mechanical advice please (mini not lotus)

[Beady]

Our old 2008 mini has an advisory on the MOT for corrosion in the subframe.

we have had it since new and it now has 90k, but still drives well.

At that age on autotrader they seem to start at £2k, but i imagine this would be much less  with an advisory. 

WBAC offer £1k at present (mot is until next March so plenty of time as they will take it with min 3 months mot i understand)

Does anyone have any idea of time needed to change to subframe? (or idea of approx labour cost).

I suspect by the time the subframe is out, the costs could increase quickly as it will be "sensible tho change the clutch at the same time."..etc ...etc

It may get though again next year, who knows, but eventually it will fail so trying to gauge if its worth keeping and fixing or getting rid. It's used a third car / station car so does limited mileage these days but Mrs B has emotional attachment.

needless to say this would all be garage work, not done by me as i think its beyond my limited ability

cheers 

 

[TdM]

Do note, and I'm sure you are aware, you won't get 1k for it from WBAC even if they say that. You'll probably get another £150 knocked off that at least. They are very efficient and, in my experience not as bad as advertised, but you should definitely expect to be knocked down.

I can't help you on the repair costs/effort unfortunately, you may get away with getting at it and treating it rather than replacing if it's not too bad?

[PAR]

Really unlikely you can get repairs done for less than the price of an old one on autotrader.

I think you try to look for one identical to yours without any advisory and a clean chassis. If you can get the “upgrade” for 2k this will always beat repairing at your own cost.

[slewthy]

WBAC will knock around £50 off for any paint chips per panel. Favourite place for them to look is the trailing edge of the doors - have a look and patch up if you can!!

[Steve V8]

If you've had it from new, it drives well and the wife loves it, repair and keep.

You'll know that car inside out, it's better the devil you know as they say.

 

[chris]

How bad is the corrosion and have you had a quote to repair/replace it? If it’s under £1500 to replace and change clutch then get the work done and keep it. As Steve says “better the devil you know”.

Plus, If it’s only an advisory then it might not need anything doing to it for another year or longer.

 

[Barrykearley]

I’d poke it up in the air and look at the advisory. Sometimes an over keen tester is looking for work - it might just be some surface rust that can be cleaned, treated and repainted. Could be a mess though and it’s a real advisory. I’ve had some cars where these advisories have been present for 3or 4 years - then on year 5 it isn’t advised !