www.iva.co.uk

Hi All,

We have been doing ok with our IVA and managing our budgets etc with no major catastrophes. That was until the last week.

Our main car needed new suspension springs Monday ( £500) and last night the same car's turbo engine elements died. Cheapest quote is £1100 inc labour, but no car for 7 days.

Can't get a courtesy car, as can't afford to and now my husbands car alternator died again today, despite being replaced only 6 months ago. So that's another £450.

We spoke to ever relative and friend that we have and nobody can help us out at all, as all are struggling financially at the moment, and am ashamed to say that we almost considered trying to get a loan to sort both cars out, but realised that A) we don't want to fail our IVA and B) we don't want the debt.

I really feel like jacking everything in and running away at the moment, which is not a very grown up thing to say.

I think if you speak to your IP you may be able to request a payment holiday?

Doesn't help find the cash in the first place of course...

Hi Soreloser,

We did think about speaking to the IP, but its the initial outlay.

Always something lol

£450 for an alternator?
that's way over the top.an hours labour and the part should be about £200 tops.
you live down south?that might explain it.what cars you running?

I would certainly shop around for quotes .... It sounds very high. I would seek your IP support and see if a break can be given, or reduced payments so that you can sort at east one of the cars out ... Don't give up !

Are you one of my clients MrsR?

what car do you have. a recon alternator should be around £150 + a hour to fix it, its only 3 bolts on most cars. says £50 tops. total bill £200.
have you tried other garage?

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies.

Back on track - I live in South East ( Essex )and the garage work generally is a bit dearer down our way.

I have a BMW 320d ES 07 plate and my husbands is an Vauxhall Astra Club 1.7 06 plate.

Mel - I am one of your clients, but we are trying to avoid a payment break as we really don't want to jeopardise our IVA in any way.

Kev - We got quotes for 7 different garages - and this one is the cheapest.

I spoke with the garage and we are going to try and sort out a payment plan to pay for the all the work, but won't know how much they want us to pay each month till we get cars back.

My mother in law has kindly offered me her car so that I can get to work, and also ferry my husband about till we get at least one car back, so we have saved costs on hiring on for now - which is a Godsend.

As you say MrsR the garage hourly rates in your area are very high indeed.......for example £50 ph dealer rates in my area, whereas at least double in your area.

I know the horse has already bolted for yourself with your current cars failures but with 44 months still left to go I'd recommend that you look at something like the AA's breakdown repair cover for the future. Its for a max claim of £500.00. My Wife and I have utilised it on a few occassions over my IVA period eg Fuel pump went on my Mondeo.....cost £499.00...repaired same day as breakdown by Ford dealer...£25.00. My Wifes old Focus starter motor also failed whilst she was leaving work....again fixed same day (on a fri)....bill over £200...we paid £25 excess.

Other company we have used for car warranties is Warranty Direct and although I realise car warranties may seem a luxury that we in IVA's find it hard to afford, it really can be beneficial to have in our position.

Good luck with the repairs.

Blimey MrsR,

You have had extreme bad luck on the car front.

I am approaching 3 years into my IVA and I must confess that my biggest headache up to now has been my car...many times.

The allowance for car upkeep is completely unrealistic, especially as most of us in IVA`s are running older cars due to our own self inflicted financial positions.

Older cars need more upkeep, so it`s a vicious circle.

The vehicle allowance just about covers the servicing costs of my car, any repairs or spares needed up to now have been funded via overtime, creativity or family assistance.

As for most of us in IVA`s, vehicle upkeep is a huge worry for me.

Yeah I agree too goosed. I asked if we could put our allowance up for our car maintenance but was told no even though we are spending well above that and they have had receipts to show this. Hope you get something sorted soon Mrs R

You won't jeopardise your IVA if you only need to miss one payment, Mrs R. Do let me know if I can help in any way.

Thank you all and thank you Mel, for your replies.

We do have the AA repair package, as well as the other covers they offer, but the costs are too great on my BMW, so they won't cover it unfortunately.

That is bad luck with the cars, we've an 05 BMW X3 and heaven forbid anything goes wrong on it whilst we're in our IVA and locking into keeping it. As soon as the finance is paid, it's gone! Unfortunately being BMW everything will be premium prices hope the garage do you a good deal and don't take advantage of your situation.

You may find with a lot of the 'premium' marques mentioned here, that there are a lot of independant 'specialist' garages for each make. These can often be substantially cheaper than a main dealer.

Saying that, when my Jag's EGR valve needed replacing, the independant specialist quoted 2-Hours labour at £70 + VAT per hour, whereas the main dealer workshop quoted 0.3-hours at £98+VAT per hour.

So never 'assume'. Always shop around.