Car advice

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

I've always found if you're going down the route of modifying your car Adrian Flux are the cheapest by some margin.

In my situation Vauxhall wanted a grand for a rear back box replacement but I could get a cat back setup from Cobra supplied and fitted for half that, Admiral only charged the admin fee and if they wanted to replace it with a VX part as any claim then fine with me.

[philpy]

Right. My 59 plate altea had a full service and MOT on Monday, and the garage couldn't find any record of when the timing belt was last done. After a bit of digging (phoned the garage where previous services were done), it was last replaced in 2016. They've recommend it's done as soon as. I spoke to a mechanic I know today, he said it's not a requisite that it's done every 5 years. Who's correct here, before I part with £450?? Car has done 57058 if it helps any. 

[supermik]

What does the manufacturer say?

[pub car king]

It depends in the engine pal. Some manufacturers range from 40,000 miles 4 years to over 100,000 miles 10 years. From my previous seat diesel it was 6 years without fail regardless of mileage (unless you had gone over the mileage first). It's not like an air filter when you can say nah f**k it until next time the belt is under load and the rubber perishes as well. 

Like above look into this and also is there any evidence it was done at that other place? 

[Empty It]

Right. My 59 plate altea had a full service and MOT on Monday, and the garage couldn't find any record of when the timing belt was last done. After a bit of digging (phoned the garage where previous services were done), it was last replaced in 2016. They've recommend it's done as soon as. I spoke to a mechanic I know today, he said it's not a requisite that it's done every 5 years. Who's correct here, before I part with £450?? Car has done 57058 if it helps any. 

If it's only done 57k surely it shouldn't be onto its 3rd timing belt...

[die hard doonhamer]

On 04/05/2021 at 13:01, Empty It said:

On 04/05/2021 at 12:47, deej said:

More of a PTTGOYN I suppose, but insurance. Renewal is due in 2 weeks for both cars, Admiral come through with a handy auto renewal price of £665. Obviously renewals are silly prices so I go on to compare the market, and one of the cheapest is Aviva, who also offer multicar. 
I go to Aviva directly for a multicar quote as comparethemarket didn't seem to offer that, and they come in at a whopping £865 for both, whereas individual quotes for the 2 cars (both with Aviva) combined is around £500. 
The 2 cars are now insured - 1 with Aviva, 1 with Churchill, as the total cost was around £440. 
I go to cancel the autorenewal with admiral and magically they can knock £115 off the renewal price. Apparently the price was the best they could do at the time with the information they had on me, yet managed to chop nearly 20% off the renewal price with no additional information. Insurance companies are robbing b*****ds. 

I purposely don't renew with companies even if they can beat the other lowest price after they've already high balled bunch of robbing c***s.

Thankfully the real need to do this will disappear later this year, when insurers will no longer be allowed to charge more at renewal than the equivalent new business price. It's a massive shift for the market, and it'll be interesting to see how customer behaviours change in the aftermath.

 

[Thereisalight..]

My 06 car will soon have done 97k miles. Hopefully it’s got a few more years left in it but I was looking on the buy and sell sites. Saw a 64 plate Audi (iirc) that had done 44k and was a good price but the catch was it needed a new engine. How the fck can a car that’s done 44k need a new engine

[RandomGuy.]

9 hours ago, pub car king said:

It depends in the engine pal. Some manufacturers range from 40,000 miles 4 years to over 100,000 miles 10 years. From my previous seat diesel it was 6 years without fail regardless of mileage (unless you had gone over the mileage first). It's not like an air filter when you can say nah f**k it until next time the belt is under load and the rubber perishes as well. 

Like above look into this and also is there any evidence it was done at that other place? 

It's not the belt that's the issue, it's the pulleys it runs on. Wee plastic idlers that go brittle over time and/or a water pump that can comes slack.

99% of timing belt failures are a pulley breaking up/water pump failing and causing the belt to jump etc., very rare for the belt to snap through old age alone.

Seen some folk go 10+ years/100k+ miles and not change their belt without any issue, seen others have belts jump at 4yrs/under 50k miles.

I'd just change it tbh, unless you're not bothered about your car getting written off. If it fails when you're driving then it was be good night for the engine.

