Do cars always go wrong?

My dads got a rather annoying N reg escort 1.6LX zetec. Its got 70k on the clock and the engine/gearbox/clutch runs like new. However just about everything else has gone wrong with the car this what my dads had to get replaced within the 12 monhts of ownership.

New rare bearings, new drums, discs, pads (this was because the prevous owner got this done at kwikfit and they made a mess of it)
New silencer, new mid section
The central locking on the drivers door no longer works, the the cable which connects to the rest of it has rusted away.
The bike type cable that opens the drivers door has snaped (this is an MOT failture which will need to be fixed)
Rust is appearing on the right hand sill and wheel arch
The throttle cable came loose although this was only a minor job (I could have fixed this myself)
We are getting it serviced and also getting a new cam belt just in case its never been replaced.

So current;ly we have a slightly rusty car with no central locking or drivers door that opens. The engine seems great (touch wood) and the car is very reliable its just all the auxilery things keep going wrong. We only paid £1600 for the car 12 months ago so I suppose its only normal.

So in case you are wondering what the point is in all this drivel, well basicaly on average how much should you expect to spend on your car on repairs including MOT in 12 months and say 10k miles?

 

at 70k an escort will start to break it's ancillaries. you'd better change the cam belt, take a look at the battery, alternator, power steering pump (has it got this?) and any other perishable items like rubber seals, radiator, hoses or wiring, electrics etc. i'd say fix the obvious stuff and flog it on or p/x it for somethign else before you have to spend a lot on the car.
cheers

julian

 

They don't build them like they used to - saw a MINT MK1 Capri with vinyl roof going the way I was going (at medium, wobbly speed on my bike) this morning, and it was good to see! It even had that lovely exhaust smell I used to like about our old Mk1 - but wasn't a filthy metallic brown Oh - and it had black/silver numberplates too!

My dad's Ashtray has been round the clock almost twice, and has had to have a new gearbox, but the engine and all else is tip top. The stereo won't play tapes and the doors are dicky, but to run from A-B it still works

 

Its a Ford. Reliability problems are par for the course, but even they arent as bad as some cars - namely Shitroen who finished 26th out of 27 manufacturers in a what car survey. Who finished worst you may ask? Land Rover, thats who. Who's the best? Mazda. So if you want a reliable car, buy a Mazda (Toyota and Honda also finished well).

As for Capri's, they are simply awful, my dad had one, the gearstick came off in his hand on a motorway.

 

Would second Citroen. Had one and in the end they replaced it. The next one was worse, got to halves on the finance deal and handed it back.
Had a Primera for a while excellent car, then it wrote itself off. Have recently bought shock horror a Skoda Octavia TDi estate that has been no trouble either, but then what do expect it's a VW but costs about 3K less

 

Only the latter ranges were poor - the original might all be power and grunt and no refinement (point and squirt) - kind of the Naim of cars ( ) but there's something about that cheesy old paint and chromework I just can't get around...

Oh - and ours (a 1972 K reg) hit a P (old P that is - 1976) reg Beamer once at 1mph in a car park - Capri = scratch to chrome bumper, Beamer = new door - superior German engineering my arse.

Thirded on Shitroens - awful cars - and they can't even put the controls in the right place for gawd's sake. My mate's mate drives a Shitroen and it really is wink!

 

Yeah my dads just gone and bought the entire ford cam belt kit which has all the tensioners, pulleys, guides etc and we getting some person who came highly recomended to fi it. My dad used to have a lada years ago, a new clutch every a year was pretty much common place.

By far the most unreliable car I ever knew though as my grandads 1.6 leaded petrol montego. It never stopped breaking down, although it did have 150k on the clock. My grandads has now got a Nissan Micra with 140k on the clock and the engine is a bit rough the car is falling to pieces, he goes all the over the country in it without any problems.

My dad used to have a fiat punto, that was very reliable nothing really went wrong with it other than brakes, exhuast, and the lamba sensor (if this fails you will choke yourself with carbon monoxide!).

My dads escort has most the modern features, i.e power steering, electric windows etc but no aircon.

 

I've just recently scrapped my 'Dog car' it was a rover 414, timing belt went whilst my wife was driving back from the beach after walking the Dog ( hence Dog Car). it was not economically viable to fix it. Just bought a replacement Mazda 626, 2 litre. It is ten years old but everything seems to work and the Dog likes it - which is just as well as it's his car ( OK then and my work car ). In fact cosnsidering that I paid 200 notes for it at a local motor auction it is a dream to drive, and has brushed up real good with a bit of free elbow grease. I did have to make one major purchase to get it thru the MOT this week though, A brand new Catalytic Convertor (£125 all inc). The exhaust emmisions are now practically zero.
It is the the Cat that converts CO ( carbon Monoxide) into CO2 and water ( i believe) not the lambda/Oxy sensor, this just helps to schedule/adjust the Air/Fuel going into the Engine so it burns better, Hmm so i suppose they are all connected in some way, the Cat does get rid/convert CO though.

