What to do when it finally happens?

leaskovski

leaskovski

leaskovski

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Joined
22 Oct 2004
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Berkland
Ok, so the run about 12 year old Corsa has gone in for a service and MOT today.

Ive just had a call from my mate who says there are a few things that need to be sorted for the MOT. He is now getting the cost of that to put right.

If it comes back as being more than what the car is worth to put right, then I guess I am going to have to say good bye to my little lad. At this stage, the MOT is now expired, so can I drive it home? I guess not, so do I have to leave it at the garage? What do I do with the little blighter? Call in the scrappies to take the chap away!? What about the remaining Tax and insurance? Can I claim that back?

Sob...sob.... :(

Edit: Looking at autotrader, its probably worth about £800, so a repair bill over that isn't worth it.
 
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Or, you could just pay to fix it and keep running it unless it's catastrophic? It's 12 years old - although not of much value, could you replace it with something that will run for a year for the same cost?
 
We just took our R reg beaten up Corolla for an MOT mechanically it was perfect, but the lambda sensor failed - and this failed the MOT which was annoying. The car's not really worth anything, but it's an invaluable work horse, and as such is worth keeping on the road so we forked out for it to ensure it passed it's MOT. We know it's history and know it's in good nick (other than the dents, bumps and scratches).

If it's in good mechanical order then keep it - is the cost of repairing it the same as the cost of buying a new car?
 
So the repair bill comes in at say, £850, and you sell it in its current condition for spares or repair for ~£200. Now you've got a technical £1,050 in your back pocket, what do you buy? An unknown Corsa?

If you want something else then fine, but don't use repairs as an excuse to get rid of the motor. It might be worth more to you to keep it, irrespective of the cars market value.

Value the cars use for you, at the price of the repair, not what it's worth on the market.
 
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Exactly. You know the history of it, and if it's an indispensable tool keep it - if it's mechanically rotten then maybe reconsider, if it's a case of replacing a CV gaiter or some bushes or brakes then keep it.

You could spend the same amount and a get a lemon and then you'd be even worse off. :)
 
Legally you are allowed to drive the car to a booked MOT and away (to place of repair). So if you do decide it is not worth it you should be able remove it from the test station and decided what to do with it, scrap, spares etc
 
Yup, tis a good point. We know its history. Its been in the family since birth. Before I got my mits on it in 2004, my mum had it from 2001, so I know exactly what its had done to it, what prangs its had, yada yada...

It doesn't get used that much at the moment, so generally sits on the drive most of the time. I guess maybe 1 to 2k tops it does a year. I fully expect it will start to get used more soon given that both the Mrs and I will want to use a car during the day, unlike the train that she generally uses, so I would probably have to replace it if it was deemed to expensive to repair.

Sod being a one car family!
 
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