Internet sensationalism for car faults
Discussion
doogz said:
WojaWabbit said:
Hi doogz,
I actually thought I'd had them removed, but turned out that I got bumped and they never actually got removed. So now I'm 25k miles and 3yrs down the line and everythings A-ok. I realise that now I've said this, I'll find my engine will have disintegrated by tomorrow morning.....
But this is part of my original point. How many MR2s have actually had precat corrosion cause comprehensive engine failure? Hundreds? Thousands? As a percentage does anyone really know? So many people on the forums talk about it, but there must be huge numbers of owners who've never been near a forum, happily plodding along with no issues at all.
I appreciate that its cheap to remove the precats, but I think because of that and the amount of prevention that's went on, we don't have an accurate failure rate as the constants have been altered.
How many? Absolutely no idea. I'm new to MR2 ownership, had one about a month, and after being basically ordered, by the online community, i spent an hour or so removing mine. I see your point, and appreciate the chance of failure is probably pretty remote, but it cost me nothing to remove them, and I'll suffer no adverse affects as a result, so it was a bit of a no-brainer.I actually thought I'd had them removed, but turned out that I got bumped and they never actually got removed. So now I'm 25k miles and 3yrs down the line and everythings A-ok. I realise that now I've said this, I'll find my engine will have disintegrated by tomorrow morning.....
But this is part of my original point. How many MR2s have actually had precat corrosion cause comprehensive engine failure? Hundreds? Thousands? As a percentage does anyone really know? So many people on the forums talk about it, but there must be huge numbers of owners who've never been near a forum, happily plodding along with no issues at all.
I appreciate that its cheap to remove the precats, but I think because of that and the amount of prevention that's went on, we don't have an accurate failure rate as the constants have been altered.
As you say, to remove them is free, so no harm in removing them.
Btw, great little cars aren't they?!
Seems that I'm not the only one then to think that a fair amount of myth surrounds many cars' reliability. I'm with the chap who likes that the cars burdened with these accusations are available at much cheapness! £2k xjr anyone?
vrooom said:
buy toyota corolla and be done with it.
Got to say, I tend to agree! When the turbo oil seals blew on my Passat TDi I was fortunate (I think) to be given this old Corolla to run about in. It was very basic, a lowly 1300cc and had been rather neglected having spent a lot of its life on a farmyard.I was very apprehensive about the car but thought I'd give it a chance....and I damn well loved it!!
It was on 110000 miles and ran as sweet as ever, with a slick gearchange and that rare indestructible feeling that I rarely get in a car. It was ugly and looking sorry for itself but I didn't care
Captain Muppet said:
Si_man306 said:
had ham said:
350Z.
Amen to that......Taps 350z sitting pretty on the driveway
Notes for people who don't like model codes:
* Nissan Silvia Turbo
** Nissan 200SX
*** Nissan Skyline
They do have a some common issues, the most serious seems to be early cars had slightly weaker synchros in the gearbox than later ones, and the dual mass flywheels can fail at fairly low mileages sometimes, but anything very serious is a bit unlucky, it seems.
Optional Bose head units aren't too reliable, I've had to strip mine down to fix a common fault (left hand door speaker cutting out), and 'clicky' rear axles (c.v. joints) are common but easily sorted.
I've heard of a couple of engines melting pistons and there is some debate about whether or not it's due to the use of 95ron fuel - 97 or more is recommended.
Still, I won't be getting rid of mine in a hurry.
morgrp said:
They also have a common fault where an o-ring in the sump fails causing temporary oil starvation on start up which also mis-diagnosed as either a bent rod or failed lifter.
Yup... mine did this.Volvo even supply a kit with all the parts needed as it is so common.
PITA to get the sump off though.
It's not just the internet that's prone to sensationalism. I remember visiting a friend in New Zealand and idly reading his copy of "The Dog & Lemon Guide", which he treated as the NZ used car bible. The tone of the book was that buying anything other than a 70s-80s Toyota Corolla was reckless, foolhardy and would inevitably result in spontaneous combustion, killing you, your family and all the residents of Auckland with it. Very odd, and quite different from my experience with some of the cars it savaged.
andy_s said:
jbi said:
Everyone I know who has had a car with the rover k-series has ended up being a horror story.
That's the sensationalism bit.Horror story...Bit like Bosnia.
djdestiny said:
A car that never goes wrong has'nt been invented yet
Sir....you have not met the 1996 toyota carina e 2.0d.We have one as a dogsbody in work....can't begin to describe what it has been through over the last 10 years whilst being serviced once every time one of those pig things took flight.
