As much as I love my Mazda 3, it's getting a bit expensive. I'm pretty sure the garage is shafting me too on this.
It's an 08 reg, about 42k on the clock. It just failed its MOT with the rear drivers side handbrake caliper. They want either £150 or £350 to replace it, depending on whether I got a generic or genuine mazda part. If anyone has any advice on this it'd be appreciated. I know next to nothing about cars and how much parts should cost, and whether a 4 year old car should fail like this.
Last month I had to fork out £150 for 2 new front tyres, and £210 for my insurance excess when someone drove into my parked car and drove off. At least I'll get the excess back if/when the insurance gets settled in my favour...
So far my 4 year old mazda has needed 4 new tyres and a brake caliper.
My micra which I sold when it was 8 years old only ever needed a couple of new tyres and a wheel cylinder replacing...
tyres are service items so meh write that cost off im afraid.
brake calipers.. rear.. i can only assume its integrated handbrake and footbrake and for a pattern replacement caliper £150 parts sounds about right in my experience.
This should give you some idea:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Mazda_3_1.6_2008/p/car-parts/brakes/brake-hydraulics/brake-caliper/?133591681&1&7b0ac1e0c9b4e61e4504c187cd4f5d41340020ef&000048
so £50 to fit it.. maybe.. with extra costs of brake fluid.. and hoping nothing else breaks while they do it
Ok, that's good then, at least it's not a £20 part. Whenever things like this need replacing I always wonder whether I could do something with the broken bit, like turn it in to a plant pot...
car NOT= piggybank
Quote from: zpyder on March 05, 2012, 16:52:19 PM
Ok, that's good then, at least it's not a £20 part. Whenever things like this need replacing I always wonder whether I could do something with the broken bit, like turn it in to a plant pot...
in this case the old bit goes back to be remanufactured to save you the cost of buying a new one outright :) saves you £50 if you go through eurocarparts.. tbh if it were me id be changing it myself.
I've got a sticking front caliper that needs replacing, if you've never worked on brakes before it's not something I'd want to do myself without having experience changing pads, etc, this is even after watching the caliper be dissassembled, cleaned out and re-greased to see if it would stop it sticking - which it did until I got home now its at it again. ::)
I do most of the work myself but for the cambelt I had the toyotashop do it for £ 425
£150 on repairs in 4 years ???
BARGAIN !
Blueprint is only £130 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-3-2003-08-1-6i-Sal-H-Back-2003-2009-REAR-CALIPER-/140627524521?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20be0dbba9)
I assume they will be charging £100 to fit it, the £150 part will be worth max £50 (probably less) and they will oversell the fitting to make it worthwhile, the £350 part will probably be direct from Mazda, if your Mazda is anything like my local one they keep a limited supply of parts on the shelf and order on demand, so it likely is a special order for them, they also charge over the odds because its a Mazda (next time don't buy Mazda).
I would fit Blueprint, also, if you call around various mobile mechanics they will be cheaper as they have less overheads, the average cost of labour is around £50+vat where i live, the high end can be £60-65+vat, the lad i use is £25+vat, and don't think because someone is cheap they won't be anygood, you can take your car to main dealer with a basic sensor fault, they will whack it on a a fault finder and could replace 5 other parts before they replace the sensor, the lad i use i call him up and he is spot on everytime, no messing around.
Quote from: knighty on March 06, 2012, 01:10:01 AM
£150 on repairs in 4 years ???
BARGAIN !
4 year old car though...
Quote from: Bacon on March 06, 2012, 01:21:12 AM
they also charge over the odds because its a Mazda (next time don't buy Mazda).
Yeah, they have you over a barrel when it comes to servicing with their "electronic" log book do-da, meaning if you want to keep a full service history you need to get it done through Mazda :(
It's a shame as I really like the cars. Hopefully I can use this all to see if they can offer a really, really good deal on a trade in, as I'm pretty willing to walk away...
Some parts can be cheap enough for genuine Mazda, tbh I don't think Mazda parts are any more expensive than the other brands (at least mine for the MX-5 aren't but it is an old car I guess). There's nothing wrong with using an imitation, reconditioned or even a used part though if it's in good condition, calipers don't fail very often - so knighty tells me :)
Main thing is though you should never buy them from the dealership! Autolink online are great for parts. Since it's not a service just take it to a good reliable garage or get a mobile mechanic out giving them the part wherever you've sourced it from, then ask them to fit it. Most should do this no problem, you don't need to take it to Mazda for the MOT.
