Sigh...I hate cars...

Raymond Lin

Raymond Lin

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My car, which the engine is sound, the gearbox is sound, it starts first time every time. It has only done 64k on the clock and just had 4 new brakes and pads and 2 pairs of callipers on less than 6k miles ago. It is a 2008 1.8L Toyota Yaris, it has climate control, keyless entry, iPod input. and if in good condition, it is worth £3k.

However, last May I hit a deer, there is a crack on the bumper, and the impact has pushed the radiator unit back about an inch into the chassis. The car drives fine, I mean I drove it up and down the country for the past 9 months. Got a quote for £1,100 to get a new bumper, respray, radiator unit rebuilt but since the car is drivable and you can't really tell on the outside I left it.

Then in July I reversed into a grass bank and snapped the catalytic converter off which the mechanic did a good welding job and put it back on.

Today I found 2 holes in the mid section of the exhaust and the rust is so bad, it looks like I need to replace the whole thing. The car also has a weird design that the mid section is a REALLY long one so it is estimated it will be about £600 to £700 in parts that needs to be imported in from Japan (because the model that I have is a bit rare). The holes being before the catalytic converter means it will fail the MOT.

It also needs 4 new tyres soon (I have already rotated them), and because it is on 17" alloys, they costs about £100 each for anything half decent. It is also due a service as well.

I am basically looking at £2k in work done minimum for a car that is worth £3k if mint...Everything is due in 2 months....I guess it's fate.

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That's cars for you.

Last year was cambelt service and new dual mass flywheel (plus clutch). This year its new turbo. Those two bits of work combined equal what i paid for the car..
 
It's another thing if its a few hundred here and there or if the car is worth like £10k. But £2k needs to be spent in 1 lump sum before April to get it through the MOT for a car that is only worth £3k (if i am lucky), probably closer to £2.5k for a quick sale. I don't think i can bring myself spend that kind of money into this car of this age, was going to get a new one this year anyway but I guess I need to do this ASAP.
 
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I think when cars hit a certain age it's a line you either run with it and potentially spend more money on something that's not worth anything in real terms or keep a lot of money tied up in new cars
 
Raymond Lin said:
Today I found 2 holes in the mid section of the exhaust and the rust is so bad, it looks like I need to replace the whole thing. The car also has a weird design that the mid section is a REALLY long one so it is estimated it will be about £600 to £700 in parts that needs to be imported in from Japan (because the model that I have is a bit rare). The holes being before the catalytic converter means it will fail the MOT.
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The Cat is normally quite near the front of the exhaust - could you not see if the welder that fixed your cat previously could patch / braise the holes up - I presume they're relatively small holes ?

Have you tried an independent garage / local garage to see if there is an after market exhaust available ?
 
Raymond Lin said:
because it is on 17" alloys, they costs about £100 each for anything half decent.
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Have you had a look on Black Circles and the likes to get a good idea of price for tyres ?

They offer a fitted price and there sometimes can be good deals on there
 
There comes a time to cut your losses and move on.
My last car lost compression in one cylinder so a major rebuild was required.
The work was more than the value of the car. And of course it happened a week before Christmas :)
And it just so happened I was working 30 miles away along the motorway,
I managed to get up to 40 mph on the motorway journey home (when the symptoms first stared ) tand thought this was a bad idea.
 
My sister had a 02 yaris from new. Nothing went wrong it 13 yrs nothing at all. Must be the most reliable car on the road. She also needed a full exhaust so part exchanged it. I would have just forked out on the repairs. With the bumps you've had I probably wouldn't though.
 
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Get a new driver lol :exit::coat:

We had a Yaris for a courtesy car when the land cruiser went in for a service - could have fitted it in the land cruiser's boot!!

Try a look at a Mazda 2 - excellent road holding and brakes but on the noisy side. We've had ours for about 3 years and would probably buy another if we had to look again tomorrow. Similar price and insurance I believe.
 
andyred said:
The Cat is normally quite near the front of the exhaust - could you not see if the welder that fixed your cat previously could patch / braise the holes up - I presume they're relatively small holes ?

Have you tried an independent garage / local garage to see if there is an after market exhaust available ?
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It's an indy garage and the larger of the 2 holes is quite big and behind a heat shield. But looking at the exhaust it has rust all over so I can totally see more holes will appear elsewhere eventually, just putting off the inevitable.

As for where the cat is...this is the weird thing, because the car is some weird model, the Mechanic said "I have never seen this (exhaust configuration) before !". And my car is a Yaris, and they have seen hundreds of them, but mine was only sold in the UK for 6 months so parts needs to be imported.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
It's an indy garage and the larger of the 2 holes is quite big and behind a heat shield. But looking at the exhaust it has rust all over so I can totally see more holes will appear elsewhere.

