205 Cj Failed It's Mot. Not Sure What To Do.

[analog_addict 1]

My daily driver, a 205 CJ has just failed it's MOT. Last MOT it passed no issue. Here is the list:

 

- Rear brake shoes need replacing

- Rear cylinders are leaking and need replacing

- New handbrake cable

- CV Boot needs replacing

- UJ Joint needs replacing

- Both track control arms

- Tracking

 

Total cost £558.

 

I'm struggling to see how all these problems have arisen in 1 year but perhaps it's true. I had a track rod end replaced, new front tyres and tracking done by the same garage about a year ago or less.

 

My first question is should this cost £558? I would be reluctantly willing to spend £300 to pass an MOT but £558 is too much. I paid £800 a year and half ago for the car and since then I've probably spent another £400-£500 on it.

 

Also they said they couldn't get a 3rd party UJ joint so they would have to get one from Pug for £110. A quick search shows they can be had for around £40.

 

My options are to:

 

1. Pay £558

2. Sell the car

3. Go for a second MOT elsewhere

 

Also now that it's failed it's MOT can I legally drive it home and stick it on my drive?

Edited May 11, 2015 by analog_addict

[Anthony 1,002]

Hard to say without seeing the car, but at least some of those items are things that could well have appeared in the year since the previous MOT - wheel cylinders can start leaking with no warning, handbrake cables can snap, and CV boots split.

 

The cost of the actual parts listed isn't much - no more than £200 or so I'd say - but labour is the killer if you can't do the work yourself.

 

What are the actual MOT failure points listed?

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

Regardless of where you take it for MOT it sounds like it will need that list of things sorting out anyway.

As said the parts are reasonably cheap on the whole. As for the UJ a garage cannot really start fitting second hand bits to a customers car, hence they cannot find a pattern part from a motor factor so they've had to price one up from the main dealer.

Do you not know any mates who could help you do some of the work yourself?

[analog_addict 1]

Do you not know any mates who could help you do some of the work yourself?

 

Nope

 

Problem is this is my daily driver for work etc. Does all this work sound possible for £400 or is £558 pretty much what it'll cost?

 

Also can I drive the car without MOT from the garage to stick on my drive? I live 5min from the garage. The MOT expires today. As far as I understand you can only drive a car without MOT if your destination is either an MOT test or repairs.

Edited May 11, 2015 by analog_addict

[Biggles 65]

Yes you can drive it home.

[analog_addict 1]

Well seeing as how I need a car, I'm going to offer £500 cash to do the job and forget it ever happened.

[omega 82]

id offer 400 you can always go up

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Its an old car too and things tend to break when disturbed, they will have possibly factored this in to put you off spending that ridiculous amount of money on it

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

£558!!

 

Jesus.

 

Do it yourself for about £40

(except tracking- +£30)

 

edit:

 

Ok assuming you don't have a clue about fixing cars.

Buy a Haynes manual £10

All those jobs are very easy to carry out. If you can do a service there is no reason this should be a challenge.

 

edit edit:

 

I must be getting a serious discount on my parts as I've noticed its way off Anthony estimation of £200!

Track rod ends (x2) £8 each

Rear Brake cylinder £9 each

Rear brake shoes £14 a set (If you can reuse the original springs) if not add £10

Rear brake cable £9

UJ (replace whole drive shaft) Original estimation was for rubber boot only - recon shaft are about £30 - £45 - or buy second hand at about £10 off the for sale section on here or ebay

Total £78 -£103

Edited May 12, 2015 by ALEX

[erbs 42 1 Cars]

i was wondering on the prices too, i recently bought 2 new track rods and brake shoes and new rear brake cylinders and new handbrake cables i would say mr ALEX is spot on with the prices

 

get all the parts and spend a saturday doing the jobs that need doing, i that all went wrong on my MOT i would be jumping up n down, easy jobs to do.

[Anthony 1,002]

Track control arms (think base model wishbones), not TRE's.

 

It was only a ballpark figure and more what I was trying to highlight was how much of that headline figure was going to be labour costs. As Tom said, no garage will source and fit second hand parts and remember that the garage will source primarily on convenience from a single local source who'll deliver (eg ECP) rather than shopping around to get the best prices.

 

Also, remember when factoring in costs that you'll need fluids (gearbox oil and brake fluid) plus if the garage has any sense they'll have assumed replacement brake pipes etc given the likelihood that they'll need replacing to do the wheel cylinders.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Well spotted.

Could just need the bushes replacing, though you will need access to a press for that.

The track control arms aren't as expensive as the GTI wishbones.

