Fighting Fires

joderest

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ML270 2003
What a month April was for me.
Started when daughter number 1 crashed her little Aygo into a tree, no one hurt, except the car. New Bumper, New Wing, New Door Mirror plus other bits, Managed to paint items using an old Gazebo in the garden, but still cost me £80 for the paint, all parts fitted, looks ok.
Then the rear brakes on the Mercedes started acting up, turned out to be a stuck Calliper Piston, so stripped and rebuilt both rear Callipers, new seals and other parts, new rear Disc's, bleed the whole system, All appears good now.
Then realised the MOT of wife's Mini was about to expire, thought i had a bit more time, so checked it over, replaced both front tyres, and booked it in for yesterday.
Then wife used Mercedes to tow horse to an event on Saturday last, the day we had the strong winds, when she came back to car a branch had been blown off a tree and gone through rear screen, so claimed on insurance, screen fitted Tuesday, had to order a new washer pipe as old one broke trying to get wiper arm off, put it all back together this morning. Started car, there was a really horrible noise, turned out from the heater blower, so stripped that out, it was full of leaves, cleaned and back in.
The Mini sailed through its MOT. Now at work for a rest.
I just wonder what the cost of labour would have been if i was not able to do all the above myself, you can understand sometimes why people let there servicing and maintenance slip, as the cost must be astronomical.
Sometimes, having a misspent youth around cars comes in handy, however, there will come a time in the not to distant future when i will be too old or knackered to do what i do now.
 

Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
But in all of that, what was on fire? :D
 

vtaylor78

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E350 CDI Coupe C207 2010 \ SLK 250 R172 2011.
You’ve saved Shed loads, fair play to you and glad your daughter is ok.
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
So it wasn't just us had a bad April....
 

Wighty

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How did the rebuild of the rear calipers go buddy ? Did you just buy a kit and have a go
 

peterws1957

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sl350 /2004/3.7 and CL65/2009/6.0
What a month April was for me.
Started when daughter number 1 crashed her little Aygo into a tree, no one hurt, except the car. New Bumper, New Wing, New Door Mirror plus other bits, Managed to paint items using an old Gazebo in the garden, but still cost me £80 for the paint, all parts fitted, looks ok.
Then the rear brakes on the Mercedes started acting up, turned out to be a stuck Calliper Piston, so stripped and rebuilt both rear Callipers, new seals and other parts, new rear Disc's, bleed the whole system, All appears good now.
Then realised the MOT of wife's Mini was about to expire, thought i had a bit more time, so checked it over, replaced both front tyres, and booked it in for yesterday.
Then wife used Mercedes to tow horse to an event on Saturday last, the day we had the strong winds, when she came back to car a branch had been blown off a tree and gone through rear screen, so claimed on insurance, screen fitted Tuesday, had to order a new washer pipe as old one broke trying to get wiper arm off, put it all back together this morning. Started car, there was a really horrible noise, turned out from the heater blower, so stripped that out, it was full of leaves, cleaned and back in.
The Mini sailed through its MOT. Now at work for a rest.
I just wonder what the cost of labour would have been if i was not able to do all the above myself, you can understand sometimes why people let there servicing and maintenance slip, as the cost must be astronomical.
Sometimes, having a misspent youth around cars comes in handy, however, there will come a time in the not to distant future when i will be too old or knackered to do what i do now.
You could easily see Insurers getting a bill for £1K plus for the accident damage, and on the brake problem MB telling you that you needed 2 new calipers discs brake pads sensors etc - £750 + ?
 

John Laidlaw

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Land Rover Discovery 4
My sister in law visited us at the weekend in her Mini.
She asked me if I could have a look at the rear NS wheel as “there was a bit of a noise coming from it”
So I did
Caliper seized
Disc warped
Pad almost non existent ( same on os)
I asked how long it’s been like this....
“Just a few months”
I asked when it was last service
“Let me see, we’ve had the car 3 years, so the last owners probably serviced just before they sold it to me”
I despair
 

A.J.

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UnMerc - 2020 VW Polo 2.0t GTi Plus, DSG. Flash Red, Traditional VW GTi Tartan seat trim.
What a month April was for me.
Started when daughter number 1 crashed her little Aygo into a tree, no one hurt, except the car. New Bumper, New Wing, New Door Mirror plus other bits, Managed to paint items using an old Gazebo in the garden, but still cost me £80 for the paint, all parts fitted, looks ok.
Then the rear brakes on the Mercedes started acting up, turned out to be a stuck Calliper Piston, so stripped and rebuilt both rear Callipers, new seals and other parts, new rear Disc's, bleed the whole system, All appears good now.
Then realised the MOT of wife's Mini was about to expire, thought i had a bit more time, so checked it over, replaced both front tyres, and booked it in for yesterday.
Then wife used Mercedes to tow horse to an event on Saturday last, the day we had the strong winds, when she came back to car a branch had been blown off a tree and gone through rear screen, so claimed on insurance, screen fitted Tuesday, had to order a new washer pipe as old one broke trying to get wiper arm off, put it all back together this morning. Started car, there was a really horrible noise, turned out from the heater blower, so stripped that out, it was full of leaves, cleaned and back in.
The Mini sailed through its MOT. Now at work for a rest.
I just wonder what the cost of labour would have been if i was not able to do all the above myself, you can understand sometimes why people let there servicing and maintenance slip, as the cost must be astronomical.
Sometimes, having a misspent youth around cars comes in handy, however, there will come a time in the not to distant future when i will be too old or knackered to do what i do now.

