I’m not expecting an answer to the subject. I’ve owned my car from new and it hit a decade recently. I think I’ve mentioned various minor problems elsewhere in forums and I finally got some of them sorted. Without anything majorly expensive don’t feel any need to replace it yet.
It was time for routine servicing. I’ve been kicking the can down the road with minor services for last two years. Time for a bigger one, but I didn’t know any garages in the area. On my road I’ve often seen a guy doing work to various vehicles, so I got chatting. In short, he works for a local independent garage by day and does a little extra from home on the weekend.
Service got done, and I bought up the question of the cam belt myself. Their price was about half that of the last one I got from main dealer. Had I looked at independents earlier I might have just got it out of the way. Remember my (lack of) fan control? They can do that. My aircon has lost its magic in recent years. They can do a regas too. So I threw money in their general direction and all that is done. I’m ready for a road trip. When’s the next meetup? I’m going to bet it’ll collide with a wedding I got late summer.
£40 for cam belt itself, £59 for rheostat as they call it, 4.5 hours of labour and £80 for the regas. +VAT. I asked for the old cam belt, not that I have any clue what to look for. To my untrained eye, I’d think it was new.
Look for cracking on the old belt; thats the normal sign of age for them.
Am only 3yrs in with this V60 I have (2013 plate) and its cost me a pretty penny over the purchase price so am kinda in the mode of trying to get the most out of it, don’t know what i would replace it with if i did.
We had a Shogun for over 14 years and other then normal items i think the only big spend was on tyres for it and a new fuel filter after the original one rotted through
Cam belts are funny old things that can magically just go pop after a period of time, even if it looked good it was probably worth the change after a decade anyway better than an engine rebuild which I had on the old Alfa 147 I had when it jumped and mushed the values
Other cars I’ve owned, by the time they reach about 8 years they’re worth around a grand or so, and start needing more expensive work. So I replace them. My current car seems to be holding value based on a few samples I saw for sale, and implicitly anything I could replace it with would be similarly expensive. Seems to be mechanically fine still so might as well keep it until that changes. Averaged 3600 miles a year and that number is going down.
There’s only two minor problems remaining, neither of which I care about to get fixed. 1, radio reception is rubbish. I got main dealer to look at it just before warranty expired and they replaced the antenna base. That helped a bit but got worse again over time. 2, the removable satnav/trip computer doesn’t get data. I think there’s a loose connection somewhere. I mainly used it for seeing mpg and estimated range in the early days. It was a really rubbish satnav even when new. Phone does much better.
The value of a car now depends on factors that didn’t really exist when it was manufactured.
Is it a pre 2015 diesel ?
Then it is the Devils progeny and should be killed with fire, or traded at WeBuyAnyCar.
A ULEZ compliant car may even go up in value.
Bottom line, dont get rid of a post 2006 Petrol car just yet, Message me, I can find space for one or two more projects.
When the time comes, if it isn’t too fatal, I’ll let you know. Wont be any time soon. Think used car prices started going up around lockdown period and I guess they never really recovered. To buy the same car new today is about 50% more than when I got mine.
And it is good for ULEZ. I’m on something like £20 road tax a year (might have gone up a little).
I stopped being a gloomster as set about that clagged up ABS ring with a stiff wire brush it cleaned up fine.
The ABS sensor was pissing about, working fine, until it was open circuit.
After some creative cursing the ABS sensor was no longer in the hub, in fact it was in many bits.
An 18mm reamer cleaned up the abs sensor hole perfectly and it has been perfect ever since.
Back to its full stopping potential, which as it weighs about as much as a crisp packet is quite enthusiastic.
@Mackerel - Yours is a VW Up I think ?
Is it a 1.2 turbo ?
I know of somebody looking to but one if so.
It’s the (barely) 1L model. Not looking to sell anyway, still need something to get around and replacing it with anything is going to cost more.
I did about 1000 miles in it between the last two MOTs. Since then I did one trip south which is more than half that already! And I currently intend to go to the next LAN, although no specific plans have been made yet. Will see how the weather report is about a week out before booking somewhere to stay.
One factor that should be remembered is the ratio of Fun, practicality, cost versus how much the car gets on your nerves.
I have a newish car on the drive, I was supposed to drop it off for somebody today but just as I was about to brim the tank the indicators threw a shit fit.
Its a Seat Leon Copa and the fault is due to a non functioning bulb, but no biggie just a front indicator bulb, surely it is a service item, just swap the bulb ?
Certainly sir, remove the slam panel trim, under tray, front bumper and remove the headlight…
Wot ?
I have not done that yet and may persevere with an alternate path to a bulb swap.
IF I were to go down the un-build the entire car route, there would be a strong urge to fill the now amputated headlight with unleaded, stuff a bit of rag in there, light it up and just Molotov the spiteful bastard of a car.
The ones who dismantle the car are forgetting that Seat cars are just VW’s with hairy armpits and a tendancy to have a mid afternoon nap.
There is no need to do any of that to get at a Seat Leon Copa nearside headlight.
Yes the airbox nees to come out, some parts are reluctant but as long as at least two plastic clips still work it all snaps back together.
It had new headlights fitted the old ones had water marks in side.
Hmmmm, that has given me a thought.
But yes, the clips.
I wonder if VW worked out how many times a part will have to be moved aside for maintenance jobs and put more clips on the frequent fliers so everything falls apart at the same time so you will buy another VW,
I wonder if a car check would reveal if it was ever flood damaged…
I was rather pleased with this fix, it almost looks factory to me
In reality it is a strip of plastic from a Pringles lid wedged between the side of the bulb (Ground)
and the contact for the base of the bulb (+12V).
The tiny air-gap insulator which the GBOL decided was sufficient, isnt sufficient.
Pringles to the rescue and a fix using recycled plastic, does this make me an eco-weenie ?
After a bit of settling in time, the MIL is now very pleased with her newer Seat Leon.
Still a 1.4 but with a Turbo which makes it
“A Bit Nippy, I even used 6th gear on the motorway because it was nagging me”
I suspect another speed awareness course will be needed at some point.
On the subject of “How long can I Keep a car ?”
A lot of the content on Vice-Grip Garage is amusing but this one hit a new high point, Derek was defeated by a car.
Nothing ordinary of course, a one year only car with a V8 that could switch from 8 to 6 to 4 cylinder running mode using 1981 electronics…
Spoiler
A second visit gets it running much better
)
