Winter Health Check

[B Real]

Hi Guys,

Just had my W Reg 172 in at a Renault dealer for a winter health check, got the results back & was hoping someone could advise me on costs. The following is the problems they found and the quote for repair:

Timing Belt is due pretty soon - £550 (car is at 67.5ish K - take it this is standard 72k change)
2 rear Axle Bushes split, they said car wont pass an mot on this - £409
Exhaust Mount is not holding exhaust - £56
Front Fog lights - might need replacing - £43
2 Rear Tyres are at 3mm - 1.6 is legal limit, probably about 4/5 months wear left - £98 each (ive done about 2.5k miles since I got it in May so not a heavy user).

Main concern is the Axle bushes - MOT due early next year so this will need done sooner rather than later. Is £409 a reasonable price for this? I have no idea how serious this is - can I keep driving with split axle bushes?

Of course cam belt is a concern, but figure I could hold that off till maybe midway through next year. Again advice on cost for this charge appreciated.

Thanks
Brad

 

[davebem]

Does your car make a knocking noise at the rear, more so on bumpy corners?

Id get the cambelt done asap as your car will be 6 years old. If £550 includes the cambelt, accesory belt and all the rollers then its a good price for Renault.

 

[B Real]

The only knocking noise it makes is when I start it up and drive off for the first time - theres one small 'clunk' coming from the rear which doesnt sound too serious - almost as if its just a bottle of water rolling back against the inside of the boot.

Edit: The same knocking noise doesnt appear when driving off from lights, stop signs etc...just when i first use it in the day.

 

[Middo]

exhaust mounts are 22quid i think to buy over the counter. fiddly little design, but if competent you can do it yourself.

wouldnt trust renault to do my cambelt so i'd go to somewhere else.

tyres would never come from renault, and if they're above the legal requirement and you dont do hard/big distances then leave them till your feeling flush.

front fog lights i would buy from somewhere like cliospares / specialist renault breakers after deciding whether it was the fogs that were faulty/bulbs/wiring

not sure on the axle bushes on a 172 meself

 

[Middo]

The only knocking noise it makes is when I start it up and drive off for the first time - theres one small 'clunk' coming from the rear which doesnt sound too serious - almost as if its just a bottle of water rolling back against the inside of the boot.

Edit: The same knocking noise doesnt appear when driving off from lights, stop signs etc...just when i first use it in the day.

binding rear pads? do you crank the handbrake on

 

[B Real]

I pull it up as far as it goes if thats what you mean, until it wont click anymore. I wouldnt say I use unneccessary force tho.

 

[Middo]

my old 172 used to make a small clunking noise when pulling away if i really cranked the handbrake up as far as it would go, but it had cheap and cheerful rear pads on it.

 

[B Real]

Could be similar problem. Ill not put it on so hard tonight and see tomorrow (after my car rolls down the hill off a cliff...)

Off just now, still keen for advice on driving with split axle bushes and costs as above...will check back later..

cheers for the advice so far

Brad

 

[DrR]

it's just the pads binding to the disks, no point in using the handbrake unless you need to anyway, just leave it in gear.

 

[B Real]

In my first post I mentioned "2 Rear Axle Bushes split". Just got quotes from two garages for the bushes and the timing belt, both of wildly different prices...

Garage A

Axle Bushes - £218
Timing Belt - £288

Garage B

Axle Bushes - £71 parts (for 2) + £60 labour = £131
Timing Belt - £35 parts + 80 labour = £115

Garage A said there are 4 rear axle bushes (and going back to original quote from Renault I realised I made the number 2 up as they didnt specify how many). Is this correct?

Should I be concerned by the vast difference in prices? Im tempted to hedge my bets a little - get the Axle bushes done at Garage B and the timing belt at Garage A.

 

[G_F]

Garage A

Axle Bushes - £218
Timing Belt - £288

Garage B

Axle Bushes - £71 parts (for 2) + £60 labour = £131
Timing Belt - £35 parts + 80 labour = £115

These garages obviously dont know what is involved in changing a cambelt on a 172, unless you know they have done one before, dont trust them.

 

[B Real]

I agree. Garage B said they could see what condition the belt was in without opening up the engine. No chance. Garage A at least said they would have to open her up, but the guy hardly seemed to know what a 172 was. At least Garage A seemed to know how big a job it would be.

Main concern for now tho is the Axle Bushes. Does anyone know how big a job this is? Am I right in saying its perhaps a more general job that most mechanics could do regardless of the type of car? Or is specific 172 knowledge required for this?

 

[Englebert]

Is the winter check free?

 

[B Real]

Is the winter check free?

No it was a tenner from my local Renault garage. They give your car a once over, i.e check tyres, breaks, clutch, treads, top up everything that needs topped up, check the computer etc. then hit you with a whopping grands worth of repairs.

If you get your car serviced with them within a year, you get the tenner back.

 

[davebem]

The local garage probably doesnt realise how the belt on the 172 is hard to change. For a start its not just a case of changing the timing belt, its changing the belt, changing 3 rollers/tensioners changing the accessory belt and changing the accessory belt roller/tensioner. The timing belt kit alone (timing belt + 3 tensioners) is £125-£130 from renault or a motor factors.

As for the bushes iirc theres just 2 on either side where the trailing arm bolts to the car. The garage might have got confused and thought you meant the bushes at the top of the shocks where theres 4. As for whether anyone can do it, you have to improvise a tool to draw the bush from the arm and to refit the new one. I think you also have to remove the whole of the axle, but any garage should be able to manage this.

 

[B Real]

I emailed Garage A again to get new quote on the timing belt. This time he seemed to know what he was talking about, his reply was

"Yes there is a big difference in fitting the belt between these models (172 V non-sport Clio). The cost would be £365.48 + VAT in total. This would be for the timing belt kit and not just the belt. When doing this it is recommended to change some of the pullies and guides when doing the belt and the fore we purchase a belt kit. This works out slightly cheaper and you get all the parts recommended for the job. It is a big job and the time allowed on the car is 6 hrs. I would suggest the car was booked in over 2 days to give us enough to complete the job."

So that works out at about £430 inc Vat. However, I got another quote from a Renault dealer in Dunfermline of £491 inc Vat so will consider them (im in Edinburgh).

I think I will get the Axle bushes done at Garage B which is the cheapest and closest (literally 30 seconds) from my flat. They do a lot of mods so presume will have the ingenuity to improvise a tool for this kind of job. They can do the exhaust mount too.

By the way, all these repairs came from taking the car into a Renault Dealer to get the air pressure sensor in the engine checked out as car wasnt starting a couple of times. They found no problem with the sensor.

 

[clidge]

hey up mate mine is doing this creaking on initial set off from station especially in the morning so it must be these that need replacing i am going to get mine checked out think it i was quoted 35 inc vat for an all over check and diagnosis might see if they have this deal at my local one onyl want to know what is needed cheers