Time for a moan

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by blink, Nov 11, 2020.

  1. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    I have a car thats been parked up for five years, because it needs some work doing on the engine. I finally decided to get it repaired and back on the road, so have spent hundreds on replacing the suspension, brakes, bushes etc but I dont really want to start working on the engine when I dont know what the trouble is, let alone strip it and rebuild it to find its not fixed the problem. Time for an expert

    I was lined up with a garage, booked a tow truck but they cancelled on me the day before, without explanation.

    Asked around, found another garage, spoke to him on messenger, went to visit, and agreed to message and arrange a date. Now he is reading my messages, and ignoring me - so obviously doesnt want the work

    Another garage, diagnosed an entire engine replacement, without hearing whats wrong with it, and would get a price to do it - nothing back

    an engine rebuilders that are supposed to be great, phoned them 7 times over the space of several weeks, and always promised that someone would email or call me, no response

    then the big tuners, tried both of them, lots of enthusiasm on the phone, then no response

    so I found another local engine rebuilder, allegedly specialising in Vauxhalls, after chasing them up twice, without any response, I gave in.


    What makes it a bit worse is that friends are recommending these people, tagging them on facebook, then when they ask me how i got on, they get tit on when I tell them that I get no response!


    All I can assume is that these local businesses that are always complaining they are hard done to because customers go to the dealers are over run with work, or they are only interested in doing easy jobs like brakes and servicing, which, to be fair, any monkey can do - I know this, because I do that work myself.


    Anyway, I'm back at square one, car sat with the brakes rusting up in the rain
     
  2. Naz

    Naz Active Member

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    it wouldn’t of surprised me if a few garages did that to you but that many is strange, what car is it? And if it’s been sat there for five years is it actually worth the hassle now? You might need to go to the local garages in person some garages don’t want the headache of fault finding as it can be a minefield hence trying to say replace the whole lot but that doesn’t always work either
     
  3. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    its an astra with a corsa vxr engine in it, so there are thousands of them out there. I suspect its the diagnosis part they dont want to do.

    any time I have seen engine swaps, its been done as cheaply as possible and they are never right again.

    its worth the hassle ;)
     
  4. Naz

    Naz Active Member

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    You could do a engine swap and still be in the same position so best take a drive to some garages that specialise in diagnostics hopefully someone will take on the work. Good luck mate
     
  5. Naz

    Naz Active Member

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    You could do a engine swap and still be in the same position so best take a drive to some garages that specialise in diagnostics hopefully someone will take on the work. Good luck mate
     
  6. Saqib

    Saqib Active Member

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    My recent experience is that garages are at full to bursting point.. people are working from home, or have moved house and use the car more.. and more than public transport.

    I went to a body shop last week.. he said its crazy, and they have a huge waiting list of cars booked in.

    My suggestion would be to pull the motor yourself, or ask a mate to help you diagnose the issue. If it is just a sensor, then thats an easy fix. If it is more of an engine issue, then just take it to a garage and tell them exactly what to do.

    Engine swaps are fine. But diagnosing the root cause of an intermittent fault needs time and patience.. which a lot of garages don't have.

    What is the fault btw?
     
  7. Kevin1

    Kevin1 Elite Member

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    I've come across this kind of apathy with a couple of retailers recently. Car Sales, Hi-Fi shops, you do your best to help locals and despite initial enthusiasm, you get nothing back. I don't know what it is but...
     
  8. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    I dont know what the fault is, otherwise id fix it ;)

    its smoking a lot and has a top end rattle

    I just dont think people want to do any diagnosis, but dont want to say that


    another local garage has been suggested, plus someone that wants to talk, but doesnt appear to have a business place, i dont fancy a back garden repairer
     
  9. hitch

    hitch Elite Member

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    You never know about those people without a premises.
    My Dad had an old Peugeot 306 (or something) shitty old thing that my neice is now the proud owner of - anyway, it had oil in the coolant expansion tank; the Peugeot dealer was not interested quoting over £800 *before* doing the work i.e. diagnosis WTF! ...so he got chatting with his next door neighbour who is an RAC 'engineer'(? - what are they called?) anyway he said he reckons it was simply the head gasket allowing oil to force its way into the water jacket (poor design on that engine), so my dad let him have it and do the work under his 'lean to' thing at the back of the driveway and he did it all in for £500. Sorted the issue.

    Sometimes these people have lots of experience and it may well be work having at least a chat.
     
  10. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    cant disagree with what you are saying, but someone without a place isnt likely to have insurance, vat registered etc, so if their unit burns down containing my car, its down to me

    I have been to see a guy today, and its booked in with him next week, at the very least, to make a plan

    spent more time talking about bikes, I rode there on mine :D
     
  11. Lozzy

    Lozzy God Like

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    Have you just this minute ridden thru Calver crossroads @blink onto Hassop Rd?
    Looked like you...
     
  12. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    nope, not guilty me lord!

    I'm cruising in the luxury QEII today
     
  13. tuktuk

    tuktuk Elite Member

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    Might be a silly question here, what is the benefit of an Astra with a Corsa vxr engine over an Astra vxr?

    Sleeper type thing?
     
  14. blink

    blink Well-Known Member

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    its a slight story

    the Astra H had something like

    VXR with a 2.0 turbo 240bhp
    the same 2.0 turbo 200bhp (5 door only)
    also the same 2.0 litre with 170bhp 3/5 door
    then the NA engines
    1.4 90/100bhp
    1.6 105/115 bhp
    1.8 125/40 bhp

    and the shite diesels


    then, as they were designing the new Astra J, they wanted to test out the new generation engines, so stuck the new 1.6 turbo in the SRi, and made it a mildly sporty variant.

    when the J came out, the 1.6 turbo sort of replaced the 2.0 turbo engines in the standard cars, and the VXR kept a 2.0 and got some power improvements.


    anyway, mine was a 5 door SRI, so nothing too outrageous, but I have mapped it, modded it, and it looks a bit mad now, but like you say, its a bit of a sleeper, because everyone assumes a petrol astra 5 door will be a NA 1.8 at best.

    I dont think its gonna feel even slightly quick compared to 4.4 seconds from the 750, and 2.9s from the fireblade. Standard, it was 7.8 seconds, i think mapped its closer to 6.9

    anyway, they only made 78 1.6 turbo SRI XP cars, so its moderately unusual, which makes it a bit interesting

    the same engine went into the corsa VXR, which they made millions, mostly seen at mcdonalds at night, it had some tweaks to the map, making it slightly more powerful iirc
     
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