My car lost most of its coolant - probably via the head gasket - the other night. RAC recovered it to my house as it was late and only a mile away. Unfortunately, my level of cover does not extend to recovery beyond a 10 mile radius. The only garage I trust to fix this properly is ~45 miles away. How best (cheapest) to recover this:
1. RAC can organise private recovery but obviously expect me to foot the bill;
2. Ring round private recovery firms for quotes;
3. Tow it myself.
Option 3 is excluded for reasons of safety. The route's round the s/w corner of the M25 and along the M4. I honestly don't fancy it.
Before I start phoning round Monday morning has anyone any experience or advice?
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>>The only garage I trust to fix this properly is ~45 miles away.
There is your problem IMO.
There are plenty of GOOD mobile mechanics out there who will come and do the work for you, charge you a reasonable fee and then problem solved. You'll spend less than getting it to your garage in the first place.
Don't make this any more complicated for youself than you have to. Speak to your neigbours, friends in that area and get some recommendations, then phone up a few for a quote.
Hugo
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remember if you do tow it you cant use the motorway if using a tow rope, you can only use a rope to tow off the motorway.ie leave at the next junction. a friend got done for this a few years back ...cheers...keo
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Trevor,
Further to my last post, if you do decide to investigate a local repair, tell us where you are (nearest town) and I'm sure a few will be able to recommend garages or mobile mechanics.
If you decide to get it transported then you could be looking at anything from £60 upwards, then you have to pay for the work and get it back. Again, come back to the forum for some recommendations if you want.
H
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Mobile mechanics are better certainly in your situation because they come to you where ever you are & also they dont charge you overheads like garages do! As simple as that!!
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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Why not phone the trusted garage that you like and explain the situation to them. They may be able to suggest some solution such as them being able to collect it for you. If not they may suggest an alternative such as a mobile mechanic they recommend.
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Why not phone the trusted garage that you like and explain the situation to them.
That I have done. They are going to get back to me with a price.
Whilst I would normally go with the mobile mechanic advice I have seen enough scare stories regarding the cooling system of the K-series engine and it correct bleeding when in MGF's to convince me this is not an area to entrust to someone without experience. Add to the fact that I live on an A road with no off street parking it doesn't look encouraging for the mobile mechanic solution.
Unfortunately I was just 10 days short of booking the car in at the trusted independent specialist to replace the underbody coolant pipes, water pump, cam belt, tensioner, etc. A big bill looks set to become bigger but I can console myself that it would have been even more expensive had the gasket given out after this work had been done.
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How quickly is it losing the coolant.
Could you fill it up, carry plenty of extra water, and get the thing to limp to the garage?
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I had a similar problem a few months ago. The Alfa 155 had a broken throtle cable and had been recovered to a local garage. Unfortunately, no suitable throttle cables available in UK. My local Alfa specialist, about 15 miles away, (not a main dealer) said he'd be able to fix it by cannibalising a broken Alfa 145. Cheapest recovery available was £100!
Borrowed a tow-bar and we towed it acrross with no trouble at all.
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