Yeah, you're right Kev not a bad result all told for a 14 year old motor and to be fair still looks as if it's plenty life to live yet!
It's a solid old bus...😉
Yeah, you're right Kev not a bad result all told for a 14 year old motor and to be fair still looks as if it's plenty life to live yet!That's not a bad result for an 14 year-old Vitara, Chris. When I was a nominated tester (in a far away past life) I have seen Suzuki Jimnys at less than 10 years old with the complete rear floor section rusted out!
Couple of new brake pipes, a bit of swearing and a quick bleed (brake fluid, not blood!!!) and your on your way again!😄
Turned out to be quite a story re:- the wheel cylinders... One boss crumbled and the other snapped off!....The replacement cylinders were ordered, only one arrived!Oo-er mate...I hope you've got a decent hammer for that piggy bank!!
(Now let's see -- £1,000 each for very rare wheel cylinders, another £1,000 for labour, £250 for overnight parking charge -- oh and £10 for brake pipe and fluid!)
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Blimey Chris!!Turned out to be quite a story re:- the wheel cylinders... One boss crumbled and the other snapped off!....The replacement cylinders were ordered, only one arrived!
Eventually after a long phone conversation the other arrived, minus bleed screw!... And also it was a different size to the other!
The supplier hadn't got said bleed screw in stock so couldn't help and suggested the local Suzuki dealer!!
So, more out of interest my mate rang Suzuki... Wheel cylinders were £90+, plus VAT!! (Could get them tomorrow!....Bleed screw was within next 7 days!!)...
I had similar issues when I fitted the front caliper's recently, suppliers couldn't tell me if the bleed screws were included!!......How hard is it???....Or just a photo in the item description would have helped!😖
Anyway another phone call elsewhere finally secured the parts required...
On the upside, everything else to ensure good brakes I was told are perfectly usable, and shoes have plenty life remaining.
Car was finally collected at 4.45pm after an issue with empty cash machines!
Total bill for m.o.t, and an oils service, plus the brake work...
Drum Roll......
£390!! Not far out Kev!...🤣
.. they do if the manufacturer is maximising profits by making his spares unique to his models and ensuring a captive market !Blimey Chris!!
I thought I was only joking!! 😲
In all my years of motoring I have never really understood why there needs to be so many subtle differences between certain generic components, like brake parts. Why don't we have simplicity, say like, 'large, medium and small' which would suffice to cover wheel cylinders for almost every car on the planet! They (and other common parts) don't really need to come in hundreds of slightly different sizes and shapes do they? 🤔
Your 'spot-on' there Nick....When I worked in a Motorcycle shop someone worked out the cost of individual parts over a complete £750 motorcycle and it was something ridiculous like £5000 pounds or more!.. they do if the manufacturer is maximising profits by making his spares unique to his models and ensuring a captive market !
Not sure how true it was but when working for Fords the cynical story was that Fords sold as many cars as possible at barely break-even and then made a killing on selling spares for them.
Glad you were an Mx-5 owner again Martin (Albiet briefly).....Same here in the UK where Mazda are slow to the 'electric party'....And are heavily borrowing Toyota technology for their push to be 'green'....Sadly poor range of the EV's is the most likely reason that they haven't attracted sales like some other manufacturers....I'd think the mid size Ev in Australia akin to being as much good as a chocolate T-pot.... 🤣 🤣He explained that the only Mazda electric car was a midsized SUV!
I have no idea why.
After forty years of sports car ownership (and a dozen years as an MX-5 owner) I was feeling I missed small, sporty cars.
Anyway, on Tuesday, I was actually an MX-5 owner for a day... and it felt really good!
I had finally realised that the moves made for the use of electric cars in Australia were inadequate. I thought perhaps an automatic MX-5 might be ideal and after some time I found a dark blue, 2023 model at a dealership near us and... I had already committed to buying it!
The next morning I texted the salesman and explained what I really wanted was a tiny electric car and he was very understanding. He explained that the only Mazda electric car was a midsized SUV!
I have no idea why.
That sounds very reasonable, Chris. I presume that's for a basic oil/filter/safety check?Just booked the ND for service on the 21st....Cost this time £219.
Have to say Kev yes, the servicing has never really been expensive...I had the brake fluid done last time and it was around £230 from memory....🤑...so it's a small service this time.That sounds very reasonable, Chris. I presume that's for a basic oil/filter/safety check?
Prices are far cheaper up your way than they are down here.
The cheapest basic service I had on my last ND at a main dealer (Vospers Exeter) was £290 in August 2021. I bet it's even more now!
And of course, the heavier they get, the more they rip up our already knackered, potholed roads. The infrastructure for EVs is decades behind the real day to day requirements.I think the problem is that even a small car would need a reasonably large battery capacity to give a decent range and performance, probably around 500KG, that would just kill a car the size of a 5. In an SUV this may not seem like so much of a penalty. So now we have more people pushing larger and heavier cars around which obviously use more energy (simple school kid physics) but we're told that's better for the environment and people believe it because it (currently) works out cheaper than petrol. Of course it isn't if you take the tax away (in the UK at least).