Tin-Top: What should I do ?
mcerd1 - 3/10/12 at 01:29 PM
I've had my tin-top about 4.5 years and its been 'ok', but now its needing quite a few things done to keep it in half decent nick 
So what would you lot do with it ??
its a 2001 focus with a 1.8 blacktop and has ~125k on the clock
I recon the car is worth £500 - £600 as a trade in on a good day (its still got some life left), but I might have to drop that a bit to get shot of it
The Bad bits:
the timing belt is due about now and I recon I'd want to look at the valve clearances while I'm at it
The fan has stopped working and I'm struggling to find a S/H for sensible money (don't even ask how much a new one costs)
The gearbox is working fine, but its starting to feel like its done a lot of miles. The clutch is only 15k old, but it’s a cheap nasty one that
doesn't feel like its got much bite (and smells a lot it you pull away a bit sharpish)
Its just had a new rear box and the rest of the exhaust isn't pretty, on holes (for now….) but I've re-made nearly all the hangers
I think its just broken a read spring and the rear dampers are a bit soft too (not MOT failures at all though)
One of the back doors has some quite visible rust now and the rear arches have got the start of some blisters, and all the other door have the
beginnings of more rust hiding round the edges too
Also what ever I do with the brakes I can't get them as good as I'd like (nothing actually wrong with them, I'd just like something
that can brake harder 
)
Oh and the hand brake adjustment lasts 5min, but that seems to be true of every car I've ever driven with rear drums
The good bits
it’s a known car, so no massive surprises waiting for me (famous last words...)
its not got any structural rot yet
I've got loads of wheels and tyre sets for it (summer & winter + several spares)
It can still pull off a 42+ mpg round trip down twisty A roads if your very careful with the right foot, but also quite nippy if you not worried about
the mpg 
(I should add that all work will have to be done my me, but I will have a full workshop to play with 
)
[Edited on 3/10/2012 by mcerd1]
cliftyhanger - 3/10/12 at 01:58 PM
so a couple of hundred quid and the car will last a few more years, still be worth £150 in scrap. Keep it, do the cambelt and odd jobs, a fan will
turn up eventually and go on holiday with the cash you save.
mookaloid - 3/10/12 at 01:59 PM
depends on whether you have funds to buy something better, whether you like the car enough to spend money on it to keep or if you are about to start a
Middy project and it will make a good doner
cliftyhanger - 3/10/12 at 02:00 PM
BTW heater fan? £20 delivered off the bay..........about the same for a rad fan.
daviep - 3/10/12 at 02:08 PM
I voted to run it in to the ground, depends if you mind driving something which looks like a pile of sh1t.
I've been waiting for a fiesta to die for the last 3 years Starting to look a bit of a dog now and the wife is starting to complain about
driving it, however it's not really showing any signs of actually dying. I've been unsiezing a rotten caliper for the last year and it now
needs a set of pads and a TRE but that's about it.
Cheers
Davie
Slimy38 - 3/10/12 at 02:14 PM
I've bought too many cars because the previous one had been 'old', and then realised I was better off with the original. Better the
devil you know and all that.
If the car itself is fundamentally sound, and (most) parts are readily available, then stick with it.
mark chandler - 3/10/12 at 02:20 PM
Replace it with something cheap and inherit the same concerns you have now.
I would be inclined to run it into the ground
ross05 - 3/10/12 at 02:31 PM
keep it running,spend a couple of hundred and see how it goes.must agree with previous posts better the devil you know
mcerd1 - 3/10/12 at 02:47 PM
funds for a new car = £10 (what I've got in my wallet)
I can find more £££ but I think it would need to be the bargin car of the century - anyone know of any old granny mobiles going cheap ?
could be as old as you like but would need to be in very good condition...
something like my first car: cost me -£10 (as in I got given it with £10 cash to put fuel in) and it only had 24k on the clock !
but it was a 21 year old fiesta in oyster gold (ie metalic beige) & crome with a sh1t brown interior.... high fashon in 1979
quote:
Originally posted by daviep
I voted to run it in to the ground, depends if you mind driving something which looks like a pile of sh1t.
I couldn't care less
its still the newer than any other car I've ever owned, but its also got alot more miles on it too
the GF won't drive it, but thats mostly because its "too big and powerful" (she drives a 1.2 clio) lol
I only bought this thing because I was fed up fixing the 106, sold that to mango and nothing else broke on it for years 
also because I quite like the focus (and the puma) when they first came out - I was learing to drive at the time
but in the end the same things have broken, but there are more of them and they are more complex, harder and more expencive to fix
owelly - 3/10/12 at 03:39 PM
Judging by how you have described the car, I doubt you'd get a real £500-£600 trade in. You might if the car you were buying had the dealers
trade-in margin on the screen price anyway!
So, if you were to sell it as it is, about £400. It's what they go for with a bit of T&T but needing a bit of TLC.
So what could you buy with £400? You could buy a 2001 1.8 Focus that needs a bit of work.....
Keep it. Do the jobs. Pray you don't get on the 'I can't sell it now, I've just spent £xxx's on it' slide...
britishtrident - 3/10/12 at 06:24 PM
I don't want to be cruel but it sounds like it is already run into the ground. If you keep it by this time next year you will have spent
another £500 and a lot of grubby hours on it. Sell it for scrap and do the auctions round.
In the past 3 years I have bought 3 cars for between £500 and £670 --- two had between 40,000 and 50,000 miles on the clock and all had MOTs of
between 3 and 11 months and since all have only required minor work for MOTs .
One a Rover 75 that cost £550 went through 2 MOTS and only required a wiper blade but for its 3rd MOT it need a wishbone and a pair of rear
springs. The only other work done to it was last weekend it got the 60,000 mile timing belt change and the head gasket modification done.
The other low mileage one a Rover 45 after more than a years use has only needed a couple of brakes pipes and an exhaust.
Your brakes sound as if your rear sefl-adjusters aren't working usually this because they have been adjusted ! by tightening the
hand brake cable tension. The handbrakes on rear drum brakes seldom require more than minimum attention to maintain a very effective handbrake.
bigbravedave - 3/10/12 at 09:29 PM
Dont ever buy an imaculate one owner fsh mint 15 year old car thats in as new condition. It will wee you off imensly when everyrhing u look at buying
thats newer is in worse condition than ur old mint shed. I bought a 97 golf tdi estate with every extra in showroom condition for 300 quid. Iwant to
buy an e46 320d sport tourer to replace it but most are tatty in comparison
mcerd1 - 3/10/12 at 10:17 PM
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Your brakes sound as if your rear sefl-adjusters aren't working usually this because they have been adjusted ! by tightening the
hand brake cable tension. The handbrakes on rear drum brakes seldom require more than minimum attention to maintain a very effective handbrake.
they are adjusted properly each time (I've only ever had to adjust a cable when fitting a new one) - the handbrake does work ok, but I really
notice that the self-adjuster just don't keep it as 'sharp' as I'd like and you can feel the difference under hard braking
mcerd1 - 3/10/12 at 10:18 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bigbravedave
Dont ever buy an imaculate one owner fsh mint 15 year old car thats in as new condition. It will wee you off imensly when everyrhing u look at buying
thats newer is in worse condition than ur old mint shed.
too late - I'm only on my third car of my own now, but the first 2 were both near mint sheds.....
[Edited on 3/10/2012 by mcerd1]
bigbravedave - 4/10/12 at 11:46 AM
In 13 years of driving some 280k miles, Im only on my second daily hack driver. damn them golf tdi mk3!
The most expensive part Ive bought was an £90 flexi downpipe thing