My Fiat Brava is 8 years old and I think it needs a new clutch. Thanks to info on the Forum I discovered that the £500 quoted by the garage was rather high and I got an estimate of £250 inc VAT from a Fiat specialist recommended on another thread (in Edinburgh).
The MOT is due in September and I usually get it serviced at the same time.
So, if replacing the clutch keeps the car on the road for another year (or more) then it is worth it, if however the MOT highlights more problems then it might be a waste of money - the car being only worth £500 or so as it is (mileage is about 55K).
Does anyone have any advice - for instance, should I have it MOT'd early (don't even know if this is possible) and see if there are any other problems lurking (presuming an MOT would uncover them)? Should I bite the bullet and ask the Fiat specialist to service it at the same time as replacing the clutch and hope that I have a lovely, reliable car for another year or two? Or should I get rid of the car for good?
I would appreciate your thoughts - while understanding that none of us can predict the future. Thanks a lot.

if your previous MOT had no advisories that you ignored then it is highly unlikely that you will get any nasty surprises at the next MOT unless you've done a lot of mileage over the year (20k for example) or abused it.

HonorB said:

(mileage is about 55K).

Click to expand...

That is really low and the car should be fine until around 90K - 100K. you have at leat 5 - 6 years left in it :slayer::slayer:

The car will do well over a 100k if its properly serviced e.t.c mine is on 120 and still going strong with no major (touch wood) issues or even minor ones for that matter and i have seen a bravo with 160 on it, so you still have loads of life left in it.

If the car doesn't have any obvious faults then get it mot'd as 55,000 miles is a very low mileage, if it was 155,000 then my advice might be to be more cautious

Look at it logically

Forget the cars value. It doesn't matter whether a car is worth 10k or £200
It still has to be serviced and will have from time to time items that need replacing.

Instead look at what the car is worth to you. £37 for an mot plus a few minor items. and £250 for a clutch is worth it when you then have peace of mind that the clutch will be fine for another 50,000 miles.

What would another car cost that had under 55,000 miles on it.
Also it could just as easily need components such as exhaust, brakes etc. No matter what mileage, a car will always require something renewing.
the difference between 10,000 miles and 50,000 miles aren't really worth picking over as even a 5year old car with 20,000 miles on it could need perishable items replacing.

For example my mothers 54 plate Renault Modus with 19,000 miles has already needed a coil pack and now the exhaust is blowing. Also to change a headlight bulb you have to remove the front bumper.

bridges said:

to change a headlight bulb you have to remove the front bumper.

Click to expand...

its amazing how many cars are that badly designed!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. You have been really helpful, it is useful to have some sort of estimate as to the potential life of the car in terms of mileage. I've booked it in for Tuesday. Thanks again and I hope you have a good weekend.

Honor

bridges said:

Also to change a headlight bulb you have to remove the front bumper.

Click to expand...

If you look in the front wheel arch there will be a plastic cover around 6" long and 5" high and if you clip it off you can reach the back of the light to change the bulb.

My gf had the same with her megane. i let her struggle for an hour then came out and unclipped it for her (thinking it was funny watching her.) But all i got was a slap and moaned at for watching her struggle while i knew how to do it. lol

Let me know if it is the same on yours

Savage said:

If you look in the front wheel arch there will be a plastic cover around 6" long and 5" high and if you clip it off you can reach the back of the light to change the bulb.

My gf had the same with her megane. i let her struggle for an hour then came out and unclipped it for her (thinking it was funny watching her.) But all i got was a slap and moaned at for watching her struggle while i knew how to do it. lol

Let me know if it is the same on yours

Click to expand...

Women, damned if you do damned if you dont

Savage said:

If you look in the front wheel arch there will be a plastic cover around 6" long and 5" high and if you clip it off you can reach the back of the light to change the bulb.

My gf had the same with her megane. i let her struggle for an hour then came out and unclipped it for her (thinking it was funny watching her.) But all i got was a slap and moaned at for watching her struggle while i knew how to do it. lol

Let me know if it is the same on yours

Click to expand...

Indeed the Megane has this neat feature although it can still be a pain to do. Unfortunately the modus does not, it shares a chassis with the new generation clio/micra. Access is a bumper apron off job which involves removing a screw from the arch liner with this removed you can access the support bracket and bumper to wing bolts. Oh joy.

Someone told me that the Stilo was awkward as well. Although having owned a stilo 1.6 for a few months i'd say that it was the dullest cars ever and that i'd have gladly used a headlight bulb failure as an excuse to sell it.