Garage say it's a 'moral dilemma' whether to fix my car ?? what ??

[54isanopendoor]

I bouthg an old car a year ago.
1997 Ford Fiesta. 30K miles on the clock
(ex local elderly lady who'd kept it garaged, serviced & driven it to church 1 x wk)

I just took it for it's MOT. It failed, unsurprisingly, as it's old.
Apparantly:
Exhaust shield missing. Brake pipe leaking. Power steering pipe leaking.
Guy said that 'the brake pipe burst as I was examining it so couldn't test brakes - you must have been having problems'. I hadn't, at all.
suspension arm pin/bush worn both front sides & dust covers missing.
then lots of other minor things:
all 4 tires (2 replaced last year?), wiper blades, indicators 'slightly discoloured'.

So I asked the nice lad who'd done the MOT what the damage would be & if he could source used parts for me (have done before).
I've just had a call from the head of the Garage saying that it was
an ethical dilemma for hiim as to whether to offer to repair it or not as it would be very expensive. I had to ask 3 times how much & he said: £1K, 1.2K then 1.4K. He says the car is only worth £300 fixed & MOT'd.
He'd called my exH first apparantly (its MY car) & suggested £800.
He then tried to talk me into a Motability car.

In my experience anyone who says they are 'honest' 4 times in 10 mins isn't.
Does anyone know about cars please that could offer an opinion?
I am sure that it needs work, & may well not be worth repairing but I'd like another opinion. I dont' think I can drive it to another garage as the exhaust sheild is listed as a 'dangerous defect - do not drive' ?

A motorbility car isn't a bad option

Buying an old car is fine if you can do your own maintenance but if you can't then it's probably cheaper just to fork out for a new one. Parts and labour are very expensive.

I have an ex mobility car, it was really well serviced and looked after, I would have another one.

He's provably not fully costed the repairs with the varying estimates. I suspect he just thinks its a waste of time spending so much fixing it. However it's not just the cost of fixing agist its value, its also would you spend more buying another.

You’re likely hooped with it. You won’t even get parts at the scrappies for it, will likely be ebay. And I’ve nothing younger than 14 years out of my three.

I only drive an old car as I can't afford a newer one.
I looked at the Motability option but its a huge chunk of the DLA each month, then you give it back anyway so it's just car rental. I wondered if you could buy the car at a discount at the end of the 3 year rental but he said not?

Where would I look for an ex-motability car please @Magenta82

Of course it's a moral dilemma, he's thinking it's going to be taking the piss out of you to charge £1kish to fix a car that's worth £300.

Don't do it. It will be just be the start of throwing money at it, see what other options you have and I hope you get sorted soon.

We had a similar issue, our garage refused to put a new engine (£6-7k) in a £10k car as it had huge potential to go wrong. We’ve used our garage for years and we have quite a few vehicles on the road so we trust their opinion and we got rid of the car.

I got mine at www.cargiant.co.uk it was just under 3 years old and had 12,000 miles on the clock. I think big car places like this by them from mobility in bulk.

I don't think under new rules you can drive the car away once it's failed the MOT can you?
I would ask for a written itemised quote so you've got a definite price, then you could ring some other garages and ask for a price based on that?
I would also query the tyres if you know it had two last year. Having said that, cars are made to be driven and it can cause problems if they're just standing unused or hardly drive, so it's possible the tyres have perished.

There comes a point with any old car where you're really just throwing good money after bad. So you spend say £1k fixing these things and then next month something big goes - your head gasket, your engine - and then the car has to be scrapped and you've wasted your money. He may sound shifty on the phone, but he's right that ethically he can't advise you to do those repairs. In the trade, a 1997 car is called 'a shitter' i.e. it's really not worth fixing.

I think he has done the right thing
It would be crazy to send you a bill for over a grand on a car worth less than a third
I always buy older cars and I know people will disagree with me but I prefer a high mileage one that's been driven daily
I once bought a Ford fiesta like you that had basically just been used a couple of times a week. Really low mileage and I ended up scrapping it after a year as it was just a nightmare and cost me so much money
My current car had higher than average miles and it was used to commute daily and I have put some good miles on it myself. Had it 4 years and I've barely had to spend money on it aside from annual services

He’s being honest with you. I can’t see why you’re doubting that. Having a car (unless it’s a classic and you can afford or do the work yourself) that old is a stupid, false economy. More and more will go wrong.

Seperate the must haves (outright failures) from the advisories. Find out how much they are.

Some advisories can be listed for years, ie the light discolouration. A slight tinge of dark orange on an indicator is nothing and could possibly be fixed by a slightly confident diy'er.

He said it 'wasn't worth him doing a written itemised quote'.
The car is driven 5 days a week for approximately 15 miles / day: tyres are ok.

thanks @Magenta82 I'll have a look but I suspect they'll be too spendy.
I wish I didn't live in the arse end of nowhere & there was public transport.

Grrr. <feels sorry for self>

“In my experience anyone who says they are 'honest' 4 times in 10 mins isn't.”

he’s not wanting to rip you off, maybe he repeated it because it’s not sinking in that you’d be wasting your money. Can you really not he that?

I mean, the change in price could be then taking the Piss, or because they actually have no clue as they can’t just get the parts easy. It will take some doing and they may not know the prices.

Take it somewhere else if you aren’t happy with what they said.

She can't take it somewhere else. Once the garage designated a car as dangerous then it can't be moved.

You seem strangly annoyed at someone doing you a favour

He could have just done the work and taken the cash, knowing full well your car probably won’t last much longer anyway. He was being honest, and I can see why he thinks it’s a dilemma.

@Ekátn
I don't think I can because the heat shield issue means it can't be driven?

Maybe I'm being a bit skeptical yes.. It's a little local garage that exH uses (not much choice, v rural). Not clear why they quote £800 to exH & £1-1.4K to me tho

call an independent garage and ask them to quote on the fails. An independent garage can legally tow it to their own place, it just cannot be driven.

If the car will cost 1k to fix have a look on autotrader and see what 1k will buy you. Then make a decision.

Brake pipe, steering leak and exhaust shield are the minimum, what else is listed under fail?

Get it towed elsewhere to get it re mot'd

If its 1k to fix. Then think. Can you buy another car for 1k that is reliable!

And fwiw no way is that 1k to fix they're having you on.

And many garages see a lady coming and try to pull wool over their eyes. Dh used to work in one that regularly did that.

Also other option is a mobile mechanic. Often cheaper as lower overheads

My mistake. From reading the government site I though you could take it to another garage if you had an appointment.

I assume classifying it as ‘dangerous’ means it can’t be moved, from what your saying. Which feels wrong, as they have you over a barrel

We seek out ex-motability cars; they are excellent value for money having been maintained to a high standard, usually a low milage.