Urgent advice needed...please help!

[Rubyoptics]

Ok...Bear with me as I want to explain this properly!

Bought my CC in November last year and love the little thing. It's had a couple of issues (snapped clutch cable, broken gear linkage) but these I put down to the age of the car, a rough winter etc etc.

Before i bought the car, it went for a technical inspection (the Polish version of an MOT) which it passed with flying colours, not a single advisory etc. I also have invoices from several different garages, which all include the cars registration AND VIN number (so the work was done on that car) for a new clutch, new suspension etc.

I was planning a long trip, so this morning put the car in for a full service (it's 150k km ) at an authorised Peugeot dealer. There were a few issues which I asked them to pay special attention to, namely :

1 - Drivers window not fully sealing on the rubber sealing strip at the far corner, where it meets the roof seal as well as the rear window rubber strip.

2 - Severe shaking at over 120km/h. I assumed this was due to a wheel weight coming lose, as this had not been felt previously.

3 - clutch pedal stiff to operate, with a 'creaking' sound audible at times.

As well as the rest of a comprehensive service for a car of this mileage/age etc.

So, i had a call a while back from the mechanic who has stated the following :

The car needs a new clutch (seems very quick as it had a new clutch less than 30k km ago?)

Full new timing system at a cost of over 2000 pounds, no faults with the current system, but advises changing it due to the age of the car

Also, says that he won't adjust the drivers window as they found flex in the car chassis when they lifted it on the hoist. I asked them if there was visible rust or damage and they said no, but that it was flexing. This is the one really concerning me...how much flex is 'normal' on these cars? Even looking at early reviews they weren't renowned for the stiffness of their chassis, so is the mechanic / me worrying unduly / over-reacting?

[IanL]

2000 pounds for an unnecessary timing system:

a) If it isn't broken, don't mend it
b) 2000 pounds is ridiculous

The driver's window is easily adjusted - I've done it. Instructions here.

I wonder about the honesty and competence of this garage.

[Rubyoptics]

Hi Ian, thanks for the quick answer mate, appreciate it as I'm kinda stressing about this. This 'timing system' I can't really work out what he is talking about...what would define the 'complete system'?? Any insight as to this 'chassis flex'? I certainly know that if I really boot it, the car squirms around a wee bit, but this was also true for the 307 cc's I test drove when i was looking for a car. Also looking at the initial reviews for the car when it was released, the chassis flex is something that most of them mentioned, so I felt it was nothing to worry about and was simply a factor of owning a folding metal roof cabriolet.

To paraphrase the mechanic, he said that due to the chassis flex, he didn't want to adjust the window in case it shattered whilst driving due to the flex. He also said that whilst it was fine to drive, he would be 'concerned' if the car were to be in an accident.

I was under the car recently poking around, and whilst I would be the first to admit i'm not a trained motor mechanic, I was a naval engineer for over 11 years, and nothing I saw under the car screamed 'OMG LOOK AT THIS RUST', in fact it seemed in pretty good nick considering the age of the car.

Lastly (I promise!) how much should a replacement clutch cost including fitting? The amount quoted to me was about 600 pounds...I don't know if this includes the flywheel or not and i'll confirm this when I collect the car tomorrow.

Cheers all...gonna crack open a beer and try to stop stressing about this for the night

[IanL]

The timing system for the engine is quite simple. A sensor determines the position of the crankshaft - the data is passed to the engine ECU which determines at what instant to cause the coil pack to make the plug spark. That's it, assuming it's petrol. If it's a diesel, it's different, and involves an injection pump which is probably an expensive part, but 2k sounds absurd.

All convertibles flex more than fixed head vehicles, but if that caused the window to shatter, it would be a well known problem. The instructions give precise measurements so adjusting to the correct position should be no problem at all. As I said, I've done it (I, too, was a naval engineer, so if I can, you can).

There's a lot of labour involved in changing the clutch, but, again, £600 sounds too much. I would have thought £400 should cover it.

[Rubyoptics]

Yeah, it's the 2.0 petrol. I'm fairly happy with how the timing system works, more stumped as to what he would be wanting to replace that justifies 2 grand?!

[GrandadMonkey]

Are you sure that what your garage is recommending isn't the routine timing belt and pulleys renewal that should be carried out every 8 years or 80,000 miles? If this isn't done then you risk catastrophic engine failure when the timing belt snaps. It is normal to renew the water pump at the same time. I would expect the cost of that to come to around £400 to £500.

