My HGT Dilemma

[Gianni]

Hi guys, first of all I'm sorry for the long post!

I SORNED my 155 HGT in Sept as it had some work needed doing and I just didn't have the funds at the time, or the job security. We were keeping the car ticking over until the battery died and wouldn't hold charge in October. I'm currently driving my dad's 1.4 Grande Punto as he wasn't using it.

I've got some money saved up now and looking to get my own car again. I have 2 options, repair the HGT and put it back on the road or get a diesel.

The HGT currently has no MOT or Tax. The car had developed a noticeable flat spot at 3000 rpm, which will need looking at. The cambelt will definitely need changing and will need a service. I think the alternator may need changing too as the battery is no longer holding charge, even after running it for 1 hour after jumping it (I need to run a few checks to make sure it's not just the battery that is dead.) All 4 tyres need replacing also as they've all cracked.

I was thinking about getting the clutch and a few other things done to save having to do it later, if I do put it back on the road.

Question is, is there any point? I have a budget of around £2k and the more I think about it, the more it just doesn't make sense. I don't have any mechanical skill and don't know anyone I trust enough to do the job.

If I do get a diesel it'll most probably be a Bravo JTD, as I'll be doing a lot of motorway miles and the Stilo is a bit out of my price range (Don't hurt me! I had one before, it was faultless and I loved it!)

But seriously, any advice is welcome, as I'm really undecided on what to do.

 

[Marcus]

Sounds to me like it would be cheaper to buy another Hgt or as you said, a JTD

 

[marko]

Just a quick point about the Battery - it won't charge until the engine reaches 2000rpm and i'm sure you didn't sit on the drive for an hour with your foot balanced on the throttle. The alternator should be fine. Also, have it serviced and see if the flat spot remains.
If it was me i'd try to find a more modern diesel which will be cheaper to run.

 

[Ozric-Al]

Hmmm, tough one. As I see it: -
Flat spot - probably MAF = @£75 - £100
Cambelt = £399
Service = £185
Battery = @£65
Alternator (if required) = @£180
4 Mid range tyres = @£200 - £300
Clutch = @£400 - £450
MOT = £55 if no faults
Total = @£1559 - £1734
Bearing in mind that all of these things excluding the MAF are wear and tear and standard service items onec the money is spent you will have a fully serviced HGT that will be unlikely to require and large expenditure for a couple of years.
If you buy another car you will still have to maintain it so some of the above costs need to be added to the purchase price to compare the genuine cost of ownership over 1 year.
Although it may seem like a lot of money to spend on an old car how reliable will another car for under £2k be given that you can never be 100% sure of it's history?

"Doctor said to give up Keee-Babs. I said 'No, no-no'"

My Members Page
OI! Road safety nutters!! George Orwell ment '1984' to be a warning, NOT a template!

 

[Will]

Kepp it! don't let another 5pot die

 

[Gianni]

Some good points here, thanks for the replies!

Marcus - Yeah, not sure if it's a good position to be in. But I suppose any choice is better than none.

Marko - I did not know that about the battery. I suppose purchasing an external charger might be a better idea then?

Oz - I was thinking the same, it's all done and out the way. Plus it never hurts to have another yellow HGT buzzing around.

Will - I'd hate to get rid of it. The car served me well, have some good memories too, including a 2000 mile run around Europe in the summer, which was fun!

If I do put it back on the road, what else would you guys get done to it? Considered wishbones as remember having to get them done on the Stilo with very similar mileage (About 70k). New discs and pads all round were done during the last service around this time last year, wonder how useful the pads will be now?

Am still toying with the idea of hiring a flatbed to transport it to Power Italia to get the service and cambelt done. Does anyone know if they do MOTs too? I emailed them the other day but haven't had a reply yet. Anyone know if they would do the other jobs if I asked them to and supplied the parts?

Again, sorry for the length!

 

[Robin]

Rog at power italia is very accomadting but they do not do mots, he fitted all the bits I gave him it's best to give him a shout but bear in mind that I he supplies the parts they will be genuine fiat parts if you are thinking of buying the bits of eBay because thy are cheap then I would have along hard think about it.

I am down there next week to have my cambelt done so I can give him a ask if you want

cheers
robin

Fiat Marea Weekend 2.0 20v HLX 147 83k and so far so good!

 

[Ozric-Al]

Ahhh, GSpag. Just realised who you are.
Welcome to the dark side chap.
PowerItalia will organise MOT's but they prefer not to as they don't have easy access to the MOT test centre. What you could do is get it booked in to a nearby MOT place and time it with Rog.
I'm sure that if you were to have all of that done he would sort you a good price. He'll sort just about everything on the liast apart from tyres and MOT if you supply parts or not. Would recommend the only parts you get be the MAF and perhaps the alternator as there are 2 or 3 different alts for the 155 and he might end up with the wrong one.
As for contact just give Rog a call as you'll get a quicker response. Top guy to talk to and will give you great advice. I'd say get the list above done and while you are there ask him what else might need doing. I would guess at handbrake cables given the age (£75) and poss wishbones but haing said that Shabash! is on 105k and still has original clutch, springs, shocks, wishbones etc with no signs of needing changing yet.

"Doctor said to give up Keee-Babs. I said 'No, no-no'"

My Members Page
OI! Road safety nutters!! George Orwell ment '1984' to be a warning, NOT a template!

 

[Tommy K]

I did have a JTD bravo - did 50,000 miles trouble free running 150bhp for 20,000 then 136bhp upto 96,000 miles when I sold it.


I replaced the MAFF and that was it!


I got about 50mpg average and 0-60 around 8secs, top speed 136mph.

The JTD the is obvious choice for an everyday car!

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[Gianni]

Yeah sorry I should have mentioned, the parts I supply wouldn't be the cambelt or service bits.

Just did a quick search and there's two MOT garages about 5 mins away from Power Italia. Will probably hire a transporter for the day and take it down, get the MOT done in the morning and find out what else needs doing.

Might get some pics up once things start moving and get a revival thread going. Time to search for some parts now.