Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Hey folks,


I have had my Scooby since March last year and although I love her to bits, she has cost me a small fortune in bits etc....
Bought her for 9k and spent close to 6k on parts failure. What's more, I had just got her fully serviced and the brakes upgraded when I went and had a crash(the first in 5 years[img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]).
The back end has been dented and doesn't look at all bad, until you open the boot, where she is a little creased. DOH!
Had the quote put at close to 3k all in to fix it. Chassis not bent but just a lot of cutting out of bootfloor....
I have been trying to arrange it with the coachworks, but they are hard to get hold of.
This has given time to sit back and think whether I am making the right decision:

Pros:

With the amount of things that have been replaced on her, she will be good for quite some time(fingers crossed)
I get to keep my Scoob!
I still get to blow out 2 foot flames and set off alarms in Car Parks:0
She is only on approx 35K miles from memory

Cons:

I need to get a house with the other half and the car is costing me the following monthly:
£175 Insurance
£120-150 Petrol, 4-5 tanks
£10 approx in Millers

That and the £3k that I am about to fork out on repairs


So, I am left with the following:

Spend the 3K now, still have the monthly running costs and sell her on for £5-6k in a year

Sell her now with the damage for how ever much, plucked out of thin air£2-2.5k, put the other 3K towards a different car, save a pile on insurance, a bit on fuel and probably no millers. Buy another scoob in a couple of years time.

So folks, what do you reckon that I should do?
Will realistically only be left with 5.5K for another car, recommendations?
My cars to date might give you some help:

MiniMetro
Escort 1.1
Escort 1.6Ghia
Modded Pug 106XSI
Modded Pug 106GTI
Imp WRX

Any advice gratefully recieved,


Cheers,

Nick.

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

As long as you are not to concerned about the appearance of your car I'd suggest a Xsara VTS, or if you want to spend less an Almera Gti. Both pretty quick & handle well, but are cheap second hand due to their lack of image.

tiggers

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I am just curious. What has gone wrong with your Scoob that has cost you 6K when it has only done 35K miles. I thought they were about as reliable as you could reasonably expect. I've not had any major probs with any of mine over the years, current one on 62K miles at the moment. Is yours heavily modded or are you just unlucky?

Also if you've had an accident and the backend is damaged why are you having to pay for it as surely someone must have run into you. Mine is currently having similar work after a lovely little old lady in her Nissan Micra fogot what her brake pedal was for. Same damage, looks not too bad until you look at the boot floor.

Sorry about the questions, I'm just inquisitive that's all.

Regards,

tiggers.

P.S. Keep the Scoob would be my recommendation as 5.5K will buy you not a lot as according to my trader mate this is the one area of the car market that is seriously buoyant at the moment.

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Thabnks for the replies so far guys.
I bought 1 with a great engine, but just about everything else was dying on her.Unfortunatly I didn't know this. The gearbox and rear diff were incompatable, so tore each other to shreds within a month or 2. the next gearbox and diff fitted were from a RA, which was totally psycho and useless at motorway speeds. The last box was and diff were from a 98 UK model, as I was so shocked by the RA box, I wanted something with a good Motorway gear and couldn't get hold of a standard wrx box at the time.
New spoiler which had problems sitting perfectly on the boot, so had to be mildly modified.
The exhaust system that came with her was hung awfully low and didn't have much left on the bottom from scrapage. I had a couple of mild scrapes in her and that was it.
Nasty aftermarket downpipe fitted to the old custom one, so had it all replaced with a Scoobysport Downpipe and a Blitz nur spec 'R' system.
The brakes were also shot, so I had them replaced late november with cross drilled/grooved discs and Red/Green stuff pads.Serviced at the same time.
New gearknod, steering wheel, stereo, 6x9's.
Can't remember what else now.

Unfortunatly, the latest bill comes from me actually making a booboo and spinning her down a straight coming out of a bend. Nothing dangerous, but just missed catching her back in again and the back kissed a low barrier . 1st accident in 5 years

Steve Lawson knows this car pretty well, as I got to know him pretty soon after buying her!