As for where the cat is...this is the weird thing, because the car is some weird model, the Mechanic said "I have never seen this (exhaust configuration) before !". And my car is a Yaris, and they have seen hundreds of them, but mine was only sold in the UK for 6 months so parts needs to be imported.
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Oh, thats not good.

Another option is - not sure on price though - have look at a custom made exhaust place - they may be able to replace the sections you need at a lower cost ???

Plenty about, but here one - http://www.mijexhaust.com/toyota-exhaust-system-stainless-steel-exhaust.html

Could be worth a call ?
 
andyred said:
Oh, thats not good.

Another option is - not sure on price though - have look at a custom made exhaust place - they may be able to replace the sections you need at a lower cost ???

Plenty about, but here one - http://www.mijexhaust.com/toyota-exhaust-system-stainless-steel-exhaust.html

Could be worth a call ?
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Thanks but i am not sure it is worth while with the limited time frame that I have left before the MOT due. I have to go to Amsterdam for a week in March, a wedding to shoot next week and a couple of other work trips on weekends planned. I think I have 2 weekends of window of opportunity to get it Part-Ex before mid April, don't think there is enough time to get the car to a place like that to have an exhaust designed, built and fitted.
 
Raymond Lin said:
It's an indy garage and the larger of the 2 holes is quite big and behind a heat shield. But looking at the exhaust it has rust all over so I can totally see more holes will appear elsewhere eventually, just putting off the inevitable.

As for where the cat is...this is the weird thing, because the car is some weird model, the Mechanic said "I have never seen this (exhaust configuration) before !". And my car is a Yaris, and they have seen hundreds of them, but mine was only sold in the UK for 6 months so parts needs to be imported.
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Hmmm - +1 to Andy's "Oh, that's not good" comment

Might be worth just cutting losses and taking it to an auction.

We had two land rover discoveries in about 3 years and lost £9k altogether - sometimes cars bite into the wallet quite hard. To be honest with a small car, they're generally not worth the money to keep them going as the depreciation is the main killer.

I do recommend you look at the Mazda 2 though.
 
Defo sounds like it's time to trade it in.
 
Raymond Lin said:
.

It also needs 4 new tyres soon (I have already rotated them), and because it is on 17" alloys, they costs about £100 each for anything half decent.
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Half decent can be had for half that price, mine has 17 inch alloys just had 4 new tyres £200 fitted.
 
Sounds expensive to me? Firstly I would go online to Eurocarparts and enter you vehicle reg and check if the exhaust and radiator are available and check prices.
You will probably find a good used bumper on eBay, sometimes in the correct colour. You also have to remember it's better the devil you know. The next car unless new could have issues. Good Luck.
 
B1ts said:
Half decent can be had for half that price, mine has 17 inch alloys just had 4 new tyres £200 fitted.
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Half decent is the problem, you need nothing short of full decent when dealing with tyres.
 
Oxford_Matt said:
Sounds expensive to me? Firstly I would go online to Eurocarparts and enter you vehicle reg and check if the exhaust and radiator are available and check prices.
You will probably find a good used bumper on eBay, sometimes in the correct colour. You also have to remember it's better the devil you know. The next car unless new could have issues. Good Luck.
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B1ts said:
Didn't get mine from blackcircle, local independant, but thanks for showing that not one of their options is £100 either, not even the better than half decent ones ;)
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I don't normally either, I go to a local place, I did once before but it doesn't really work out that much different unless I want tyres that is not sold by the garage.
 
Actually, doesn't look like your exhaust is available from Amayama either. Toyota really saw you coming!

If you need help decoding the info you need just ask, I used to deal with Toyota's EPC for a few years.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Half decent is the problem, you need nothing short of full decent when dealing with tyres.
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Not my description, was what op stated.

Although how do you qualify full decent? Price? Not necessarily these days imho.

Either way was just trying to help that you do not need to spend £100 a tyre for 17 inch to get good tyres if you shop around properly. Ymmv etc.
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Actually, doesn't look like your exhaust is available from Amayama either. Toyota really saw you coming!

If you need help decoding the info you need just ask, I used to deal with Toyota's EPC for a few years.
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My alloys are £374 EACH !!! I know because I once hit a pothole and there was a sort of dead spot in it and enquired of getting a replacement. I somehow ended up with some unicorn model of a Yaris.
 
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whod of thought it ehh ,, tyres wearing out on a car ,,,,and they get damaged when you hit and crash into things ,,,,,whatever next ,,, running out of petrol when you dont go to the garage ?
 
Oh come on it's a Yaris. I think car dealers see you coming a mile away.

Plenty of really good tyres available for such a small and low powered vehicle that have plenty of stopping power.