Sounds like you could set up your own successful Indy in that Gazebo :rolleyes::D
 

A.J.

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UnMerc - 2020 VW Polo 2.0t GTi Plus, DSG. Flash Red, Traditional VW GTi Tartan seat trim.
My sister in law visited us at the weekend in her Mini.
She asked me if I could have a look at the rear NS wheel as “there was a bit of a noise coming from it”
So I did
Caliper seized
Disc warped
Pad almost non existent ( same on os)
I asked how long it’s been like this....
“Just a few months”
I asked when it was last service
“Let me see, we’ve had the car 3 years, so the last owners probably serviced just before they sold it to me”
I despair

The saints preserve us :rolleyes::D
 

daibevan

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W203 C200 Kompressor Elegance SE 2006 Tanzanite Blue with cream interior
Of course she expected you to sort it out whilst she had a coffee with your misses, and didn't expect it to cost anything, cause you have all the stuff you need in that garage of yours.
 

John Laidlaw

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Of course she expected you to sort it out whilst she had a coffee with your misses, and didn't expect it to cost anything, cause you have all the stuff you need in that garage of yours.
How did you guess? :p
 

Yugguy

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Aye. Although I'm moving into PCP for our cars all my tools and fluids and manuals and everything will be kept for when my daughter gets her first car
 
OP
J

joderest

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Calliper rebuild was OK, just long winded, but nuts and bolts job. Reseal kit was 9.99 per side.
Yep, keep all your tools, daughters think the only thing they have to do is put fuel in the car. They expect dad to sort anything else out and then moan like mad if you have to take car off the road for a few hours to do some work on it.
I think I was lucky in my youth. I did not earn a lot and my father and other relatives could not change a fuse in a plug let alone fix a bike or a car, so I had to teach myself to do things and beg or borrow tools until I could afford my own.
I can remember spending hours reading workshop manuals ( no internet in those days) and I made quite a few mistakes that cost me more money, but never made the mistake again.
Now, I feel that I have the knowledge to do most things, I have the tools, I have the internet, unfortunately I do not have the youth. Sometimes I just struggle with the heavy jobs. But I am only 64, however two replacement knees and a fused back with rods slows me down.
 

McDonald

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SL500 2004
Aye. Although I'm moving into PCP for our cars all my tools and fluids and manuals and everything will be kept for when my daughter gets her first car

That's all very well, but she may not have an aptitude for that sort of work.
 

Yugguy

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Lol no it will be me doing it. She does though have a strong science/engineering interest and has said she wants to learn at least the basics of checks and maintenance. I hope she will.
 

Blobcat

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Lol no it will be me doing it. She does though have a strong science/engineering interest and has said she wants to learn at least the basics of checks and maintenance. I hope she will.
Taught mine to change wheels and the like so they’re less likely to be ripped off of they know at least the basics.
 
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joderest

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Oh, fighting fires, just put one out and another starts
Meaning just fixed one thing and something else goes wrong
 
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joderest

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well, July just as bad.
Daughter number 1 stuffed her Aygo into the back of ......................................
A Mercedes estate !!!!!!, this time its a total, not even worth looking to repair it, front slam panel against engine, bumper and both wings, bonnet, and does not drive in a straight line. hence insurance write off.
next, insurance company state it was a previous write off, so will only pay out £1000, bit of a shock as the bloke i bought it off did not mention that. take off the £500 excess, and not a lot left. I should have known as it was very cheap when i bought it 2 and a half years ago, only paid £1200 for the car, so not a great loss, but it was a good little car.
Found another one locally, same car but red not silver, only 65,000 miles so should do her, who would be bank of dad !!!!
Insurance gone up already as well.
What really concerned me is the air bags DID NOT DEPLOY hence i am now thinking the bloke i bought it from bodged it. He was a eastern European guy who did not speak much English, but he had taxed car etc. so thought he owned it.
bit of a worry. I asked insurance company if i could buy it off them, as new tyres and decent wheels on it, but was told no as they are trying to stop vehicles like the Aygo from being repaired and put back on the road, i suppose in a way i agree with them now. Before this i did not have an issue with cat d cars, just panel damage, but now i think a bit different.
Then, serviced the "lump" replaced oil separator and fitted a new turbo seal to stop an oil leak, filters and new oil.
It still leaks !!!!!!

Will August be better
 

mioba

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I thik actually its your right to but the car off them as its your car, that being said once they pay you for the car it is thiers
 

LostKiwi

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I think daughter #1 could do with some lessons about how to use the brakes...
 

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