Hello All,
My sister bought a used Cuore 18 months ago. I was not very interested in driving back then, but a few months ago everyone forced me to learn how to drive it lol
Since taking charge of the car, I have been getting a lot of work done on it. I wanted to post a list of things I overhauled or repaired with prices so everyone here has a reference. I relied a lot on PW forums for guidance, so just wanted to contribute here. Hopefully this will be useful guidance for anyone looking to carry out similar work.
Important things to note:
I am based out of Karachi, and mainly got work done around Tariq Road.
I am not price sensitive so it's possible I spent more money on these things.
All updates were carried out November 2024 onwards so prices should be fairly recent.
This is my first car, so I was heavily reliant on the guidance here and in the market.
List is MOSTLY not in chronological order.
Here is the full list:
2500 Carburettor Failed Fix - the car used to shake violently every time I turned it off, I was worried that it was an engine problem but an EFI specialist (Mujahid) who I randomly encountered told me it's the carb. He got a guy to come and fix it but he apparently instead of fixing it bolted the problem area shut which caused the problem to return)
2500 Engine Pipe Leak - When working on the carb, Mujahid saw that there was a pipe that had rusted and was leaking fuel onto the distributor. He fixed it.
5500 AC Partial Repair - I wanted to get the AC fixed, but the system had never been checked. The guy next to Mujahid's workshop volunteered to fix the whole thing for 5-8k but was unable to do the whole job. He identified the compressor as the problem but I was over budget for the month so decided to leave it there. He did carry out maintenance on the system and got everything else running.
28000 AC Compressor - following to the recommendations here, I went to Bashir Autos at Tariq Road. Dealt with Rizwan over there. He recommended the compressor of Duet. I obviously had no idea what I was doing there but he said that it's the best option so I went for it. Very satisfied with the performance in normal running but I have to say in Karachi heat, don't expect a miracle lol.
1000 AC Fins Internal - the AC fins inside the car were old and broken so told Rizwan to replace them. Pretty sure he overcharged me for them but I was just tired of back and forth in the market so I didn't argue.
7000 Carburettor (yes, again) - Finally, there was a carburettor expert a street away from Mujahid, he took me there and got the whole thing fixed once and for all. Car running great till today.
1500 AC Diagnosis (Tip) - Gave Mujahid's neighbour some money for his hard work (he had to diagnose the compressor thing but I ran out of money for the whole thing) and to build relationship lol
19500 Car Speakers + Head unit - The old system was alright for radio but not for my tasted. I'm a big rap fan so need good bass and clear vocals. Went to Haroon Radio. Dealt with Raju there. He's not very honest, and the place is overall pricey. But it's close to my place and I think most people in this space are snakey lol. The quality of the stuff I am very satisfied with but it took a little learning. I realised that an amp is equally important for someone like me. I spent too much money on the car but didn't have enough for an amp.
8500 Car Front Speakers - Useless expense, especially at the stage I got it, and even now. Get an amp first. And when you get an amp get 4channel. Mine right now is 2channel so front speakers are completely useless.
13500 Battery - Emergency expense. Speakers overloaded the system LMAO. It was so annoying to already be at budget and then something like this coming up. Anyway, went to ----- Brothers and got a new battery.
2500 Radiator Flush Full Service - planned to get the car converted to coolant. Went to Tanoli autos in Tariq Road following the recommendations from PW. I think I dealt with the main guy there. Didn't seem too interested in me or my car. I told him what I wanted he sent me away to the radiator guy to have it flushed before coolant is added. I felt like he didn't really guide me about anything so I decided I will not be working with him, despite his good reputation.
1500 Distributor Leak - distributor had been leaking. Mujahid was supposed to fix it. Seal was not available in market, everyone said you have to go to Plaza but as an amateur I didn't know what that meant LOL. Anyway that day Mujahid fell sick, so I went to the carburettor guy thinking he will fix it (the two parts are right next to each other) but just like doctors he refused to look at it haha. He said there's a mechanic right across his shop. So I went there. M Alam Mechanic and Autos. The mechanic took it to Plaza and had it fixed.
