Our Chrysler Ipsilon which was successfully bid on for £500 in August 2022 has had its first fault – just before Christmas 2025. My other half was driving home when there was a snap felt and heard from the clutch pedal. The stricken Chrysler managed to coast into a car park where it lay undisturbed over the Christmas holidays. On inspection, it appeared stuck in gear and couldn’t be rolled back to manoeuvre around so a local mechanic was commissioned to repair. Online gear linkages ranged from £40 with some parts suppliers quoting as high as £140 excluding VAT.
Our mechanic eventually rectified our Ipsilon replying with a bill of £339 including three hours of labour at £65 per hour. The invoice showed that the part was replaced but I forgot to ask to see the broken part or the part invoice. A can of penetrating spray was found in the passenger side foot well which roused me from a slumber so I suppose an MOT inspector could verify whether the part was replaced – not that I am doubting it wasn’t ?
During its MOT, I posed that question and the answer was that it had been changed yet our Ipsilon had failed the test – badly.
They say things happen in threes – stolen rear registration plate at the end of last year followed by the linkage problem and now this…
We were given a figure of £600 to repair so concluded that our Ipsilon had to be disposed of as it was not economically viable.
This came as a surprise as the previous MOT didn’t show advisories for strut pins, anti-roll bar pins and shock absorber so an inspection by myself went underway…
No fluid leak from the rear shock absorber was seen but it was slow to retract so I changed it anyway. Next, front wheel was removed and scored brake discs had no lips on their edges; both front brake pads were measured at 5mm and not 1.5mm stated. Armed with photos and the old shock absorber, I visited the garage that did the MOT handing the inspector (I later found out) a souvenir of the “serious fluid leak” shock absorber. I also disagreed with his findings regarding brake pads and anti-roll bar pin that appeared to have to ‘play’. Both top mounts creaked on steering but couldn’t be seen so debatable whether they could be failed and front brake discs, however scored, didn’t have much of a lip on their edges. I left the car there…
On collection, the inspector “had gone for a walk” but his manager stated that the brake pads were fine.
In the car, a MOT pass certificate was found !
Parts replaced since purchase:
door mirror glass: £5.66 in 2022
Nearside side indicator lense: £10 in 2025
rear registration plate: £12 in 2025
gear linkage replacement: £339 in 2026
Words are copyright of Sotiris Vassiliou
January 2026
Updated in February 2026
