MOT Fail

dmc4708

Active user
Jan 12, 2014
73
45
Surrey
My Cougar failed it's MOT this morning in rather spectacular fashion. Due to the rot/corrosion which has been identified I don't think it is worth repairing. :(

It's a 2000 X Plate silver C2, with 106k miles on the clock. Is this worth anything as a parts car/spares or repairs? Or am I best off sending it to the scrap man for £200? Some old pictures of the car can be seen in this post here; https://forums.ukcougar.club/thread...l-future-owner?p=451403&viewfull=1#post451403


Repair immediately (major defects):
Offside Front Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength floor area (5.3.6 (a) (i))

Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength outer sill (5.3.6 (a) (i))

Nearside Front Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced outer sill (6.1.1 (c) (i))

Rear Exhaust system insecure system joint (6.1.2 (a))

Parking brake efficiency below requirements (1.4.2 (a) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Nearside Rear Macpherson strut mounting corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))

Offside Rear Macpherson strut mounting corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))

Nearside Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

Offside Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))
 
Hi if unfortunately it goes to parts after headlights for a C2.. good luck anyway with whatever you decide

- - - Updated - - -

Nice pics maybe front bumper if it's a direct fit for C1.. but good luck again
 
Hi :)

Just looking at the list alone we've seen much worse coming back from that around here ...do you have any pictures of the rot on the outer sills?

The fail on the front suspension where is that Rust?

The rest is just nuts and bolts
 
It depends how much you want to keep it.
Likely it is fixable but might cost more than the car is worth, unless you can do your own sill repairs. And you'd get more selling the spares than selling to the scrappy.
 
Keep in mind that "prescribed area" is 30cm from any suspension/subframe mounting point, so this doesn't necessarily mean your subframe bolts are rattling around in a rusty hole - it could be (and probably is) inner or outer sill underneath the front of the doors.

Another solid vote here for "get some daylight pics and let's see what's what".

Incidentally, I'd love to know what those top two advisories are all about - you can't see the upper mount with the strut in place. Anyone?
 
You can kind of see it with the strut in place but not enough to make a proper assement of it

35522434192_769ac737bc_c.jpg
 
That's what I was thinking, Dan. The only thing I can assume is that the lower part of the mount (where those two 10mmm go through) is probably a bit crusty which, frankly, isn't the biggest deal in the world.

The only alternative thing would be the outer skin of the turret, as visible in the well. But if that was the case, they'd be a straight-up hard fail, not an advisory.

Obviously I haven't seen this car and I have to assume that the actual fail was justified, (I won't call the tester's integrity into question - I'm sure he's acted in good faith) but the advisories just sound like an additional psycholgical pile-on from where I'm sitting. By which I mean he's saying, "You've got some work to do, mate".
 
Its the first time Ive heard of them being mentioned on a Cougar...I wonder if its this testers version of a 'brake pipes corroded' advisory
 
I hope we do manage to see what this car is really like. Then we can get the opinion of a proper welder and see what can be done. C2s are thin enough on the ground now!
 
Thats what I like to hear Chris ;)

I won't derail this thread further unless it's to ask if I can buy the entire car. And we don't know if that's necessary yet.

All I meant was that I want to be like Tony, Paul, Al or some of our other heroes. I'm getting older and I'm still stupid, but my time has come to spend time fixing cars of an evening instead of drinking and watching the telly.

I can't wait to see how this little lady checks out.
 
Hi all, thanks for the replies, and for the several PM's I have been sent regarding the car.

I am honestly sad to see it fail, but unfortunately I don't have the time to look into getting it repaired or the space to do any repair work myself. As has been noted already, repair costs could potentially be way over the actual value of the car so I have to let my head rule my heart on this one. It's never given me any bother in the 5 years I've had the car, and has always ran well.

What are thoughts on the current value of the car as-is? I'm happy to take some pictures to show the condition of the rest of the car, and can try to take some shots of underneath (although don't have access to a ramp).

Cheers, Mike
 
I'm no expert on values but as it's an MOT fail, I would say deffo worth less than 500. If it was a pass, 500 plus depending on other factors. Still worth more than scrap man values.
 
If you parted the car out, I reckon you'd get probably £450-500 in parts, (depending on how far you want to strip it - the engine alone is worth £100 if you have a crane) and then maybe £30 for the shell.

On that basis, I reckon that a C2 in otherwise good condition sold as "spares or repair" (since you lack the time to part it out yourself) should fetch somewhere between £500-550.