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 well maintained car with 30k miles on the clock that’s been driven properly and kept in a garage isn’t going to blow the head gasket or the engine. If there is no corrosion, likely if garaged all it’s life, then get another quote. Heat shield is minor, dodgy brake pipes are not. I run a 1993 Land Rover that I maintain myself and I’m a 42 year old female with three kids and a mad old English sheep dog. Personally I love arguing with garage owners and knuckle dragging grease monkey mechanics. When it comes to Land Rovers of a certain age, I know more than they do.

Husband is a mechanic, classic car fanatic with a special interest in Ford classics. He says the car is worth £1500 to £2k fixed and MOTd. Don't listen to the MOT guy OP. He wants to make money on your car.

@54isanopendoor ive pm you

This is true. and exactly what I’d say.
the car sounds a brilliant find to be honest. If it’s been off the road for a while I would expect the brakes and battery to need some TLC. But on the whole. They don’t make them like they used to and enjoy your new car.

Have a look on eBay, I don’t know your exact model but I’ve just found an exhaust heat shield for £20

Remember motorbility includes insurance etc - look into it and consider how much it will cost you to keep your car on the road even if it didn't need repairs.

Current motability wait times are 9-18 months just to make you aware

'Not worth him doing you a quote?'

That would ring alarm bells with me. You're asking him to price up work and he's refusing. If you wanted to spend thousands on it then that's your call, not his.
As someone else said I would get it towed to another garage.
It also crossed my mind as someone else has said whether the car is borderline classic so the garage want it.

Are we talking a basic 1.1 Fiesta here or something else? Because 90's fast fords are very much the new up and coming classic and if its one of the sport or RS models it might be worth more than you think.

Missed your post but yes, this exactly.

We're just coming into 90's fast fords. Last month an 88 Fiesta XR2 went through Matthewsons Auctions at £18k. We're not at those levels yet, but the smart money is buying up the sportier 90's Fords now, especially as a lot of them went through the scrapple scheme.

A 1997 car with 30k sounds great but its really not 😔 I'm not surprised its pretty knackered by the sounds of it

Cars like to be driven, keeps everything ticking over and moving etc. and its that that let's you know when things need replacing and they don't just seize up. E.g. a 10 year old car thats done 10 miles a week going to the garden centre will very likely be in a far worse state than a 15 year old car that's done regular motorway driving thats needed all sorts replacing (so it's practically a new car anyway)

I learned this over the years, worst cars were always the low mileage ones. Best car I ever had was an ex police car that had 130k on the clock!

He. Is. Taking. The. Piss.

What, exactly, has it failed on? Get a list out of him, in writing.

You desperately need a second opinion on this. Those fails shouldn't cost the quoted amount to fix.

I suspect he cba with the work as he'd make more money doing oil changes on modern cars. Theres nothing in the MOT fails to suggest this car is remotely end of life.

He called your ex, even though it is your car?

AND gave him a much cheaper price??

Ye Gods.

He'd called my exH first apparantly (its MY car) & suggested £800.

For this alone, I'd find another garage.

Was going to post similar. Cars rely on both rubber (tyres and seals and whatnot) and regular lubrication, if a car is rarely driven all those parts will deteriorate.

1997 low mileage Fiesta. £2,695

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165713372386?hash=item26954964e2:g:txYAAOSwE4Fi3qZB&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoN18xHfcqR5Q0VoukJ3yqwNLvmsE6GbA4HdWEnQmmuo0IW0g54MrDpDwUmnIw1ilMUlx5j8qNgssMaV6pCRBovT%2BIOaKUtWE13SZkMp3hF%2BKbcuxULoOwaaAZNaDKQOvIHss83FAmkJYoASDZsvG3wB6PICXVHoHnQta8QMdwO0BwZ3Ho6D2B8RQrHeyysNgosVdjXKPBcrkudTj5KE09dE%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8bY6I7-YA

Everyone wants a low mileage classic with a service history. It's a completely different to buying a car to use daily.

Hopefully that's the mot fail list without ID'ing the garage (that wouldn't be fair)

Name change fail ...
(I had one name posting from laptop & another posting from phone : need to sort this out too ;)

Whats the model OP?
Can't really read the failures.

Two failed tyres, advisories for the others, a steering rack, power steering pipes, brake pipes, suspension arms and CV joint gaiters could add up quite quickly. Advisories for rust might also mean you spend lots this year and then need to spend a lot next year.

It's not a classic (pre 1990 possibly) and the advert posted for one on ebay is an automatic they normally fetch £100 over a manual, the mot failure and cost of repair would mean its worth £150-£300 in part exchange because any reputable dealer would scrap it as they have to give 6 months warranty, family business in the motor trade over 70 years and no way in hell would I think I could fix that make enough profit to pay the vat, tax and overheads, if you want an ex motability car rather than buying new out of your DLA contact some local garages because like us they may have a motabilty account and can source ones 6 months to 3 years old

Yea thats an option for op I suppose, fix it up and sell on 👍

Sorry that should read £1000 over a manual probably between £500-£1000 at that age

Both my DH and the DH of one of the posters above have said, it's an upcoming classic.
The eBay one is optimistic, but dependent on model it could be in that figure.

Your target audience is blokes who want to tinker in their garages over the winter months and sort out the issues themselves.
Cars from the early 90's are now very much classic vehicles.