... well Clutterbuck is turning into one !.

Wish list includes :- Drive Chain ... Starter Motor ... Sparkies but all of these have been put on hold.

His undercarriage has fallen off :eek:

... ok maybe a tad drastic (i hope!) ... but an element of truth none the less.

Driving back from the cinema (Alvin and the Chipmunks is an excellent film btw) ... lots of noise and vibration. Make it back home, just, and a look underneath shows the rear exhaust silencer and pipe are no longer attached to the bodywork and are rusted to ****. Sooo quick call to Grum (nice chap) and about £30 he thinks for the bits, i shudder to think of the labour for welding etc.

Some how i now need to get it to the garage and sorted. Can it be towed or will that cause more damage ?

Oh woe ... will this never end ?

Definately my fathers axe but still an axe ! ... I love a challenge

On a positive note ... the alternator and battery are fine all 13.6-14 volts, so no new alternator needed,mechanic thought it may just be damp, has been rather wet down here !

T.

Rag whats left of the exhaust off,and drive it to a garage like you stole it. It will sound like a rally car

You should be able to find a cheap exhaust specialist place in the phone book that will do it cheaply! I paid £40 in total (parts, labour, vat etc) for a garage to fit a centre exhaust section! (If I had money I'd probably get a stainless steel exhaust but just needed something to get it to pass MOT at the time.) The rear exhaust section is slightly more expensive I think. They didn't use genuine Skoda parts (and I don't know if Grum's parts are OEM) but it got it back on the road again.

Edit: Rigsby's idea sounds fun (annoy the neighbours etc)! I doubt any fumes will get in the cabin, but if you're only taking it to the garage...

I usually keep cars till theyre beyond economic repair, or 100's k's (same thing) and have always regretted not buying stainless, cos keeping them that long means the exhaust rots thro again and in total costs more than stainless.

They are not made to last that long if theyre not stainless.

Mind you beyond economic repair on a Felicia ?

i had a full stainless exhaust made, but the muppet that did it welded it to the cat, instead of using the coupling i gave him.

but i only found this out when i went to fit my de-cat pipe

Guess that means they owe you a free cat fitted properly, and that part of the exhaust re-done?

PINK ... hope you gave the guy merry hell and as NEWMAN said i hope they sorted it out.

Been very lucky with this actually ... Found a specialist open on a Sunday (F1 Auto) and they can get the parts in for 9.30 2moro ... so Clutterbuck is having a sleep over. Going to cost £62.80 all inc ... needs new rear-silencer box and mount ... so touch wood all will be well.

It had it's MOT in October (before we bought it) and the guy at "F1" reckons it should of failed on it's rear-shocks, so getting a quote for those too.

He was really nice .. got it up on ramps and let me have a shufty (look) at the underside. Exhaust is fine except for the obvious (no cat trouble ). Only smidge of oil under tank but probably from it's oil change.

Had to laugh (in retrospect) ... drove it VERY nervously to the garage with the exhaust pipe tied on with string ... most nerve racking drive i've had !

Sounds you're having quite an adventure with Clutterbuck.

Hope you're motoring in him again soon.

I need to give mine a good clean too.

. Going to cost £62.80 all inc ... needs new rear-silencer box and mount ...

Sounds like a reasonable price - I had to have a lot of my exhaust replaced not so long ago - and it cost about £90 at a local exhaust place. It did have to go back on three or more occasions before it was right - but all ok now.

It's back ... blistering service too !

£62.85 and no hidden extra's. Sounds yummy now, odd how you don't notice a noise until it's gone.

Going to get the sparkies done tomorrow as way cheaper than i can get them (£12 the set inc fitting) and they are going to take me through it so i can do it from then on with a bit more confidence ...

Roflmao at the comment by Bobob (i think) .... well im proud to be driving a Fellatio ... sadly there will be no blowing or sucking with the new exhaust fitted though, God forbid it might fall off again ! :eek:

'It had it's MOT in October (before we bought it) and the guy at "F1" reckons it should of failed on it's rear-shocks, so getting a quote for those too.'

Garages do 'helpfully find' things,usually for female customers .

