Car costs

The next time you're complaining about the cost of parts for your MG, consider this:-
My brother has a newish Skoda Fabia Turbo Diesel, the engine is Volkswagon. The car needs one new injector. Cost of said part:-
£427 for a fuel injector! :omg: Oh and the little loom to the injector is another £80.

That was part of the attraction of getting the TF in the first place. One of the last cars that you could actually strip apart, put back together and the ECU wouldn't throw a hissy fit!
Also, our cars may not be the most reliable, but you could source a whole second hand engine for £507!

I reckon the long term costs of owning a TF/F are pretty cheap, both are good on fuel and the bits that do go wrong dont cost the world! Most of the money I have spent on mine have been because I wanted to uprate from standard.

My wifes late 2002 VW Polo (20K on clock) need a new lamda sensor (there are two on the 9N Version and it was the most expensive one :rant: £137.00 plus VAT plus fitting. a Lamda for the F/TF is half that price.

The Garages are "coining it in" look at some of the charges. £1000 to £1700 for a Head gasket job, £1000 for an EPAS unit ( 50 pence to adjust) £1000 for new front & rear pads and discs on a 2004 standard TF! £300 for a new driver door lock (which Russell sorted for £30) and so it goes on. for those of us that dont have the time or ability to do the jobs, the saviours are Saint Russell, Jon, Rough Luck and MJS and a few more, not forgetting Dazlightyear at Pocket Motors and JN at Summit Garage and the guy that Red Devil found. What would we do without them :nonod: WALLET SURGERY :bust:

Might be of interest.
The receipt that came with my car from when previous owner had head done and other bits and bobs.
Feb 2009
Parts:
Ignition coils £83.46
Plugs £27.48
Thermostat £7.11
Cambelt Kit £56.88
Water pump £28.20
Oil £20.25
Oil Filter £4.54
Coolant £15.00
Fan Belt £7.98
Head set/bolt kit £89.98
Degrease £3.12
Pressure Test Cylinder Head £38.56
Reface Cylinder head £43.23
Strip & rebuild head £49.50

Labour @ £40 ph 9 hrs £360
Remove head/skim head and pressure test/ re-fit/replace water pump., cambelt, thermostat

With VAT = £960

some times its worth looking at patern parts

iv brought bike parts that are none suzuki but turned up in sealed genuine suzuki wraping

also done it with cars brought a lamba sensor for the F and it turned up in a mg box with mg part numbers and was 50% cheaper

as for running costs my astrsa full service at vaxhall is £265, got it done at a garage i use and was £125 cash with a full report on parts that will need replacing before mot ect ir brake pads 3/4 used so best to replac in the next 5k miles

unfortunatly today its not what you know but who you know to get the bargains

over 6 months my astra has costed the same as my wifes f to run :broon: