Ouch!

[StuK]

I've just had my annual service and MOT. I'm pleased to report that the MOT was passed, but not without pain!

I had the belts changed as they hadn't been done for a few years, whilst they were in there I got a small water leak fixed too. They also discovered a broken front suspension spring, so both front springs needed replacing. I'm now £1,250 poorer!

 

[andy watson]

Good to see the old girl's wheels are still turning.

Best thing Stu, divide the money spent by how many years belts last changed and pronto- cheap car to keep on the road

Man maths mate, [][]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Sounds pretty reasonable compared to her successor! [&o]

What sort of mileage have you been doing? I'd bet that with the work you've done to her she'd be valued three times purchase price?

Typing that it sounds wrong, but I hope the point gets across. It's been interesting to see the cars rise in value, and I think you've done exactly what is needed to keep it going well, without spending silly money. As I have on hthe S2.....[]

I know someone will come along and say you can get the parts for £7.50, and you can do the belts and suspension in under an hour, on your drive, with only a Swiss Army knife and a mug of tea. Realistically, that's not an unreasonable price for the work in the south east, and over £200 of it is VAT alone. [&o]

Wish I'd never sold that car... [&:]

 

[zcacogp]

Crumbs, you were mugged! You can get the belts for £3.99 if you know where to shop, a bit of silicone on the water leak, cut the spring on the other side down so it's the same length as the broken one, shouldn't take you more than 90 minutes and you need nothing more than a screwdriver and pair of pliers to do the work. Easily done on your drive with a decent big cup of coffee.

>WavesAtMcNulters< []


Oli.

 

[JM1962]

I suppose if you are paying for the work to be done it's reasonable, but it does illustrate the benefits of doing it yourself if you can. I wouldn't mind betting you would have saved a grand.

Last time I paid anything out to get a car through the MOT it was my old Lux which needed most of the brake pipes replacing. Cost me £400 and was like a dagger through the heart.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Oli....[][]

You're banned. Again. []

 

[supersport]

If you could do that with a mug of tea, my life would be so much easier []

After Christmas we get to see how quickly a bloke who drive a keyboard for a living can ruin a 944, should be fun.

 

[Waylander]

i drive a keyboard for a living and i have repaired, refurbed, rebuilt 80% of my 968. and its far from ruined thank you

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Crumbs, you were mugged! You can get the belts for £3.99 if you know where to shop, a bit of silicone on the water leak, cut the spring on the other side down so it's the same length as the broken one, shouldn't take you more than 90 minutes and you need nothing more than a screwdriver and pair of pliers to do the work. Easily done on your drive with a decent big cup of coffee.

>WavesAtMcNulters< []


Oli.

[FONT=Arial"]£3.50 !...

Blimey you woz robbed Oli .

Pair of ya missus tights you could have saved all that money and taken the family out for a Christmas meal instead []

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: peanut
Pair of ya missus tights you could have saved all that money and taken the family out for a Christmas meal instead []

What do you know about my missis's tights? [&:]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
You're banned. Again. []

BRILLIANT!

[]


Oli.

 

[peanut]

can't tell ya cos you're banned ![]

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: peanut

can't tell ya cos you're banned ![]

Arse.

 

[MrMoots]

Stuart

Out of interest, who did the work for you?

Ross

 

[colin944]

Bill sounds fair to me. I can't even drive a keyboard and I've had every single nut,bolt,wire and clip off and back ony car.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Have you still got the old springs - I want to drop my front end a bit.........

 

[StuK]

ORIGINAL: MrMoots

Stuart

Out of interest, who did the work for you?

Ross

It was Nick at Auto 2000 in Bedford. I've used them for the last 3-4 years and they've always done a brilliant job.

 

[ChasR]

ORIGINAL: StuK

I've just had my annual service and MOT. I'm pleased to report that the MOT was passed, but not without pain!

I had the belts changed as they hadn't been done for a few years, whilst they were in there I got a small water leak fixed too. They also discovered a broken front suspension spring, so both front springs needed replacing. I'm now £1,250 poorer!

That sounds quite fair. Even on modern cars with McPherson strips you are looking at around £100 a minimum from garages with the assumption that things come apart easily (which they don't always do!). That is using parts which are more useful than a chocolate fire guard.

The belt change is not too tricky on a 944 but there are two belts on them after all and the rollers soon bump that price up. Put the time into finding the water pump and curing it and you soon come to that bill.

Recently I have seen some scary bills on basic items (brakes etc. ; my BMW had a bill for £620 for the owner previous to my friend for the following : 2 bulbs changed, 2 tyres (15") and one repaired, 2 solid brake pipe replaced along with an MOT). That bill was also from 5 years ago! Whilst I could that work (bar the tyres in) within a couple of days it does put into perspective how cheap labour is not these days. I may recently have started keeping tabs on my time to give a true perspective on what the jobs have taken to complete. Christ, an almost full service and MOT cost the same bloke £480 and no that was not from a specialist!).