S3 money pit?

[eagle_s3]

Eagle - Its a a lot more difficult than the other 1.8T cambelt changes. having the Tb on the opposite side and a lot of different pipes etc makes it so much more time consuming.
If your not very competant with a spanner i would leave it to the garage.
to put perspective on it, I did my old dears Golf gti 1.8t belt change in around 1:30.. wheras my s3 took just over 5:00

Thanks for that csweatherston. I'll save the pennies and get it sorted out by the garage then as 5 hrs for you could be who know how long for me.

 

[Effect]

the £1800 on my credit card and the masses of other cash i have spent on the car would tend to agree with the OP.
heh heh.

I want to change all my bushes out next as the car has done 115k do you guys think it would be wise as a matter of course to change the bushes at this age even though the mechanic has checked them and says that he thinks they all seem ok ?
P.S. have already change front ARB and front wishbone front bushes.


James

 

[Y83OLK]

Hopefully my rear bearing will be the last job i have to do for a while...this time tomorrow my car should be perfect (touch wood)
Theres a lot of comments in here about suspension mods changing peoples opinion of the car, Is it really that bad in standard form?..

 

[stevehart]

the difference is amazing

 

[The Doctor]

I want to change all my bushes out next as the car has done 115k

Just had mine replaced with Powerflex on the front w/bones & ARBs - much better now. Car has done 65k, so at 115k it sounds like you'll be due a new set soon anyway.

 

[jojo]

Hopefully my rear bearing will be the last job i have to do for a while...this time tomorrow my car should be perfect (touch wood)
Theres a lot of comments in here about suspension mods changing peoples opinion of the car, Is it really that bad in standard form?..

The standard stuff is a bit soft and wallowy during corners out the box, uprated changed the car's handling quite a bit.

 

[turbonutta]

HHHM i agree money pit

i had to have two new coils
new aux water pump
new air filter
oil
oil filter

and lots of petrol aaarrgghh oh well i do love it and i have only had it 2 weeks, i just hope i dont have any other probs as im well into my overdraft after insurance and all the bits iv had to buy oh well

i must admit im driving it really carfully as i cant afford to break it
it still glugs the juice tho...i bung 20quid in it and the on board comp says
150miles range i get about 90 miles thats the price of a performance mota i spose....imagine what a s8 v10 consumes........

 

[Westy]

You cant count service components like oil and filter as this is all part of maintaining any car.

When you set out to buy a 2nd hand car without a warrenty you need to factor in the costs of things going wrong. I put £100 a month into a specific car account to spend on service, Tax, insurance, and MOT when they come round. That way I wont get caught short. If anything mechanical goes wrong it comes out of my main pay.

I dont see any point in driving round carefully just incase something breaks or you'll always be worrying and not enjoying the car. I drive it like I stole it and if it breaks, it breaks.

 

[indiemike]

Since I bought it in march:

2 rear tyres: £250
Oil change I done myself: £60
haldex oil + filter £95

so in 6 months only £405

Think I spent more on my corsa when I had it

but touchwood it stays low cost running. But overall there great cars and I wouldn't change it 4 the world, all cars have problems from times 2 times, if u want a low cost run around get a cheap fiesta, if u want a quick fun car stick with the S3, simple

 

[Y83OLK]

It never rains it pours!
Rear wheel bearing was one of the most awkward i have done in a while, i even had to make a puller for it!.
Ontop of that, one partially seized rear calliper, and a bleed nipple which wont budge

 

[Fuzzy felt]

mine is starting to cost some pennies now too, have had to replace the front cv boots, rear pads, front wishbone bushes recently, and tonight the headlight switch has gone weird and turns the front fogs on at the same time ! from looking at some old posts it is about £90 for a new switch !

 

[The Doctor]

I put £100 a month into a specific car account to spend on service, Tax, insurance, and MOT when they come round. That way I wont get caught short. If anything mechanical goes wrong it comes out of my main pay.

Yep, that's exactly what I do. That way the "expected" costs are covered before they arise and it's only the unexpected ones to fork out for.