car dilemma..

[sara3]

arghh.. I don't know what to do! I have an O2 reg Alfa 147, I love him dearly. really.. a lot! the handbrake went last week and I booked it in for today, and had it serviced at the same time. the bill was just shy of £400, and they gave me a very long list of what else needs doing, which would cost about £1000 if I did it all (I am cynical over some of these things, btw).
what do I do? sell it and buy something else? I don't have a load of cash under the mattress so would have to get a loan. has its time come? I don't want to keep throwing money at it as it's not worth much money now.
also can anyone suggest a similar car, which might be loved as much as this one? I guess in the £5-7k region.
my heart is broken :o(

[Graham-W]

My son, too, has an Alfa 147. Just had the cambelt and variator done at a Alfa specialist (not franchised dealer). Cost was £420 and he also got a warning about rust on the handbrake cable.
Time to get rid I would say (if you can get a decent price).

[sara3]

thanks Graham.. I think I paid about £500 for just the cambelt a couple of years ago, London prices!

[cazzz1975]

handbrake cable shouldnt cost that much!

I would look for a new garage while you are at it, the "list" sounds dubious IMO

[sara3]

the cables were £140, the service was £180, plus plenty of VAT!

[sara3]

thanks Eddie, it was a franchised dealer.. I just wanted Alfa stamps in the service book!

I don't have anyone who can take the car in, but there's nothing that would fail the MOT right now. they said the aircon outer belt (??) was cracked, and if it snapped it could get tangled in the cambelt.. I'm not sure if they weren't just trying to scare me.

you're right what you say about "seeing me coming". I'll try to find someone else to take it to, but I've had so many bad experiences!

[annie0000]

That's the problem with taking your car to a garage in a city. they can rip you off and there is always someone else lining up outside to be ripped of next. If you can, take it so a small garage in a village or small town. These guys rely on their reputation to keep them going so can seldom afford to be dodgy.

[JonnyBoy12]

Yes, I agree with Eddie about females getting ripped off in garages, but if the bill is that high females have another way of "paying" for goods and services, which males do not, which shall remain nameless on this family site.

[AlBags]

Sara ...

A 9 yr old Alfa .. forget about the Alfa stamps.
Those prices are silly. I do a few cars for people as a sideline .. must be someone you know around your way that can do the same for you.
What was the list from the garage? Brakes .. Discs?
You keep it and get it sorted.

[AlBags]

JonnyBoy ..

So that's the way you work is it?

[cazzz1975]

I agree with albags

[sara3]

yeah, I realised today that the value/age of the car no longer warranted the Alfa stamps, silly me. the list is;
floppy gearstick (news to me), but non-essential
front cv boot split (I understand this one!)
front cat converter flexi exhaust pipe
1 tyre
something about the front anti-roll bar, but nothing dangerous!

he also mentioned chips in the windscreen, but they were filled a long time ago and they never noticed them last year
plus, the last time he said the wiper mechanism was about to go (over £200) but it's still fine a year on, and they never mentioned it this time

[sara3]

annie, I know you're right but have had bad experiences with garages near home (St Albans), and I just don't know who to trust

[cazzz1975]

omg sara! they are screwing you big time!!!

my advice is to ask local people who they use, get some advice

[Hymie]

To all of you who are suggesting sara3 paid over the odds for the repair – I can only assume that you have never set foot in St. Albans. Personally, I’m surprised that the local council allows someone to live within its boundary, owning a car nearly 10 years old.

I can tell you that Sara’s neighbours will be most concerned at her lowering the tone of the area - seen driving such a car – hopefully the car is garaged, out of sight.

[sara3]

yeah, it's not good, is it Cazzz? :o/

one of my neighbours has an Alfa and takes it to a local garage, but they ripped me off for £300 many years ago for a proper duff job.

I fell out with another local garage over £2 worth of screen wash! but they lied to me, so I don't trust them.

[sara3]

Eddie, they quoted £86 for that, probably plus VAT.

Hymie, cheers.

[cazzz1975]

wow I would love to visit the area for the day, chav the place up bigstyle!

[sara3]

Cazzz, it's not that bad.. some of the richest people are like that because they don't spend any money!

anyway, everyone knows that Alfa's are the best cars, no matter how old ;o)