Car D.I.Y.

[gbb]

Cars are effectively white goods these days.

25 years ago, your Zanussi washing machine would go on forever and if the main bearings failed they were replaceable. These days, the entire machine lasts a given number of cycles which often weirdly coincides with a five year period, then it craps out and is not repairable economically.

Ditto cars. The only difference is that the retail price of cars has not decreased in line with their decreased lifespan. They are ridiculously expensive.

Added to which, people are not buying what they think they are buying. A Mercedes might have the same platform as a Jeep, or a Citroën. The quality of a BWM is no longer a thing.

Nor are they easily repairable at home. I saw some sort of electric Kia go past me on the commute last night. It had a profile not dissimilar to a 911, but the tail light was a solid band of LEDS that stretched right across the boot.

It looked cool as fûck, but it did occur to me that if and when it, or part of it failed it would likely run into many 100s to replace it. Ditto some VAG cars that need the front bumper removed to change a bulb

And if course, the replacement costs of these wonderful looking systems all push up repair costs...and in turn insurance costs.
I remember someone bemoaning the fact a Mercedes headlamp with new gen lighting cost way in excess of £500, may have been £1k. That was 10 years ago and I remember thinking well ypu brought the bloody thing.

And now I have a Mazda with brilliant white lighting...not sure the technology, but I'll wager its very expensive.

 

[fossyant]

And if course, the replacement costs of these wonderful looking systems all push up repair costs...and in turn insurance costs.
I remember someone bemoaning the fact a Mercedes headlamp with new gen lighting cost way in excess of £500, may have been £1k. That was 10 years ago and I remember thinking well ypu brought the bloody thing.

And now I have a Mazda with brilliant white lighting...not sure the technology, but I'll wager its very expensive.

I've decided to splurge a fairly big wedge of cash on a new to me (used) vehicle in the new year (not bought one for 22 years) and I've checked out replacement and service parts costs. It's based on a commercial vehicle and parts are plentiful and cheap, and no wet belt.

 

[Profpointy]

I've decided to splurge a fairly big wedge of cash on a new to me (used) vehicle in the new year (not bought one for 22 years) and I've checked out replacement and service parts costs. It's based on a commercial vehicle and parts are plentiful and cheap, and no wet belt.

What are you going for?

 

[Drago]

I know he's going all van man like me, but I don't know what...

 

[fossyant]

What are you going for?

Pug/Vauxhall/Toyota/Citroen Traveller/Vivaro Life/ProAce Verso/Space Tourer

Not sure which one but want the 2.0 auto in long, and top spec. To haul bikes, paddle board and camping gear. May have to go manual given how few there are. The 2.0 has a fairly good reliability, but, as with many vehicles, ad-blue can be problematic. I'll keep some cash aside to cover that (or use an additive to stop crystallisation).

 

[Marchrider]

I get my old van for another year,

i had some doubts as the advisories last year were

• FRONT SUBFRAME CORRODED
• UNDERBODY CORROSION

not mentioned this year

 

[Profpointy]

I get my old van for another year,

View attachment 754817

i had some doubts as the advisories last year were

• FRONT SUBFRAME CORRODED
• UNDERBODY CORROSION

not mentioned this year

Evidently that black-tar-and-newspaper repair has held up well

 

[Drago]

I had an advisory for corrosion on the front subframe of my XC90. Seemed a bit excessive as it was so slight I could rub it off with my palm.

They are free to write what they like on advisories, and as there is no set structure to follow they're difficult to challenge. The only formal instruction is that it should not be used to advise where manufacturer original panels, typically on the underbody, prevent an item from being examined...but they all do it because they think stating the obvious somehow covers their arse.

 

[fossyant]

I'd just be treating any area with an anti rust/converter - like Aquasteel. Our garage are quite good at MOT time about telling you what to watch out for - they know me, and they always get big jobs I can't do. We have the drivers side front brake rubbing a bit and was an advisory - I'll clean up the calliper sliders when the weather get's better (this is on the Aygo).

As I had some time in covid, I pulled all the wheels off my wife's Qashqai and painted on the Aquasteel solution to protect the suspension and subframes. I've used it on my 23 year old car too.

 

[fossyant]

I plan to treat the van I get with Lanoguard - it will be a long term purchase as I keep my vehicles.

 

[Drago]

I plan to treat the van I get with Lanoguard - it will be a long term purchase as I keep my vehicles.

Aye lad, I've done mine. Underneath, front arches, inside the scuttle.

The Buzzweld Lano based chassis guard is IMHO easily a good as Lanoguard and significantly less expensive.

 

[fossyant]

Aye lad, I've done mine. Underneath, front arches, inside the scuttle.

The Buzzweld Lano based chassis guard is IMHO easily a good as Lanoguard and significantly less expensive.

Noted. Doing this makes removing bolts lots easier years later due to wear. I've always paid attention to washing off the car unders, especially in winter. It applies to all cars, dino juice, or leccy.

My car is 23, nothing has ever been replaced by corrosion - a few bits 'worn'. as you'd expect.

 

[Drago]

I use it on battery terminals and electrical connectors too. It's good enough for marine use, it's good enough for me.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I watched another video from a used car dealer. He highlighted all the common problems with the pure tech engines. The three major and quiet regular problems are

Excessive oil usage, caused by PC Valve failing, cheapest fault.

Worn piston rings, smoky engine, oil usage. Engine and car almost worthless on second hand market.

Cambelt fraying, causing oil warning to oil starvation resulting in spun bearings cam and crank. Ruined engine.

He will not buy any vehicle with these pure tech 1.2 litre engines whether normally aspirated or trubo, which go in just about every French car.

He gave a simple check for the cambelt, you can see the belt through the oil fill port. I checked mine this morning. Thankfully there is no sign of cracking in the belt. All the same though I will be arranging a belt change .

He mentioned you can with a bit of shopping around at main dealers get the cambelt done for around £500. Far cheaper Than my initial quote

He said regular on time servicing is no barrier to failing cambelts or oil burning issues. He said they are crap engines

Sorry to hear that Andy. It said in the comments for that video that a cam chain conversion was available for that engine. How true it is, and what it costs is another thing. All the manufacturers seem to make some rubbish cars, usually when they first come out and try and get out of warranty claims. Not sure why the piston rings wear, they're possibly smaller to reduce drag and increase efficiency. Honda did this to Mk9 Civic 1.8 engine to increase economy when it was launched way back in 2012. The changed thinner ring wore after around 30-40K and the cars started to drink oil. Quickly changed the design back to how it had been for years in the Mk8, when they realised what was going on, but fobbed customers off whom had bought the effected cars as in the manual it states that 1 litre oil usage per 1,000 miles is fine.

Think most of the manufacturers have made some sh1te cars lately, even the ones that some people associate with reliability, seems to be in the interest of efficiency/emmisions as Drago has mentioned previously.

 

[CXRAndy]

Funny you should say that about Honda using oil. We had a CRV 1.5 TDI, that started to use oil. I wasn't happy about this , believing modern cars should not burn any oil. I sold it early over concerns of 1litre per 1000 mile Honda said was normal