Owned car for 10 years now, due a timing belt change in December, pretty sure breaks need replacing as nowhere near as sharp as used to be, think may be a worn wheel bearing too or could be stuck break caliper, suspension more bouncy and reduced thrust at all speeds (acceleration not as keen). Have a dilemma, look at a fat bill to replace all the bits or upgrade to a newer model, maybe a petrol this time. Any thoughts anyone?

Well I've an 07 plate L&K hatchback with just shy of 132,000 miles on the clock and I spent on Thursday  £350 on new discs and pads all round as they were getting decidedly ropey and I'd to replace an O/S/F front wheel bearing and speed sensor as my ABS and TCS light had come on.... Scan suggested sensor but guy doing scan thought it more likely to be ABS ring in bearing so I decided to get my local garage to replace both to be on the safe side when doing brakes.

 

My engine management light is on and I've two leaks in the pipe work from MAF to Turbo... Several holes in the pipe that connects just behind the MAF, new one ordered at £33, and the other is a small rubber pipe going to the turbo... Mechanic finally spotted it when he'd a look whilst doing the brakes... Trying to locate new one and a price as I'm not sure I fancy second hand and possibly another £30 for this and £40 to fit them ... I've an error reading on no3 glow plug but garage reckons it's ok for now if not its £100 for 4 new ones plus fitting a lot of money on a 12 year old car but I think it's worth it ...  

Thanks for your reply labman.  My 07 plate has done 150k miles. My concern, if it's £350 for discs and pads all round, it's another £350 for timing belt kit and water pump, £55 for wheel bearing and £40 to fit, that's around £100, which is around £800, plus service due at same time and MOT, might take it to £1k!

 

Floppy suspension £400 and loss of compression £300 for a remap, could be looking at £1700 for a car that's only worth £1700!  Even if I forget suspension and remap and accept that is just age of car, £1k is still a lot against a £1700 car and it's still on it's original clutch and turbo.  Am I expecting too much of it now?  Other than this there is a hesitation and stuttering that goes on about once a month, like riding a kangaroo!  Very annoying to say the least! 😩

depends on how long your plan to keep the car and what your budget is for another car as £1,700 won't get you much these days unless you are putting it towards a newer car.

 

All repairs mentioned above are general wear and tear and nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Avoid the remap if you are running a tight budget as at 150k I won't be surprised that clutch and DMF will need changing very soon after the remap if they have never been changed and that will be another £700

Thanks for reply wiilydog.  

 

You make a good point.  tbh this car has been brilliant, loved every minute (almost, apart from when it does it's kangaroo thing!!), every time I come close to replacing it I shy away because I've come so attached to it!! 

 

Indeed the items are general wear and tear, just thinking whether to keep it going or not because it sadly is not the rocketship it once was.

 

I was thinking of a Fabia 2012 1.4 TSI vRS around 75K on clock, maybe get one for £5k, with mine as trade in that might be £3k. Not sure about longevity of a petrol engine at high miles though compared to diesel, do they wear well?

 

 

The only issue with the 1.4tsi fabia is quite a lot of them have high oil consumption issues and not sure about the longevity of the 7 speed dsg box, so you have to shop carefully if you are after a Fabia vrs.  There is a good thread on the mk2 fabia vrs that is worth a read so you know what to look for when buying one.

 

It's also worth keeping an eye out on the briskoda classified section as there are good cars on sale there.

Thanks for advice wiilydog, I'll check it out.

 

I guess that's the good thing about diesels, they last forever if looked after!!  Failing the Fabia it might be another Ocy vRS but this time with the CR engine and a tad newer than mine to keep costs down.

 

 

Im in the same position, Mines a 2005 2.0 TDI, All i seem to do lately is throw money at it, But for budget i have to spend on another car i wouldn't get much,  The car has been very good, So just gotta do whatever to keep it on the road basically..   

Edited 28 July, 20196 yr by Doofy

Hi Doofy, out of interest and to gauge what costs how much have you spent on it in last two years and what parts? What mileage has it done? Thanks. 

Me too, same position........Had mine nearing 10 years now

 

Find it noisy but lived with it as it replaced a Transporter T4 and they aint quiet anyway...

 

Want to go petrol myself (cannot afford Electric) but it is sods law that just after i swap vehicle then the rules on tax etc will change, Again......

 

Need to see if Nottingham intend introducing any ULEZ anytime soon?

 

Mine will possibly attract a large scrap-age value if only I could afford a new one to replace it with, Lol

Same here Tilt, I'd go electric but can't afford it! Have considered scrappage deal but don't think there's one on a vRS and even if there was PCP would prob be beyond my budget let alone cash sale.

 

It'll only be a matter of time now before mine will need a new clutch, am sure clutch judder has recently got worse from standstill. 

we have a 10 year old tdi and it has had no major issues but with ulez in London and who knows when in other major conurbations  I have found myself idly looking at replacements  1.4 petrol Seat leons have been catching my eye  

@seriesdriver but you're alright, you can take your Landy instead, Lol.

 

I like the sound of the 1.4's but unfortunately I need an Auto / DSG and the 7 speed dry DSG seems to have possible serious issues...

16 minutes ago, Tilt said:

@seriesdriver but you're alright, you can take your Landy instead, Lol.

 

I like the sound of the 1.4's but unfortunately I need an Auto / DSG and the 7 speed dry DSG seems to have possible serious issues...

