Scrapping a vehicle in Poland?

So we purchased a used vehicle here. I won't go into the back story but in short it's a lemon. It's an import so it doesn't become clear until July 2011.

I know that we need to have it crushed if we don't sell it to another diplomat. I just wanted to see if there is any option to scrap it to salvage any money out of the loss.

It's a 97 Ford Explorer. Supposedly the timing system is bad and the shop wants 3000zl for the labor and I don't want to put that sort of money into it.

Thanks.

How much are you looking for it?

Based on his fleet, I think wildrover collects these types of vehicles.

Is it on local plates?

Do you think wildrover would fancy next banger?

You could take it to Ukraine and sell it there. But that would be a bit of a hassle.

Hmm.. it might not be that bad. Try and get a second diagnostic. The parts can be found probably on ebay or somewhere else.. Ford parts are cheap. Don't scrap it.. big waste probably. Not over timing anyway.

Hah, I'd like to see Ukraine before we leave Europe but not with trying to sell a truck. Thank you for the idea though! :0)

No, it is on CD plates.

We were told today that we can't even scrap it. That because it's still on it's duty free status our only option is to crush it or sell it. If a nondip purchases it there is duty. However she said that is based on blue book. I'm assuming that would be the value of the vehicle now... of course I'm sure they'll say it's on the value of when it entered the country.

I'll send him a wildrover a message and Forfour44 I am emailing you. :)

Thank you!


We can get all the parts from the states (we already have $300 of parts coming any day now from the original diagnosis. Basically it needed a tune up etc and it was much easier to get the parts ourselves from the states than to buy them locally.

As it sits they're saying it won't even start now. Although we drove it fine prior and it was running last week when they replaced the two timing tensioners. They said this morning it turned on, and ran for 30 seconds before dying and now it won't turn on (Battery, starter all that is fine supposedly). So now to add to the headache we'll have to tow it out of there or anywhere for a second opinion.

Doesn't 3000zl seem steep for a timing replacement!? Max would be 4 or 5 hours to replace and generally so far in my opinion the cost of labor has been much cheaper here than the States.

Who exactly is 'they'? You wouldn't be the first foreigner to be robbed blind by a mechanic.

Oops, sorry, but yes you're accurate it is the shop/mechanic place telling us it won't start.

Have you tried asking round the embassy for recommendations for honest mechanics? If you had a BMW I could recommend some places but I know nothing about places which specialise in Fords. 3000zl does sound stupidly high for fixing a problem with the timing, a guy I know had his Saab's gearbox replaced last week and it cost about that much!

PM wildrover I'm sure he will love that and judging by his mechanical knowledge would be able to get it up an running in no time.

But from experience don't trust a Polish mechanics judgment. What is it doing to make you think the timing is out? Also adjusting the timing is stupidly easy. If its a US import it may struggle on the higher octane fuel over here in europe. I know on the US spec mx5's the timing has to be advanced by 14 degrees to stop any knocking so it may be something as simple as that. If you are handy with a spanner and get yourself a timing light you should be able to do it yourself.

Theres no such thing as a timing system the timing is determined by the position of the pulleys.

Post up the symptoms and i'll have a look on Autodata at common problems but ffs don't scrap it for such a minor problem.

I would always swap it for my winter vehicle 1997 e36 bmw?

hi Harry
It sounds like they have replaced the timing chain with a few teeth out so valve timing is not correct and it floods it's self with unburnt fuel, were are you in poland i have worked in a garage in warsaw for the last year, i am returning to uk tomorrow otherwise i could have helped you myself.

if you happen to be in warsaw i could send you to an honest hard working friend of mine.

It's not me with the vehicle, it's chipmunk. Why not send her a PM?

I really appreciate all your help and advice. This whole mess has had me so upset and frustrated.

Harry: As far as the mechanic goes, supposedly this is the mechanic that the embassy has used for the past 15 years. There is a third party service we utilized through the embassy, where we pay a fee, and the embassy employes a Polish man who takes care of the appointment, escorting the vehicle and all that. Mainly for the translation issues and I guess for the more routine things like a oil change all you have to do is come into work and it's done when you get off. So on one had I want to believe the mechanic is reliable and trustworthy but after having someone from within our own diplomatic community rip us off why wouldn't anyone else? For what it's worth we're using Overland Motors. I don't have any reason to think they're being shady but...

Dnz : Thank you, I have pm'd and appreciate the pointing in the right direction. Symptoms were a small idle ticking noise in the engine that progressed into a larger ticking noise. I've included to video clips I happen to take for my dad prior to having it serviced.

I don't know if we could swap. Although interested personally, the issue still lies with the stupid tax free/duty fees that need to be paid. Tomorrow my husband is going to find out those figures.

Dasla : I will send you a PM. Interested in your friend. Perhaps I could hire him to come out to the shop and take a look at it before we decide to tow it or something. By chance does he speak Polish and English?

Once again, I really do appreciate the help. I still feel incredible stupid for being in this situation. My husband is just like let it go it's not worth the time. But to me it is a lot of money to just kiss away and I don't feel quite right just letting it be. Hence trying to not walk away empty handed from the mess if I don't have too.

How good is the insurance you have on this vehicle? The 97 Explorer has been known to burn suddenly and mysteriously....

Haha... tempting!

Definitely don't just walk away - for every crook out there, there's another one who will sort you out for a fair price. This one could very well be taking advantage of the fact that most diplomatic staff exist in a bubble and won't bother to shop around.


Can I ask out of curiosity how much is charged for this service? It wouldn't shock me to discover that you were being royally screwed on this as well.

It's about $20 give or take on the exchange for the entire service. Like a fee on top of the charges the mechanic would also charge us.

Out of curiosity how much is a tow truck typically? We were told about 250zl

I'd imagine that they aren't. Probably the guy in question makes a lot more as commission from the service providers which he steers the business towards.

It doesn't sound all that bad from what I can tell, How long have you been driving it for in Poland? I take it came from the US, My bet is on it sparking late due to the difference in fuel quality EU - USA.

Is it down on power or anything as it could also be something as simple as a coil pack. My Audi did a similar thing when I had one blow. They are usually really easy to replace and quite cheap. 150 pln max and about 10 minutes to fit.

If its noticeably down on power and running lumpy its more than likely the coil pack, If its driving ok but just making the noise get the timing adjusted and maybe change the spark plugs as the gap may be different to aid combustion, 30 min job max and no parts required.

For the 3000 pln they are asking you could get a new engine, Another sad example of poles trying to rip off foriegners.

If you can send me as much info as you can i'll call my mate whos a mechanic, ie engine size etc, If you know the engine code ie (BMW M50 series) Mileage would help too as he might be able to find out what common problems are with similar models of that mileage.

Dnz: I'll definitely send you the information. The sparks definitely need to be changed. I have the wires in the mail and shop was going to get the sparks as I didn't know what sparks exactly to get and they were going to cost the same per spark as I could get online.

Other than the noise, I felt it ran great. The noise just got considerably louder so I figured we'd get it looked at. We had some issues starting it in the real cold weather but as soon as we started parking it in the garage it started right up no problem. There were a few times when we'd put it into reverse after starting it up that it'd die don't know what that could mean.

The general consensus seems to be that we are getting taken. At least on the labor part. Since we already told them we'd get the parts ourselves. So I'll definitely take recommendations for mechanics!

Thanks again!