realistic options

[lacroupade]

Bottom line is you don't currently have the info to make an informed decision.

It needs a good diagnosis by someone who knows what they are talking about and can be trusted. Although the local garage seems to have done an OK job fitting the box (and I say 'seems') the engine has now developed another problem - and all we know at this stage is its a funny noise that goes away with revs. That doesn't sound like big ends to me, as stupid as I am......

So jumping in and doing an engine swap is the wrong thing to do.

I think even more fundamentally, you need to decide if this is really the car for you. The reality is you've bought a 15/16 year-old car that was expensive when it was first sold and will therefore be expensive to maintain, tax and run (relative to, say, a Ford Escort).....lets assume it is an engine problem (which I believe to be unlikely myself - we've never seen one of these fail in any serious manner) and you replace it.....have you got the cash to lay out downstream if/when the brakes go wonky or one of the transmissions gives up, or a drive shaft goes, yadda yadda yadda.....

MY money would be on scrapping it for bits and buy yourself a cheap cheerful reliable runabout like a K11 Micra or similar - £500-600 buys you a reliable little motor on an S-plate thats surprisingly roomy (I can fit my 6' 3" frame in easily), does 45mpg and is cheap as chips to fix if it ever goes wrong. Bit of a comedown I know but you got to be realistic.

Find somewhere to park it up while you (or somebody) strips it, or sell it whole for what you can get, and Roberts your fathers brother all of a sudden.....

 

[briggie]

Theres near £150 left in the kitty, another £100 and if some local members can fit it = cheap repair:thumb2

problem with that is .. where would you fit it ? .... its in the garage now and i dont think they would let you use their facilities :nenau

 

[briggie]

road tax is free for me ,the vehicle seems ideal because as clive has seen , i have a large joystick controlled electric wheelchair , and it fits in well , its also ( was ) very comfy to drive , easy to get in and out of , plus i can take the grandkids too , any further vehicle would have to be a estate at least to accomodate the chair , but i appreciate your thinking , its a option ive thought about as seen above .

kind regards

pete

 

[Deleted account DD]

Bottom line is you don't currently have the info to make an informed decision.

It needs a good diagnosis by someone who knows what they are talking about and can be trusted. Although the local garage seems to have done an OK job fitting the box (and I say 'seems') the engine has now developed another problem - and all we know at this stage is its a funny noise that goes away with revs. That doesn't sound like big ends to me, as stupid as I am......

So jumping in and doing an engine swap is the wrong thing to do.

I think even more fundamentally, you need to decide if this is really the car for you. The reality is you've bought a 15/16 year-old car that was expensive when it was first sold and will therefore be expensive to maintain, tax and run (relative to, say, a Ford Escort).....lets assume it is an engine problem (which I believe to be unlikely myself - we've never seen one of these fail in any serious manner) and you replace it.....have you got the cash to lay out downstream if/when the brakes go wonky or one of the transmissions gives up, or a drive shaft goes, yadda yadda yadda.....

MY money would be on scrapping it for bits and buy yourself a cheap cheerful reliable runabout like a K11 Micra or similar - £500-600 buys you a reliable little motor on an S-plate thats surprisingly roomy (I can fit my 6' 3" frame in easily), does 45mpg and is cheap as chips to fix if it ever goes wrong. Bit of a comedown I know but you got to be realistic.

Find somewhere to park it up while you (or somebody) strips it, or sell it whole for what you can get, and Roberts your fathers brother all of a sudden.....

I cant actually disagree with any part of this, once the noise is positively identified without chucking more good money after bad.

Do you not qualify for mobility assistance?
From your posts I understand youve already got a "big car" in the household? Is that not sufficient ?

I wish you well Briggie and I sincerely hope its a 10mm bolt on an insignificant bit of loose metal thats needs tweaking but barring that I do agree with lacroupade in that its time to face reality and stop tormenting yourself.

 

[clivvy]

I cant actually disagree with any part of this, once the noise is positively identified without chucking more good money after bad.

Do you not qualify for mobility assistance?
From your posts I understand youve already got a "big car" in the household? Is that not sufficient ?

I wish you well Briggie and I sincerely hope its a 10mm bolt on an insignificant bit of loose metal thats needs tweaking but barring that I do agree with lacroupade in that its time to face reality and stop tormenting yourself.

