August 2017
I understand that buying a car from the trade, you would be protected from any come back on a log book loan.
What about buying privately, is there an reliable way of finding out if there is any money owed against a car? Read more
Apologies if this horribly off-topic or spammy. I just feel that this might be the best place where I can find somebody that might want to stay in the industry but pivot in actual business approach to something scalable but easy to manage with less of the usual industry problems. Over around 10 years I developed powerful vehicle sourcing software (the core bit provisionally patended in the USA in 2011) tracking around 4 million cars per year online in the UK the moment they come online - across thousands of combined sources - from private seller classified ads in local newspapers to small local dealers to large countrywide franchise dealerships. It is developed to nett £10 000 per month and to require only 2 employees to manage.The software goes online on 31 Jan 2018 and I am looking for a buyer to take over at £250k. I have two initial investors to repay and with the extremely long development time, repayment has become critical - hence the sale. Read more
How many cars of today will manage over 2 million miles?
allaboutdieselz.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/34-million-...l Read more
First car - 10 year old 1961 Ford Anglia. Optional heater and wind up windows. Most DIY jobs done with 2 spanners and 2 screwdrivers. Needed decoking every 10-20k miles..
Roll on 20 years - company Ford Sierra. Heater, electric front windows, sunroof, AM/FM with 2 speakers. Quieter, faster, bigger and more economical than Anglia. ...
I'm sure this has been asked before and I apologise in advance for my ignorance but please could someone explain why Parker's valuations seem to be so wide of the mark. With all the many extras added to give me a more refined and precise valuation Parkers puts my car at £13,167; I have been offered £10,800 by Audi as Part x and £10,300 by Mini ditto. A single dealer has contacted me through Tootle and offered £9,875 and your site tells me it's value is £9,739 although this was not based on a tailored estimate. Any advice, as always would be really appreciated.
Many thanks.... Read more
I'd suggest having a good look on the Mini 'approved used' website.
Having a quick nosey on there, going on 2014 manual petrol Cooper 3 door hatchbacks with less than 20k miles in orange, they range from £9.3k (basic spec) to £15k (fully loaded spec). Your car would be mid-spec, and similar vehicles about £13k on there....
Our area has been blighted for the last two years by a never ending series of roadworks to replace gas mains.
Often, a hole is dug, abandoned for a fortnight, then a couple of chaps appear and work for a few hours, some weeks later its filled and the road surface re-instated.... Read more
I am sure we all recognise the symptoms and events described by Andy, but ironically he also illustrates another activity at which the British excel - moaning at how others do (or don't do) their jobs. Not necessarily saying how those jobs might be done better, but sometimes that too. As suggested, many are victims of complex, rigid or inappropriate over-organisation.
Unfortunately situations often become intolerable for some who are doing their job well, and they choose to retire early - I'm thinking of teachers and NHS staff as examples. That exacerbates the position, as those who remain may well be the ones causing the mess. Ideally the good performers, recognising the problems, should stay put and sort them out, but I guess they decide that is impossible and give up.
Hi folks,
I'm currently in the market for a family estate with the little'uns growing up and needing more leg room. The Mazda6 tourer caught my eye and they have some great offers on brand new at the moment - top of the range Sport Nav model <£25k (when factoring in dealers deposit contribution) and 0% for 3 years.... Read more
Not just that, as if the owner has a reasonable period of time doing shorter journeys where the auto DPF regen cannot operate when it wants, it will clog up and cost a lot to fix, adding to the running costs, especially if it needs a new one rather than just a forced regen at the dealership or professional clean at a specialist.
Cars with DPFs would work so much better/be more reliable if the driver gets a countdown warning (days) to when a regen is due (and an estimate of how long to run the car as per the maunal to facilitate it) so the owner can at least go out for a blast for 15-20 mins down the motorway etc when required, maybe even having a button to force it early on such a route when its more convenient (this was suggested by Aussie car reviewer/critic John Cadogan - he doesn't mince his words when he speaks!)....
Years ago we all used to go to an insurance broker, who would search through a long list of companies to try and find us suitable and ( hopefully) affordable cover.
Then came the likes of Directline, who said "come direct, miss out the middle man for the best deal" and most people did.
Now we have "compare sites " who do the sifting bit again and take a cut like the brokers used to do. I know the compare sites own, or are tied to insurance companies, but have we just come full circle?
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If I can persuade my current insurer down to anything approaching the previous year's premiums (ie, within 30 quid or so), I don't bother seriously looking elsewhere....
I am curious as to whether you can buy a car which is the product of one manufactuer. Particularly interested in this with regards to so called premium brands. Do you get what you pay for ?
I know this has come up numerous times but interested in identifying any paarticular maker to be wary of ( all of them ? ) Read more
I'm constantly surprised to see Mazda cited as an example of a manufacturer with a good reliability record.
MX-5 Mk 2, 2.5 and even 3 rust like nothing on earth. Prettty much every diesel engine of their own has been a reliability mess and their customer service record on addressing early failure is terrible. Mk 1 6 rusts. RX-8 engines wear early and won't start when warm and are worth £2.50 now. I can think of several more....
In this day and age with the car work load increasing the positioning of important instruments is being ignored.
With our speed now being monitored nearly everywhere it is paramount to be able to see ones speed without searching somewhere through the steering wheel, why are cars not fitted with either 'Heads up Speedo' or a small binnacle speedo at the foot of the windscreen so that speed can be seen without taking ones eyes from the Road? I have purchased a HUD for £18 which is perfect.