Good thing is that the engine doesn't use a drop of oil. I just think that this might be a good time to lower my monthly bills, as I have less than£100 a month spare to start putting towards a house

But saying all of that, I am considering gatting a Lexus Soarer, as I would be happy in one of those I think for a year or 2. Just have no idea what the insurance would be like. Doubt that it would be worse than the £2000 that I have to currently pay! 24 years old.

Cheers,


Nick

polarbearit

Agree with Robertio, Xsara VTS and Almera GTI are both bargains for what they cost... I had a Xsara VTS briefly, great value. I'd also look at a nissan 200 sx, cheaper insurance than a scooby and better fuel economy and still decent performance. Image is low hence prices are low That or a Repmobile V6, lots of car for the money, an sensible mileage Mondeo/Vectra V6 can be had well within budget - Dull though

Anyway is there any more cost effective way of repairing the car, Secondhand parts etc?

Jon

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Cheers Jon. Before the Scoob, I looked at a 200SX, but couldn't fit into it. I am 6'7", so it was a no-no.

I think that I would still like to stay Japanese, but not really sure. Realistically, I would like something that was at least as fast as my modded GTI, but beggars can't be choosers etc....
Might look into the old V6 thing actually,

Cheers,

Nick

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Tiggers, forgot to mention the funniest part, the car had passed a 'Full RAC Inspection'. I still have the sheet. Never did think that they were worth the paper they were written on.... Amazing what they don't notice when all they do is inspect a car with a torch

Cheers,


Nick.

P1Fanatic

Erm I might of missed something in this topic but why on earth are you paying £3k for repairs - thats what your insurance is for? Or do you not have protected no claims or similar?

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Errrr, I am not going to claim for 3 grands worth of damege when my insurance is already £2000.

I have not got enough years no claims with my company to qualify for protected. Would rather hold onto them, since it was also my fault anyway.


Cheers,

Nick.

[Edited by Mr Footlong - 1/13/2002 6:37:03 PM]

sulli

Get a Mini Metro - and you will not lose control of it, more than likely

golfturbo

why don't you make the claim and keep the car until your next renewal...sell the car for a decent price and build up your no claims discount again with a cheap car
£3000 for repairs...how much are they charging per hour - from the sound of it the parts aren't going to be very expensive so they must be charging a fortune per hour

Alas

Trying to make the same decision as yourself just now. Car had a small bump but insurance is now going to be a killer - on top of the running costs.
If you're looking for a good motor, plenty of room and lots of grunt, try a Mazda MX6. I had one before the scoob and with a 2.5 v6 engine it is not far behind in the performance stakes. Well it is, but better than most. Handles really well and comfy seats. Also very reliable. Only probs I had were CV joints from the roads that I have to drive on. A few for sale just now at reasonable prices.
Alasdair

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

1K for parts apparantly, things like the bumper are £200-300 and panels for the boot floor, under boot beam, nuts bolts, paint etc
1.2K for the labour, £200 for the paint and add VAT to that lot and you're a winner!

I am not prepared to lose any of my no claims before I turn 25, so not an option.

Cheers,

Nick

P1Fanatic

I would seriously consider working out which option is cheaper. If you havent got enough NCB to protect it then you must have 3 years 11 months at the max - fair point if you are like a few months away from getting 4 years NCB and therefore the ability to protect. Antything under 3 years (which it sounds like if ur still paying £2k per year on insurance) - you make a claim you will lose 2 years NCB and pay your excess - still seems a lot cheaper option than forking out £3k on repairs IMHO.

[Edited by P1Fanatic - 1/13/2002 8:10:07 PM]

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Coming up for 4 years in March. Also, the Insurance company will only replace the exhaust system, which is repairable(just shifted an inch and a big dent in the end of the pipe, with a piffling little UK exhaust. Forget the insurance thing. I have already made my mind up to not claim.