Do check whether yours are very 'bouncy' :-

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/felicia-fun-forman/my-shocks-gone/78394/#post899662

As for shock absorbers, they sometimes turn up and go quite cheap on ebay (although there are some sellers I am a bit dubious about who sell nothig but shock absorbers and you have to wonder if they're fake/damaged). The rear one's are quite easy to fit with a little care and the correct tools, I haven't tried messing with the front one's myself yet.

Rear shocks: could also be that the garage thought the spring cups have begun to look a bit rusty. But if they passed MOT in October it probably isn't that urgent.

As Ian says, some garages are very good at fault-finding... however, MOT guys can also miss an item now and then.

If they are damp from hydraulic fluid it's a bad sign, or if the car is swinging/tottering after going over a speed bump for instance.

Lmao @ Iansmith .... no comment on bouncy bits !

The rear does feel a bit "heavy" and big bumps (thank you speed humps and cobbles) while make a SMALL bumping noise on the back .. to be honest i think im being a bit flossy and while begin by checking tyre pressure first ... Occam's razor springs to mind.

I agree that fems do tend to be fleeced and i hold my hand up to being a prime candidate .... but they seem genuine. I was having some problems with my motor and alternator and was told by local garage (and Skoda dealer) i needed a new motor and alternator (eeek) ... F1 said ******ks to that .. starter is fine or it wouldn't "turn" and gettting the sparkies replaced helped hugely ... not perfect but good enough.

As for the alternator .. he said yes could need a new one but it may just be the belt getting loose (£28) and whipped out a HUGE crowbar and tightened the belt up for me on the spot ... NO problems since ... will need a new one eventually but he said don't panic.

As far as i reckon he had more than enough chances to charge me plenty and i would of not been any the wiser ... bigger companies do have one advantage over local vet's .. they are accountable to a H/Office and need to be good or they loose their franchise.

Lost faith in my local when he charged me £45 for an oil + filter change that would of cost £25 at F1. Full service inc parts,labour and vat £79 ... £45 at local with parts and

vat extra.

All in all Clutterbuck is ticking over nicely so touch wood no more bits will fail off and we can pootle along to Clapton and Bob the Builder !

Thanks as ever for your ears and wisdom.

T.

... bigger companies do have one advantage over local vet's .. they are accountable to a H/Office and need to be good or they loose their franchise.

To a point... but seems as your F1 guys are more than just "good" or acceptable, so keep them warm - the occasional cake, home-knitten mittens and so on make wonders... No, honestly, it sounds as if they care about their customers so stick with them, it means a lot to have a friendly mechanic who can go out of his way and apply a crowbar when urgently needed instead of just telling you that "we're full up but we could book you in at the end of next month".

...we can pootle along to Clapton and Bob the Builder !

Excellent combination, that

(Alvin and the Chipmunks is an excellent film btw)

to right!

Rag whats left of the exhaust off,and drive it to a garage like you stole it. It will sound like a rally car

x2:thumbup:

brummmmmmmmmmm,pop pop:rofl:

It costs me something like £30-£40 in total for a service

(thats the oil, filter and labour).

TBH I have had an oil and filter change done at Equippe once. It's cheaper than my mechanic but I just prefer my mechanics garage.

Definately if you feel your garage is giving you a good service giving them the occassional treat etc will give you priority treatment, discounts and if something goes wrong they will recommend places to take your car if they can't fix it or lack the facility.

My mech knocked £40 off the clutch bill for me after I looked at his sat nav and laptop.

There is a garage my uncle goes to but I haven't been there for years.

I went to have a new master cylinder put on my Astra and he was basically accusing me of putting water in my brake fluid.

Needless to say I don't take my Skoda there.

I went to have a new master cylinder put on my Astra and he was basically accusing me of putting water in my brake fluid.

There may well have been water in the brake fluid as brake fluid absorbs water over time. If it had never been changed ever the water content may have been rather high. So his assertion the damage was due to water *could* be correct, although you obviously weren't adding it yourself.

Can't imagine why a mechanic would think someone intentionally put water in the brake fluid unless they think the person mistook it for coolant reservoir (highly unlikely).