Quote from: zpyder on March 06, 2012, 08:30:26 AMQuote from: knighty on March 06, 2012, 01:10:01 AM£150 on repairs in 4 years ???BARGAIN !
4 year old car though...
that's still pretty cheap!
thing is, needing a new calliper is a very minor thing... it's probably just a fluke.... it's not a major part or prone to wear and tare
if you needed a new gearbox etc... then you'd have more of a case to be miffed about it.
Stealership prices are always crazy, toyota wanted £1,000+ for a steering rack (not inc labour) I got a reconditioned one fitted for £250 at a specialist.
Quote from: matt5cott on March 06, 2012, 11:28:08 AM
Stealership prices are always crazy, toyota wanted £1,000+ for a steering rack (not inc labour) I got a reconditioned one fitted for £250 at a specialist.
The steering rack was leaking on my mums old 626 years ago and Mazda wanted a £1000 for the part and more for labour, that was about the time she decided to switch car makes. :D
I guess next time I'll get it serviced in advance of MOT and get anything else done elsewhere.
I enquired into the caliper and got a vague answer about the internal part of the caliper. Almost sounded like the cable was corroded or something :/
Giving serious thought to a Mazda 2...Brand new it'd cost me the same as the 3 does now, and is more economical. Just need to find out whether insurance would differ (doubt it). I'm hoping to move to New Zealand in a year or two so it'll be under warranty whilst I need it...
Seems a bit extreme to buy a brand new car after just 1 duff caliper.. surely you'll lose out a butt load with depreciation?
It's not due to the caliper, my finance is due to run out in about 6 months anyway so I had to either give car back and continue finance with another car, or pay up to keep current one. Swapping cars now would mean all parts under warranty for 3 years, £100 less tax (£30 a year) and hopefully a couple of hundred quid saving on fuel a year, and I wouldn't be paying anything different than I am now. There's 20% off the list price this month so it's not too bad an idea, I'll just "rent" the car for the next couple of years till I (hopefully) move to NZ...
I should also ask, does anyone have any recommendations on sub-compact / Mazda 2 size cars that are economical and less than around £10k ? Just need to see what the options are...
Toyota Yaris always gets lots of recommendations, I think they are pretty cheap too.
These are cheap cars and won't last forever. They are seen as disposable these days. You won't get 5 years trouble free out of any of them.
Want a car to be reliable and have great build quality? Buy an 80's merc.
I love my bangernomics. I've had sub £1000 cars that have needed nothing but services for years. When they start to go horribly wrong, get rid. Normally for the same I paid.
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Kia Rio, i had to drive one for literally 1000s of miles, apart from the indicator stalk being on the wrong side, we had a 2010 plated Rio which is now on over 110k miles and still going strong, the new CRDI engines are great and have lots of pulling power in them, the best part is they are cheap and come with a 100k mile warranty.
All its needed so far is 2 rear struts (due to the nature of the roads i drive on), a couple of seatbelt clips (but thats only cus i was getting in and out 30+ times a night), and a small oil leak at the start when running the engine in which was fixed under warranty.
If you look around and this applies to any car, you can sometimes pickup ex demo ones (old shape) and save a packet even though it has delivery miles.
Indicators on the right are better IMO, you can change gear and indicate at the same time.
Quote from: Clock'd 0Ne on March 07, 2012, 20:45:02 PM
Indicators on the right are better IMO, you can change gear and indicate at the same time.
I agree, I miss my toyota for that reason!
Quote from: XEntity on March 07, 2012, 21:20:06 PM
Quote from: Clock'd 0Ne on March 07, 2012, 20:45:02 PM
Indicators on the right are better IMO, you can change gear and indicate at the same time.
I agree, I miss my toyota for that reason!
Also agree, UK cars have them on the wrong way round for the above reason :ptu:
Plus it's always fun when you drive someone elses UK car temporarily and you wash the windows when turning right :lol:
The trend on cars nowadays seems to be the build quality is getting worse and worse each year. A few hundred quid on repairs on a 4yo car is peanuts.
Last time I got a caliper replaced it cost me £300 for a refurb part so that ain't a bad quote.
Golf Bluemotion if you want economical, bloody awful car but you get like 5-600 miles from a tank and it's not horribly slow and not a lot goes wrong with them.
