MOTs & Part Exchange

nick

nick

nick

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
395
Location
Chester, Manchester
Hi,

I have a P Reg Fiesta 1.25 16v at the moment, which i've had for about 16 months, and my MOT is due on 17th September.

Last years MOT (at Kwik Fit) was around £300, and the car isn't running very well at the moment, so I think that this could easily be over £500 this year.

I'm considering part exchanging the car (for approx £600), and getting finance on something a few years old. I don't see much point spending good money after bad, and spending almost the value of the car on its MOT. My Mum has just done a part exchange, and the dealer said the only requirement was that it had a current MOT.

Is is possible to get an MOT (a few weeks early), and when I get a call from Kwik Fit telling me how much it'll cost, I can decide not to get the repairs fixed? Then in the following few weeks before the MOT runs out, I can part exchange it? Is this allowed?

Also... would I be likely to get more for a part exchange from a Ford dealer than, for example, a VW dealer? Or is it pretty standard pricing across the board?

Hope you guys can advise! :)

Cheers,
Nick
 
When you have a car to trade in, there is only one figure that matters.

NOT the part exchange price.
NOT the price of the car you want
NOT your 'monthly payment'

Cost to change. Selling price - Tradein = Cost to Change. This is the only figure that matters. Given this, the company giving you 'more' for your part exchange is irrelevent - your car is worthless to them, any extra cash you get for it will be made up for elsewhere..
 
I would have thaught any garage will have a look at it and tell you what needs doing for MOT, however watch out as a lot will exaggerate to try and get more money out of you.

if you do buy a newer car they will all give you nowt for it, but make sure you haggle, and play places off against each other, dont forget take finance rates into account, they can make a huge difference, as fox says, work out the cost to change, but dont use the value of the car you are buying, use the total ammount payable cost of the new car including the finance cost and any arrangement fee's. It is almost always cheaper to finance it yourself with a cheap loan.
 
Last edited:
OK, thanks for the advice guys.

So, there's no problem in getting a quote for MOT repairs, then deciding to part exchange if this quote is too much?

Nick
 
Suspension is pretty much screwed I think, it creaks a lot when driving - it had this problem last year, but it seems much worse this time. It did have a new exhaust last year, so that should be OK. I can't point out anything in particular, but it's just not driving as well as it should be.
 
nick said:
Suspension is pretty much screwed I think, it creaks a lot when driving - it had this problem last year, but it seems much worse this time. It did have a new exhaust last year, so that should be OK. I can't point out anything in particular, but it's just not driving as well as it should be.
Click to expand...
It could be something as simple as rubber bushes. They literally cost about 50p each.

Lot's of people use a car that required maintenance as an excuse to themselves to obtain a newer car on finance. Not saying this is the case but take a step back and ask yourself if it is or not?

I would get a quote for repair before proceeding with any sort of trade in etc...
 
Yeah i'll definitely be getting a quote before I do anything... if it's not overly expensive then I've no problem sticking with it for another year. Though a new car would be nice :p If I keep it then I'm pretty sure i'll be selling it before this time next year.

I might as well wait until 18th August (MOT is due 17th Sept) before I book it in so the new MOT renewal date stays the same I guess.

Nick
 
just bear in mind if you send it in for mot a month before hand and it fails ,you no longer have a month to run around on. ie if it fails thats it. repair or off road till repaired. far better to book it in for a pre mot, then if its ok have it tested.
 
I'd be surprised if its £500 mate!

I've just flown my MOT with my "R" reg BMW, £250 for 2 tyres was it, its a year newer than your fiesta and has covered 112k.

Get a second opinion, NOT from Crap Fit either mate! - They treid to screw £400 of utterly none needed work from me a while back!

The Fiesta should relatively cost you buttons to keep on the road.

My Girlfriends much battered M reg Fiesta 1.8D flew its MOT (needed a wishbone which sorted all sorts of ills in its feel) this cost £140 including the MOT, Wishbone & a tyre!
 
OK cool.

I did go to Kwik Fit last year - which came to £288 for the following:

  • Offside front suspension arm rubber bush bonding deteriorates resulting in excessive movement (£89)
  • Offside rear wheel bearing has excessive play (£39)
  • Offside front and rear tyre depth below 1.6mm (£60 for both tyres together)
  • Centre exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (£55)

I was told when I picked up the car that when they had tried to fix the leak in the exhaust, the whole thing "crumbled up" into pieces, so they gave me a whole new exhaust, and didn't charge me extra, which I thought was nice. Did that price sound OK?

Is it better to go to a local independent garage for MOTs? Or a Ford dealer - or will that be more expensive?

Looking back at previous receipts before I got the car, the suspension seems to have been looked at a few times, and from what I can find on What Car, it seems that suspension is a known problem with the Fiesta Mk4.

Also, the car hasn't had a full service since (I think) around 35000 miles... and it's currently on around 92000! Should I get one of these done too? Do services include things like oil changes etc?

I don't know very much about cars - but I'm guessing that as the car hasn't been serviced for YEARS, then it'll definitely drive better after having one?

Cheers,
Nick
 
nick said:
Also, the car hasn't had a full service since (I think) around 35000 miles... and it's currently on around 92000! Should I get one of these done too? Do services include things like oil changes etc?

I don't know very much about cars - but I'm guessing that as the car hasn't been serviced for YEARS, then it'll definitely drive better after having one?
Click to expand...

Firstly, "a full service" is such a vague term, I've seen cars advertised as recently having a full service when all that was really changed was the oil and the air filter, before spending any money make sure you know what you are getting, if you take it into Kwik Fit or the like and ask for a full service prepare to be disappointed at least and ripped off if you aren’t careful.

Anyway, after almost 60000 miles and years of neglect I'd say that the damage has already occurred, the reason your car isn't running well is probably because the air filter is ruined and has been letting dirt though which damages the MAP and O2 sensors, resulting in the engine running poorly. This is only a guess but have you been getting poor fuel economy recently? Also if the oil hasn’t been changed it starts to thicken and lose its lubricating properties, this will result in excessive engine wear, noisy running, and in extreme cases it can ruin the engine altogether.

Basically if you do get a ‘full service’ you’d be throwing money away, the damage is already done and I’m surprised something major hasn’t broken.

If I was you I’d see if the car will pass its MOT as is, take it a local ford specialist and if it going to cost more than £75 to put right don't bother. If it does pass then take out an advert in the local paper and sell it, you’ll get more money selling it than trading it in, and as it's a small car it should go pretty quickly. If it doesn’t pass its MOT stick in on eBay, you’ll probably still make more money than if you trade it in.

Basically get rid of the car as it’s a money pit waiting to happen, and when you buy your next car make sure you look after it a bit better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom