Car repair costs - need advice

[H18 SFR]

Looking to sort out a first car for my friend’s son (his dad passed away when he was a baby so I try to look out for him). Seen a wee MOT failure that is going for pennies, a VW Polo, this is the fail sheet, any ideas on a budget to repair at an independent mechanic?

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):
Nearside Front Macpherson strut attachment bracket/mounting insecure and impairing directional stability (5.3.3 (a) (ii))
Offside Front Macpherson strut attachment bracket/mounting insecure and impairing directional stability (5.3.3 (a) (ii))
Repair immediately (major defects):
Emissions not tested (8.2.1.2 (d))
Exhaust emissions likely to be affected by an exhaust leak front flexy pipe blowing (8.2.1.1 (b))
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt drop-link (5.3.4 (b) (ii))
Nearside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))
Offside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))
Nearside Rear Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (5.3.2 (b))
Offside Rear Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (5.3.2 (b))

[patch1875]

Looks like it needs 2 strut top mountings,anti roll bar links, 2 rear shocks , 2 coils springs and a partial exhaust.

the exhaust is the part that’s difficult to guess but the rest is fairly cheap from motor factors, I would be thinking you are looking at the £700-£1000 as a rough guess.

[H18 SFR]

Cheers mate.

[EI255]

I'd agree, around the £800 mark. Parts not overly expensive, just a fair bit of labour involved and the bulk of the cost associated with repairs.

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[Jones28]

That’s a hell of a list. With the money you spend you might be as well going to an auction?

[lord bunberry]

That’s a hell of a list. With the money you spend you might be as well going to an auction?
:agree: It also suggests the car hasn’t been looked after, it could turn into a money pit.

[patch1875]

Most of it is suspension with the state of our roads it’s no surprise.

Both my golf and Octavia have had suspension issues since last mot.

[HappyAsHellas]

Time wise your looking at approx 1 hour for each suspension so it's not a lot. Parts are cheap from factors and suspension problems are very common nowadays and no indication of the car being abused. Car springs nowadays are thinner than your fingers and were never designed to contend with speed bumps which is why they constantly break.

[StevieC]

I agree with Jones and Bunberry, when an older car starts to need that much done to it it’s time to cut your losses and walk away. You could pick up a car with a full years MOT for not much more than what you’d pay for all those repairs.

I’ve a car coming to the end of its life and I have a set figure of MOT costs required for me to just scrap it .. and it’s less than £1,000.

[Northernhibee]

How much are they looking for?

I think I spent just over £300 on my 2001 Fabia with 102k miles at the time - it's needed £55 of work (£50 of that being two tyres fitted) and it had seven months MOT at the time. Put in a bluetooth dongle that hooks up to the car radio, mooched some hub caps for free and I've now had it for well over a year and 11k miles.

If you look hard there are legitimately some fantastic bangers out there if you're not bothered about age or mileage.

[H18 SFR]

They only wanted £250 for it but now but it went straight away.

There is a budget of a grand, he wants a VW if possible.

[StevieC]

he wants a VW

Tell him he’ll get what he’s given .. and be grateful! 😉

Kids nowadays eh 🙄

[Jones28]

I agree with Jones and Bunberry, when an older car starts to need that much done to it it’s time to cut your losses and walk away. You could pick up a car with a full years MOT for not much more than what you’d pay for all those repairs.

I’ve a car coming to the end of its life and I have a set figure of MOT costs required for me to just scrap it .. and it’s less than £1,000.

Mines was £300 on a £500 Astra. I was looking to change anyway though.

[Northernhibee]

They only wanted £250 for it but now but it went straight away.

There is a budget of a grand, he wants a VW if possible.

VWs are, for my money, overpriced on both the new and used car market. The underpinnings are shared with Audi, Skoda and Seat amongst others and the VWs always seem to carry a little more of an asking price.

This Fiesta is probably similar to the purchase of my Fabia - https://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-fiesta-1.4-zetec/1370137857 - as in plenty of work done, a very low average miles per year and few owners who seem to be able to tell you about what's been done and what needs done.

As with any old car you'd need to go over it very finely to make sure that it's as good as it looks, check MOT history etc. but if I was going to be replacing my Fabia and looking for another sub £500 car then this one would be one I'd have a view of ten times out of ten.