Advice please?

[Ian]

Just looking for a few thoughts. I'm sure there's an obvious answer, but I can't see the wood for the trees! To save you reading what's below if you don't want, here's a summary:

The short version

Would you spend £400 on a new head gasket, for a 10 year old Clio on 86,000 miles, worth around £1,250; or would you get a new car, which due to insurance quotes would most likely be just as old and prone to problems?

The long-winded version

I've had the Clio for coming up to 7 months now and although it's getting to where I want it to be, in all honesty it's becoming more hassle than perhaps it's worth.

For the past few days I've been having to top up the coolant and having had it checked over it is, as suspected, a leaking head gasket. I've been quoted £400 to have a new one fitted, which if I can't get it done any cheaper, really isn't worth doing on an engine that has done 86,000 miles in a car worth £1,000-1,500.

I tried a product called K-seal, which blocks up the hole in the gasket and is sold as a permanent fix; however the shop I bought it from, a mechanic and a friend who has used it before have all said it is most likely only a temporary solution. It does seem to be working though.

I've also been speaking to Jordan (f0xy) and he said that he probably could do the work, if he had access to the right tools. However if something goes wrong afterwards, I obviously won't have any warranty to fall back on and more importantly I don't want to put him in an awkward position.

So, I've been looking at other cars. I need something cheap to get me through to June 2010, so a) I have a car and b) I get my no claims bonus from Tesco, up to June 2009 and then I'll insure it elsewhere. The problem here is that even a 10 year old 1.4i Honda Civic (EK9 style I think..?) would cost me £1,800 (for a year) against £850 for the Clio (10 year old 1.6 Si 8v) and they won't give me a quote online if I add my brother on to the policy, but he does need to be on. As far as I can see, as soon as a car has 16v not 8, they hike the price right up, even if it has the same power etc.

Really can't be bothered spends loads on remedial work for the Clio, but I can't find anything to replace it with and it would be a shame to let it go now.

Thanks for any guidance!
Ian

The car in question:

 

[realnumber 1]

Pay to get it fixed imo, assuming the rest of the car is in good order...

Better the devil you know!

 

[Brett]

If everything else is mechanically sound on the car then i'd get the work done.

To be honest Ian its not worth loosing all the money you spent on the car, and the extra money for insurance for the sake of £400, in the end you will be loads more down than if just got the head gasket done.

Your Clio is realy coming together too, in June when you change insurance companies you can get those 172 wheels on and your lowering springs and it will go from strength to strength.

 

[Mike@Rentech]

keep it, get it fixed.
Looks a nice car

 

[Alfonz]

I was in the same boat, i had a mk2 ph1 s reg, spent about £500 on it to pass MOT, then they gave me an advisory note, basically saying the cars falling apart, costing more than what the cars worth.
sell it buy a newer one. some good deals about!

 

[Ian]

Way to throw a spanner in there Alex lol.

It just seems like one thing after another. I've spent probably £250 on replacement parts (not mods, just replacing broken fog lamps, wing mirrors etc.) to get it looking respectable and then £500 on service, MOT and cambelt, £70 on a wheel bearing and now this. I'm betting the exhaust will be next.

I wish I had the money to say, yeah just get it done, but I haven't had a part-time job for almost a year, which might be my own fault, but I wanted to concentrate on uni. Even when I finish come May, I'm not guaranteed a job anywhere, especially as I don't want to go into the field that my course is focused on. It's a hell of a drain on my funds for a car I barely drive!

And yet I can't imagine replacing it for another car of the same value. It's knowing when to call it quits I suppose.

 

[16v_paddy]

Get it fixed man, will be better off in the long run.

How do you know you wont have to spend the same if not more on whatever you get next?
You'll have the peace of mind knowing that all the necessary work your car has needed has been done in your ownership.

If you give up on it now, you will have wasted all your time, money & effort with no way of recouping it and then be left with having to do it all over again with the next car

 

[Ian]

Meh, ok, I'll stick with it. Family won't be impressed though, they want shot of it

 

[ForceIndia]

Who's doing the repair?

 

[Ian]

A local garage. I'm going to ask around though. Any recommendations Warren?

 

[ForceIndia]

I used Birchdown for some work, not sure how far they are from you though.

 

[Ian]

Well I've heard good things so I'd be prepared to travel a bit, according to Google it's 55 miles. Might drop them a PM and see what they say.

 

[W17GLE]

Would it not be cheaper to just get a new engine put in? i know it sounds extreme but you pick up engines for about £100. i'm sure one of the locals will fit it as it shouldn't take them that long.

 

[Sargara]

Similar thing Ian. Problem after problem. (this is just faults not including my mods)
- £200 on belt changes
- £60 for service kit (did myself)
- £70 wheel bearing
- £300 clutch
- £60 track rod end and wheel tracking

As like you i also think my exhaust is now on its way out, im sick of Renaults rust prone parts so considering a full stainless system such as Powerflow which again wont be cheap.