Don't get a Cooper S!!
thing is.... you can't take one duff caliper on one 4 year old car as a good example.... it could be a totally freak occurrence, and give a lot more years problem free :o
Quote from: zpyder on March 05, 2012, 14:02:37 PM
Last month I had to fork out £150 for 2 new front tyres, and £210 for my insurance excess when someone drove into my parked car and drove off. At least I'll get the excess back if/when the insurance gets settled in my favour...
Well this is slowly still going on... Just got a letter today from my insurance company solicitors, requesting when I will be available for going to court to settle the claim. Given that all we have to go on is a witness statement, I doubt it'll end up in my favour, so all I can hope for is that the other lady bottles it before the court date and admits to it. Hopefully the witness is reliable and this lady actually is guilty, otherwise I do feel sorry for her, there's nothing else I can do though other than follow the only lead we have.
A witness statement is probably surprisingly strong evidence, enough for them to swing it in favour. Best of luck with it anyway, let's hope justice is done!
Quote from: Clock'd 0Ne on March 07, 2012, 20:45:02 PM
Indicators on the right are better IMO, you can change gear and indicate at the same time.
They're bloody annoying. Had that in a kia Rio I drove for a while. A shockingly sh*t car in general but the whole wiping my windows when going around a roundabout really did drive me around the bend.
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Quote from: Clock'd 0Ne on March 17, 2013, 00:10:39 AM
A witness statement is probably surprisingly strong evidence, enough for them to swing it in favour. Best of luck with it anyway, let's hope justice is done!
yep - witnessed someone hitting a car & driving off.
I knew the owner of the car that got hit & told him straight away & He managed to get paid out eventually based on my evidence despite the 3rd party denying he hit the car.
it'll be an interesting experience anyway going to court, also seeing what this woman looks like.
Sent from my phone.
Quote from: Eggtastico on March 17, 2013, 08:49:25 AM
Quote from: Clock'd 0Ne on March 17, 2013, 00:10:39 AM
A witness statement is probably surprisingly strong evidence, enough for them to swing it in favour. Best of luck with it anyway, let's hope justice is done!
yep - witnessed someone hitting a car & driving off.
I knew the owner of the car that got hit & told him straight away & He managed to get paid out eventually based on my evidence despite the 3rd party denying he hit the car.
same happened when an HGV reversed into my brothers yaris and squashed half of it right out side my factory, guy over the road saw it happen and told us about it, brother got a brand new car from the insurance to replace his 3yr old one :o
(tho is was some kind of speical insurance because it's a learner car where they had to replace it quick)
Lol do not get a Nissan, their prices really are high!
Labour is £96 an hour :o
My car just failed its MOT;
*4x new tyres at £120 each
* 2x front suspension bushes which is gonna cost £2-300.
* Rear brake discs shot to bits.
It also needs taxed at £140ish for 6months.
And I'm selling it asap :gag:
Did the rear brakes myself, £35 for parts off ebay, and I'm wondering whether to put part-worn tyres on the back to save a bit of money.
The bushes are the real bitch - you need a special bmw tool to do it which costs a fortune and you're supposed to drop the subframe when you do it.
:gag: feel sick just thinking about it. I had the car up for sale at a really low price before christmas and no one was interested.
I feel for you, I remember Sam getting shot of his Mini because the parts/servicing was ludicrous money, its more than a 3/5 series I'm sure.
Letter from solicitors today,saying matters were not going to be taken further, complete with cheque for the excess plus interest. I'm assuming the lady caved.
Yay.
nice :-)
p.s. now you're rich, remember that fifty quid you owe me ?
Always nice to get an update with a good result. Rich's turn next!
Quote from: Pete on March 27, 2013, 20:56:08 PM
My car just failed its MOT;
*4x new tyres at £120 each
* 2x front suspension bushes which is gonna cost £2-300.
* Rear brake discs shot to bits.
It also needs taxed at £140ish for 6months.
And I'm selling it asap :gag:
Did the rear brakes myself, £35 for parts off ebay, and I'm wondering whether to put part-worn tyres on the back to save a bit of money.
The bushes are the real bitch - you need a special bmw tool to do it which costs a fortune and you're supposed to drop the subframe when you do it.
:gag: feel sick just thinking about it. I had the car up for sale at a really low price before christmas and no one was interested.
If your selling it, you might as well go for part worns and save a few quid.