MOT conundrum

[TimberWolf]

FFS - You're starting to get boring now.

Stop penny pinching and agonising over what's obviously a clapped out old banger, and spend £10K on a decent contractor's car. You are a contractor aren't you?!

I used to be (for over 10 years), but the odds of being so again are likely minimal now and these days £500 is a fortune. Though even when I had decent money coming in, I never spent as much as £10K on a car.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

That is a rip-off price.

Parts should not be more that £100, with labour £160 max.

anti-roll bars are held in by two nuts and can be changed almost as easily as a road wheel. A shock absorber would take 20 minutes max. (presuming it is a shock absorber and not a MacPHerson Strut)

I can speak from experience having changed the (broken) front road spring on my Mondy (now sold) and knowing what's invloved in the rears - it is not an easy job in either case, so I'm not sure the quote's that bad. The front needs a lot of stuff unbolting and mving before you can drop it out, and to do the job properly you need to drop the front subframe on one side, then check the alginment when you refit it.

Front shocks are indeed Mcpherson and the rears are coil over so effectively the same issue - there's a fair bit of dismantling even on the rears, although you don't need to drop the subframe.

The anti roll bar drop link bushes aren't too tricky, but "anti roll bars are held in by 2 nuts" is, frankly bollocks as you'd know if you ever seen a Mondy's suspension.

If it was me I'd cough up and enjoy another year's cheap motoring.

[TimberWolf]

I can speak from experience having changed the (broken) front road spring on my Mondy (now sold) and knowing what's invloved in the rears - it is not an easy job in either case, so I'm not sure the quote's that bad. The front needs a lot of stuff unbolting and mving before you can drop it out, and to do the job properly you need to drop the front subframe on one side, then check the alginment when you refit it.

Front shocks are indeed Mcpherson and the rears are coil over so effectively the same issue - there's a fair bit of dismantling even on the rears, although you don't need to drop the subframe.

The anti roll bar drop link bushes aren't too tricky, but "anti roll bars are held in by 2 nuts" is, frankly bollocks as you'd know if you ever seen a Mondy's suspension.

If it was me I'd cough up and enjoy another year's cheap motoring.

I suppose you are right. My only expenses on the reliable little beast usually occur around MOT time, and that's often just for an oil change and MOT, while some people pay that kind of money just for a service. But on the other hand that's been my philosophy for years with that car and the kind of things that are going now may be a sign of worse to come. It a bit odd to me that 3 roll bar links went in the same year too.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I suppose you are right. My only expenses on the reliable little beast usually occur around MOT time, and that's often just for an oil change and MOT, while some people pay that kind of money just for a service. But on the other hand that's been my philosophy for years with that car and the kind of things that are going now may be a sign of worse to come. It a bit odd to me that 3 roll bar links went in the same year too.

They probably didn't. It's all a bit subjective - I had an old Saab that the guy failed on a roll bar bush once - it was absolutley no different to the one on the other side, but I changed it anyway rather than argue because the tester also said that there was "evidence" of an oil leak from the steering rack, but that it might have accumulated over some time. I realised what he was saying was "clean that oil off and as long it's not pissing out, I'll pass it".

I've had advisories on stuff one year that the same tester didn't even mention the next. I've also had testers tell me stuff that is plain wrong and the last time my Mondy went in the tester reset the headlight aim (free of charge) to an incorrect setting and then passed it.

Rusty Rear brake pipes (where they pass the fuel tank) and broken front springs are my other favourite Mondy trouble spots - the later ones have rear suspension bushes that last about 10 minutes.

[gingerjedi]

Mrs Gj had the C-Max in for a service today and they have advised new disc's and pads on the rear and just pads on the front, a bit odd don't you think? Of all the cars I've had I can't remember ever changing rear pads let alone the disc's, they just don't wear at anywhere near the rate of the fronts.

They are quoting £300+ and the car has only done 35k. Is that fair or are they taking advantage of her femininity?

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I've taken failed cars to a different MOT stn in the past and gotten a completely different report, saving hundreds of pounds.

I remember someone writing to a car mag suggesting this and the editor claiming it was actually illegal. In any case as it's all on a central database now, I suspect the next garage would know about your first fail now, and as for "gotten" - are you a septic? If not, why write like one?

[AtW]

Mrs Gj had the C-Max in for a service today and they have advised new disc's and pads on the rear and just pads on the front, a bit odd don't you think? Of all the cars I've had I can't remember ever changing rear pads let alone the disc's, they just don't wear at anywhere near the rate of the fronts.

They are quoting £300+ and the car has only done 35k. Is that fair or are they taking advantage of her femininity?

Did you get front disks changed? Those are the ones that should first wear off in front driving cars, if you didn't then it sounds like bull, rear ones won't get worn out faster than front ones. Pads should be cheap - usually I think they tend to change disks with pads (cheap) at the same time.

[gingerjedi]

Did you get front disks changed? Those are the ones that should first wear off in front driving cars, if you didn't then it sounds like bull, rear ones won't get worn out faster than front ones. Pads should be cheap - usually I think they tend to change disks with pads (cheap) at the same time.

No, feels fine when I drive it too.

I'll have a good look at the weekend and take it down to one of the kwikfit/ATS type places that do free brake checks, I suspect they are exaggerating a slight degradation to generate business... the scoundrels!

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Did you get front disks changed? Those are the ones that should first wear off in front driving cars, if you didn't then it sounds like bull, rear ones won't get worn out faster than front ones. Pads should be cheap - usually I think they tend to change disks with pads (cheap) at the same time.

Ha ha ha - Front discs generally wear faster on all cars (and motorbikes for that matter) it's nothing to do with which wheels are doing the driving - front brakes on all vehicles work harder (unless they are driven in reverse all the time)

GJ - does your C-Max have an electric handbrake? These can suffer from dragging which can lead to premature rear brake wear - my Jag has the same issue. Apparently they need to be set up properly and they aren't always.

[TimberWolf]

Rear discs can rust because they get so much less use than the fronts.

Driving along with the handbrake half on will clean them up (a bit).

Discs aren't expensive these days.

And they're a piece of piss to change.

The disc pads and/or the discs?