Car Problems....Advice needed....

xxVic-zeexx

xxVic-zeexx

Active Member
Just because i love boring people with all the rubbish things that go wrong in my life from time to time :lol: i thought i would see if any one had any similar problems to mine....

Got myself a car (10 Year old vauxhall corsa) (bought from a 'friend') back in January and in March the grey fox, which we have nicknamed it, decided to start playing up...

BF is now the main driver of it and one day took it 5 mins down the road to the shops then randomely didnt start, luckily was parked near a car shop so got them 'leads' and his bro came over to help start it....seemed ok after that but then randomely every now and then it would pick a day when it wont want to start, leave it a few mins and it would start again....

Problem started to get worse then it got to the stage when the car would cut out whilst driving, then start again then cut out, most it did it was 8 times :spank:

Got it up to my work and got a local 'twatty' garage to come get it as it wasnt starting at all, not even ticking over, and even with their 'leads' it didnt. So i tell them the problem, not starting, cutting out etc etc. they then do the 'work' and we pick it up on saturday and the bf checks with them...'so it wont cut out any more? even tho you have just done the starter motor' which even to me was odd, after a few words were parted we took it hoping it wouldnt break down. Left the garage drove to kingston and back and was ok, picked up our other car and i followed behind the bf, low and behold it breaks down, luckily down from the garage but by this time they had finished for the day

Monday comes and i ring and let them know what happened, every day pretty much all week i drive past my car - nice to see it was priority :rolleyes: After a while they reckon its the fuel pump so i said go ahead and then its the ECU - and im no mechanic but that sounded expensive, so i get the bf (whos already f**ked off with them) to speak with them and they reckon its an electrical fault that only a specific place can deal with, i.e Vauxhall - it was only a stop gap car for a year, didnt even last 4 months...

Anyone had this problem and are they right? Im thinking the problem is going to be alot more money than the car is worth, get rid?
 
You are doing well to have a ten year old vauxhall moving at all!

Basic rule of thumb with cars in that range is the older they get the more problems you will have with it.

How many miles does it have onthe clock?
 
Sign up to a corsa owners forums and ask. Also find another Garage, It sound like they know nothing. Or you could accidentally crash into a wall and write the car off ;)
 
I had a similar problem with my first Peugeot 206. Turned out that the throttle valve had basically gotten blocked, so it would cut out occasionally when oxygen stopped getting to the engine.

If the repairs cost more than the cost of the car, get rid of it. Make sure you get quotes before doing any work!
 
The garage is and seems about as much use as a chocolate tea pot and their customer care is something that needs to be looked at as well :spank:

Knew it was risky taking a car that old, but thought 'its from a friend and only need it for approx a year' - famous last words Vicky.

Think its done maybe 80 thousand miles, so good for the year of the car.

Ikoda - My bfs friend had that exact same problem, but hes got a corsa like mine, and his car went in 6 times until they worked out it was the oxygen thing.

I dont doubt its the ECU seeing the car is sooo old, just annoyed they stuck a starter motor on it and sent me on my way so to speak.

Im not even bothering to get the car now so its sat in the garage :lol: luckily we dont need it as such, so for now it can clutter up there garage haha. Havent said go ahead with the ECU - well he said he cant do it anyway but im preparing myself for an argument over the fuel pump - i dont think im gona need it really as its not gona solve the problem :confused: i need to get it to Hounslow so a rip off car company can buy the thing off me :lol:
 
I know its easy to say in hindsight but always get a reputable mechanic to check out a car before you hand over money for it. For the sake of £60 its a good insurance policy to have...

80,000 is good for a 10 year old car. The average mileage for a car in a year is 13000 so it either been clocked or had an easy time. (so should not be giving trouble)

A good mechanic would tell you how many miles its really done......if it was me I would go back to my friend and ask for my money back.... especially if it was clocked.
 
Bez said:
I know its easy to say in hindsight but always get a reputable mechanic to check out a car before you hand over money for it. For the sake of £60 its a good insurance policy to have...

80,000 is good for a 10 year old car. The average mileage for a car in a year is 13000 so it either been clocked or had an easy time. (so should not be giving trouble)

A good mechanic would tell you how many miles its really done......if it was me I would go back to my friend and ask for my money back.... especially if it was clocked.
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A few texts have gone to and throw then i spoke to him the other day - hes a bit confused as to why its gone t*ts up like it has, surprise surprise :rolleyes: but then it could just be one of them things so dont wana blame him as such.

I did ask if he would want to buy it back, obviously he had an excuse lol

Doesnt help that i moved away from where i bought it from otherwise it would of been more simple to deal with :spank:
 
It is hard to figure out what is wrong with a car over the internet. A good mechanic should not have to keep changing parts. You started off with what seemed like a charging problem and that morphed into a fuel/O2 problem. If you have a dealer near you dump your local garage and go there. Fuel filters and O2 sensors are cheap to replace anything more dump the car if you can. I would fight to get the money back for the fuel pump.
 
You are never on a winner with cars unless you get one as part of your job, whether that be a car allowance or a pool car etc.

They take a big chunk of your hard earned net pay. Unless you are very lucky to buy an old runaround and, well, runaround in it for a couple of years with no major problems but thats a risk you take, as in your case Vicky.

Whats the public transport like near you? (serious question)
 
shane_saintsfc said:
Public Transport is more of a rip off than a car. South West Trains want to charge me £75 for a return ticket to London from Southampton LOL
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It's got absolutely ridiculous now especially Cross-Country/Virgin Trains. Costs more to get a train to Manchester from Thames Valley than it does to fly to Ibiza. Went into London for a meeting on Thursday was £67. Was north of £200 from Devon... Wtf ? Cheaper to drive even with the astronomic fuel cost, parking and congestion charge... and that's for 1 person !
 
shane_saintsfc said:
Public Transport is more of a rip off than a car. South West Trains want to charge me £75 for a return ticket to London from Southampton LOL
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I feel your pain, £100 day return from Bournemouth and to top it all off, we coundn't get out of Waterloo last week and departed 25 minutes late!

I find it incredibly ironic that last season, it only cost me £60 (excluding baggage) to fly with Ryanair to ibiza which is a far greater distance
 
djjaycool said:
I would fight to get the money back for the fuel pump.
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Havent paid him for this yet anyway - i presume he didnt it but i will say 'the car isnt fixed so you can take the fule pump off (or however it would be done) and im not paying anymore', they arent exactly quick to contact me and when i do contact them they are all arsey :spank: so now ive decided to get rid of the car and will hopefully drive it to somewhere to take some cash.

I will take the car off their hands when im ready, no skin off my nose sitting in the garage :lol: i just hope it holds out working for a bit whilst a deal is done and i get ripped off haha
 
deepseadiver said:
Whats the public transport like near you? (serious question)
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No chance - i work in Teddington and live in Ruislip atm and thats over 2 hours on a train and not even just the one. Ive got my bfs car atm, have had for a while, he was driving mine so now hes without but were living on a military camp atm where he works so he can 'cope' without a car - i just feel a bit guilty esp when its raining and he has to walk from the fire section back to the block and its pissing it down......or do i feel guilty? ................:lol:..................
 
Late weighing in on this but it certainly sounds like the electrical system to me. My mom had a similar problem with a car once.

It's one of those problems you have to make sure your garage is properly qualified to deal with. Otherwise they'll be knocking around looking for mechanical problems for eternity.
 
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