That doesnt sound offish to me, if it gets you mobile for 12/24 months and helps in any way i would say its done its job.

Keep it for a year then get rid, once you get back on your feet again.

Dont think anyone will think anything other than that.

Its a short term measure to assist in the immediate future, which I’m sure it’ll do admirably.

But sure you’ll get a year out of it, maybe pass it on to someone in a similar position next year.

if you can get 12 months ticket and all safe and reliable without spending silly money then that would be great.

Ditto to the above. And it will help you to build up a no claims bonus.

Yes agreed, old cars are a lottery.  I small bump thats not your fault and it will be written off, you will get next to nothing.  Just enjoy it while its going.  The underside does look bad tho, ours is mint but had an easy life in a garage.

I can honestly say I hadn’t thought of it as a year or two car, I was thinking of it as a longer term car. Maybe that was over thinking it on my part. I understand what your all saying, and it does make sense. Hopefully it will be motable next year too without many issues, that would be great.

Sorry for the previous post, just a bit panicky after a really difficult and stressful day.

Thankyou all again. Your kindness and efforts are genuinely appreciated.

Damp patch on fuel tank. No idea what’s going on, garage told this to the wife, I didn’t get chance to look. Fine at the moment, may be an MOT issue in Feb, may be fine. (New fuel tank is about £80)

I had a Y reg yaris and the fuel tank was metal and rusty, but worse than that one, it also had a couple of patches where fuel was very slowly leaking through giving a damp patch. if it’s not failed the MOT it’ll be fine for a while and as above replacements aren’t much, maybe have a look again after winter, mine got to the stage where you could smell the fuel standing near the car. The underside of mine was also very crispy but it had lived in Scotland for many years where the roads are mostly salt for half the year. Great little cars!

I might have a 55 polo going free in a month or two if you want a second set of wheels! It is also a bit crispy underneath and tbh I preferred the yaris.

I can honestly say I hadn’t thought of it as a year or two car, I was thinking of it as a longer term car.

TBH, whether it lasts six months or six years, it still resolves an immediate problem, n’est-ce pas?  If and when it dies we can cross that bridge again.

As a friend of mine once said (in defence of a shedded Mk2 Escort), “second-class motoring is better than first-class walking.”

Drive it until it needs work or fails it’s mot. At that point make the decision as to whether it is worth spending money on.

The answer will probably be ‘no’ but that decision point will be 3,6,9 months away etc. In the meantime you and the kids will have dry, warm relatively economical transport.

Also, two Yaris wheel trims on the way to Marko to hopefully replace the trashed ones.

I completely agree and feel foolish for my previous posts. Unfortunately, a difficult and stressful day all round and nothing today has been easy.

I am extremely grateful and will be glad of having the car as an option, especially with the winter months ahead.

As a friend of mine once said (in defence of a shedded Mk2 Escort), “second-class motoring is better than first-class walking.”

This is very true. I like that quote. I had a mk1 escort, it was my first car. Would love another one, best car I have had. On that subject, if anyone has a mk1 or mk2 escort lying around needing a home…..

Don’t push your luck (-:

I don’t think anyone thinks you’re being ungrateful.  Text is a difficult medium.  Reading back, my post could be interpreted as implying that and that’s not the case.  Point was simply, run it into the blummin’ dirt, it didn’t owe anyone anything when it left its previous home.

+1 Cougar.

I didn’t think for one moment that you’re ungrateful.  The car will see you through, and when it’s cream crackered we will sort something else out.

Life is tough, I’m not experiencing what you’re going through, but I have lost a number of close family members (both Mum and Dad in a short space of time plus aunties and uncles) so I can appreciate the pain you’re feeling.

But from the pain comes hope – as each new day dawns the pain recedes a little.  Bit by bit.  Each day gets a little better.

I wish you luck my friend 🙂

I think we’d already established that it wasn’t ideal for you (mainly a bit small) but was much cheaper to insure than Rich’s Primera so entirely understand it being a short-term stop-gap.

