MOT Advisory

[Howard-]

tenpenceshort said:

I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but it sounds to me like they're lining you up to tell you the head gasket is fked.

Which, if it's the 1.4 8V, is probably the case.

Edit: Just seen the OP post confirming it's a 1.4.


Thankfully it's a pretty easy job and so shouldn't be too expensive to have sorted. Don't let Carcraft anywhere near it though

[sparks_E39]

Summer1984 said:

It was serviced by carcraft under the drive happy package October 2013, the next one isn't due until October 2015.

My advice is get a reputable specialist to service your car from now on and don't let them near it. The two yearly service is only if you're doing lower miles, might be prudent for the sake of £150 to service it every year. If it is the head gasket be wary of who you choose to fix it.

If you drive around knowingly with low coolant you can pretty much wave goodbye to any warranty. Coolant keeps the engine running cool, by not topping it up you run the risk of severe engine damage. You need to find out if the coolant is leaking (bad, but easy to fix once found) or if the engine is using it (worse) Your car's getting on a bit, so unfortunately this sort of thing happens.

Edited by sparks_E39 on Thursday 24th July 18:30

[TooMany2cvs]

Summer1984 said:

I'm clueless when it comes to cars and just want to get some advice to avoid being ripped off.

June 2013 I got a car on finance from car craft

Bit late to ask for that advice, but we'll ignore that...

Summer1984 said:

the car has passed it's MOT again (with car craft) but now has some advisory notes.

Advisories are just thinks that the tester thinks you need to know. No more than that.

Summer1984 said:

1 - front (inner) brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened.

Brake discs are a consumable, a service item. You can expect to replace them periodically.

Summer1984 said:

2 - slight oil leak around engine

How much oil is it using?

Summer1984 said:

3 - Coolant level below minimum

Mmm. That last question... You _are_ checking the levels regularly, right? The handbook tells you how.

Summer1984 said:

4 - Exhaust backbox bracket snapped

Well, that explains the rattle you've probably noticed...
So the exhaust's coming due for replacement. Again, consumable. 5yrs is a bit short, but if it's done so few miles, it's probably never got properly hot, so is rotting from the inside out. Yes, the bracket can be welded, but it's a short-term fix.

Summer1984 said:

I asked carcraft how much it would be to sort these

You know what you said your main aim was...? The bit about not being ripped off...?

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Thursday 24th July 20:33

[NotAnotherTrader]

Mot testers have to cover themselves against everything so they mention all minor details to A. Show that they had their eyes open and B. Drum up extra business from people who want a perfect car.

Coolant can go down without it being a head gasket failure. Same as an engine using a bit of oil every few thousand miles. Top up the engine oil and coolant to the max levels and check again every 500-1000 miles and unless it is smoking out the back or pouring out I'm sure it's not major engine repair work like a head gasket.

Brake discs. He's more than likely just mentioned it because visibility behind the wheel is bad and again he's covering himself. Just prepare for brake pads and discs at the next service or next mot. Budget £85-100 plus an hours labour for quality parts and a brake fluid change.

Exhaust bracket snapped- only thing that would require any attention straight away as if this gets worse and causes the box to fall could damage it and mean a new back box. Good Independant wouldn't charge more than half an hour to weld the bracket or secure the exhaust.

[C. Grimsley]

Oil leak will be the head gasket, sounds worse than it is but they all at some point start to leak.

Brake disc,s I wouldn't worry till you run the pads low and change both then.

You can buy just the straps now for the back boxes from places like euro car parts. Again another very common issue.

the other are just daft little notes and nothing to worry about.

Carl

Edited by C. Grimsley on Thursday 24th July 21:34

[cossy400]

id be interested to know how car craft can sell you a "drive happy" policy, which states service intervals of 2 yrs??

How much is/was this policy?

[NotAnotherTrader]

C. Grimsley said:

Oil leak will be the head gasket, sounds worse than it is but they all at some point start to leak.

Brake disc,s I wouldn't worry till you run the pads low and change both then.

You can buy just the straps now for the back boxes from places like euro car parts. Again another very common issue.

the other are just daft little notes and nothing to worry about.

Carl

Edited by C. Grimsley on Thursday 24th July 21:34

I doubt a 2009 35,000 207 will have head gasket failure. If it did how would it pass the mot emissions test

[eldar]

NotAnotherTrader said:

I doubt a 2009 35,000 207 will have head gasket failure. If it did how would it pass the mot emissions test

Depends how the head gasket has failed....

[aw51 121565]

C. Grimsley said:

Oil leak will be the head gasket, sounds worse than it is but they all at some point start to leak.

Brake disc,s I wouldn't worry till you run the pads low and change both then.

You can buy just the straps now for the back boxes from places like euro car parts. Again another very common issue.

the other are just daft little notes and nothing to worry about.

Carl

Edited by C. Grimsley on Thursday 24th July 21:34

Summer1984, Carl is a Peugeot specialist and knows his onions - and the couple of posts above his post (the quoted one) in the thread also tell it how it is (it's not bad!) .

You need to sort the exhaust back box and its failed mount (if it has failed [sorry, I'm a cynic ]) before it causes problems (exhaust blow or possibly the front end of the back box dropping down and ripping the back box off with adjacent damage) - otherwise the MoT tester is covering his backside (as per other posts) but you need to check the oil and water levels regularly to make sure nothing more sinister is going on (again as per other posts) .

If you were near Bolton, I'd pop round and show how to check the levels (and also check the brakes and back box for you to see what problems were apparent)...

Ultimately - the problems reported are "advisories" and the car passed its MoT this time; but the MoT Tester thinks the problems noted as "advisories" could cause problems before the next MoT (oil and coolant leaks can trash the engine if left unattended-to and the levels aren't topped up, for example, or if the car is involved in an accident where its braking capability might be questioned then he has covered his backside if the brake discs are in "poor condition" at the time of the last MoT but it is later suspected that their condition might have contributed to an accident [very unlikely, but in extremis ]...).

I'd get the exhaust sorted (if needed ) and check the engine fluid levels regularly plus listen to the brakes and see if they start 'scraping' upon application (if you've got no-one to check them occasionally) .

[Summer1984]

Update:

A garage have just had a look and topped up the coolant and said it doesn't look like it's leaking so could just be a case of never being topped up or checked (which I hadn't done).

They're fixing the snapped bracket on the exhaust and replacing both front brake pads and discs and seeing if they can find any oil leak for £185. When they looked under the bonnet they said that there doesn't seem to be an oil leak problem though.

So they investigated for free in the space of 20 mins! Much cheaper than carcraft.

[Howard-]

NotAnotherTrader said:

I doubt a 2009 35,000 207 will have head gasket failure

It's an extremely common problem with the 1.4 8V (TU3) engine. It's a design fault with the gasket and an oil-way. My other half's car is suffering too. It's not severe (yet) - a bit of oil leakage, but still.

[TooMany2cvs]

Summer1984 said:

Much cheaper than carcraft.

<falls over in surprise. not.>

[Motorrad]

Glad you've got it sorted OP.

Avoid car craft and other outfits like them in future is the best advice I can give you. They prey on people with poor credit and rely on them having a lack of knowledge about cars IMO.