Good idea to get a garage to look over my car?

  1. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #1
    i was thinking i want to do some mods done to my car, but i dont want to start getting a new exhaust system etc and then to find out the car is nearly on its way out anyway.so is it a good idea to get a garage to look over my car to tell me if there is anything wrong? also how much would it cost for a garage to look over my car. thanks
  2. L-plater Joined: Nov 2013 blackburn Posts: 73 Saxo vtr 1.6
    #2
    would be advisable to check any car through and through,

    a few basic things u can do easily is:

    check the oil fill cap for any signs of gunk

    check the spark plugs for any oil buildup and or do a compression test

    check under wheel arches for rust

    check in the boot for rust and check sills

    any engine problems such as knocking or unusual sounds/smoking are never really a good sign

    have a look at your previous MOT certificate and see if it has any advisories


    how does she drive and what car is it ?
  3. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #3
    thanks for the reply, its a saxo vtr 1998 and drives well imo great handling quite nippy on accelration, but 2 main problems are it eats oil and it always runs hot,its fine until you get into 4th and 50mph+. ive had it 6 months now and it has not broke down once which is nice.
  4. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2011 plymouth Posts: 2921 mk2 VTS
    #4
    what mileage has it done and I would check out the thermostat and as for the oil consumption hopefully its just a leak
  5. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #5
    coming up to around 90k miles i think, as for the oil thing not sure what it is, maybe it was because i was using mineral oil, well i have switched now to semi sythetic. there are no plumes of smoke coming out of the exhaust either.
  6. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2011 plymouth Posts: 2921 mk2 VTS
    #6
    is it the blacktop engine or silvertop also check the rockercover gasket as its prone to going and is the oil consumption bad?
  7. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #7
    black top, yeah it was eating oil, needing to top up around every 300 miles, hopefully the oil change well help that.
  8. Saxperience Post Whore Joined: Apr 2011 Posts: 9100 Amazon green VTR 16v, Inferno RS clio 182
    #8
    Mineral or not it shouldn't be using oil at that rate. Suspect a leak if it's not smoking badly. Stem seals can go on these, usually more than rings I've found too.


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  9. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2011 plymouth Posts: 2921 mk2 VTS
    #9
    as gandi ses stem seals are a common thing on these and what colour smoke you getting
  10. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #10
    im not getting any abnormal smoke as far as i know.
  11. Infrequent Poster Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 242
    #11
    if you meant what smoke am i getting when it does produces normal smoke, i would say its white.
  12. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Mar 2011 plymouth Posts: 2921 mk2 VTS
    #12
    must be a leak then hopefully something easy to fix
  13. Saxperience Addict Joined: Dec 2009 Posts: 11714 A6 Le Mans tuned/A3 TFSI tuned
    #13
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ashj22 View Post
    if you meant what smoke am i getting when it does produces normal smoke, i would say its white.
    that's the difference between a leak and worn piston rings. Smells like a leak then.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ashj22 View Post
    hopefully the oil change well help that.
    don't think so. Get the AA to do a check, a garage may find faults that don't exist.