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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To pay £1200 for this repair?

47 replies

RevoltingPeasant · 20/04/2011 16:14

Bought a secondhand car off my sister in November, only really use it twice a week or so. It cost £3000 - wasn't really worth that much, but I don't like screwing over a family member and she needed the cash.

It started making a funny noise recently, so I took it to the garage. It's the catalytic converter and it's going to cost £1000 plus there's one other thing that needs doing, bringing the total to £1200 Shock

I don't really have this much money, but I could put it on my cc and pay it off in installments of a few hundred quid over the next couple of months.

If I don't pay it, I feel like I'll have chucked away the three grand on the purchase price, not to mention my car insurance for the year. If I do, I'll be scrimping to pay it back.

Have told them to fix it but have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... AIBU or WWYD? :(

OP posts:
purplerabbitofinle · 20/04/2011 16:18

Get several quotes from different garages

Find out the part number and order it yourself then pay them to fit it

Most people know a car-mad 17yo who could have a go

BoneyBackJefferson · 20/04/2011 16:24

Go to a different garage for quotes.

or google your car on the net/ebay to find other prices.

£1000 for a single cat sounds very high (without knowing the make/model of car)

Tangle · 20/04/2011 16:30

No idea on price, but that is a lot :(. OK, you only bought it a few months ago, but what's done is done - I'd consider the alternatives to getting it fixed before you get it fixed. I think you'd also get a refund for the remaining months of car insurance (might not be quite pro-rata for the year, but should be close).

Dropdeadfred · 20/04/2011 16:32

sorry - but are you hoping someone suggests getting your sister involved?

Original poster
RevoltingPeasant · 20/04/2011 16:34

Thing is, it's a Toyota and this is a registered Toyota garage, so the parts will have a warranty from them and also they ought to do a good job. I don't know much about cars and am a bit worried about taking it a local boyracer type who will potentially not fix it properly.

I have to use this car to drive c. 700 miles next month so I can't afford to have the bottom drop out of it on the M62 :(

OP posts:
suzikettles · 20/04/2011 16:37

I wouldn't pay a dealer garage to fix a car worth less than £3k unless I was made of money tbh.

cat64 · 20/04/2011 16:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
RevoltingPeasant · 20/04/2011 16:50

So what would you do, suzi? Just write the purchase price off? It was all my savings.... :(

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 20/04/2011 16:54

if it is the cat kwikfit will do an exhaust check.

Imnotaslimjim · 20/04/2011 16:56

I 2nd getting a local little garage to give a quote rather than dealer. They generally offer some sort of warranty on their work/parts too, so you won't be getting much less for your money. Cars are damn expensive to run!

bemybebe · 20/04/2011 16:56

Goodness, go to an independent garage with good reputation for a quote. I have one local to me that I can recommend in Surrey if you want. Garages connected to dealers are a bit of a rip off.

manticlimactic · 20/04/2011 16:57

What would you have done if you had bought it from a private seller? Don't see what relevence buying it from your sister has..apart from you paid over the odds (or think you did).

Get quotes from a few places and go with the cheapest. What suzi is saying is that main dealers tend to be the most expensive so unless the car is a newish one I wouldn't take it to a main dealer either.

Think about it? Can you do without the car? Can you buy a car for less than £1200. If the answer is no to both of these then get it fixed but shop about.

EllAEllO · 20/04/2011 17:02

I would probably sell it on (honestly, stating the fault)

You may get much less for it than you paid, but it will save you having to shell more out, and pay the interest on your cc.

A few weeks after I bought my car it needed a automatic gear fix on it (sol valves) I decided before I took it in if it cost more than £500 I would rather sell it on than scrape together money I couldn't afford. Lucklily was just under.

Sorry this has happened Sad

Original poster
RevoltingPeasant · 20/04/2011 17:12

The car would be worth about £2100 without the fault - we had it valued by a dealer before I bought it off her. So don't think I could buy a comparable car for less than £1200. I could do without the car right now but we will probably have to move in a few months and then I would need it to get to work.

Thanks bebe but am in Devon. Have rung another garage and the guy kinda whistled down the phone at me!! But then, I know a dealership garage will definitely do a good job and I am a bit crap with cars.....

Argh. Thanks for replies. I have told them to fix it now because they've taken the cat off to see what was wrong it (it 'snapped' apparently!! Shock) so I am not sure I'd be able to transport it to a different garage now anyhow.

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 20/04/2011 17:20

the garage sounds dodgy to me.

if a cat has gone it can only be replaced, to my knowledge there is no looking too see what is wrong.

you should also have had an engine warning light come up to say that the lambda sensor was giving a bad reading.

I also doubt the the cat would be making a funny noise.

bemybebe · 20/04/2011 17:23

Yep, Devon is a bit far... I wish I could help. That said, Toyota garages are very good... Smile

mermaidspurse · 20/04/2011 17:24

no the dealership will get the apprentice boy to do it.

Original poster
RevoltingPeasant · 20/04/2011 17:31

Boney it was the exhaust making a funny noise I think. And sorry don't understand: they are replacing the cat, that's why it costs so much!

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 20/04/2011 17:39

without knowing the model the price is hard to pin down but a cat for a

TOYOTA AVENSIS 2.0 16v (2003) is roughly £250

BoneyBackJefferson · 20/04/2011 17:39

should say without labour

mermaidspurse · 20/04/2011 17:40

I expect they are also replacing the lambda sensor too, so with dealership prices it probably is about right - well not right but you know what I mean.

As a rough guide dh thinks the most expensive cat he has ever had to buy was for a peugeot at £700.00 so with labour, other parts etc you can see it creeping steadily upwards.

MrSpoc · 20/04/2011 17:42

RevoltingPeasant if you had a quote from a dealer for the car i can guarantee you the car is probably worth more like £4k or more.

you should defo find a good local indipendant garage and stay well clear of a main dealer even if you had a new car.

FabbyChic · 20/04/2011 17:42

All parts from any garage have a warranty for a year on work that they do, with Toyota you pay £55 an hour labour, you pay half that anywhere else.

cheekeymonkey · 20/04/2011 17:45

Oh, no, don't get the dealership to do it and do not by any way go to a 'chain' garage. Dh is a one man mechanic. I cannot tell you how many times people have been quoted £1000's by these people and have gone to him for a 2nd opinion only for him to find the cost of the repair to be about £10!!! I kid you not. Garage recently quoted a friend £324 for headlight problem DH mended it for nothing - it was just a bulb in upside down! It's a load of balls about guarenteed parts, they are all made by same factories mainly.

mermaidspurse · 20/04/2011 17:46

Down in the SW you should be looking at between £30-35 an hour.

if it makes you feel better we sometimes get cars arrive in bits from dealers, you won't be the first. Hope you get it sorted.