5500 Led Headlights - Alam told me to fix my headlights. New Super Autos was right across the road so he I bought Bugatti headlights from there. Very happy with performance. I was basically driving blind at night haha
650 Front and Back Lights Cover - I think some kids had broken the lights covers on the car while playing cricket. It was a simple fix. So replaced it.
500 Rear Door Lock Fix - the rear left door lock didn't work automatically. Funny story is that I wasn't there to fix this but while I was there some other cuore came there with the exact same problem haha so I got it fixed as well.
160 Window Rollers x2 - window rollers kept falling off, so annoying.
2200 Car Air Freshner x2 - Febreze
~103,000 Subtotal
7500 Rear Suspension Shocks x2 - Been travelling on University road almost daily, plus the suspension had never been checked. They were completely gone. Like shattered, filled with dust, mud, rust etc etc
3000 Rear Suspension Springs x2 - Same story.
2600 Aisin Long Life Coolant 2L - Finally got coolant conversion done. Mechanic being the idiot that he is, added normal water instead of distilled water, even though I had a very detailed discussion about what I wanted. I have decided to switch to another guy after this. To be fair this was Alam's son, not him so make of that what you will.
450 Viper Blades - rusted and completely gone so replaced them.
3000 Labour Suspension
2500 Failed Speedometer Fix - Oh god don't get me started on this. There was a electrician named Saeed in the street where Alam works. The engine heat meter, speedometer, and fuel meter were all not working. The heat turned out that the fan was direct so that fixed it immediately. The fuel he kept telling me "oh we don't know how much is in there" and I kept telling him I reset odo each fuel fill manually so I'm telling you, but he just wasted my time. The speedo didn't go above 40 for some reason. He test drove the car aggressively accelerating and got it to go to 50 and concluded that he had fixed the issue LMAO.
13500 Amplifier - Finally got an amplifier. Explosive and crisp sound now.
2500 Premium Wiring - Paid for the good wiring with the amp, and sat on the electrician's head to make sure he did a very neat job. I hate that there is no standard for electric stuff for old cars. People just leave wires hanging and bent out shape like it's worthless. Really annoys me. This is where overpaying kinda helped I guess, because Raju made sure along with me that the work was done to a professional standard.
500 Relay - there was interference on the audio signal. Apparently old car wires get carbon deposits so they cause this. Relay fixes this a bit (not completely). I am considering a complete electrical overhaul cuz the thought of poor, decades old wiring running through my car is really sad 
1000 Labour - Raju's guy charged for labour whatever
5500 Tints - at Haroon Radio there's Tint guys. They offered me 1000, 5000, 7000 rupees tints. The 7000 one is apparently USA (who knows). I got them to come down to 5500 by crying about it haha. They look good, but the job isn't to a professional standard in my opinion. Plus everyone keeps telling me that the police willl annoy me. I got it because AC performance was being affected. Car is parked in the sun etc etc.
8000 Kabuli Speedometer New - decided to go to Plaza with Alam and get a speedo. He gave us one with RPM cluster. The market blew my mind. It's like Bolton Market for Car Parts. Anyway, took 2-3 hours but got a new speedo. A little bit of negotiation and finally got it for 8k.
200 Engine Bay Rubber - the seal of the engine bay was all bent out of shape. Random shop at Plaza had it.
1000 Viper Fluid Bottle + Motor - the beauty of a used car is that for some reason the viper bottle and mechanism was completely removed lol. Got it at Plaza as well.
1500 Labour Mechanic - Gave Alam some money for the trip and showing me around Plaza.
2200 Labour Electrician - what a cheat. Speedometer was already open. We had asked the speedo salesman (a master of his work) if the electrician needed anything else. I even told him, I don't want to pay this guy anything else and he laughed and said no I've given all the connections he just needs to plug and play. Anyway, Saeed claimed that he needed to do a lot of work (at least an hours worth) to get it running and i literally got into a screaming match with him. He said that he will connect it as I want it but then if the speedo catches fire it's not on him. Obviously, under such threats I told him to carry on. NEVER GOING TO THIS GUY AGAIN.
150 Speedo Bulbs
While there, bought bulbs for the Speedo at a place called Master Bulb in Plaza.
~53,600 Subtotal
~160,000 Total
Lots of work to go, but hope this list helps all of you! Will keep you guys posted.
-Shah
