scrap or repair ? advice sought

[orchard county]

hi there. just wondering if anyone had any advice. i bought my nov 96 avant 1.9 TDI there in march for £1800 with a years MOT/ROAD TAX. so far its been superb. however i lost pwer of the dashboard display. i took it in to the auto engineer wh had a look at it on fri and said he would look into getting a part. on saturday the car would not start and the engine is now immobilized.
auto engineer says to guarantee to fix the immobilized dash and original fault he has to order an original dash circuit board from AUDI in the region of £300 which he will fit. the car would then need to be towed to AUDI garage where they will reprogramme it and that will cost £150 approx. total cost will be £500 - £550.

given its up for MOT/ road tax in march i could be spending £1000 do you think it's worth it ? thanks leo

[wolfyv6]

the first question you should ask is, ''can i buy another 1.9 tdi for £1000. if the answer is yes then do it. if no then clearly the option is get it fixed.
To be fair ive just bought a 1998 2.6 v6 (which is awesome by the way) for £1100. it does have a couple of issues i.e new tyres needed, new battery but thats it.

i think you should look at your financial situation also. I would be inclined to cut my losses and find another a4 tdi with some tax and m.o.t on it. im sure you will find another decent 1.9 tdi for around £1000 with tax and m.o.t but its completely your choice.

Also bear in mind that although you have a definate fault, thats not to say that something else might crop up during the fixing process. Sorry for being all doom and gloom but i think alot of the guys on here would agree that only you know what you can and cant afford. Good luck with your decision and i hope you make thr right one.

[Alan02]

Hi Leo, the dash losing its power would cause the immobiliser not to work so `NO START`.It could be that the new dash fixes evertyhing.It seems a shame to scrap a car for this,the coding of the dash panel,and key will only take about 3/4 - 1 hour,i`ve done it myself.Is £150 a quoted price these days?!Seems steep.But good luck in making the right choice.

[orchard county]

thanks for the advice lads. i think in order to properly sort the problem it will either need the dash repaired (£150) or a new dash (£300) and then it has to be reprogrammed by audi due to immobiliser problems. my auto engineer is happy to try the repair but is of the impression it will not be able to be repaired due to original problem ie dash not working. expensive all right but illprobably have to take the hit. have not seen any other cars around at this price. leo