[LincolnHearts]

If anyone needs to check a price on a part they think sounds expensive (or cheap) or even just the MOT history for past fails, just drop me a message.

[deej]

10 hours ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Thankfully the real need to do this will disappear later this year, when insurers will no longer be allowed to charge more at renewal than the equivalent new business price. It's a massive shift for the market, and it'll be interesting to see how customer behaviours change in the aftermath.

 

Knowing insurers though, this just means that new business prices will rise to meet silly renewal prices. 

[die hard doonhamer]

4 minutes ago, deej said:

Knowing insurers though, this just means that new business prices will rise to meet silly renewal prices. 

New business prices absolutely will go up, because ultimately they still have to make a profit. The current model is to not make as profit at new business and hope that enough stick around a few years to then coin it in on the back end. That model is now changing so there is much less of a margin in later years, so the year 1 price does have to go up.

Edited May 7, 2021 by die hard doonhamer

[mathematics]

In once got 80K miles out of one timing belt. When I finally changed it, it was utterly desiccated and held together by sheer force of will like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel.

[beefybake]

18 hours ago, Thereisalight.. said:

My 06 car will soon have done 97k miles. Hopefully it’s got a few more years left in it but I was looking on the buy and sell sites. Saw a 64 plate Audi (iirc) that had done 44k and was a good price but the catch was it needed a new engine. How the fck can a car that’s done 44k need a new engine

It's an Audi, ore more exactly a VAG car..., Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda...

VAG don't exactly have a great reputation for their engines over the last 10 years or so.   Google it, you won't take long to find mention of time chain failures, ruined engines etc.

[Thereisalight..]

12 hours ago, mathematics said:

In once got 80K miles out of one timing belt. When I finally changed it, it was utterly desiccated and held together by sheer force of will like something out of a Terry Pratchett novel.

I've a 06 that's did almost 97k, I only changed the timing belt in Aug 2020 after about 93k. Dont know how the fck I managed to get that long out of it tbh

[CountyFan]

My handbrake just started squeaking there and I've tried to park on a hill to test it, its fucked because the car slowly started rolling down the hill even when the handbrake was engaged. 

How expensive a fix is this? And how urgent... maybe a stupid question but can I get away with it for a couple of weeks if I park in gear and on the flat? 

[CountyFan]

Cheers, I'll get it to the garage on Monday then. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

14 minutes ago, Pato said:

Shouldn't be expensive, some cars are a b*****d and need trim/carpet moving out the way to get at the wire to tighten in but I wouldn't think you'd be looking at very much to get it done.

 

ETA: I wouldn't leave it and hope for the best, I'd get it sorted pronto

Oh FFS! Just put some bricks at the wheels.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

My handbrake just started squeaking there and I've tried to park on a hill to test it, its fucked because the car slowly started rolling down the hill even when the handbrake was engaged. 
How expensive a fix is this? And how urgent... maybe a stupid question but can I get away with it for a couple of weeks if I park in gear and on the flat? 

I do that all the time to stop the discs and pads sticking, just leave it in gear and on a level surface and it will be fine.

[CountyFan]

On 08/05/2021 at 15:06, CountyFan said:

My handbrake just started squeaking there and I've tried to park on a hill to test it, its fucked because the car slowly started rolling down the hill even when the handbrake was engaged. 

How expensive a fix is this? And how urgent... maybe a stupid question but can I get away with it for a couple of weeks if I park in gear and on the flat? 

So the handbrake is acting completely normally today. No more squeaking and its engaging normally. I've left it in gear anyway to be safe but could it have been debris or something? I'll probably get it checked anyway for peace of mind. 

[Empty It]

Out looking at new cars today. What a pain in the c**t the whole process is. Traipsing round the country listening to pishy salesman patter for the privilege of spending thousands on a depreciating asset, and taking hours to negotiate a price down to an acceptable level. Does anyone actually enjoy this? It's amazing to me that no upstart company or whatever has come along with a view to doing this in a way as to actually make it a non-infuriating process for the consumer.

I think the people that enjoy it are morons who think they've got one over on a salesman after they negotiate 1% off their new car.