 

 

It is mad that I can drive a 53 year old car in London with no ulez charge and high by modern standard emissions 

I have a 13 year old TDI and almost coming up to 200k by the end of the year.  No major issues but will probably get the chop when they plan to introduce Ulez charging in a couple of years time and go petrol instead.  In 10 years of ownership the only major expense was the DMF and clutch a couple of years ago, other than that much of  the other stuff has been routine wear and tear items such as brake discs/pads, shocks and the odd drop link/ ball joint.

@wiilydog the problem with that tho (which is the same dilemma that i have) is that after swapping to petrol and having it a few years (if that) it too will become almost worthless....

As soon as folk start ditching their diesels in numbers, then petrol prices will hit the roof, along with road tax costs too...

 

I vote 'road tax on mileage / fuel', I think 

Well I've had big Citroens in the past ..... 3 Xantia and a C5 over the years and I'd spend more in a year on the Xantia than I have in 4 years on my Octavia ...

 

it it get to the point you'd a £600 repair bill so spend £2k on another motor only for 6 months down the line to end up with £600 repair on it and no cash to fix it as you'd blown it on the new car .... It's a bit of catch 22 but anything that's not a mechanical breakdown such as blown engine or busted box is just service items really 

Yeah, I'm starting to think the same.  I know what work I've had done on my motor in the 10 years I've had it.  The inlet manifold was the priciest thing yet to replace, around £600.  Normal things like tyres all round next highest, brakes, wheel bearing, etc.  

 

I've said many a time that I'd keep this car until it gave up the ghost👻 because it's such a blast for very little money.  I guess truth be told I can't part with it so I will just have to dig deep and get stuff done. 

But what can I do about the lack of thrust and the wollowy suspension? New shocks and springs?  Re-bore?  I just want my faithful rocket ship back. 💪

Hi what makes you think your car may need a rebore ? have you had a compression test done  ?  I would do the simple things 1st, say a bottle of injector cleaner and then an Italian tune up see if that makes any difference.

Hi seriesdriver, simply the car no longer has the eagerness it once had, I've been noticing a drop in performance over about the last 6 months.  From standstill I could easily leave all but an M4 standing but now I'm struggling to leave an Astra 1.6 or a Nissan Micra!  Similarly on the motorway power down at 75 would easily climb another 20 mph within a few seconds but now it takes a few seconds longer.  There is definitely a loss somewhere but I'm not a mechanic and can only guess what it might be tbh

 

I was considering a remap but now put off from the comment above from wiilydog, don't want to be burning the clutch out.  However speaking of clutches had another major judder this morning, worse than the previous onces, convinced it's getting worse and wonder if that might be the reason behind the power loss?  Is it possible that a failing clutch results in a lack of performance?  I know what it feels like when I used to have a Mk1 MX5 overtaking with a faulty clutch, I had the revs but was going nowhere fast, running out of road!

 

....actually thinking about it I might be onto something here...it was just last week, I was in a pickle sandwiched between two cars in the second lane of a four lane motorway, I needed to get out quick, I was in 5th at about 65mph but when I floored it hardly anything happened, for the first time ever in this car I had to put it into 4th at this speed to get the bite to make my manoeuvre! 

 

It's going in for MOT on Thursday, maybe they might spot something then.

Edited 29 July, 20196 yr by Rocketship

OMG! It's official, on way home from work from a standing start v BMW M140i I was blown away before the vRS had even got it's revs up! I gotta get me one of them!!

 

Cheapest on Autotrader is £19k! 🤣

Edited 29 July, 20196 yr by Rocketship

Car passed the MOT, sadly they don't test for clutch, or bearings, so no further really.

Hi Rocketship,

 

well the the car passing its MOT is a good sign ... Hopefully no immediate problems to repair or replace that get tested ....

 

I know you're looking at the cost of a timing belt replacement and it can be a sizeable sum of money but it's a service issue albeit an expensive one.

 

is it possible, although you've no lights on the dash, that the cars loss of oomph is a an air leak somewhere either on the air intake or exhaust side ... My EML light came on and a smoke test has identified two leaks I'd no idea existed and judging by the holes in the air intake pipe it's been there for a while but I don't drive the car hard so I've never noticed any lack of power in it .... An air leak or such like is I'd have thought more of a possibility than lack of compression or other mechanical issues in the engine .... 

On 28/07/2019 at 09:38, Rocketship said:

Hi Doofy, out of interest and to gauge what costs how much have you spent on it in last two years and what parts? What mileage has it done? Thanks. 

its now on 118000 miles, Ive replaced all 4 calipers, rear hubs, front springs, rear shocks, EGR valve (twice) . ABS sensors, Front discs, Battery. plus the usual consumables oil, filters ,timing belt. tyres.water pump.Brakes. 4 glow plugs.. But the DMF is starting to rattle, And the Turbo is over boosting often now, which might just need cleaning, The body work is starting to rust but im trying to keep on top of it.  Cost wise, I wouldn't have clue. but quite a bit.  Been looking at cars for sale and would be looking at around £9000 for something decent here, Cannot afford new, I still like the Diesel  but the way things are going i might have to consider going back to Petrol, Just come to the point where im sick of throwing money at it..

Edited 3 August, 20196 yr by Doofy

42 minutes ago, Doofy said:

Just come to the point where im sick of throwing money at it..

I guess I'm a bit far from that yet then even though mine has done more mileage at 150k, in that time the belt has been replaced three times, discs and pads all around twice, glow plugs under Skoda recall, at least two wheel bearings another on its way, inlet manifold. 

 

Never had clutch replaced then? I'm sure mine is at top end now. To test it I put car into 3rd gear and took foot off clutch very gently, was under impression if car tried to compensate by accelerating itself and not stalling it showed clutch has had it, mine did this.