Thread: Dilemma - sunk cost fallacy

Originally Posted by reefmagnet

The reality is that if you want to own an older vehicle that does not have a great deal of resale value, you really do need to consider doing as much of the repairs and maintenance yourself as you can. Only you can decide if you have the ability to take on a particular job, but for each job you do, the less likely it is you will encounter an "uneconomical repair".

If you are unable or unwilling to do the work, and there is no emotional or sentimental attachment then the wisest choice is to get rid of it and invest the money into something that will ultimately be less costly to own.

While all that is very true, the fact that the OP has used the firms that he has suggests some financial resources. Also he states he will be "heartbroken". Seems to me that taking the car to an indie ( plenty of those in the approx area ), without mentioning the lists from the service and panel shops the car has been to, would be quite an eye opener.

OH MY HOWARD!
So there is no problem with the engine, the auto, the transfer box, the diffs.... No noted problems with the SLS and ACE but they are willing to charge $3-5K for a solution just for these. The Airbagandy kit for the SLS compressor is less than $100, maybe an hour for a novice to do... etc. Tie rods and such are cheap and easy to fit, just need a alignment after but really, was it some mechanic Stephen King writing this horror novel????

So sure I can not comment of the welding etc but for the rest of the fantasy they are (lucky it is Christmas time) tugging the chain...

Originally Posted by RRT

OH MY HOWARD!
was it some mechanic Stephen King writing this horror novel????

I was thinking more along the lines of Grimm's Fairy Tales, but yes, King will do. From a Buick 8, perhaps?

Originally Posted by Tins

While all that is very true, the fact that the OP has used the firms that he has suggests some financial resources. Also he states he will be "heartbroken". Seems to me that taking the car to an indie ( plenty of those in the approx area ), without mentioning the lists from the service and panel shops the car has been to, would be quite an eye opener.

Not really, I tried every other LR mechanic in the greater Melbourne Metro area before going to Ritter, as they were the only ones with an opening before 2023!

You're all correct in that a lot of these items could be DIYd - I would feel more confident about addressing some of the items than others. e.g. I wouldn't have a clue how to go about addressing the ACE faults.

I booked the car in with Mornington Prestige after the break to get a second opinion indeed. I've had a pretty stressful month so I've perhaps let myself be overwhelmed out of impaired judgement - I guess Perfect Panels telling me about 3 times I should sell the car and not look back when they stood to make some money from the repairs was not really heartening.

I've only ever taken the car to an indie once to get the transmission fluid topped up and they said it was almost full - then a month later when the car went in for the transmission reco, it turned out to be bone dry. I guess they didn't put it in D... But that hasn't given me a great deal of confidence about taking the car to indies. I know they're not all born equal, but short of taking another punt, if anyone could recommend/DM reliable indies in the inner north of Melbourne, I would be most grateful.

I've uploaded the photos again, which provide further details about some of the shopping list.


Screenshot 2022-12-25 135149.jpgScreenshot 2022-12-25 135215.jpgScreenshot 2022-12-25 134940.jpg

Oh and re: the chassis crack recall bracket - they're apparently obsolete. If anyone had the part number, or better yet, the specs for the bracket, that would be really helpful as I could get a mate to make one up without faffing about measuring everything up under the car.

Fair enough. Probably shouldn't jump to conclusions...

Have a look here. Ron's pics at post #24 might help with the part number. Discovery 2 chassis cracking

As for Indies, well not quite in the north, but AMV in Ringwood, Eastern Prestige in Kilsyth. Of course thee's Les Richmond, and I seem to remember someone mentioning someone in Kilmore. Suggestions only.

I could hazard a guess at which indie it was that checked your oil, but I won't..

Originally Posted by Tins

Have a look here. Ron's pics at post #24 might help with the part number. Discovery 2 chassis cracking

That is KVZ000120

Originally Posted by Tins

Fair enough. Probably shouldn't jump to conclusions...

Have a look here. Ron's pics at post #24 might help with the part number. Discovery 2 chassis cracking

As for Indies, well not quite in the north, but AMV in Ringwood, Eastern Prestige in Kilsyth. Of course thee's Les Richmond, and I seem to remember someone mentioning someone in Kilmore. Suggestions only.

I could hazard a guess at which indie it was that checked your oil, but I won't..

I tried Eastern Prestige and Les Richmond before Ritter, they were both booked until Jan back in early Nov.

But they're both LR specialists? By indie I thought you meant Joe Blow's Garage.

Thanks for the link! that's really helpful. Shouldn't be too much trouble to replicate.


The most pressing thing I need is an airbag to replace the leaky one as I don't want to drive the car with an air leak and a dying compressor.... But I feel I won't get one of these before mid-Jan, everyone's closed...

I threw out 2 perfectly functional albeit used airbags a month ago when I moved after hanging onto them for 3 years. Let this be a lesson - never throw a damn thing out.