Cheers, for the advice though,

Thanks,

Nick

ScoobyJawa

Nick - if you want to stay Jap and are defo saying bye to the scoob - think about the last shape Civic. Mate at my old work had one and was every bit as good and fast as my old 306GTi-6. His was the 3 door 1.6 VTi. You should be able to pick one up for around 6k........around the same sort of price as the "6".....

Just a thought!!

Jolly Green Monster 2

Sorry to hear this Nick..

I hear what you are saying with regard the insurance but if you claim you will lose 2years from the 3 so will have 1 years no claims. I'd claim, get the car sorted and then sell it and buy something cheap and cheerful on insurance for a bit... if it was £1500 then it would be good not to claim but £3000!!!!

Or if it is only in the boot and doesn't effect running then ignore it, or just get the bumper done until you later decide to sell it etc... and run the car as is...

You could also remove some of the mods to try and reduce insurance costs?

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Well folks.....


No need to worry about what to do with my baby, as I have just been the victim of dozy bint syndrome! The car is now a complete write-off.

Sorry if you got held up on the A31 tonight. It wasn't my fault. I had stopped completely behind accident #1, when lovely lady piled into the back of me about 5-10 seconds later causing accident #2! Got my Souvinir Breath tester pipe to keep though, so things turned out well after all

Funny how things work out...

Cheers,

Nick.

Edited to put more detail in as I am not quite with it....

[Edited by Mr Footlong - 1/14/2002 7:56:06 PM]

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear that Nick

Rikki 95WRX

Sorry to hear that too - never nice to hear

tiggers

Sorry to hear that. Still at least you hadn't forked out the 3K.

Regards,

tiggers

golfturbo

If the Insurance company doesn't rip your eyes with the offer you've had a result....

Jolly Green Monster 2

Well unlucky and lucky at the same time mate!

At least you are okay...

Hope the insurance pay out okay..

AJbaseBloke

<phew>
Glad you walked away more'n anything!

juan

306 is a decent car. Handles pretty well. Just don't push it to the same limit as the Scooby
maybe a pristine s16.
Not sure if GTI6's are within your price range yet

blf21

Glad you are OK. What comes around goes around...

My 2p's worth... if you are 6'7" there's no way your going to fit (comfortably) into a Saxo surely? I've a friend who was going to go for a 106GTi until he realised that his feet didn't really fit into the pedal box...

Ben.

ScoobyJawa

Sorry to hear that - but at least its sorted your insurance dilemma and wasn't you're fault

What do you think you're going to do now then?

Gridlock Mikey

Jammy Bastuard

Glad to hear that you are ok (Obviously) but how bizarre, "Shall I Shan't I " Type thread followed by a pretty woman sorting it all out for you. Yes you gotta wait for the Insurance to actually pay, and yes you ain't got a car at the mo, but hey, you just saved £3k

See me, I always think the glass is half full

Mikey

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Hehe.

Weird how things turn out...
I was going to bite the bullet and get things sorted with her, but not an option anymore....
Was a larf driving her the 1/4 of a mile home. Barely able to shut my door, severe transmission whine and feeling like the handbrake was on. Didn't dare going over more than about 15-20 because I reckon the wheels would have fallen off!. The steering wheel is now at 90 degrees to the normal to drive straight!


Anyway, I had her insured for 9K, after all of the parts replaced and the low mileage engine, she was pretty pristine, so I am going to fight for as much as possible.
Juan and Ben, I can't bring myself to go back down to a 306GTI or 106GTI, Lovely cars, As I have owned 1 and driven the other for a day. Not quick enough in standard form once you have owned a scoob.

Hmmm, I feel an STI5 coming on

Cheers,


Nick.

Mr Footlong

iTrader: (7)

Forgot to say that the lady actually plowed into us at between 40 and 50 miles per hour according to her. Could have been a lot worse.....