And the exhaust as said earlier, get a custom made one. On our Nissan Murano the import price from Nissan was plain ridiculous. I went to RTek in St Albans behind the Nissan deal and for £350 they created a custom one. They laughed at my request to keep it as quiet as possible as they normally make things fast and loud. For a short exhaust like a Yaris, you really should have to pay much more than that. And it won't take any more time than a dealer as any good place bends then onsite and it's done before you know it.


Nothing wrong with Avon for example. For a brand name it's only £70 fitted.

Or actually, I did do a second search kind as I am :), I would be very happy with Kuhmo, Nexen or Toyo any day.
 

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Raymond Lin said:
My alloys are £374 EACH !!! I know because I once hit a pothole and there was a sort of dead spot in it and enquired of getting a replacement. I somehow ended up with some unicorn model of a Yaris.
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It could have been worse, if you got the Aston Martin version of it the cost would be significantly more ;) the price seems absolutely normal for an official alloy wheel.
 
Had two brand new tires fitted to my mondeo for the mot by ATS and the pair were £80 fitted ,o.k only budget but brand new .part worns would have cost nearly that . And most small exhaust companies would sort out the holes etc easily enough . Sounds more like your looking for justification to sell your car from us .
Look at the scenario from the other side ,you sell your car or p.x it ,it has problems so it will go out to trade where it will have 4 part worns fitted ,the exhaust will be patched up and a friend of the trader will give it a light m.o.t as they know the trader won't report them .they will then advertise it at £1500 more than they paid for it ..
The choice is yours either sort it out yourself or trade it in .your choice

P.S next time buy a car not a hair dryer
 
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I feel your pain, though. I bought a J reg Sierra Lazer for £3500 in 1998 as my first "proper" car, it was something like fours year old at the time so I expected it to be decent for it's age. Wrong, as the timing belt went a week after purchase. The garage decided it was an oversight on their part and agreed to fit a replacement engine as part of the warranty, all well and good - except that the replacement engine was of the reconditioned type and in a worse state than the original. It didn't take at all very long for the appeal of driving to wear thin as I continued to buy second hand bangers one after the other. I got that fed up with throwing good money on bad that the moment I found myself in a position where I no longer need to rely on the car, I gave up driving altogether. I reached that point six years ago and am glad for it.
 
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neil_g said:
mmm budget ditch finders ;)
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only if you drive like a cockwomble ,beggars OOPS pensioners can't be choosers .every penny counts :runaway::runaway::runaway:
 
neil_g said:
was talking to this guy VV :)



not really, the missus clio has el cheapo budget rubber and wet roundabouts require nerves of steel.
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thats sod all to do with the tyres thats just the car :woot::woot::woot::woot:
 
the black fox said:
thats sod all to do with the tyres thats just the drivers. :woot::woot::woot::woot:
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FTFY!

Not sure what our Clio's on but it's fine at sensible speeds on all sorts of road conditions. Drive like a cockwomble and you can make anything fall off the road.
 
Drive with budget tyres and you can make anything fall off the road!

I once had some Alpha Accelera on a Celica (they were already on some S/H alloys I bought). Wheelpsin in 5th gear at near idle speed if the road was wet and lord help you if there was a bend approaching or if you needed to use the brakes. They were swiftly disposed of in favour of something, anything, else. Something almost as terrible was fitted to my FTO when it arrived. What kind of moron fits useless tyres to a powerful FWD car?
 
I'm going to play devils advocate here.

The £1100 accident damage, why didn't you get that repaired on your insurance?
either way that's your fault and you need to take that out of the equation.

Reverse into the grass bank, your fault and you need to also drop that off the grid.

so basically you are looking at an expensive exhaust on an old car=maintanace
and 4 new tyres=service costs.

yes you can buy a new car and dump the cost but what if you just keep smashing your cars up?
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
Drive with budget tyres and you can make anything fall off the road!

I once had some Alpha Accelera on a Celica (they were already on some S/H alloys I bought). Wheelpsin in 5th gear at near idle speed if the road was wet and lord help you if there was a bend approaching or if you needed to use the brakes. They were swiftly disposed of in favour of something, anything, else. Something almost as terrible was fitted to my FTO when it arrived. What kind of moron fits useless tyres to a powerful FWD car?
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Not all budget tyres are made the same if you are a savvy buyer. Take Appolo tires for example. They actually bought Vredestein with all their technology and years of experience. I'll have those any day over some of the more established brands. Or take another like Barum, another fantastic tyre.

Nexen has been around for ages as well. I actually prefer the N8000 over my Pirelli P Zero which they replaced and are still on one of the axels.

But I agree there are som terrible ones out there as well. However a new budget tyre is still a lot better than a worn premium tyre.
 
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