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[stevejones]

Many many thanks all for your suggestions, and interesting to read the 'debate' about owner vs garage maintenance. Personally, I'm willing to try reasonable difficulty jobs but often get frustrated by stripped threads etc. But surely you've gotta have a go?! And the satisfaction of success when you've done it yourself is brilliant. And it is good to have at least a basic understanding of what's going on under the bonnet.

That all said - I'll probably get it back to the local garage for them to look at the leak!

Thanks again all. Brilliant site and members.

Steve

[pscocoa]

I can sympathasise with Wayne - I do not do very much work at all on my cars as I am not mechanically minded. But this forum is very useful in deciding whether advice from a dealer is correct or not and to find alternative solutions. You need to back up the advice from the forum by getting a second opinion from another repairer.

Examples - I have an irmscher rear twin exhaust - dealer said whole exhaust had to be changed (Irmscher back box is about £450) got a second opion and local garage replaced the pipes leading to rear box as it was actually fine. I have been thorugh 2 MOTS since. Saving about £650 in total.

Rear hand brake shoes - dealer wanted £500 for discs pads brakes, h/brake shoes etc - got some info off this forum went to another dealer - no problems needed repairing - just cleaning out - no expense.

Your options of spending £7500 or £250 a month (and the car is never yours) need to carefully worked out against spending £750 -£1000 a year on your Omega - obviouslty I don't know the overall condition. You do need a reliable local garage who will not fleece you on Vauxhall parts.

Beware that your Merc or Lexus parts will be a lot more expensive than Vauxhall and I know plenty of people who have unexpected and large bills on these vehicles some quite recent models as well.

[Marie]

I agree.
If i can fix it myself i will!

There is no way i will pay someone £45 hour to fault find when you can do it yourself and have the support from the guys on here!

But their are jobs i look at and think its not possible to do and will try to find someone else to do at a reasonable price of course.

Hope you find out where your leak is coming from soon.

[ffcgary1]

Wayne, i see your point of view, but when you posted your problem on here about 6 weeks ago you were told that spending that kind of hard earned wedge with a dealer was a waste of money and you were offered the help of james with you repair but knowing that you were PERHAPS abit too eager to get it done chose to go to the dealer. Fair doos to you it was your call.The car does not have a design fault from vx, but it does require routine servicing and maintenance which includes the cleaning of the breathers, how much that costs is again your call. The cam cover gaskets should not fail again unless you A= fail to change the oil or B= fail to clean thre breathers.

If your garage offered you that kinda money for it ,then i would snap the money out of their hand pronto.

Gary.

[Wayne]

Hi Gary

yes i was offered help by James, no offence intended, but he is always very busy and lives in Cheltenham AND i needed a car to get about, not too mention my weekends are primarily spent trying to earn money with my band up and down the country, so my only time was weekdays which knowbody else could do,   so i HAD to fork out........  
anyway, when the cam gaskets and breathers were done etc, i hadnt changed the oil straight away, The oil was changed on Saturday which was 2 and 1/2 weeks after the above was done, that wouldnt have harmed it would it?
i have until January 3rd 2008 (under warranty from VX) to see IF i get the re-occuring problem, so far i havent, but im sure i can smell burning again! im probably imagining it knowing me!  

[ians]

Wayne,

Don't worry too much about the smell - it will take a while to burn off.

While many(most) people on here do there own work,  there are reputable garages that don't charge main dealer rates.  Well worth locating one close by.

Also I think you need to be fair.   Your car (like mine - 98 CDX estate) is 9 years old.  It will need some TLC once in a while as will any car incl Merc,BMW etc.  

BTW I think that offer was pretty good.   But having just got it sorted I'd be inclined to get something out of it for a while.

[Wayne]

i agree Buddy, im gonna keep it and see what i can get out of it, i have never ever had a new car in my 34 years of being on this planet, chance would be a fine thing  
i`m glad that you mentioned the smell of oil, so im not imagining it? lol
hope the bloody gaskets aint leaking already, im too scared to go look in the spark plug wells!  

only have to get some minor rust done and im good to go.......
oh and also the "attenuator" or whatever its called, TB is gonna help me when were both FREE soon

[TheBoy]

Wayne - much of your expenditure recently is due to lack of servicing, and all those little jobs not being done when they should have all need doing now.


We had lease cars from Cowley in the Rover days, worked out good value (about £150 per month for top spec 400 diesels), only had to pay for fuel.  Check whats included, but I suspect it'll be Mini or 1 series - not much good for lugging band equip about.  You won't find any beemer estate the size of your Omega.  You need to weigh up what you need from car

[TheBoy]

oh, and stop using Magnatec, and start using Vx own. Must cheaper, and an equal (if not better) oil.

[Wayne]

we beg to differ there, sorry mate!
i put 6 litres of Magnatec in on Saturday, car seems smoother and quieter

[TheBoy]

we beg to differ there, sorry mate!
i put 6 litres of Magnatec in on Saturday, car seems smoother and quieter

yes, because your old oil was knackered - I checked when you came over.  Had you have put Vx oil in, you would have been equally pleased, trust me

[Wayne]

as you know, i know bugger all about anything mechanical, lol
would an oil change make me car seem smoother and quieter then?

and just for you mate, next time im gonna try VX oil ok?
but, when i spoke to the VX mechanics, and yes i spoke with 3 at different dealerships
didnt speak with any arrogant spotty teenagers either, they ALL said that Magnatec was an exceptionally good oil AND it was Better than their own!
but hey, what do they all know, ha ha ha  

[TheBoy]

as you know, i know bugger all about anything mechanical, lol
would an oil change make me car seem smoother and quieter then?

Most definately

and just for you mate, next time im gonna try VX oil ok?

Only trying to save you money, without skimping on looking after your car

but, when i spoke to the VX mechanics, and yes i spoke with 3 at different dealerships
didnt speak with any arrogant spotty teenagers either, they ALL said that Magnatec was an exceptionally good oil AND it was Better than their own!
but hey, what do they all know, ha ha ha  

Obviously not a lot....   ....esp as they probably don't use their own, but use whatever is cheapest to buy at the time.