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[acurrie7x]

Hey hey,

2002 2.2 Omega with 75k on the clock, just had it in for its MOT and I'm trying to decide if it will be worth repairing or not (since these cars aren't worth a whole lot now).

Failed on:

3x new tyres (obviously wear and tear but pushing the cost of an MOT pass up!)
Front brakes are imbalanced (not sure what repairing this entails or how much it is likely to cost)
Offside rear spring is fractured and needs replaced (assuming for ride quality I would need to replace both at the same time though?)
Exhaust has a major leak of gases (the mechanic said something about the manifold if that makes any difference?)

How much would you expect to spend for these repairs? I don't know whether to repair the car or if its time for it to meet that big car crusher in the sky?

[05omegav6]

In a word, Yes

Tyres, brakes and exhaust are all service/wear and tear items, and certainly, tyres, brakes and exhaust you should have probably seen coming

Manifold is a tricky one, really needs seeing in the flesh to establish exactly what the problem is, but being a 2.2 that isn't a big deal. What exactly does the fail sheet say about it?

Seeing as winter is coming I would probably change all four tyres., brakes might simply need stripping, cleaning and re assembling, but again might be prudent to change discs/pads whilst the calipers are off...

Springs are easy enough, but yes they should be done in pairs...

Certainly nothing on that list that warrants scrapping an otherwise perfectly good car

Where abouts are you? There's probably someone relatively close who could help if diy is not your thing

[dbdb]

Three new tyres is about £150 or more.  Front brake imbalance - odd for the MOT place to fail this and not  identify the problem - eg corroded disks and/or seized caliper. I wonder if they are being over zealous.  They should give you the brake efficiency figures for each wheel.   The source of a major leak of gases should be obvious especially if near the manifold (i.e. engine). You should be able to hear it.  Never had a spring fracture spotted, it is possible I'm sure but I would have thought the spring would have gone.  3 tyres failed - were they all really that bad (below 1.6mm over the central 3/4 of tread)?  Sounds like it might be worth changing MOT testers.

[tunnie]

I just spent about £300 on my 165k 2.2 (new rear brake shoes, pair new front wishbones, track rod ends, droplinks & geo session)

At the end of the day what I replaced and what you have listed, are just every day wear and tear items. Roads are crap, full of salt and crap in winter easy for springs to snap, my 2.2 is on it's 3rd set in my ownership (since 84k)

Tyres well any car needs those, as does an exhaust.

Any second hand replacement could need same doing, often more!

[Taxi_Driver]

Three new tyres is about £150 or more.  Front brake imbalance - odd for the MOT place to fail this and not  identify the problem - eg corroded disks and/or seized caliper. I wonder if they are being over zealous.  They should give you the brake efficiency figures for each wheel.   The source of a major leak of gases should be obvious especially if near the manifold (i.e. engine). You should be able to hear it.  Never had a spring fracture spotted, it is possible I'm sure but I would have thought the spring would have gone.  3 tyres failed - were they all really that bad (below 1.6mm over the central 3/4 of tread)?  Sounds like it might be worth changing MOT testers.

Does the car pull to left or right when braking?
IIRC the MOT requires tolerance of 25% of each wheel braking so if its over 25% difference its a fail. You could probably goto a 30% difference before you started to notice pulling to one side

[ted_one]

I guess the big question is,are you able to do the 'fixes' yourself or are you going to look for some one to do the remedial work for you.If it's the second option then depending on the finances available then it may well be better to cut your losses and sell the car...but then...the question would be how much is the car worth if you do decide to weigh it in For me the fairly low mileage might get me to spend the money and keep the car

[ronnyd]

It.s an age old question, you may decide to spend much more on another motor and still find out later
that you will have to spend on the same sort of wear and tear items on your new purchase.
It,s what it,s worth to you that decides it

[Sir Tigger KC]

Yes! 

[cem_devecioglu]

whatever you buy, you will always spend for wear/tear items..  so yes..

[ted_one]

Just done two full services on two of my 3.2's with cambelts/water pumps/Vx cam cover gaskets etc etc and looking at the totals for both of them they were north of £800 and there's at least 2 resprays, wheel refurbs plus a leather MV6 interior to be done over the coming months,the list is endless,but my reasons for owning Omegas is perhaps different to owning the car for a general workhorse/runabout.
As already advised by others,it's all about the devil you know rather than you getting another car with similar problems that will need sorting out sooner or later

[acurrie7x]

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies. I have finally found a local family mechanic whom I have some family ties to and I trust, so I'm going to ask him to have a look at the exhaust/brakes/springs on Friday. I'm just reluctant to spend big money getting a car through an MOT that is literally worth nothing more than scrap, even if it is a nice car(no-one wants these gas guzzlers any more!). I spent ~£350 replacing the track rods etc for the last MOT, which stung a bit. I've also replaced the rest of the exhaust a couple of years ago, so annoyed at having to do more exhaust work.

Obviously the tyres and brakes are wear and tear (although front pads replaced last year too), but it's just unfortunate to need to replace all of those at the same time as paying for other MOT bits AND my road tax (which is extortionate, seems to go up every year!). The car is low mileage and is tidy enough inside and out. The rough running and lack of power I put down to spark plug/coil pack issues (which also needs attention) is probably more down to a gaping hole in the exhaust though, right?

dbdb - I think the MOT testing station may certainly have been being over zealous. I phoned on Thursday to make a booking for Saturday and they booked me in for 11am. When I turned up they told me there was no record of me and that they would "try to fit it in", but acted like I had done wrong and was a big inconvenience to them. I knew there and then it was going to fail. Certainly one of the tyres was worn, but going by the wear bars, the other two had life in them yet.

Taxi Driver - The car doesn't pull when braking. Off the top of my head I think the readouts were 28% and 4%, although I could be slightly out.

nitro - The car has been in the family since it was one-year-old, I know its history and it hasn't covered many miles. Looking around at cars in my price range (up to about £1,500) I would have to downgrade, go older and more mileage. After having a look around I'm leaning much more towards repairing the Omega. Although it all depends on my quote on Friday. As ronnyd says, I could downgrade and still end up with the same problems in six months when the replacement car needs an MOT.

Just to further complicate matters - I'm emigrating in May, which further muddies the waters as to whether it's worth spending money on it or not.

[05omegav6]

Without an Mot it really is worthless, even with six months left, it will be much more saleable than a car without