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Post by Grampa on Jan 11, 2024 14:41:11 GMT
So far in the past 12 months as the Scirocco approaches it's 14th birthday, it's needed new callipers and disks on the front, a complete new head assembly (timing chain slipped and valves hit the pistons - luckily powered just by the starter motor or it could have been the whole engine) and now new callipers on the rear - all that on top of the general expenses of tyres and servicing. Could have got the GTV I've always fancied adding to the fleet with what's been spent.  |
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Post by racingteatray on Jan 11, 2024 20:16:34 GMT
If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen...
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Post by Big Blue on Jan 11, 2024 20:55:29 GMT
Yes. Boris the 500SEC was a case in point and in the end the reason for the Gorilla going was the unknown prospect of some £10k bill arriving.
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Post by Martin on Jan 11, 2024 21:05:20 GMT
You just have to divide the cost by 14, it won’t seem too bad at all then.
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Post by Grampa on Jan 12, 2024 11:24:51 GMT
If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen... It is the most unreliable car I've ever had - and I've had a Renault and an Alfa (which was faultless for more miles than the VW has now, albeit clocked up in three years rather than almost 14). |
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Post by Grampa on Jan 12, 2024 11:28:43 GMT
You just have to divide the cost by 14, it won’t seem too bad at all then. That's the only way I can console myself  - and it's still been a lot cheaper than getting a new car every three years like I did before I had the Scirocco. When I decided that I would keep it 'forever' I recognised that the day would probably come when I'd had to spend more on it than it was actually worth - it hasn't quite got that bad, but at over £4000 in the last 12 months it's comfortably over 50% of its current value. |
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Post by racingteatray on Jan 12, 2024 12:01:13 GMT
Yes. Boris the 500SEC was a case in point and in the end the reason for the Gorilla going was the unknown prospect of some £10k bill arriving. Yes, my 500E was like this. Generally bulletproof as regards things like bodywork, interior and major mechanical items, but with an endless list of aged minor consumables that announced their retirement from action at every service, meaning I never had a service bill south of £1k. |
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Post by LandieMark on Jan 12, 2024 14:16:39 GMT
It's a concern with the Range Rover, but we both like it and new cars are so expensive to buy and finance. I'll take the risk on a large bill as and when it happens.
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Post by Big Blue on Jan 12, 2024 14:39:55 GMT
Yes, my 500E was like this. Generally bulletproof as regards things like bodywork, interior and major mechanical items, but with an endless list of aged minor consumables that announced their retirement from action at every service, meaning I never had a service bill south of £1k. Yep. Boris was £1k just if the bloke looked at it for a minute. |
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Post by alf on Jan 12, 2024 14:43:46 GMT
Is the scirocco direct injection?? Timing chains seem to be no better than cambelts on modern cars, only they were not deisgned to be routinely changed so it's often a £2k or more job. DI works the chain hard.
The GTV would have rinsed you as well mind! I do like the GTV V6, and also the GT 3.2 V6 is a modern classic for sure...
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Post by Grampa on Jan 12, 2024 20:24:46 GMT
Is the scirocco direct injection?? Timing chains seem to be no better than cambelts on modern cars, only they were not deisgned to be routinely changed so it's often a £2k or more job. DI works the chain hard. The GTV would have rinsed you as well mind! I do like the GTV V6, and also the GT 3.2 V6 is a modern classic for sure... No, but the timing tensioner does have a reputation for allowing the chain to slip (I found out now or I may have had it replaced earlier) - no warning what soever - just wouldn't start one morning accompanied by a nasty noise. Luckily we have a VW specialist about 10 miles away - I shudder to think what a dealer price would have been - the garage down the road which services it reckoned the repair was beyond them and recommended the specialist - fortunately the recovery driver was happy to take it there instead. Perhaps I look at the GTV through rose specs as the one I had (Twin Spark) did a faultless 60,000 miles. |
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Post by PG on Jan 21, 2024 14:09:16 GMT
It's the forever dilema. On older cars - when to twist and when to stick. And if you choose to stick, you have to be prepared for the big bills.
At about 9 years old our Shogun gave us a terribly expensive 12 moths - brakes, suspension, exhaust etc. But that then gave us another few years.
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Post by rodge on Jan 30, 2024 9:10:57 GMT
My car is only 7 years old, but this morning, I went out to a frozen car, started it and then none of the heating was working, including the quick clear windscreen.
