders]

Out of the frying pan into the raging nuclear inferno!

thought as much

 

[Fr0dders]

Does she drive?

no. Half the problem

she has no understanding of the term "enjoyable to drive" and just sees a car as car.

To be honest its just as well, shes the worst sort of woman driver in the passenger seat. Overly panicky and terrible judge of speed / distance. Number of times i've been told "WE"RE GOING TO CRASH" like 45 seconds before we got near the back end of the car in front leaving me enough time to move even the titanic into another lane.

 

[Fr0dders]

£800 for a clutch? It carbon/ceramic or something?

Would another option be to keep the Vectra and buy her a 600 quid hatchback heap she can run into the ground every 12 months?

clutch is £340 retail from vauxhall

its the Estimated 6 hours labour that pushes it to £800. Theres a bloke on the vxr forums that can get genuine vauxhall parts to you for trade prices.

Is it worth using him, then just finding the cheapest backstreet garage you can find to swap the clutch ?

Would you trust a backstreet garage you havent tried before with something like this ?

given the car will idle happily in or out of gear without the clutch being pressed, it would be pretty hard to fake not having the work done.

 

[Fr0dders]

all my previous cars have been rotboxes that i havent cared about before

so just gave it to anybody as long it stopped it blowing up on me.

My last car was the xsara picasso that i got derided over. It suited my needs at the time (being one of the few things i could insure being 21 with 9 points) and carried the family around in a car that cost barely £6000

Trouble is, that car cost the same to service, the same for brakes, but only needed £55 tyres, and never needed a clutch even after 80,000 miles. Only bills it needed in the 3 years i had it was a new exhaust due to the old one rotting.

This has somewhat tainted her view of what affordable motoring is.

And her dad just runs £500 bangers. Keeps it till it pops, then buys another. She cant fathom a need for anything more expensive other than me being spoilt and wanting nice things that (when they throw up £800 bills) we struggle to pay.We've got the cash, but it will leave us short at christmas. I hoped it would last as the clutch only started slippping about 3 weeks ago. Never expected it to give up this quick.

 

[Fr0dders]

how many miles have you done since the remap?

the clutch has done 40k in total

and about 5k or 6k since the remap.

VXL warranty was voided when i fitted the remap, and its not fair to expect the tuner to contribute when i know ive been out enjoying the car driving it hard.

Trouble is, its my first performance car so i had no real yardstick to know what "too far" with the clutch was.

I used to thrash the picasso around and it never minded, but its a totally different sort of car.

You buy fast cars and drive them hard .. you pay the price at the end of the day. But she thinks i shouldnt be driving fast cars that have clutches that wear out at 40k...

 

[Fr0dders]

i'm a little bit perplexed as to why its lasted this short

also confused as to how it went from perfect to completely knackered in 3 weeks. As soon as it started showing signs of playing up it hasnt been driven hard. Its been nursed to and from work so i dont know how its escaled this quick.

But thats beside the point. its definately the clutch and its not in warranty, so only thing to do is replace it.

 

[Fr0dders]

When you say 'driving it hard', are we talking hard launches off the line etc.?

yes.

I could never imagine my gf giving me such a ridiculous ultimatum.

she may yet calm down.

This only happened a few hours ago. Car is currently a few streets away (least it didnt brake down miles from home) while i decide what to do. She was off out tonight anyway, but the atmosphere when she left was terrible. But shes been nagging me about the running costs for months.

 

[Fr0dders]

MPG Vectra VXR uprated clutch
MPG uprated heavy-duty five-paddle clutch. Highly recommended for customers upgrading to Stage 2.
£790 fitted

I reckon you could launch all you want with that one...

http://www.midpointgarage.co.uk/Vectra-VXR-tuning-packages.html

its currently undrivable and MPG are in cheshire.

I too had thought this, but its getting it there. And what to do while they need it for 2 days etc.. I mentioned this and got my head bitten off. Was told i was being anal and theres no point fitting uprated parts when iim going to be getting rid of the car.

I am sure someone told me it was torque that killed a clutch not the power. So if that is true a clutch designed to handle 280lbf/t did well to last that long.

rated to fit 280 lb/ft continuous.

Obviously it only made 280 lb/ft for most of the top end.

The peak where it made 400 lb/ft was only in about a 1500rpm powerband.

 

[Fr0dders]

to be honest i need not to drive it so hard.

Others have done more miles than me with remapped cars and not had issues.

 

[Fr0dders]

Been as there isnt any alternative

i think i'm going to have to get the car fixed as cheaply as possible as the £800 is vauxhall dealer rates. Find a cheap backstreet garage and compare fitting only price and fitted with parts price, and compare how much i can get a clutch for using contacts on the vauxhall forums.

Get it done as cheaply as possible and then sit down and tally up how much other cars are going to cost and explain that any car can throw up expensive bills. The only thing that can really be saved on is tyres ...

But then swapping to another car with smaller wheels like a a renault megane for example could throw up all sorts of unexpected costs.

And switching to bmw / audi will just up the cost of servicing and negate any effect of decreased tyre costs by buying one with 17" wheels.