Just About Ready For Torching This Car!

[Eunosfield 0]

The 205 that I just bought had one previous owner, stacks of receipts from garages and a fairly comprehensive service history, and still I'm finding a million bodges.

The plan was to take it back to my parents in Birmingham and service it but it didn't even make it that far.

Now I've basically ended up stripping most of the suspension and cooling system to overhaul it all.

I'm shocked at what some garages can get away with charging to do such a poor job.

Hell I'm an amateur mechanic but whoever worked on the car before me was a joker.

 

E.G - Starter Motor has been replaced at some point

They couldn't fit the bolt with clutch arm installed, so they just didn't refit the bolt at all.

It's no wonder things fail when even professionals can get away with service like that!

[Baz 421]

Well said Anthony, how is the 1.9S restoration going along?

I feel bad for not finding the time to do the few things that needed doing but I am also happy in the thought that everything will be fixed now

 

I have a wing for it now! Although the car it's on won't be coming apart for a while yet!

[GLPoomobile 958]

Hell I'm an amateur mechanic but whoever worked on the car before me was a joker.

 

I could be speaking out of turn here, but I'm of the impression that poor workmanship is very much the norm unless you are an enthusiast. Doesn't matter if you are doing the work yourself or paying someone else to do it, the enthusiast owner will strive for a better quality job. Obviously if you are not capable of doing it yourself, as an enthusiast you would make sure that you get an appropriately skilled person to do it to a good standard, which often means paying more.

 

Non enthusiasts don't usually give a toss so long as they have a working car. The cheapest route is usally satisfactory. And therein lies the problem. The owner wants a cheap fix, and the mechanic/garage want a quick turn around and low overheads.

 

Then you've got the ones who pay through the nose for a full dealer service history, simply becuase they think it maintains the re-sale value of the car. Of course, main dealers would never bodge

 

But the worst sort are the owners who want to do the work themselves, but either don't care enough or they are out of their depth. Missing bolts here and there is only the start of it. They are a liability unto themselves.

 

And having just thought about what I've typed here, it's just dawned on me that we often like to joke about how excellent cable ties are to repair just about any problem Oh dear

Edited June 10, 2010 by GLPoomobile