Woohoo, the 214 passed! Going tomorrow!

agw_01

agw_01

agw_01

Soldato
Joined
11 Apr 2004
Posts
19,865
Put the old car in for a bit of work this week, and to have its MOT done in time for -westy- coming up tomorrow.

Anyway, had the alternator changed no problems, but the brake pads I put on a few weeks ago had to be changed again :( Seems when I screwed the discs at the MM3 pre-meet and made them smoke, the pads had started to wear to the same shape as the discs! :eek:

So, with the new brakes fitted, a couple of new seals and the new alternator fitted (which I provided) it came to £110 inc labour. So, when that work was complete, I asked him to take it in for its MOT.

Sadly it didn't pass like I'd hoped. There was quite bad corrosion on the rear passenger sill. Stupidly, I'd noticed this about 6 months back (when I had it looking extremely clean up and posted pics on here) and hadn't done anything about it. Even sanding it down and treating it with rust paint would have helped. It also needed an ARB bush at the front and the mechanic also changed a few bulbs and put new wipers on.

Oh, not forgetting the £10 of petrol he had to put in when it ran out on him (hehehe).

So, all in all it came to £260 for the work. I was quite shocked, and felt a bit sick. But after talking to westy we came to an agreement and I told the mechanic to go ahead with the work.

He's just got back to me now and told me that it's passed the re-test :cool: Quite suprised that it only needed two jobs doing on it as well.

So, here's to my old 214 which I've owned for a year and had great joy in doing so. Apart from the little niggles like the CTS and shearing alternator bolts, I can't fault it at all. It's never ever failed to start (even when it was sat for a week waiting for the gearbox change) and I hope westy gets as much enjoyment out of it as I did.
 
TinkerBell said:
£260 :eek:

I would feel sick too, lol Glad you got it all sorted, bet your sad to see it go:p
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Plus £x for gearbox
£x for this and that not been a cheap year. :(

Glad its all sorted for westy. :)
 
I suppose its one of those moments when you have to bite the bullet one way or another, either scrap the car or get the work done and hope it soldiers on for a good while.

Think i am going to have to do that soon with the gf's golf. Its MOT is next month and the steering is making a whirring noise :p
 
cymatty said:
Plus £x for gearbox
£x for this and that not been a cheap year. :(

Glad its all sorted for westy. :)
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I'm not fussed about that. Sure, I spent a lot on it, but I got most of it back in the end. The 220 is almost a free upgrade... well, it was supposed to be until I found out about the bill.

If anyone mentions the gearbox again though I'll scream. It was me that broke that! Not the car.

Apart from normal servicing items, the CTS sensor and one alternator tensioner bolt are the only bits I've had to replace. (bar the gearbox).

Jez, good point mate. I was contemplating breaking and scrapping the car however much it'd hurt seeing as how it was in such good condition. But, after a discussion with westy and him still being interested in it, I decided to cut my losses and get the work done.

Glad it's going to someone on the forum though.
 
cymatty said:
AGW i never said the Rover was unrelaible just that it has cost quite an amount to run over the year thats all. :)
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I know, but it's just people seem to jump on the bandwagon as soon as I tell them how much I spent on it, when all of the things I replaced would need changing on any car at that age.

In the past year, I've only been without it for a week. I think that's good going considering 'it's a rover'. :p

Personally I think the original belts (inc the cambelt) and waterpump did really wall to last 85,000 miles :eek:

Oh, Si, I'd definitely get the corrosion check done on your car. Just in case.
 
agw_01 said:
I know, but it's just people seem to jump on the bandwagon as soon as I tell them how much I spent on it.

Personally I think the original belts (inc the cambelt) and waterpump did really wall to last 85,000 miles :eek:

Oh, Si, I'd definitely get the corrosion check done on your car. Just in case.
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Yeah have to ring up another dealer :) , its why i couldn't personally run an older car due to cost v worth, damm accountancy course has altered my brain.
 
cymatty said:
its why i couldn't personally run an older car due to cost v worth
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:eek: You snob! :p One of things about owning an old car is that if any work needs doing, you do it yourself and learn at the same time.

Of course, it can get a bit annoying if things go all the time, but you still have the pleasure of annoying some **** in his 51 plate Saxo :p
 
agw_01 said:
Of course, it can get a bit annoying if things go all the time, but you still have the pleasure of annoying some **** in his 51 plate Saxo :p
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Not me then, as mine is an 02. :p
 
Doesnt sound that bad, with old cars you get that kind of bill for an MOT. You could get a newer car and not find out how much you lost till you sell it, it's almost always far more
 
I paid £400 inc labour for a brand new alternator on my 206. Granted it was an uprated alternator as the standard is a bit weak if you add anything extra, I was pretty shocked as to how expensive they are!

You can spend a lot on a new car and a lot on an old car. With an oldish car you can avoid hefty bills by getting spares from a scrappy and fitting them yourself with a little help from Haynes and a few mates. The only real problems are rust and a bad crash! With a new car, the parts are mostly at cost through the garage with VAT, labour etc etc

If you look a car it'll look after you. You might learn a bit of mechanics while you're at it!
 
This is why I think cheap cars suck.

They end up costing more than more expensive, more reliable cars becuase every MOT is a worry which ends in a £200-£300 repairbill rather than a simple pop it in, pay 30 quid, pick up a pass certificate.

And thats without mentioning the fixing stuff that goes on between MOT's.

Sub £500 cars - unless you are a dab hand with a spanner, it's false economy.
 
[TW]Fox said:
This is why I think cheap cars suck.

They end up costing more than more expensive, more reliable cars becuase every MOT is a worry which ends in a £200-£300 repairbill rather than a simple pop it in, pay 30 quid, pick up a pass certificate.

And thats without mentioning the fixing stuff that goes on between MOT's.

Sub £500 cars - unless you are a dab hand with a spanner, it's false economy.
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whilst you're kind of right, there is still a high chance even when spending a grand that a car may need repairs etc, it's luck of the draw. My cavalier for example was bought for £500 just over 2 years ago, and all that was spent on it except for consumables was £45 plus the MOT's.....where as it could've just as easily like AGW's car needed a few hundred quids worth of work, as could a car costing twice as much or even more (sam's racing puma anyone?). With any car there is the risk that something may go and need fixing, more so as they get older yes,

I think you'll see my point even if i havn't put it across very well :)

Tom.
 
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