MOT failure... Help!

[brayash]

Hi Guys,

In need of some help if possible!

Just taken the 1.9 to the MOT and it failed on the following:

- Offside rear exhaust mounting missing
- Offside outer front CV joint gaiter split
- Nearside rear (on handbrake) brake pipe chafed
- Offside rear tyre fouling part of the vehicle
- Nearside rear tyre fouling part of the vehicle

The story is, I live in Germany and will be heading back on the 5th. I'm on a very tight budget and am looking at alternatives, but would obviously like to get as much for the current car as possible. The highlighted failures are from the rear wheels rubbing on the rear bumper. I'm assuming a previous owner had lowered the rear suspension (why only the rear I don't know...) and it's difficult to even get a finger between the rear of the rear tyre and the bumper. There could of course be another reason for this but I'm not particularly mechanically minded. Could anyone else shed any light on what this may be?

Brief description of the car:

Phase 1 non-cat 1.9 Gti.
Body is near enough spotless. No rust, couple of minor dings as to be expected.
Interior is also to be expected ie. rear is tidy, both front seat bolsters excessively worn.
Engine runs fine, always starts no problem.

Either way, if anybody could help with an estimation as to what I'll probably pay at an indie to get the work done, how much the car is worth in it's current state (roughly), and how much it'd be worth (again, I know it's difficult without pics so - roughly) once the work was done. I've kept an eye out myself, and have not seen an MOT'd 1.9 for much under £1k. I wouldn't expect that for mine as the interior isn't as nice as said examples, but I saw it as a good sign. However I have no idea what it'd be worth in its current state.

I know it's a lot to ask, but I appreciate your help! Will obviously need a car to get back to Germany, and would like to make an educated decision as to my next course of action.

Edited by brayash on Tuesday 30th December 17:57

[megamaniac]

It sounds like the rear radius arm bearings have gone,this means either a recon unit or a secondhand one. About 5hrs to change, recon about £420 secondhand from £50 if you can find one.

[trickywoo]

megamaniac said:

It sounds like the rear radius arm bearings have gone,this means either a recon unit or a secondhand one. About 5hrs to change, recon about £420 secondhand from £50 if you can find one.

Second that advise. I've heard fitting a refurbed beam is DIY if you are handy with a spanner - takes time though.

The CV boot / exhaust bracket and handbrake cable cover should be easy enough to sort though. I'd say a max of £100 all in depending on if the bracket needs welding and if you need a whold new cable.

You would be doing well to get more than £400 with no MOT. A tidy example with 12 months MOT and some tax should fetch £1,100 without too much bother. You will struggle to get near £1,500 unless its very tidy / low mileage / few owners etc.

[brayash]

Cheers or the replies guys.

The values are about what I was expecting, and it's good to get another suggestion of what the problem might be. Is it quite a common ailment then?

I'm still on the emergency search for another car - which is a shame, as I've had fun with the 205. It's been a good daily runner for the past year, but I guess things like this are inevitable, so I'm certainly not grumbling. If anyone wants it...

I can't do ANY work myself as a chimpanzee with a spanner could get more done than me, probably all with a hand tied behind his back, so guess I'll have to think about what the next course of action is going to be.