{"id":2939,"date":"2020-02-20T16:02:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T16:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2020-04-09T13:48:41","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T12:48:41","slug":"5-of-the-most-expensive-car-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/5-of-the-most-expensive-car-repairs\/","title":{"rendered":"5 of the most expensive car repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking your car to the garage can be an unnerving experience at the best of times, especially if you think it might be bad news. After all, if a repair is too expensive then it may easily end up outweighing the cost of your vehicle, and when that happens usually the most economical course of action is simply to scrap your car. Now, happily not every repair will make your car a write-off – but here are just a few that may well do just that.<\/p>\n

Your ECU has been fried<\/h2>\n

For quite some time now, almost all new cars have been manufactured with an in-built ECU, or Engine Control Unit. It\u2019s basically the brain of your car, and monitors the engine power and performance, fuel-air mixture, emissions levels and more. Now, it\u2019s a solid device with no moving parts, so in an ideal world it would never suffer damage. But it\u2019s possible, and it\u2019s expensive.<\/p>\n

One of the main ways that drivers can accidentally put their ECU out of commission is through attaching jumper cables the wrong way. Jumper cables have very clear markers on them to show which way they should be attached, and neglecting this will reverse their polarity. If you\u2019re lucky, this will only blow up your battery, with an associated cost of over \u00a3100. If you\u2019re unlucky, it\u2019ll kill your ECU, which is a repair that costs upwards of \u00a31200.<\/p>\n

Your engine has seized entirely<\/h2>\n

Your engine is a large and complex component, and unfortunately that means it\u2019s vulnerable to all sorts of problems. Engine seizure is perhaps one of the most serious of these issues. Basically, it happens when your engine\u2019s lubrication fails, which often involves insufficient oil levels or oil pressure. As soon as that happens, some of the most delicate and expensive parts of your car can start scraping into one another, ultimately leaving your engine with have little practical use (beyond perhaps a particularly avant-garde sculpture for your living room). Unfortunately, there\u2019s no way to fix a seized engine – your only option is to have it replaced, and the cost for that starts at about \u00a31200.<\/p>\n

\"broken<\/p>\n

Repairing your air conditioning<\/h3>\n

It can be easy for drivers to underestimate just how much we rely on our air conditioning. It keeps us cool in the summer, and warm in the winter, and it\u2019s basically a key feature in allowing us to maintain control over the interior conditions, so that we and our passengers can travel in perfect comfort. But while their function might be simple, their repair is absolutely not – the exact cost will depend on the make and model of your car, but you\u2019ll need anywhere between \u00a3500 to \u00a31000 handy to have yours back in tip-top condition.<\/p>\n

Your timing chain is broken<\/h3>\n

One of our recent posts explored how crucial your timing chain (otherwise known as your cam belt) is to the function of your car. A broken cam belt is a very bad thing. You can find the long explanation as to why in the previous post<\/a>, but here\u2019s the short version – basically, it\u2019s the timing chain\u2019s job to keep certain moving parts out of each other\u2019s way. If it breaks or snaps, those parts are liable to collide, and your engine destroys itself in very short order. Put like that, it almost sounds kind of cool, but you probably won\u2019t think so when you get the bill for over \u00a3700. (Or even well over a grand, if your engine ultimately needs replacing entirely.)<\/p>\n

Blown head gasket<\/h3>\n

The head gasket is another innocuous sounding part with a hugely important function – essentially, it maintains the seal between your engine head and your engine block. You see, your engine needs the combustion chamber to remain perfectly sealed so that the fuel and air can be properly mixed and ignited. If the head gasket blows, the immediate result is that coolant can get into the oil passages or engine cylinders, which is definitely not supposed to happen. You might be able to spot the problem when blue smoke starts billowing out of your engine, which can be strangely captivating in its own way. But you know what isn\u2019t – a bill for over \u00a31000, that\u2019s what.<\/p>\n

\"broken<\/p>\n

While most modern cars are designed for economy and reliability over raw performance and speed, it\u2019s still a sad fact of life that no car lasts forever. If you\u2019ve had your old motor long enough, something\u2019s bound to go wrong eventually no matter how much care you\u2019ve taken of it. When that happens, you may well be left with no other option but to scrap your car.<\/p>\n

Happily, that\u2019s where we can help here at Scrap Car Network. With our nationwide network of scrap car dealers, we\u2019re the perfect people to help you get the very best price for your old car, and you can get an online valuation of your vehicle<\/a> in as little as 10 seconds! All you have to do is fill in your car reg and postcode into the fields on our site, and you\u2019ll have your very own free, no obligation quote. Go on\u2026 couldn\u2019t hurt to look, could it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taking your car to the garage can be an unnerving experience at the best of times, especially if you think it might be bad news. After all, if a repair is too expensive then it may easily end up outweighing the cost of your vehicle, and when that happens usually the most economical course of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":2143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n