Secondly the other instrument that is really bad for taking ones attention from the road is the GPS screen, why is this not always mounted high up rather than down by the gear stick?
I really am not very impressed with modern car designers who I believe do not own or drive their own cars so have no idea of the real driving world. Read more
It's a shame no other manufacturer picked up SAAB's idea of the aircraft-inspired night time driving option of shutting down all instruments except the speedometer. Speedos do indeed seem to be getting smaller and less easy to read, although a secondary digital readout is often available. Touch screens all seem to have at least one major flaw, be it poor visibility owing to positioning, annoying reflections from sunlight, overloaded functions or the penny-pinching manufacturer's favourite, the ridiculously small size on lesser models - "yes, it's got one, but it's not very good; care to trade up to the Allure/GTX/Vignale model, Sir/Madam?"
Hi, my mum and dad purchased my first car on 28/07/17, it's a 2007 mini one 1.4, they part exchanged our ford KA and payed a further £1200. Whilst initially viewing the car my dad noticed that the tread on the front tyres were low, the salesman insisted that the car would go through tests to make sure it's roadworthy before they collected it. They agreed to buy the car and a week later collected it, the owner of the garage believed that the front tyres were in good condition so they weren't replaced, the owner also tried to give my parents £500 less for the car they were part exchanging than what was agreed the week before.
When they arrived home with the car the red oil light flashed on and then off. The car has continued to do this ever since when the engine is hot and the car is going very slowly or reversing. My dad contacted the AA who towed the car back to the dealership the following day. The dealership said they would fix the car and they had it for a week however the owner was very reluctant to do any to the car and cleaned there was nothing wrong with it until my dad said the AA had towed the car and that he had a report from them. The owner said the a new oil pump, oil filter, pressure switch and exhaust vanos had been fitted to the car. But the oil light still continued to come on and off.
Yesterday my dad took the car to a mini specialist who plugged it into a diagnostic machine, which revealed that the oxygen sensor has issues. Despite these issues the engine management light was not illuminated. When my dad arrived home, he took the speedometer off the car and found that the bulb for the engine management light had been surrounded by black silicon to prevent the light being visible. My dad then looked at the oil filter, which he believes has not been changed by the garage. When my dad called the dealer he then said that the oil pump was second hand and not brand new, which had been previously implied.
Meanwhile my mum contacted the previous owner of the mini, who also bought the car from the dealership. She said that she has the car for 4 weeks but only had it at home for 2 days as there were many issues. She said that when the car had supposedly been fixed she drove down the road and all of the warning lights illuminated. She then insisted that they take it to a specialist, which they said they did but she found out that no specialist mechanic had been consulted and that the car hadn't moved from the car park, So she got her money back.When my dad told the dealer about this, he said the woman way lying and that she returned the car because she couldn't afford the finance. The woman also has a friend who is currently in court proceedings with the same dealership.
My dad has paid for new alloys, new brake pads and the diagnostics test as well as £1000 for my mums insurance (she's a new driver) and £80 to transfer a private reg onto the car. My dad feels like he's investejd too much money into the car to just return it and get his money back and ideally wants the car to be fixed if possible. He's booked it in with the specialist for a few days time but is still uncertain as to whether the dealership is willing to pay for the repairs to be done on the car. Should the dealers legally have to pay for the repairs or does it have to be one of their mechanics- considering all the cover ups and lies that they've told?
Thanks in advance,
Elisha. Read more
Reject the car. Now.
Atempting to do anything else is pouring good money after bad. Get rid.
Browse
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Gut instinct comes into play here. If you're buying a sub £2k motor from an old buddy who's owned for 10yrs and it comes with a stamped up book and a fat wallet full of receipts then you're good to go but if you're looking at dearer stuff or thinking about viewing at a car that's been with its current keeper for less than two years then be wary. Always get an HPI check done if there's even the slightest doubt and remember the guarantee doesn't cover you if the seller did the check, it needs to be you.
I still think private sales are the best way by far to buy a sub £4k car. From this pricepoint downwards the trade is dominated by rogues and cheats. Many larger dealer will hang onto good trade in stock and retail it but mostly it'll be heavily overpriced to offset their risk and effort.
Buying privately you get to meet the owner face to face, see where the car was kept and get a good feel for what sort of person they are. At a dealer you'll almost always be told it was a wee old lady or some other lie. Truth is sales staff rarely know where their stock came from, even if it was a trade in its likely another member of staff took it in and let's be honest here they'll tell you anything to get you to buy.
An HPI check doesn't cost much and give a good degree of cover if you do it properly using both the reg no and vin. Plus also bearing in mind that the car must be registered to the address you viewed it at. This is of course only common sense. Never buy a car if the address doesn't match and never buy one with no V5 present. Look out for the yellow trade section missing too. Fly traders often sell posing as private sellers and you'll get the usual excuses such as "We were trading it in but changed our mind, the dealer filled it in already" "it's my auntie/uncle/nephew/great great grans motor I'm selling on their behalf" etc etc.
Trust your guts and take another pair of eyes and ears along too. I love outing these scumbags but it would frighten people if they followed me to some of the motors I'm asked to view. Honesty and decency are rare commodities in the used motor industry from dealer and private punter alike.