Pete has access to a 3 door Discovery, problem there is Sheila works, and its her work vehicle, so day to day, Petes stuck. Also, the other issue is getting into the thing. The door for example, on the landy, doesnt have an angled pull bar, so pete can lift himself in, plus the side steps and height are a major factor. So its not that he CANT use the Landy, its just mobility wise, its considerably less practical than having his own Mistral. For Pete, the Landy is like having a pair of legs he can only use at weekends, the Mistral are the legs he can use when he wants, otherwise, he's house bound

 

[lacroupade]

Pete has access to a 3 door Discovery, problem there is Sheila works, and its her work vehicle, so day to day, Petes stuck. Also, the other issue is getting into the thing. The door for example, on the landy, doesnt have an angled pull bar, so pete can lift himself in, plus the side steps and height are a major factor. So its not that he CANT use the Landy, its just mobility wise, its considerably less practical than having his own Mistral. For Pete, the Landy is like having a pair of legs he can only use at weekends, the Mistral are the legs he can use when he wants, otherwise, he's house bound

Good alternative for wheelchair access would be an MPV....lots of them around at fair prices for newer models than the Mistral....Espace is a good example, actually pretty reliable and lots of composite materials meand less rust....

But as has been stressed, first mountain to climb is finding out accurately what the problem is. Like Daved I hope its just a rattling thingy somewhere!:thumb2

 

[Deleted account DD]

Pete has access to a 3 door Discovery, problem there is Sheila works, and its her work vehicle, so day to day, Petes stuck. Also, the other issue is getting into the thing. The door for example, on the landy, doesnt have an angled pull bar, so pete can lift himself in, plus the side steps and height are a major factor. So its not that he CANT use the Landy, its just mobility wise, its considerably less practical than having his own Mistral. For Pete, the Landy is like having a pair of legs he can only use at weekends, the Mistral are the legs he can use when he wants, otherwise, he's house bound

Thanks Clive :thumb2 I follow.

Im trying to help work out a practical solution. The key for me was the "will you trust it" question. My answer is no. I would get shot myself.

Is there any way Shiela could live with say a Focus for work or is the Disco a requirement as opposed to nice to have.

I'm looking at it from a similar perspective to our cars and Lacroupes suggestion. We run one big indulgent car and one frugal super mini. If we need to carry or haul, Jeep comes out. Travel to the shops Ibiza hits the road (soon to be replaced by an ecomotive Leon for even more economy) Doesnt matter whos doing the trip thats the way it works :thumb2

 

[briggie]

Thanks Clive :thumb2 I follow.

Im trying to help work out a practical solution. The key for me was the "will you trust it" question. My answer is no. I would get shot myself.

Is there any way Shiela could live with say a Focus for work or is the Disco a requirement as opposed to nice to have.

I'm looking at it from a similar perspective to our cars and Lacroupes suggestion. We run one big indulgent car and one frugal super mini. If we need to carry or haul, Jeep comes out. Travel to the shops Ibiza hits the road (soon to be replaced by an ecomotive Leon for even more economy) Doesnt matter whos doing the trip thats the way it works :thumb2

sheila needs a large car that can carry a fair bit of weight as her job is a free newspaper area manager

 

[clivvy]

I think the process here is simple. Get the garage to do their diagnosis tomorrow, we have £140 to pay them which is ample. it may mean that after diagnosis, the car is screwed, fine, it may also mean theres a bolt loose.

it may mean that we cannot save this car, but we tried, and thats what matters. Everyone was so generous, and as a collective, we have proved a huge power house in terms of tackling an expensive situation, how cool is that? If the car has to go, then it has to go, its not a waste, its just unfortunate, and we all know only too well, thats how it goes sometimes, with cars. If this happens, it means we ALL have learned a BIG lesson, but we are richer for it.

simple.

i'm looking forward to tomorrow. (plus I hopefully get my Mazda back:clap)

 

[Deleted account DD]

I think the process here is simple. Get the garage to do their diagnosis tomorrow, we have £140 to pay them which is ample. it may mean that after diagnosis, the car is screwed, fine, it may also mean theres a bolt loose.

it may mean that we cannot save this car, but we tried, and thats what matters. Everyone was so generous, and as a collective, we have proved a huge power house in terms of tackling an expensive situation, how cool is that? If the car has to go, then it has to go, its not a waste, its just unfortunate, and we all know only too well, thats how it goes sometimes, with cars. If this happens, it means we ALL have learned a BIG lesson, but we are richer for it.

simple.

i'm looking forward to tomorrow. (plus I hopefully get my Mazda back:clap)

:thumb2 :thumb2

 

[Damian Strudley]

Willing to help on 3 points:-

1 if club asked to help with extra funds, :clap
2 if required to help with spanners etc :nenau
3 if decide to break, ( still looking for rear axle) :augie

so feel free to ask on any of the above.

Good luck with your hard decision.