They are going for £10 each on ebay!!.

 

If you're not bothered about genuine parts, maintaining old pugs can be relatively cheap if you do the work yourself.

 

Id certainly shop around with a £558 quote for that easy job.

looks like a long list but 2 hours tops to do the lot.

4 if you've never tackled it before.

[Anthony 1,002]

The track control arms aren't as expensive as the GTI wishbones.

They are going for £10 each on ebay!!.

 

If you're not bothered about genuine parts, maintaining old pugs can be relatively cheap if you do the work yourself.

As I said though, a garage won't be shopping on eBay.

 

For example, Lemforder TCA's are £60 a side from ECP or £30 a side for OCAP pattern ones.

 

Yes you can maintain 205's very cheaply using pattern parts if you do the work yourself, but the problem is that some pattern stuff is utter sh**e that doesn't last more than a few months - and if you're paying garage labour charges, it very quickly becomes a false economy. Even if you are doing the work yourself, your time has a value - not to mention the inconvenience factor - and hence wherever possible I'll fit something that's OE quality even though the up front cost is more.

[Alan77 78 1 Cars]

As said above, go for the best parts that you can afford. You'll probably be changing those £10 control arms in less than a year if the car is your daily driver. Spend £200 on decent parts, do as much as you can yourself, learn a bit, and be confident that your new parts are reliable. It's all part of 205 ownership...

[tartanbloke 35 1 Cars]

Evening,

 

If the gentleman has no experience, the chances are that he may get out of his depth if brake hoses require replacement as well as other things. Therefore, if he pays the garage to do the work, he has the added security that the work is covered under the supply of goods and services act, which means he should have recourse if anything was to fail within a reasonable period of time.

 

Sometimes it is not about what is th cheapest way of doing things but what is right for the circumstances. My suggestion would be to pay the garage if he is not confident and if they are using quality parts, the better for it.

 

Anyway, that's my thoughts.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Genuine parts are overrated IMO. it's just an excuse to bump the price.

£558 repair bill suggest you to scrap it for £100 as you could easily buy a good runner with 12 months MOT for £658 if you think about it that way.

Unless it has sentimental value the value of a CJ with 12 months MOT is worth about £500. so it not really worth fixing.

Soft tops aren't going for nearly as much as the Gti's . I know I have a Cti.

 

If your relying on garages to do the work you need to be a 205 enthusiast to keep these cars on the road, or just plain crazy.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

I disagree about genuine parts comment.

 

It's been tried and tested on my car,they are far superior IMO.

[Tom Fenton 1,540]

Genuine parts are expensive, you can buy OEM manufacturer parts at a far more realistic cost that are just as good.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

I have bought OEM listed parts as well, they haven't been to clever either.

[Anthony 1,002]

Genuine parts are overrated IMO. it's just an excuse to bump the price.

We'll agree to disagree on that one. Some pattern stuff is fine, other stuff is simply unfit for purpose.

 

Note that I'm not talking about going to the dealer for everything and paying the premium associated with that, but rather knowing where to get OE quality parts, often for only a few quid more than the poor quality pattern equivalent.

 

£558 repair bill suggest you to scrap it for £100 as you could easily buy a good runner with 12 months MOT for £658 if you think about it that way.

The only problem with that is that unless you're lucky you're probably buying a car with its own set of issues and which will likely need a chunk of money spending on it to bring it up to scratch. To be honest, most of the bits that are needed in this case are the sort of bits that are liable to be needed on any 205 if they haven't been done recently.

 

Sometimes it's better the devil you know.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Buying OEM parts can be a gamble, I've seen some bad pattern stuff, but the common parts list above are usually high quality in my experience.

[105e 1]

If you are unable to do the work yourself I would suggest you bite the bullet and pay for it, at the end of the day that's not a fortune to be paying for garage labour rates, and another old banger bought for that sort of money is likely to need money spending on it. Its not cheap to run a car as you obviously know.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Wish I had the money to think £558 isn't a fortune.

[105e 1]

IT isn't for garage labour rates is it, really? I would guess there are far bigger bills from garages

/

Edited May 13, 2015 by 105e

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Never had a bad experience with a dealer part to date, unless it was supplied wrong, faulty or had a manufactured defect, why would you.

 

Had many patent part suspension component that didnt last even 1 year, mainly rubber mounts or bushes, droplinks are usually the worst.

 

Havent even done a thousand miles in my cti since I upgraded to gti suspension nearly 2 years ago and its got the droplink rattle already, they were ebay cheapies though so expected.