All this money and its only a 1.4 but at the end of the day at least i know its had this work done. I dread to think the state some people will run their cars in so i dont risk trading it in for a car with worse problems than where i am.

 

[fossie]

Get it repaired matey....... seems like a nice car you have there

 

[W17GLE]

my first car cost me £1200 after two years of ownership it must have cost me upwards of 3.5k including repairs you just need to know when enough is enough. i ended up getting a newer car on finance as it worked out cheaper paying £130 a month than keep paying the repair bills.

 

[Ian]

Similar thing Ian. Problem after problem. (this is just faults not including my mods)
- £200 on belt changes
- £60 for service kit (did myself)
- £70 wheel bearing
- £300 clutch
- £60 track rod end and wheel tracking

As like you i also think my exhaust is now on its way out, im sick of Renaults rust prone parts so considering a full stainless system such as Powerflow which again wont be cheap.

All this money and its only a 1.4 but at the end of the day at least i know its had this work done. I dread to think the state some people will run their cars in so i dont risk trading it in for a car with worse problems than where i am.

Yeah it's a catch 22 situation really. If I had the money for a newer car I wouldn't have half the problems, but because I don't I end up spending twice as much fixing an old car instead!

Get it repaired matey....... seems like a nice car you have there

Cheers pal, like I say I'm almost where I want to be with it, but seems like as soon as I fix one thing, another problem rears its ugly head.

Think if I sold it I would lose about £250 on mods but be able to sell about £350 worth, so only say a 40% loss in that area.

my first car cost me £1200 after two years of ownership it must have cost me upwards of 3.5k including repairs you just need to know when enough is enough. i ended up getting a newer car on finance as it worked out cheaper paying £130 a month than keep paying the repair bills.

Not sure I could go down the finance route. I don't really like to live owing people anyway, but I don't have a job and if I get a newer car I won't be able to afford to insure it.

As for the engine transplant, I'd consider it, but it would basically have to be a like-for-like transplant, so I wouldn't gain anything from it. Suppose it could work out cheaper, but not sure how Tesco would look upon me doing it.


I've left a PM with Birchdown anyway, so I'll see what they say.

 

[Edd]

I'd fix it considering the amount you have already spent, you could buy another car to find after a couple of months it too is a money pit. I think you'd struggle to sell the clio with a failing head gasket, well for a respectable amount anyway.

500 quid on a service, mot and cambelt!? That seems a lot and so does 70 for a wheel bearing. is this the same garage that want 400 for the headgasket?

Sounds like you have had a rough deal with your insurance as well unless you havn't got any NCB and some claims to your name?

 

[Ian]

Well as things stand the head gasket is holding out with that K-seal stuff. I'd feel bad selling it on knowing that it could go, but I'm under a lot of pressure to get rid! If I could find a part-ex deal that wouldn't be too bad.

Yeah I was told £500 was over the odds for the service etc, but I was a bit naïve. I thought £70 was about right for a wheel bearing? Both of those were done by a mechanic that the family have used for many years. The quote for the headgasket was a different company. The main reason I went was just to confirm what was up with it.

My insurance quotes both astound and upset me every time I read them lol. I only have named no-claims with Tesco, which is why I stayed with them this year; if I make it through to June I will have 1 years NCB. I don't have any claims to my name. Even so, I've looked for next year and it will be £850 for my current car (or £950~ with wheels and lowering etc.), £1,400 for a valver, £1,850 for a 1.4 16v Honda Civic EJ9(?), or £2,600~ for a ph1 172. Those prices are with Bell.

 

[TooneySonic]

let foxy do it, he's a capable lad!

(that could so be taken the wrong way lol)

have you seriously looked into your options for changing car? tbh i would keep yours, looks a nice car, however good to have all the angles covered and maybe something like a Polo might be cheaper and more reliable

 

[Edd]

Well a new rear bearing for my 172 cost £16 and took me about an hour to change so I can't see how a garage could charge any more than an hours labour.

Have you tried priviledge for your insurance? I got my 172 last August when I was 21 and paid 860 fully comp. 1yr NCB and my mum down as a named driver.

 

[Ian]

let foxy do it, he's a capable lad!

(that could so be taken the wrong way lol)

have you seriously looked into your options for changing car? tbh i would keep yours, looks a nice car, however good to have all the angles covered and maybe something like a Polo might be cheaper and more reliable

Funny you should say that, my bro has a Polo on the drive that he's doing up to sell. It's a 1.2 55Bhp 2002 model and Tesco want around £2,200 for it (or £1,000 for the remaining 5 months, if it works like that).

If Jord does it for me I'll need to get my hands on the timing tools for a mk2, he only has them for a mk1. I'd also need the parts etc.

 

[Ian]

Well a new rear bearing for my 172 cost £16 and took me about an hour to change so I can't see how a garage could charge any more than an hours labour.

Have you tried priviledge for your insurance? I got my 172 last August when I was 21 and paid 860 fully comp. 1yr NCB and my mum down as a named driver.

Just tried Privilege using the same details I entered for this years insurance (Clio, me and my bro etc.) and they won't give me a quote online, so it's not promising. They also appear to use the same forms as Tesco, so I don't know if they might be connected somehow.

I'm going to see what Birchdown come back with and then either get them to do it, or try and source the parts and tools. Meanwhile I'll keep plugging different cars in to the insurance quote to see what they'll permit me to have.

 

[TooneySonic]

your brother is on your ins or you are on his? may be your prob

have you tried adding a female as a named driver to the policy, do it and watch your premium fall!!!!!

 

[Alfonz]

sorry for the spanner throwing Ian!
TBH, i would sell it, if you dont actually drive it much then you may aswell sell it, keep the money in the bank. then in may or whenever you get a job buy a newer car.

i dont understand pouring money into a car that will constantly need money spending on it yaer after year!

Oh, and i wish my bearing was that cheap, i paid £80ish.

 

[Ian]

your brother is on your ins or you are on his? may be your prob

have you tried adding a female as a named driver to the policy, do it and watch your premium fall!!!!!

My brother's on mine. We basically use it the same amount, but I offered to pay for the car and most of the insurance to help him out for his first year and because I wanted to keep it on my own after the year is over.

My mum had her car stolen last year and it cost £4,000 to repair. Even though it was a non-fault claim, her quotes have obviously been affected. Still it does help and I always try the quotes with her on and off.

Anyways we shall see. If anyone knows what a reasonable price is for the work I need doing it would be good to get a reference point.

 

[TooneySonic]

doesn't need to be your mum, could be anybody with a good record, as they are just named anyhow so it wont affect them and it should save you a packet

 

[Edd]

I just did a quote on priviledge on a 99 1.6 si, pretending to be a 21 yr old student with 0 NCB but with a female named driver and 500 excess and it came to £669 a year. Do you live in Iraq?

 

[Ian]

Lol, no, Manchester.

DoB: May 1988
Occupation: Student
Type of license: Full
Period license held: 2 years (November 06)
Postcode: M41

Claims: No
Convictions: No
Named on another policy: No
Anyone insured with Priv.: No

Car: 1999 (T-reg) Renault Clio 1.6 Si 8v
Annual Mileage: ~8000
No claims discount: 0

2nd Driver:
DoB: April 1990
Occupation: Clerical
Type of license: Full
Period license held: 0 years (March 08)

Claims: No
Convictions: No.

 

[Edd]

669 was with 10000 miles a year aswell.

 

[f0xy]

Funny you should say that, my bro has a Polo on the drive that he's doing up to sell. It's a 1.2 55Bhp 2002 model and Tesco want around £2,200 for it (or £1,000 for the remaining 5 months, if it works like that).

If Jord does it for me I'll need to get my hands on the timing tools for a mk2, he only has them for a mk1. I'd also need the parts etc.

Yeah, i have 'timing' tools for a Mk1, DIY style ones LOL

Mk2 ones are slightly diff, and I wouldnt want to time it wrong and something else go wrong etc...

Its an easy job if you have the correct tools....but see what birchdown say first :approve:

 

[Ian]

sorry for the spanner throwing Ian!
TBH, i would sell it, if you dont actually drive it much then you may aswell sell it, keep the money in the bank. then in may or whenever you get a job buy a newer car.

i dont understand pouring money into a car that will constantly need money spending on it yaer after year!

Oh, and i wish my bearing was that cheap, i paid £80ish.

No worries dude, good to hear both sides of the argument! Unfortunately I do need the car enough to warrant me having one; just picked a bad one I guess.

669 was with 10000 miles a year aswell.

Me alone: 1,884.75
Me and mum: £1,970.85

Fun fun.

 

[TooneySonic]

that f**king rediculous tbh, more than car worth, what about third party?? prob make no diff but worth a try

 

[Edd]

Third party put my quote up!

Must be your postcode!

 

[H182]

tbh if that stuff u used is keeping it going for now I'd hang on till your insurance is due, then see if you can get insured on another car before deciding.

 

[Ian]

Quick update,

spoken with Steve from Birchdown and he's going to quote me for doing the work and also for just the parts. Not sounding promising on the first front, but I'll see what tomorrow brings.

As for other cars, I've found that I can get a Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec, or Ghia insured for around the £8-900 mark for next year, which is similar to the Clio, so could perhaps pick up one of them as a replacement. They do go for closer to 2k than 1k though.

Unfortunately as soon as my brother is put on it shoots up to £2k+, so I may well have to rely on the K-seal holding out for a few months, depending on the Birchdown quotes.