Had to stop about 5 minutes into the drive as it started freezing over again on the way to work.
I’m guessing it’s a fuse blown, which I’ll look at later today.
Bad timing for it to happen today. Any other morning, it’s been cold and wet.
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Post by alf on Jan 30, 2024 10:03:57 GMT
My car is only 7 years old, but this morning, I went out to a frozen car, started it and then none of the heating was working, including the quick clear windscreen. Had to stop about 5 minutes into the drive as it started freezing over again on the way to work. I’m guessing it’s a fuse blown, which I’ll look at later today. Bad timing for it to happen today. Any other morning, it’s been cold and wet. It could well be the battery. Demisters and so on are deemed non-essential by the car and if the battery % is below a certain level, it will not use them. Is the start stop working? Thats the same. Infuriatingly, cars take a while (usually an overnight stop then another trip) to work out there is more power in the battery. I drove the Jag across half of Germany and 3 other countries to the channel tunnel, and the start stop didn't work once in the massive (hot) queue for the tunnel. The next day it did.......... So sometimes even when you charge them fully, it takes a time to sink in... |
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Post by Boxer6 on Jan 30, 2024 12:23:34 GMT
My car is only 7 years old, but this morning, I went out to a frozen car, started it and then none of the heating was working, including the quick clear windscreen. Had to stop about 5 minutes into the drive as it started freezing over again on the way to work. I’m guessing it’s a fuse blown, which I’ll look at later today. Bad timing for it to happen today. Any other morning, it’s been cold and wet. It could well be the battery. Demisters and so on are deemed non-essential by the car and if the battery % is below a certain level, it will not use them. Is the start stop working? Thats the same. Infuriatingly, cars take a while (usually an overnight stop then another trip) to work out there is more power in the battery. I drove the Jag across half of Germany and 3 other countries to the channel tunnel, and the start stop didn't work once in the massive (hot) queue for the tunnel. The next day it did.......... So sometimes even when you charge them fully, it takes a time to sink in... Not pertaining to Rodge's issue, but I realised in (I think) my Octavia, that if some high-load items are switched on, e.g. front screen demister/rear screen etc, the stop/start function is disabled. If you had your a/c on high, that may account for it too. |
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Post by rodge on Jan 30, 2024 18:24:33 GMT
Well the heating was working along with all other functions on the way home this evening.
Must have been a battery issue as Alf suggested- I will have to check it out. Either way, the car is back to normal again.
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Post by Tim on Jan 31, 2024 8:20:41 GMT
"Have you tried switching it off and then back on again?" |
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Post by Grampa on Feb 2, 2024 16:38:48 GMT
My car is only 7 years old, but this morning, I went out to a frozen car, started it and then none of the heating was working, including the quick clear windscreen. Had to stop about 5 minutes into the drive as it started freezing over again on the way to work. I’m guessing it’s a fuse blown, which I’ll look at later today. Bad timing for it to happen today. Any other morning, it’s been cold and wet. It could well be the battery. Demisters and so on are deemed non-essential by the car and if the battery % is below a certain level, it will not use them. Is the start stop working? Thats the same. Infuriatingly, cars take a while (usually an overnight stop then another trip) to work out there is more power in the battery. I drove the Jag across half of Germany and 3 other countries to the channel tunnel, and the start stop didn't work once in the massive (hot) queue for the tunnel. The next day it did.......... So sometimes even when you charge them fully, it takes a time to sink in... I find on a modern car that by the time you need to recharge the battery (other than what the car itself does) it's time to change. On the MINI, which takes about half an hour to dismantle all the covers to get to it, when you change the battery, you have to tell the car it has a new battery or it won't charge properly. Luckily the independent garage that looks after our cars is right next door to the tyre and battery place so they did for me on the spot and FOC when I had to get a new battery. |
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Post by Grampa on Feb 3, 2024 15:53:24 GMT
Now the ESP and ABS warning light has come on! Hopefully it won't be something too expensive. It certainly seems to be out to test my "I'll keep it forever" idea!
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- and it's still been a lot cheaper than getting a new car every three years like I did before I had the Scirocco. When I decided that I would keep it 'forever' I recognised that the day would probably come when I'd had to spend more on it than it was actually worth - it hasn't quite got that bad, but at over £4000 in the last 12 months it's comfortably over 50% of its current value.
