The good news, just over a week ago, was my 15 yr old Rangie past it's MOT with just a couple of advisories.
One was a track rod end had a little play in it, but a complete new one was only £34 +VAT so have replaced that.
The other one could have proved to be more of a problem as a flexi joint in the exhaust was blowing.
This is in the front pipe which has a cat in it and looking at the internet, etc, a new one was around £300.
Looking again into this, my car was registered before March 2001, so does not need an approved cat fitted, so this cost was brought down to around £160 + VAT + fitting.
I noticed the exhaust fitter was getting their info from a supplier nearby to where I live and, as I have had exhausts parts from them before, called in and got a price from them.
It works out at around £115 including VAT and around £40 for the middle box, which would need doing within the next year, so I have ordered both and a local fitter to where I work will fit them for me. Plus I get £12 back when I return the old cat to them.
If you have any local suppliers close to you that supply the garages and outlets in your area, give them a try for parts, you may find they, like this one, also supply to the public direct at a much lower price then via the outlets/ garages.