The reason we got rid is that it wasn’t worth spending nearly the value of the car to fix and it was becoming far too small for us with the arrival of the wee one. When it eventually reaches the end of it’s time with you it would be great if you could pass it on to someone else, or post up here and see who knows someone who needs it, MrsH would love for it to become a ‘good kharma car’ and get passed around to whoever needs it. If there are kind people like Marko out there it hopefully becomes feasable to keep it alive, labout costs meant it wasn’t worth us spending the required amount. She would be dead chuffed if we could type it’s reg into tge online tax checker thing in four or five years time and find it still is going somewhere.

I have little to add to this that’s not already been said, apart from “jolly good effort all those involved in the idea and the logistics, top work all around”

One brief thought for Mr Gnusmas, based on having owned an identical model a few years ago. If you’re over 5ft 10in, and happen to be squatting down near the open tailgate, then stand up without looking carefully, it’s all too easy to open your scalp up on a sharp corner of that tailgate. Just beware. (By ‘squatting’ in this instance, I mean I was wringing a sponge  out in a bucket, not laying cable) Great little cars apart from that booby trap.

This is an amazing thread.  I keep dipping in and feel a bit uplifted each time.  People are good, especially here.

I bloody love our Yaris; comfy, reliable, great visibility and if you stay in gear and change quickly they’re almost fast to 60.

Get under it with some underbody wax. Most parts, like bearings, can be replaced easily with scrap items from a donor car. Looks like this one has got a lot of salt on it. Give it a good wash underneath, inspect, undercoat and repair and you’ll be grand.

OEM Denso plugs (very cheap), air/oil filter and new semi syn (consult the manual carefully, the oil spec/temp chart is backwards as hell) and the motor will sing.

Collected the parts yesterday.

Crikey Toyota bits are expensive! 2 springs and 2 front wheel bearings £206. These are quality ones – FAG and Lesjofers. (I don’t fit the cheap junk supplied by a well known national parts chain BTW).

I’m trying to fit the work in around the day job, but I’m aiming to have it already by the end of the weekend at the latest.

Sits back and waits for ‘I could have got then for half the price‘. type comments.

Marko

Great work Marko. No-one will dare criticise your efforts whether they can buy the parts cheaper or not… You’re doing over and above the normal

Morning all

Think I’m up for the Chepstow to Cardiff leg, sounds like Sunday or Monday evening might suit?

Marko – do you want to let me know when you’re done and she’s ready to roll again, and I can pick up and drop over to molgrips…

Big fan of decent parts here.

Question re the rust underneath though – would a coat of Waxoyl not help protect what’s left?

 ‘I could have got then for half the price‘

Brother works for Toyota.. so maybe 😉  But no way I could’ve got them to you! More donations needed to the gofundme?

I’m going to chuck a couple of quid in the pot on Friday when i get paid.

How much would i cost to get the bottom waxed to prevent further rusty penetrations?

Yes, you could have got them much cheaper. But also probably not as good so hey ho.

Spawn, cost me £80 to get the underneath of a Transit waxoyled so I guess something a bit less than that.

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Reminder for all those who might need to drive it: <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>***AS OF TOMORROW, 18 OCT,  IT WILL NO LONGER BE INSURED!***</span> As I understand it, it has to be insured ‘properly’ somewhere for people to use their ‘drive other cars’ bit of their policy so this will no longer be the case, you will need specific insurance. Marko is covered to drive anything so that’s fine (PM’d you regarding SORN)

‘How much would i cost to get the bottom waxed to prevent further rusty penetrations?‘

Nothing.

I’ve got some trade type stuff here somewhere I think. I’ll do it if I have time – disgusting job though and the car will stink for weeks.

Nothing.

How about if i sort you a nice case of beer for all your efforts?

Re the insurance – any mileage in insuring it for Gnusmas wef Thursday, and that allows the rest of us to just use our own “drive another car” where applicable…?

