So, my car's totally shagged -- apparently the big end's gone. What is a "big end", anyway?

Anyway, it's not worth fixing, so I'm probably going to have to scrap the car.

It's my first car, I've no idea what I ought to do, so I thought I'd wander in here and ask. One of you will have had to do this in the past.

As far as I understand it, I've got to do a few things:

1) Get the car to a scrapyard. It's currently sitting on the garage forecourt. How much do scrapyards generally charge for coming to get your car?
2) Notify the DVLA. Apparently, this is as simple as handing them a piece of the V5. Is it this simple? Do I need the scrapyard to fill anything in?
3) Tell my insurance company -- there's no point in claiming for a write-off (or is there?) -- but I could use a refund.
4) Send my tax disc in for a refund.

Anything else I've forgotten? Any tips?

What sort of car is it? Are the bits worth anything?

I would find your nearest scrappy and ask them for advice, but I'm guessing they would charge you 50-odd quid to scrap it, plus the cost of towing it away.

Have you thought about just sticking another engine in from a scrappy? Or is the rest of the car in such a state that this isn't worth doing?

Don't forget to take your empeg sled out!

If you can get it to the scrapyard they might give you some money for it, but if it's a common model (and old) probably not. If you take the wheels away you might have better luck because they are the most expensive part to scrap.

If you can't get it to a scrappy you will definately have to pay them to take it away.

If you scrap the car there is a special bit on the V5 (old and new versions) to fill in - the scrapyard will take the V5 and you send off the small bit.

You can cancel the insurance and get a refund, but if there's less than 3 months remaining you probably won't get anything. Either way you should tell them that it has been scrapped. You can also "cash in" the tax, but since we are at the start of the month there's no benefit doing it any time soon.

Oh, I don't know a lot about engines but I think the "big end" is the lower, larger end of the con rod. The con rod joins the piston to the crank. I suspect that when they "go" you need a new crank and con rods, which I suspect is a huge job.

Gareth

What sort of car is it? Are the bits worth anything?

It's a 10 year old Nissan Primera 2.0D LX. On balance, the bits probably aren't worth much.

It's slightly annoying, because it's got a full tank of diesel in it (£30), and a brand-new pair of front tyres (£60 the pair).

The rest is about as battered as you'd expect from a relatively well-looked-after 10 year-old car. Admittedly, I've not been looking after it -- I bought it two years ago with the intention of running it into the ground and then getting something newer. This point appears to have now arrived.

Have you thought about just sticking another engine in from a scrappy? Or is the rest of the car in such a state that this isn't worth doing?

I've considered that, yes, but it's going to cost me a certain amount of money for the engine, and it's not something I can do -- I don't have the knowledge, the tools, or anywhere to do it. I'd have to go to a garage, and by the time I've paid them to do it, it's not looking particularly cost effective.

The rest of the car is in reasonable nick. It's got a few dinks and scratches, but otherwise it's OK.

I'm off down to the garage later today to see what they suggest. At this point, I'm thinking that the car's turning into a bit of a money-pit, so I'd rather get something newer that might cost more up front, but will (hopefully) cost less to maintain.

In particular, given how much the insurance is costing me (£1200pa), I think I might get something with a smaller engine, as long as it does long distances well.

Don't forget to take your empeg sled out!

No fear of that. I'll definitely take the sled and the amp out before I scrap it.

In reply to:

---

In particular, given how much the insurance is costing me (£1200pa),

---

HOW MUCH!!!

Do you have a full compliment of points and no no-claims bonus or something?

£1200???? I'm 24, and a 2 year old sporty car costs me £800 and I have zero no claims!

I have no no-claims bonus.
I live in London.
The car is parked in the street.
I'm 28.
I passed my test only 30 months ago.
It's a 2.0 litre.

According to this, and this, that's about right for my car.

This site is good for shopping for a car by insurance group:

http://www.abi.org.uk/carinsurance/default.asp

You have probably already shopped around for insurance but I would definately recommend not stopping until you have had a dozen quotes - usually the cheapest you find will be the cheapest by a long way. Current cheap places I have heard about are elephant.co.uk and Tesco.

BTW, engine size doesn't make a lot of difference in some cases - I have a 5.0 and a 5.7 V8 insured for under a grand total with 1 yrs NCD on one and 2 yrs on the other, and have been driving for 3.5yrs (and am 24). The fuel costs outweigh it of course, although I did get 22mpg out of the Camaro when buzzing down to Dorchester and back yesterday.

Gareth

Well a big end going is not actually fatal it just means lots of banging from the engine unless a bearing has wiped in which case you would know all about it loud noises and smoke and maybe big holes in the side of the engine.

A big end is a common term for the bottom bearing of the connecting rod from the pistons to the crankshaft We don't use this term on ships as the small end is 3 foot across so a bit of a useless term.

What is the car doing is it a runner or not. If it is a runner then you can drive it to a scrappy the worst that can happen is the bearings wipe and you get above mentioned big noises.

If the car is not too bad then they might just be trying to pull your leg as many garages are terrible for doing this.

If the bearings are just a bit loose then you can run with it for a while longer and if the sump can come off with the engine in place it isn't that hard to put new shells in and just put it back together. A set of shells would be about £50 it is just the fitting is an arse.

Don't claim it as a write off on your insurance as they will simply charge you the following year an even more stupid amount.

So tell us what it is doing or has done and i might have a better answer for you.

But if it is going to the great motorway in the sky then the little pug 106s are good fun cars to drive.

I've still got the A Class for sale, complete with empeg sled

Rob

But if it is going to the great motorway in the sky then the little pug 106s are good fun cars to drive.

I can confirm that it is going to the great motorway in the sky. The garage reckon that it'll need a new engine (£350 from a breakers, plus labour, plus VAT), so it's just not worth it.

It's not drivable, so they've organised for the scrappy to collect it from the garage. £30.

I went down there yesterday afternoon and took everything out of it, including the empeg sled and my amp.

I got a couple of funny looks from passers-by -- obviously they thought I was nicking the radio.

I'd agree that Pug 106's are good fun cars to drive but

(a) they are no fun on long motorway journeys, and
(b) I wouldn't want to crash in one