General Advice? Fix my Punto or cut my losses and get a new motor?

[Mudchild]

I'm quite naive on cars, and could really use some advice.

My Punto's not well....

OK, the garage said it needed a new clutch and gears and that I should consider whether it's worth it. Will cost around £600 to get it sorted, I guess more than I could actually sell the car for

The car is a Fiat Punto 5 door 1.2 Y-reg with only about 67000 miles on the clock. But it may have arrived at that point in its life where stuff starts going wrong. Last month it needed a new head gasket, and some other stuff, costing £250. Now this has happened - murderous noises were coming from the direction of the gears.

Thing is, it's not a great time for me to be buying a new motor financially(although I would like one).

I just wondered what other people would do, cos I don't know much about cars (the Punto is my first). Does it sound like I'm better off shot of it? Should I just sell it on ebay for spares & repairs?

I know it's of course my decision at the end of the day, but some outside input would be helpful...

Thanks in advance

Mud

 

[paul12345]

Just get a second hand working gearbox and find somewhere that will fit it cheap and get a new clutch whilst your at it.

 

[MikeSalt]

Unless you are buying new-new, then you have to consider that whatever car you buy could have a gearbox with only 1000 miles of life left, and then you would be stuck with the same dilemma. With my mk1 55s, I was faced with a similar dilemma when the gearbox went, and my car was much older and had done quite a few more miles then. I looked at replacements but they were all garbage, so I thought it best to stick with the car I knew.

However, there does come a point where you have to know when to call it a day, and I overshot this on my car when I paid for yet another gearbox (a mk2 gearbox had been fitted which has bad input shaft seals). Since then, it just swallowed money. Due to the number of nearly-new components, it would make a great runaround for someone, but its days of economical long-distance cruising are over.

I suppose, ultimately, it comes down to what condition the rest of the car is in. See if a garage will go over it for a small fee and identify any other issues likely to require attention in the near future. That may aid you in your decision.

 

[snapyoursticks]

Get a gearbox from a scrapyard and get someone to fit it, should be much cheaper.

In terms of wether or not to keep the car, I had a similar issue recently, my head gasket went out with a bang and a few other bits needed doing, I'm getting a bill for about 700 quid in all!

But I decided to fix the punter rather than get a new motor, mainly because it has low(ish) mileage and any replacement car for 700 quid would be utter crap. Better to spend the money on a decent car that has more life left in it.

 

[MikeSalt]

A gearbox from a scrapyard may be cheaper, but the bulk of the cost will be your time fitting it, or labour costs at a garage. May as well spend that bit extra and get a fully rebuilt box with 12 months' warranty.

 

[DaveMcT]

You mentioned the clutch had gone. Unless its an HGT or diesel, parts for that are about £75 or less.
http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=s...1&secondary=14&opts=51&btnViewProducts=Search

A used gearbox from a breakers wont be too bad less than £200 and the labour will be the same as just changing the clutch, from £120 at a small garage.

I always work out what I would have to spend to get a good car and pretend its on finance. If I was to shell out £100 a month in 4 months at worst I'd be motoring "free" (all the other costs are the same either way). If the new car costs £200 a months the payback is that much closer.

Snapys advice is good - get the garage to check the car over and see what else is looming. Brakes and radiators are pretty cheap on Puntos but any welding might force a decision.
Other stuff you cant quantify and unless you buy nearly new, things can go wrong with any car. The most important things are check the fluids every week and keep it properly serviced.