Just to add - OP's price range without huge issues, I'd say S2000.
Adding to the Rover/MG head gasket conversation - Yes they are a common issue, but it's not the end of the world. I was in the market at one point for an MG TF, and I was only looking for one with the Land Rover HG upgrade, I.E, looking for cars that had already had it failed, and this was more common than ones that haven't had it replaced. On the flip side, a friend bought one that hadn't had it replaced, but it was at a seriously reduced price to accommodate for the highly likely expense (£500 ish at a specialist) of the LR HG upgrade.
Adding to the Rover/MG head gasket conversation - Yes they are a common issue, but it's not the end of the world. I was in the market at one point for an MG TF, and I was only looking for one with the Land Rover HG upgrade, I.E, looking for cars that had already had it failed, and this was more common than ones that haven't had it replaced. On the flip side, a friend bought one that hadn't had it replaced, but it was at a seriously reduced price to accommodate for the highly likely expense (£500 ish at a specialist) of the LR HG upgrade.
doogz said:
How many? Absolutely no idea. I'm new to MR2 ownership, had one about a month, and after being basically ordered, by the online community, i spent an hour or so removing mine. I see your point, and appreciate the chance of failure is probably pretty remote, but it cost me nothing to remove them, and I'll suffer no adverse affects as a result, so it was a bit of a no-brainer.
I've seen the online guides, is it really a couple hours work? I've been wondering about getting mine cleared, even just for improving the flow along the exhaust.I'm happy to change oil/filters(the airfilter is a right b
d!)/plugs but worried I might do more harm than good... 
jbi said:
andy_s said:
jbi said:
Everyone I know who has had a car with the rover k-series has ended up being a horror story.
That's the sensationalism bit.Horror story...Bit like Bosnia.
A trifle disappointing?
Not just HGF and a fairly easy operation to put right (or even pre-empt)? They've all been 'Horror Stories'?
I think there's a bit of Tabasco in the mix to be honest - otherwise all S1, S2 Elises, all the Rovers and Caterhams et al that used them would be 'wrecked', which they are evidently not.
So yes, perhaps your sub-set is limited in number and they've all been unlucky in that it's not only been HGF but also a 'wrecked' engine, in which case it's bad news, but it's not the general experience.
This thread was about sensationalism, I highlighted your good example which was to imply that all K-Series engines inevitably ended up being 'horror stories/wrecked' (the implication is there). In actual fact the truth is slightly less 'horrific' than your small pool of people would seem to suggest.
Like I say, your comment is red-top journalise, hence my remark.
andy_s said:
So everyone you know that has had a car with the Rover K-Series engine has ended up with it wrecked?
Not just HGF and a fairly easy operation to put right (or even pre-empt)? They've all been 'Horror Stories'?
I think there's a bit of Tabasco in the mix to be honest - otherwise all S1, S2 Elises, all the Rovers and Caterhams et al that used them would be 'wrecked', which they are evidently not.
2 owners 3 cars and 4 head gasket failures later, yeah they have been pretty bad.Not just HGF and a fairly easy operation to put right (or even pre-empt)? They've all been 'Horror Stories'?
I think there's a bit of Tabasco in the mix to be honest - otherwise all S1, S2 Elises, all the Rovers and Caterhams et al that used them would be 'wrecked', which they are evidently not.
I'm going to hazard a guess that the combination of the elise and caterhams being lighter and the owners being enthusiasts who are willing to spend money on their cars makes a big difference in the survivability of the engine.
I.E not driving it while it's overheating.
doogz said:
That's got nothing to do with being an enthusiast. That's about not being an idiot.
I agree... but the average Joe isn't that attentive in my experience.Now I'm not one to judge, but my mates dad, being of the bird watching, bobble hated type has zero interest in cars other than as a means to get about. I'm willing to bet he isn't alone.
My other mate is actually an enthusiast, but used the truck for towing. Having had the head gasket repaired once and it failing again I think even he decided enough was enough and cut his losses.
He has a defender now.
NadiR said:
S2000, or any performance Honda.
You may wish to reconsider.There is a serious fault associated with the last cars. Bottom end failure requiring a new engine.
This only affected some of the last cars (08/ 09 manufacture), probably caused by Honda skimping on quality control/ failing to re-tool the production line for the last cars.
There are many engine failure threads on s2ki relating to 08/09 cars..
One guy on there will shortly be on his fourth engine in an 09 car with 22k on the clock.
The issue also affects replacement engines because these were also from the last batch made.
Honda reliability ? Does not apply to these cars.
Edited by Red 4 on Tuesday 3rd July 15:53
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff