Fix or buy another? 182 FF

[Wild182]

Hi guys,

Im looking for some advice, I currently have a titanium clio 182 FF. I absolutely love the car and have owned it for around 7 years now. It needs alot of work and im unsure weather i should get the work done or just replace it.

Problem is its starting to get abit long in the tooth now and is starting to cost alot to keep nice. It is now overdue cambelt/auxbelt/dephaser and water pump change, which the last time I had it done at RS MURRAYS in Leeds was approx £800, this time it needs the water pump too and so with inflation im guessing im going to be looking at around £900.

The next issue is the front brakes. They are constantly warping, every time i change the discs and pads, within a short period the drivers disk is massively warped and causing lots of vibration. I have had a slightly squeaky drivers wheel bearing for years and never had it replaced (stupidly), its now very loud when hot and i am suspecting the heat generated here has possibly warped the hub over time which transfers the warpage to the new discs every time i replace them..
So along side the belts i also need a set of front discs/pads/wheel bearings and possibly a new hub too. I would be paying a garage to do this work because i dont have a press for the bearing so i would be probably looking at another £500 here.

Yesterday after finally fixing an issue with my clutch pedal, my lambda sensor suddenly packed in so thats another £60-80. 4th gear is starting to crunch when engaged and the engine also has a slight rocker cover leak causing an intermittent misfire in cyl3 when the oil is earthing the plug, again not a cheap fix..
The car is on almost 114k miles now.

So i have seen a replacement for around £2600... Same car, diff colour and fairly low mileage for what i need..

Do i repair or do i replace? Do i spend a minimum of £1500 on the car to try get another 5 years out of it or do i spend the extra £1000 for a lower millage version?

Thanks

 

[R3k1355]

It's upto you really, if you don't trust the car anymore then maybe don't continue throwing money at it.

If your brakes are constantly warping it might end up being a dodgy caliper, so you might need that added onto the bill as well.

 

[Wild182]

It's upto you really, if you don't trust the car anymore then maybe don't continue throwing money at it.

If your brakes are constantly warping it might end up being a dodgy caliper, so you might need that added onto the bill as well.

Thanks for the reply R3k, the calipers were the first things i replaced when i noticed the warping problem was reoccurring but it still continued to happen. I think you may be right, i feel i cannot trust my current one as a daily anymore. Thanks again.

 

[R3k1355]

You could still ask £1000-£1500 for your current car anyway, which might make the purchase of the new car abit more enticing.

 

[Wild182]

I think you have helped me make up my mind, im quite attached to my current one which is whats put me off getting rid but you are deffo right. I wish i could keep the old one too I may aswel put that towards a repairs pot for the next one lol. Thanks R3k

 

[imprezaworks]

Start again with the new car mate

 

[bloke]

£500 for front discs, pads and bearings? Knock about £200 off that!!

 

[White16valver]

Having done (paid for ) a complete suspension overhaul on my valver, I highly recommend it - new everything from top mounts down transformed the car and removed the slack that creeps in when components wear over time.

Was it cheap? Not really. But it was like having a whole new car and made it fun to drive again.

I know it's not a completely comparable situation to this one, but my point is that going over everything that needs work on a car you know gives benefits - buying another car gives no guarantee that the exact same things aren't wrong with that one, or other issues that cost even more to fix. It might have a lower mileage but so what? It could have been ragged to death from cold every day, crashed up and down speed humps without slowing down, been left parked on a seafront while salt water spray soaks into its every crevice...

114k miles on your current car is nothing - I would argue that all engines are good for 200k+ if looked after. Get the major service stuff done (using OEM parts, ideally) and it will be good on that front for another five years. Keep on top of small jobs as they come up and it will be cheaper in the long run - as you've seen, neglecting one thing can lead to other things needing doing

There might be some recommended places on the forum you could use that would be cheaper than your local garage?

 

[FatRS]

Better the devil you know.