Money Pit, Scrap or Repair?

[Asahi]

Hi all, I thought I'd get some professional car owners advice. I'll try make this short. I don't know whether to keep the audi or scrap it. I bought it for £1000 about 2 years ago and this is from invoices and memory roughly what i've spent (probably more).

My previous cars were a fiesta and MX5 project. The mx5 was a voluntary money pit but I actually didn't even spend this much and the Fiesta I owned for 4 years, other than two tyres and a service each year for £30 the only thing that broke was an expansion tank for £15, So yeah, right now I really feel like my hands are round my ankles.

In the past month I've spent around £300 and more problems have just come about with the suspension clunking and I should really replace all the front arms which I cant only imagine will be £450+ Alignment , The rear brakes and pads also need doing at some point and If I want aircon the condenser and filter need doing + Gassing. This is only what I am aware of and to be honest there is alot more I could replace.

When working the Audi is lovely, obviously I can't compare a Fiesta to it but recently with the cost I've just been remenicisng the days where I didn't spend a penny on my car and actually spent my evenings not working under it. It seems a waste to scrap it but I doubt it will sell as its on 214k, I just feel consumed by the car really. What would you do?

 

[B5NUT]

It's a old used car and it's German so they are going to cost more to maintain. However on that list there is nothing that any other brand of car would not suffer, and 6 of the items on that list are what I would call standard service items, that any car will need. I had a A4 1.9 TDi and sold it with over 300K on the clock and still going strong.

How much will it cost to buy a replacement car that will also need servicing & replacement parts and other unknown issues V the cost to maintain the current car. Which ever way you look at it you are chucking money down the drain. Buy new = lost money in depreciation. Buy used and you will still suffer depreciation (lot less than new) but you are in an unknown world of possible problems and servicing costs.

The decision can only be made by yourself as only you know what your finances are.

 

[Asahi]

It's a old used car and it's German so they are going to cost more to maintain. However on that list there is nothing that any other brand of car would not suffer, and 6 of the items on that list are what I would call standard service items, that any car will need. I had a A4 1.9 TDi and sold it with over 300K on the clock and still going strong.

How much will it cost to buy a replacement car that will also need servicing & replacement parts and other unknown issues V the cost to maintain the current car. Which ever way you look at it you are chucking money down the drain. Buy new = lost money in depreciation. Buy used and you will still suffer depreciation (lot less than new) but you are in an unknown world of possible problems and servicing costs.

The decision can only be made by yourself as only you know what your finances are.

Yeah I've been thinking that, realistically repairing the Audi is cheaper than going out and buying another car. I've owned this one long enough to know if there's any issues with it. I just worry about say spending £500 on the front end then soon after I find out I need new shocks or something. I guess everything on it is just starting to die. The engine runs great though and pulls hard.

 

[B5NUT]

If your changing the arms may as well go the extra and buy new shocks, as after 200K miles they will be knackered anyway and the extra labour rate on changing the shocks would be minimal. same goes for the rear. Any car with 200K on the clock will be very tired on the suspension. If the springs are still in good condition and not rusted then they could be reused.

 

[Asahi]

If your changing the arms may as well go the extra and buy new shocks, as after 200K miles they will be knackered anyway and the extra labour rate on changing the shocks would be minimal. same goes for the rear. Any car with 200K on the clock will be very tired on the suspension. If the springs are still in good condition and not rusted then they could be reused.

I'll be doing all the work myself, Good suggestion, I may take a look at new shocks although right now I'm just trying to keep costs down.

 

[samisnake]

is the suspension work definitely needed asap? how long has it got an mot?
those 2 qs would decide the outcome for me.

personally wouldnt keep throwing cash at an old a4 with 200k. have you tried sites like autodoc for the parts, also sometimes ebay can also yield bargains.

 

[HelenB]

If you did "get rid" of the Audi, how much would you need for it's replacement? Mine is almost 250k now and runs lovely and I've invested in a few bits like getting the air con back up and running. There's one on YouTube with 540k on it and still running! A suitable replacement car that's not absolute pants would be £950 for me, so I'm keeping the Audi and will spend bits along the way. Sods law the grass ain't greener and another car would end up needing a big ticket item repairing soon enough and I'd be cursing not sticking with the Audi. But it's a different story if the replacement would be a much younger I guess.

 

[Retroman]

You're always going to have to spend money on an older car - I have with a 1998 BMW z3 - but I'd always prefer one with lower mileage. The combination of both 200,000+ miles and age is an off-putting combination.

 

[Damian Giddins]

Hi all, I thought I'd get some professional car owners advice. I'll try make this short. I don't know whether to keep the audi or scrap it. I bought it for £1000 about 2 years ago and this is from invoices and memory roughly what i've spent (probably more).

My previous cars were a fiesta and MX5 project. The mx5 was a voluntary money pit but I actually didn't even spend this much and the Fiesta I owned for 4 years, other than two tyres and a service each year for £30 the only thing that broke was an expansion tank for £15, So yeah, right now I really feel like my hands are round my ankles.

In the past month I've spent around £300 and more problems have just come about with the suspension clunking and I should really replace all the front arms which I cant only imagine will be £450+ Alignment , The rear brakes and pads also need doing at some point and If I want aircon the condenser and filter need doing + Gassing. This is only what I am aware of and to be honest there is alot more I could replace.

When working the Audi is lovely, obviously I can't compare a Fiesta to it but recently with the cost I've just been remenicisng the days where I didn't spend a penny on my car and actually spent my evenings not working under it. It seems a waste to scrap it but I doubt it will sell as its on 214k, I just feel consumed by the car really. What would you do?

View attachment 208379

This is a very familiar story to myself, except it was a Saab, not an Audi (this is my first ever German car)
I eventually realised I was just throwing money away, so sold it on Ebay.
A scrappy offered me £125, but I put it on Ebay as Spares/Repair and listed it's numerous faults, sold it for £250 in less than 40mins. Had a message offering me £350 after I'd sold it.

Looking at that list, you've replaced a lot already, but at 215k it's only going to get worse.
If it were me, I'd cut my losses

 

[HelenB]

Agreed there will always be someone who will buy it for more than scrap value, especially when you've put a lot of new parts on it already. The Car Throttle channel on YouTube showing the Mk1 Octavia tdi with 400k and the A4 tdi with 540k is raising the profile of the older tdis and many won't be put off by the mileage (and will even seek out a high mileage hero!) You won't get your money back that you've ploughed into it, but will get more than scrap!

 

[Asahi]

Agreed there will always be someone who will buy it for more than scrap value, especially when you've put a lot of new parts on it already. The Car Throttle channel on YouTube showing the Mk1 Octavia tdi with 400k and the A4 tdi with 540k is raising the profile of the older tdis and many won't be put off by the mileage (and will even seek out a high mileage hero!) You won't get your money back that you've ploughed into it, but will get more than scrap!

Yeah this is all very true, I looked into higher mileage ones that most people would be put off by. To be honest I'll probably carry on riding this Audi into the ground until it presents me a massive issue.

I wouldn't have a clue what car to get next.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

 

[HelenB]

Same boat as me really! The grass isn't greener unless you can buy a much younger car! I would only be swapping it for another cheap old car and better the devil you know. As long as I can keep doing the odd bits myself that need doing I'll just run it until it gives up. But I agree with Damian, you won't get your money back at any point!