A few years ago whilst i was working abroad I always had a fairly new ( <3 year old ) car as i wanted my wife and kids to ride in new, safe and reliable cars. Now I'm living at home I don't mind having a slightly older cars and getting my hands dirty now and again, it's kinda fun sometimes ( terminal DIYer ).

My other car is a newer ( 4+ ) Fiat Brava. I thought it was a nice car to drive until i bought the 'Tired Old Mazda' now i think it is a bag a of Sh!te and the wife can keep it, me and the dog are much happier in our old shed .

 

sid,
i'm with you on the bangernomics thing. there are some absolute bargains out there if you can get your head around the concept of a disposable car.

i'd have to disagree wiht you all about citroens though, or at least the bx tzd. i had one of these a few years back and i couldn;t have asked any better of it. it had that funky hydraulic suspension. it went wrong so i took it to my local citroen specialist and it cost 7 quid to fix... yes 7 quid!
nothing else went wrong and i put over 40 k on it in 2 years and i got it with 108k on it. eventually scrapped it after it had sat in my back yard not rusting (cos it was made of plastic) for 2 years whilst i had a company car. if my lex goes bang i'd probably try to find another one or a zx td.
cheers

julian

 

My uncle had a seria with 450k on the clock, it was really really a proper banger and may not have been on the original engine either. He always has old bangers even though he has a very good job.

 

My dad had 6 shitroens. He had so many partly because of the fact he wanted an upgrade, partly because they had problems the dealer couldnt fix them.

Basically, he started with an AX 11 TGE, but his best friend at the time bought an AX GT, so naturally thats what he got next.

He loved the AX GT to drive, with its revvy and punchy engine, unfortunately he said it felt dangerous, the windscreen making a dodgy whistling noise at speed of over 95 mph (yeah i know...), and rattling as if it was going to fall to bits...

So then he got a ZX Reflex 1.4. But he missed the toys that the AX had...

So then he got a ZX Avantage 1.4. I am not too sure why he replaced this with an ZX Aura 1.9 Diesel, but thats what he did.....

But then he complained that it was too slow. So he eventually bought a ZX Volcane 1.9 Turbo Diesel. Definetly not slow, but it leaked oil, and the dealer couldnt seem to fix it.

Also, my friends have had Saxos. 1 had a Saxo 1.1, and it had faulty electrics and a replacement gearbox before its second birthday. Two other friends had VTS's, and both blew head gaskets and IIRC were write offs

BTW, a Saxo in spain is called a Sexo

 

My mitsubishi with getting on for 72000 miles on it feels just nicely run in... I've not had it long though, but the service history and receipts and AA check reveal nothing other than routine servicing.

 

My dads has full service history, the engine is fine its just a petty that plant in Merseyside couldn't assemble the cars properly! They make Jaguars there now instead and they want to swtich production over to Land Rovers (which is now owned by Ford).

 

Top executives at BMW and Mercedes have acknowledged that Toyota has the best build quality in the world :yikes:

Fords - I've had Esorts, a Sierra, Focus and a couple of Mondeos. Never that impressed with the brand until I drove the 2000 model Fiesta with the Yamaha developed engine. I thought that was a great laugh.

 

Is that the 1.25 zetec unit?

 

Probably.

 

my fiat seicento.
bought brand new 5 years' ago. currently 23,000 miles on the clock.
serviced once every year, on anniversary of purchase. they put in new oil as required, new filters as required, new spark plugs as required.
have had to have fixed :
nothing
have had to replace :
someone "borrowed" the radio aerial, cost £10 to replace
2 new tyres, £135 pounds
new windscreen wipers, about £15 ?
2 new front brake pads, can't remember price, not much
um
i put petrol in it, i fill the windscreen washer bottle, and that's it.
perfect car.

 

We have an Opel Astra Caravan (station wagon), owned from new (February 1994), currently 183,000Km (about 113,800 miles) on the clock. Repairs in that time:

Emergency flashing light switch broke
Air conditioner stopped working
Some of the dash control lighting bulbs failed

Funnily enough, I saw a car survey by the ADAC (the German AA) that said, "DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL!! Buy the following one". I can only assume that the following model could survive a direct hit by an ICBM.

 

Hopefully once we get the new cambelt fixed and the drivers door thats all that will go wrong for the next year.

 

When buying older cars, always buy the bottom of the range apart from engine. This is because these cars usually they do not come with electic windows and other gadets that go wrong.

Clutches go at around 60000miles. exhausts about 3-4 years, battery 3-4 years, brakes pads 20000miles discs usually every 3 times pads are changed, rear brakes vary a lot.

Always get your service done, and remember to ask to keep all parts to show you.

Gazz