I like the smell of Waxoyl, smells like traditional Nikwax or dubbin you put on boots. Marko’s stuff may be different tho.

I don’t mind applying it if you just toss the tin in the car Marko. Seems as if it might help.

@molgrips

It is in cans that fit a Schutz gun. So you’ll need one of these and a compressor for the air.

(I need to find the cans yet though).

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Re the insurance – any mileage in insuring it for Gnusmas wef Thursday, and that allows the rest of us to just use our own “drive another car” where applicable…?

Don’t know, would make it easier but because of this silly new continuous insurance rule we are going to have to declare it SORN, we”ll get a refund for November onwards, anyone who taxes it before 1 November will have to pay October again, stupid rule, means the government gets another month’s tax out of anyone who buys another car. Anyway, not immediately relevant to insurance but if it’s ready 31st/30th/29th… it might be worth hanging on a couple of days and saving a months tax.

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Brilliant news re decent parts, it’s the same labour fitting cheap ones.  Also, waxoyle is tops i get my cars done in uk.

Lawman – thanks or yaris boot tip, not happened yet.

Well done everyone concerned

Ha ha I’m 5-9 so never hit me head on the missus Yaris boot lid.  We sold ours a couple of years ago having owned it since new in 1999 – 17 years old it was.  Very few things go wrong on these cars.

It had had a water pump under warranty and that was it.  The ‘radio’ stopped receiving FM etc, so I just swapped out the ‘unit’ for another via an ebay purchase (dash out job).  1 central locking motor went, off to the scrappy for a part. That was about it, other than services.

We sold it when the fuel pump went, but that only cost a couple of hundred for the local garage to repair (including their labour) and my missus wanted a bigger car.

No underbody corrosion, but I always rinsed the car off in winter (and we were not in scotland).

Coating the rusty bits should slow getting much worse.  They are very reliable cars. The engines pretty much bomb proof.

get the bottom waxed to prevent further rusty penetrations

Best not get too distracted… 😳

The Primera has found a new home with an ex-mtber who’s had a run of bad luck recently. I suspect it’ll be still around in many years time.

Update on the repairs

Exhaust leak sorted. Before:

After:

Broken spring out:

Problem we have is the corroded nut on the bottom ball joint. I had to drag the complete arm out with the hub and then cut off the nut. The threads are all intact, but I think we’ll need a new ball joint. Plus the anti-roll bar drop link is pants (I think he missed it on the MOT or decided it was OK).

Upshot is I might need to order up the ball joint and anti-roll drop links if I can’t get them locally. This will alter the completion date.

Anybody used ‘Mister Auto’ for parts? Moog brand ball joints are £10.

Marko

Top effort Marko.

Awesome in fact.

👍

I have used Mister Auto for parts before on my old Renault Modus, never had any issues with them stuff has turned u when its supposed to and in good order.

Had MOOG parts as well which seem decent enough, my preference for droplinks and the like is the MEYLE HD.

Just caught up on this. Fantastic story and well done to everyone for helping out here!

I had to hunt a bit for the gofundme page so here is another link

https://www.gofundme.com/wheels-for-gnusmas

Top job, Marko and great to have photos of progress!

@molgrips

It is in cans that fit a Schutz gun. So you’ll need one of these and a compressor for the air.

I have neither of those things.  Anything I can borrow or I could look at ebay maybe..  Or I could just buy a few spray cans of Waxoyl myself.

Quick update from this end for anyone who might need to drive it – <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>***THE CAR IS NOW SORN***</span>

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I am slightly concerned that we were driving around with a broken spring and didn’t notice! When the rear one broke a couple of years ago it was the banging sound rather than any sort of iffy handling which gave the game away. How can I not notice these things? Is this normal or is it just me (and MrsH?)

.

Anyway, top work Marko. Fingers crossed for the emissions test now the exhaust is sorted. It always had plenty of margin previously so can’t see there being any problems, but as just discussed I may not always be aware of them…