First the wiring in the door = £150 + vat and now the suspension system needs flushing for £350 plus a filter and if that doesn’t work it is a new pump at £700 and another sensor is on the blink for £40.

I can’t even sell it without fixing these first and I don’t want to sell it but is really beginning to irritate me now.

I knew I should have listened to STW and bought a Skoda Octavia Diesel

Grr.

Merry Christmas to everyone though.

How old? Complain to the manufacturer?

I just got 45% back from Mazda after a 3.5 year old 3 Sport (just out of warranty) needed a £600 repair.

my van went in yesterday.
new glow plugs
new wiring to fuel pump, and maybe a new fuel pump
new motor to wipers
not looking forward to the bill arriving.

Just got mine back from the garage yesterday too…£500 lighter in my pocket now just because some dash lights came on (still seeemed to drive ok despite the lights but hey ho)

Fuel pumps can be silly expensive 😯

@WCA Is it you that has the Merc? If so, I’d be relieved I’d got off so lightly. The big uns are great when going but when they go wrong…. 🙁

boblo – Yeah, the Merc. That is specialist prices too. The main dealer want £1,700 for the suspension pump and refused to try just flushing the system first which apparently normally works if it hasn’t been done since new.

Not even close to warranty. Having said that, Mercedes did pay for a respray when I pointed out some surface corrosion even though the car was 8 years old.

I had a Saab like that. They coughed up for some bubbling when the car was out of warranty and over 100k miles.

Been looking at those E55 AMG’s. Mmmm… good value 😉 (best keep off the fuel cost thread tho…)

boblo – Mine might be for sale towards the middle of next year. Wife is near breaking point for letting me get a Maserati

Agreed, thought the battery was flat as it’s been a few years and it wasn’t starting last week – £70 lighter after a new battery and guess what, start was really sluggish this monring too – balls!

boblo – Mine might be for sale towards the middle of next year. Wife is near breaking point for letting me get a Maserati

And you’re wincing with troubles and £££ due to your current chariot? A Maserati is in another league when it comes to fragility and associated expense! The buying of one is the cheap bit…

WCA; you want to sell an expensive German car to buy an expensive Italian one?? 😯

That Maserati just looks like a posh BMW btw. Not all that classy really.

WCA; you want to sell an expensive German car to buy an expensive Italian one??

That Maserati just looks like a posh BMW btw. Not all that classy really.

That’s just the god-awful grey paint doing that. Everything looks the same in grey or silver. ALL Italian cars should be red, of course. It’s the law.

What bike rack for the Maseratti?

My car needed 4 new tyres, got it sorted this morning. £352 lighter now. oh the season to be jolly, NOT

Don’t matter it’s still a boring car. And no way nearly as good performance wise as your Merc. Granted your Merc is far from sexy, but that Maserati’s a backward step. Get an Aston Martin!

Waiting for the new Landy to start breaking down… so far so good.

BM being very, very well behaved. Now that’s what I call “tempting fate.”

Uh oh.

power steering rack went on dads van yesterday

cat and backbox have started to disintegrate on my car, as has the drivers door lock, windsreen rubber has come off, notchy steering, brake judder and a lot more too. can sort it all out myself but can’t be a***d

new car in jan me thinks 🙂

I bought a pick up truck so that I didn’t need a bike rack on the Merc, can probably keep the truck if I get the Maserati

4 tyres for the Merc were £1,200!!

Elfin – Have you heard the Maser maxing out the revs? It really is amazing. I chased one for a few miles just playing silly buggers for the pleasure of hearing it.

If you’re going to get a ridiculous car, then at least do it propply!

That Maserati just says ‘I want to show off, but I don’t want to be seen as a show off’. A coward’s car, in other words.

If you get one, then make sure it’s custard coloured. 😕

I would have thought its obvious, its their way of asking for christmas presents. Mine wants a christmas present of a new speedo/dashboard which has all stopped working, new central locking, new interior lights, new electric windows, new timing belt, new clutch. I think it may be being a bit ambitious this year.

WCA, what about the new citroën C3 😉

WCA, what about the new citroën C3 😉

Hey WCA, what about the new citroën C3?

Don’t be so silly!

If I took your advice would I end up with a C9?

I was looking at an Aston the other week but I struggle to tell them all apart.

The Maser would probably be in that pearlesent off white that was all the rage for the last 18 months so should be cheaper second hand.

An Aston at least looks like an Aston. That thing, if you took the badge off, is indistinguishable from loads of other motors.

You know I’m right. Either keep the Merc or buy a proper mad car; don’t buy that boring thing. It just marks it’s owner out as unimaginative. It’s too ‘safe’ and staid. It’s like a job just done sufficiently, not as well as it could be.

Show this to your wife she will agree with me.

Then let me choose your next car…

Need to get the Merc fixed up and they run it for a while to pay me back on the repairs and then look at what is about. Still have a soft spot for Masers

Sit in a DB7.

Wonder how the HELL they got away with sticking a low rent Mondeo interior in it. Be put off Astons for life.

Maser Gran Turismo – one of THE best looking modern cars on the road today.

No Aston gets close.

Elfin – have you ever owned a proper car or are you just another automotive keyboard warrior?

Drove a Quattroporte for 3 days. Understand now why it has a wipe clean interior.

WCA, when you get the M, will you still be able to bring your gin to Swinley? Might be worth popping over the wet stuff 😉
Seriously, as much as I think it’s not the prettiest car (the M of your choice), your love for self indulgence is magnificent. Hats off to you, Sir!

Why do cars start having faults just before Christmas?

Easy it’s the law. Well according to SOD or Murphy or…

Elfin – have you ever owned a proper car or are you just another automotive keyboard warrior?

Please be quiet. This is an issue of aesthetics and style. You are therefore excluded from the proceedings. Sorry, but that’s the way it is. I don’t make the rules, I just have to enforce them.

No, I’m right though. WCA knows this.

Elfin – you just like Astons because James Bond has one.

You have less than no idea. And style? Errrmmm…

I had a new clutch, diff and gearbox oil for my van back in April, paid but still not had any invoice or receipt or even a service stamp to say its been done.

Just about to go back today after searching through my credit card statements for 20 minutes…had the bonnet resprayed, paid for it on the first invoice (card machine was bust the first time) and been in since with proof, they are still sending me invoices, the last one (just before christmas) says court action within 14 days.

I’m not walking out of there until they give me a bloody receipt this time, they always seem happy at the counter but nothing gets fixed.

Another reason to do my own servicing in future (though I appreciate its not really practical with a Maserati!)

My pressure washer has broken. Not the car but I need it FOR the car.

surfmat – you can borrow my pressure washer if you like, it isn’t being used on the car right at the moment!

May be some logistics issues but thanks!

My car is red.

I don’t think that your car being red counts as developing a fault just before Christmas but thankyou for your contribution

😉