As for clutch renewal, this can depend on how the car has been driven. I know drivers who can get through a clutch in 5000 miles because they hold the car on the clutch on a hill at traffic lights and junctions instead of using the handbrake. Other drivers can make a clutch last a very long time with sympathetic and careful driving.

[IanL]

Are you sure that what your garage is recommending isn't the routine timing belt and pulleys renewal that should be carried out every 8 years or 80,000 miles?

Of course - that's it. I had mine done when I got the car, as it had no service history. Cost was about £600.

[Rubyoptics]

Thanks for that grandad... and please understand that I'm not being intentionally vague... my Polish isn't fantastic and the mechanics English wasn't 100% either so I'm hoping for some clarification today. If he was talking about the timing belt that makes me feel a lot better as that was done by the previous owner according to the invoices I have.

[Rubyoptics]

Latest update which I would greatly appreciate your insight on...I just picked up the car and spoke to the mechanic in person. What he is saying is that the chassis as well as the factory strengthening braces are showing early signs of corrosion. Not too worried about this as I can always remove this surface corrosion and treat with an underbody sealer/treatment. I realise it's not a permanent fix, but it is what it is.

He also said that due to both the fact that the car is old as well as it being a convertible, when he put the car on the hoist, due to the flex in the chassis, he was unable to open the door. It is this fact that made him unwilling to adjust the drivers side window in case the chassis flexed with the window adjusted and shattered whilst driving.

So...anyone heard of this happening? As i said, I had the car on jackstands earlier in the month and I had no problems opening the doors at all, but I realise that the rear wheels were still on the ground and so it isn't the same as having it up on a hoist. Bottom line....cause for concern or not really?

[IanL]

I don't think it's much of a problem. As I said before, it is not a known problem with these cars. The chances are that the hoist support points he used produce stresses different to those encountered in normal service. To allay his fears, just tell him to lower the windows before hoisting the car.

You could consider a Waxoyl or similar underbody treatment to prolong the car's life.

[Rubyoptics]

Thanks Ian. I think what I'm going to do is ask the garage round the corner if I can 'rent' say half an hour of hoist time from them, get it up in the air and have a really good, unobstructed look around. I'll take a few photos as well and post them up here and hopefully get a bit more feedback if that would be ok? Are there any areas in particular I should look at and pay special attention to? If i have an endoscope sytle camera, is there any way that you know of of gaining access to the interior of the chassis framework to see whats going on in there? It might sound as if im going OTT with this, but the car was intended to be an ongoing project car with quite a lot of work planned, so I really need to confirm I have a sound chassis before going ahead with any of the planned additional work!

Thanks again for your time, I appreciate it greatly (as does the other half incidentally as this has her worried that my cars going to crumple at the first pot-hole!)

[Rubyoptics]

Ok, so an update on this an i'll post the photos in the following post so you can actually see what I'm going on about!

Firstly, my 'If i take it to a Peugeot garage then they'll know what they are doing' train of thought has been left rather shaken. The mechanic, who was a genuinely nice chap, wrote out a list of what he felt needed doing as well as costing each piece of work individually with a full breakdown of parts, labour etc. This really was above and beyond, so hats off to him for that. However...one of the items was replacing the indicator bulbs for yellow ones. This left me scratching my head as when i replaced the rear lights I checked every bulb on the car so i KNOW that they are correct. Turns out he thought that my sidelights were the indicators on a 206. Whoops. I realise this is rather judgemental on my part, but if you are going to warn me about my chassis, I would like you to know which lightbulbs are which on my car...

Anyway, the chassis....as i've said this worried both me and my partner. I had rather a lot of work planned for this particular CC, so a rotten chassis would have put paid to all of those plans. I realise I'll never re-coup any investment I make in the car, but investing in a car with an un-sound chassis is pointless.

To that end we went to a local bodywork specialist to get a second opinion. Long story short, they see nothing there that is unexpected of a car of this age. They said that it is actually not too bad, but that they would recommend getting the underside and the sills treated and sealed before the start of winter to prolong the life of the car as much as possible. The car is provisionally booked in to have this done (as well as getting a small bit of welding and a paint touch up done free...ahh the joys of haggling!) in two weeks time. Would you mind looking through the photos below and giving me your thoughts as well one and all?! As always, I appreciate your time and inputs greatly. Thanks, Joe.

[Rubyoptics]

First lot of pics

[Rubyoptics]

Second lot

[Capncol]

The last pic is the worst one, and that isn't bad. Bit of TLC needed that's all!!