Hi guys,

Here's the back story: about 2 years ago my mums boyfriend picked up a fabia (y2k,80k on the clock,1.4 mpi, okay-ish condition). A year ago I bought it off him as my first car (good price). Pretty much ever since things were going downhill.

I've changed in this year:

front left wheel hub, drive schaft, lots of bits around it, all screwed. >> total with labour: £690 at a local skoda dealership

2 bushers (dont remember the name for sure, 1 of them on each side, under the front wheels, stick out below everything, metal surrounded in rubber, sitting in a metal tube, makes horrible noise when breaks, has a big say in suspension) >> £450 inc labour, (local bmw specialist who sorted me out cause I couldnt afford the price the dealership asked me)

both radiator sensors (top and bottom) ->> about a hundred quid.

Things to do:

urgent:

mot reported movement in the wishbone (I'm afraid to ask for a quote for this, I don't want to know how bad it is).

slowly leaking water pump and radiator

gearbox/clutch almost broken (getting into 3rd gear is extremely noisy, it was like this when he bought the car 2 years ago though)

exhaust almost rotten through, half a year ago a mechanic said it's got about 3 months to live

really nasty rattling noise coming somewhere from the ac/water pump area

some of the stuff the skoda dealers told me to fix ASAP (I have no idea what these mean):

O/S carrier bush broken, play in N/S/F drop link

would be nice to fix:

front headlights look like they have been painted, then sanded down (very little light coming out of them)

the lacquer layer of the paint is coming off all over the car so probably a full sand down/spray is required)

rear water jet not working

lots of funny noise under the car when going over bumps (like something is moving)

Here's another one the dealer told me to fix asap:

both front DISCS badly lipped - what does this one mean

with all of these faults, I still feel very attached to the car and am a bit against selling it, plus if I was to sell it, I would like to get at least 800 quid for it (to cover some of the repair costs over the last few months, forget the actual car worth), but I don't believe it's worth the money as if I try to sell the car and am honest about the issues, no one will be willing to pay this kind of money.

So my problem is as follows, I'm afraid that if I try to sell this car, I won't get enough money to buy a new one (I will buy another small-engined fabia, insurance costs are crazy for 21 year olds with only 1 year of experience), and if I cant buy a new one I can't get to work. So if selling isn't an option, I have to fix this one as it's my only means of transport to work, fixing it will probably require an insane amount of money, which makes the whole idea pretty stupid.

I know that there are a lot of people here who are much wiser than me, I'm in panic mode and would really appreciate a bit of guidance and/or good advice.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read all this.

Edited 22 November, 201015 yr by daulex

hi mate, it sounds like there has been a fair amount of expensive work done already but also quite alot to do, on the urgent bits you refer to ''leaking water pump and radiator'', that is the most worrying part to me,with respect, i guess your not really technically minded , so find out where is it leaking from/to? this could be the start of the cylinder head gasket blowing at worst, hope not but get a mechanic to check this for you, he/she should know what to look for! if so its not usually a cheap job, just something to check before you do spend on anything else

Edited 22 November, 201015 yr by MarkMac

hi mate...

Hey, the skoda garage said that the pump itself is leaking and the rad has a few holes that cant be plugged. So both parts need to be replaced. Was quoted £800 for this. ( can buy a new fabia in good condition on autotrader if I add a bit...)

TBH, I struggled to sell my perfectly good Fabia for £1,300 in March so I really doubt anyone who knows the condition of yours will be willing to pay much I'm afraid.

I was in the same boat as you - while there was nothing wrong with it, it was only a matter of time before it broke really. P/X'd it and got lucky with a so far brilliant Polo.

Apart from the radiator, brakes and suspension I don't think theres too much there that can't wait for a while. Problem is though, do you get it to a servicable state, then sell it, sell it for a pitance now and either way risk buying another dog, or keep it and fix everything over a period of time. Maybe get some quotes to see how much all the work will cost, see how that compares to its value in its current state, and what you could buy for that money - maybe able to get something decent with some cash left over out of the cost of the repairs.

Not a nice place to be though.

I think the car would be almost worthless as it stands. You could easily spend well over the value of the car by rectifying all these faults, but is it worth it? I think if I were in your position I would be tempted to run it until it either breaks down or the MOT runs out and then sell it on eBay with an honest description. You could always throw in a can of radweld to slow down the leaks and keep a close eye on the coolant level until the radiator gives out completely. In the meantime, save up and keep the money you were going to spend on repairs and put all that to another car.

Thanks for the advice guys.

As a rough total for the essential repairs comes down to just above 2k so selling is a no brainer really, I just thought maybe there is some chance of a miracle advice from the forums that would support keeping it.

Guess I'm buying a new fabia

keep your options open regards a replacement, there is plenty of reasonably priced non skodas out there, you may get a bargain

Hello daulex,

Suggest you look out for another vehicle, as your present one wants a small fortune spent on it??

You give the impression that this work would be carried out by a garage/mechanic, so lots of labour involved.

You must make a decision, to keep or, get rid and move forward.