Thread: OK so it's a cracked head

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Ok, I think I'll be going the bare head from the UK, another advantage is that it will come in well under $1500 so I should get away without having to pay duty.

Apologies to all for the negative comments over the last couple of weeks but this has been a very frustrating experience for me. I really thought that if I bought a new vehicle and looked after it I would get 10 years of relatively trouble free use.

However, after much research and exploring all the options I have come to the conclusion that whatever you buy these days has a much shorter life span than we have been used to (as commented on in the other thread), and being more complex there's obviously more that can go wrong. You may be lucky and get 200,000km+ without major repairs but I think it's more realistic to bank on 150,000km. This means that to keep a vehicle long term you need to budget for significant repair costs once it reaches this mileage, maybe $5k a year, and factor that into the normal running expenses. Either that or turn them over every 3 years and always have a vehicle under warranty.

The upside is that you get more for your money than you used to. When the Td5 is running well I love it, certainly a better driving experience than an old, asthmatic but reliable diesel.

So I'll be keeping the old girl, at least in the short term.

Might be worth taking a few orders and bringing in some other stuff as well to offset the cost ?

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Bare head is 450 pounds, around $1k.

Yes but you will be charged gst on the cost of goods plus insurance plus freight - so its 450 UKP+ freight + insurance then x 1.1 = total inc gst.

Geez frenchie - you've done well

More than 1100 viewers of your post so far.....

amazing!


Brian: Fiats are odd, and sometimes brilliant, but often not.....I've had 4 so far. On a good day they're a pure pleasure.... just need lots more good days.

I had a 124 sport for a while years back, and one day drving thru Sydney I pushed in the clutch pedal, which went thru the firewall.. Houston, we have a rust problem!!!!!!

...... the front disc pads would fall out at about 70% wear, obviously Fiats way of letting you know when to change the pads. (multigrips are very handy things).

GQ

Good luck with the new head. I just had my beastie running! Still need to do another flush and put coolant in but its running.

Hi,
I don't wanna take a back door here but the Little black box can in some case help prevent this kind of expenses. Most peaple buy them after this kind of thing. They sell for around $180 + postage. If you are interested send me a post.
Ps, phone the recker in vic, you may be able to get a good deal from them.
Regards
Jan

Hey guys, I wasn't knocking Fiats / Lancias - my old man has had plenty of em.
Favorite was a 2litre Lancia Beta coupe, damn it went quick, first car I seen just wind off the tacho and keep reving!

I suspect the head was a 'special' head, was quite a while ago, were there turboed rally versions? it may have been one of them?

sorry bout getting slight of topic too!!