Cars

mgjackson · Post by **mgjackson** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 11:19 am

Would you rather a car that is not so reliable, but parts are cheap as chips and plentiful, or one that hardly ever breaks down but costs you so much the suppliers demand blood with each transaction

My other car's a Mercedes (which I find I appreciate a lot more now that I have a Lada

)

But, despite the badge, parts are cheap - ok, no where near Lada prices, but not as bad as you might think - I managed to rip the plastic coweling that goes around the inside of the wheel arch off and it was 6 quid for a new one.

My only /real/ problem has been incompetance and in once case downright cowboy behaviour by the main dealerships.

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snurf · Post by **snurf** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:53 pm

to be honest, if its a dealer, it just means they are a garage is a fancy badge and higher prices.

You cant trust any garage until you have used them and know what kind of job they will do...

God, half the work on the Lada, and all of the rovers work was done by a Nissan Specialist who was recomended by a mate.

Good price, and they always do a quality job.

Worst thing about leaving swansea was leaving them to be honest...

Have to find a new garage now

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:32 pm

How about this for a British built car, an 8lt V10 1012 HP Bristol Fighter T, capable of a predicted 270mph but limited to 225mph for britain.

mgjackson · Post by **mgjackson** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:34 pm

I think my wife has managed to find a 'pet mechanic', which might be useful if there's something I can't do on the Niva.

NB, I'd want to do the repair with his help (and tools) rather than just let him get on with it, but I'd pay him the same.

Unfortuantly, he volenteered his services to my Sister in Law and it transpires that the fault with her car is quite serious - from what I understand she never bothered getting it serviced and now something nasty has gone wrong.

As the problem is worse than he thought, she's giving him the run-around despite him trying to do the best for her, including lending her another car and offering to swap the engine out for a spare one that he happens to have.

My wife's quite upset by all this as he's a really nice guy.

Zelandeth · Post by **Zelandeth** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:50 pm

Fords do seem to have a tendency for battery problems. Remember my fathers Sierra killed its battery one day for no readily explicable reason, a year later his Mk IV Fiesta did the same, and when my "temporary" Mk IV Fiesta was in service, it did the same...in each case a new battery solved the problem, never to cause problems again.

You're right too about the parts availability. Think it's bad having to wait overnight for parts for a Lada? Try keeping an old rear engined Skoda on the road... Getting parts so much as ordered locally is impossible now as no factors even have the car listed. Unfortunately, Skoda owners don't have Alan to turn to! Having a car out of action for a day is a pain (especially if you live out in the sticks like me, hence have no bus service and are 15 miles from nowhere), but that's better than having a car that "never" brakes down...but then having to have it off the road for a month while a parts ordered in. Or get charged 300 pounds for a stupid little black box as always seems to be the case with "modern" cars.

Time to get me another Lada methinks...Try to actually find a Riva this time.

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:59 pm

I don't know whether anyone else has come up against the problems Escorts (Mk 4 or 5 ? )had with their fuseboxes. Where the under rated contact strips would burn out internally. Expensive from main dealers - around Â£200.
Usually evident by having soldered wires attached somewhere on them to bypass certain circuits.