November 2019
Out of curiousity I ran a check on my traded-in 2012 Civic which is being sold by a major auction house. I was surprised that they picked it up on poor paint repairs on one door and the rear bumper. During my ownership these have never been repainted (not even stone chip touch up) and I have hand-washed and polished it many times over the last 6 years without noticing anything untoward. So while I have to accept their judgement that it was previously repaired, it was not evident to regular close inspection.
It made me wonder why they would record this invisible damage and grade the car as "3", on a scale of 1-5, as a result. Trust me, whoever buys it and resells it will not need to do any repairs on these areas.
It's of no consequence to me financially now but can anyone explain what might be going on? Is there a counter-intuitive benefit to the auction house if they are picky and then achieve a better than expected price for a grade 3 car? .......Maybe I am over-thinking it. Read more
Can i apply for a secured loan on my owned car as an asset? Read more
In simple terms, you don't get a worthwhile loan against a fast-depreciating asset.
One of my Bridgestone 175/70 R13 tyres developed a bit of a bulge, so I've got my Chen shin 155 (aspect ratio unspecified but I've been told its 82) truck tyre spare on the back. Thats a better tyre, but its a mismatch, and I might not get it through even a Taiwan inspection like that.
The Bridgestone tread is probably 3-4 mm. I have three "ditchfinder" SONAR 165/70 R13's with about 6-7 mm tread which, if I can revive my lost tyre mounting skills, should fit my rims.... Read more
I'd think tread is only a good thing in the wet, so the Bridgestones should be best in the dry
They should both be ok, difference would be the amount of water clearance from the tread depth, apart from rubber makeup between the 2...
Declining sales are down to the horrendously high prices of cars these days.
With a new wave of superminis about to be launched with list prices beginning from not too far off £20k, no wonder people aren't replacing their cars as often as they used to.
Just imagine the depreciation hit on something like a £25k mainstream Focus size hatchback?! You might as well put a few thousand pounds on your Guy Fawkes bonfire!
I show people I know, who aren't car enthusiasts, the list prices of new cars these days and they can't believe it - and end up saving for a house extension or house move rather than replacing their old car.
Sure, you could go the finance route, but that still involves a lot of money to ultimately end up with nothing, if you decide not to pay an additional huge amount of money to keep the car. You're also constantly worrying about the condition of the car to avoid additional, unrealistic, costs come the time to give it back too.
I've had my current car for almost 5 years now (the longest I've kept a car for) and will be keeping it for as long as I can as estimated prices for it's replacement model due next year will be around 50% more than what I paid for my one!
And that's such a shame for someone like me who's so interested in cars.
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Honda Bracknell, where I purchased my current CRV has closed. Many more are closing, leaving fewer dealerships within a reasonable distance.
good to see common sense efficiency is, in general, winning out over pose/annoyance value Read more
We leased a Fiesta Active X for £200 a month (£600 down) and it's a fantastic car all round, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any Fiesta to anyone - it's very clear why it's Britain's best selling car.
My Yaris has an LED third brakelight. One (of six) LEDs has failed. I've dismantled it and it doesn't seem practical to replace the single LED. The unit's an eighty quid replacement!
MOT seems to suggest that if fewer than half the elements have failed, it's a 'minor'. I presume that's an 'advisory?'... Read more
Second hand unit from fleabay for about £15 would do the job...
Neither SWMBO nor I have fuelled wrongly yet, despite having a diesel and a petrol car between us, tho that is largely because she always drives the diesel. I drive both cars so have to be a bit careful. Read more
My mum once (late 1980s/early 90s) partially filled up our family's then G-reg Escort 1.4 with diesel rather than petrol - it couldn't have been much, as she stopped, and refilled the rest with petrol and the car worked ok, if a bit rough. Obviously not as bad as doing the opposite and especially in a modern common-rail diesel.
I committed my error back in 1998. I suppose a 6.5% dilution of the diesel with petrol managed to be tolerated by the engine system. Same as your Mums Escort. I suspect that engines and their management systems were less sophisticated then and able to tolerate such mistakes. It may not be the case these days. Cheers Concrete
Hi All,
Strange one this. Had the clutch changed a couple of years ago and everything was fine, since had the master cylinder replaced more recently this year when I couldn't get the gears to change at all.... Read more
Was it a good quality clutch that was fitted? Was the pressure plate also replaced or just the friction plate?
It could be that the pressure plate isn't releasing properly, or the gearbox oil is too heavy and you're getting some drag from cold....
I have a Nissan Juke with 16 " alloys tyre size 205/60R16
Can I use a steel wheel from a Qashqai , tyre size 215/65R16. As a spare wheel. ? Read more
Thanks for the info, best to look for same size alloy.
Our Berlingo has a steel spare but same size/tyre as alloys. The bolts have two tapers, the one for steel is smaller and sits within the thickness of the alloy when normal wheel is fitted. Gave us a bit of head scratching time when we needed it until we deciphered the pictograms on the spare. ...
Anyone got one of these collecting dust in their garage. www.edp24.co.uk/news/cosworth-sells-for-80000-at-k...0 Read more
If I found one of those I'd be after the £80,000 as quick as possible!
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Thanks for the clarification on grades. I didn't realise these were absolute grades irrespective of age and I assumed that an older car would get a lees strict age related grade. So grade 3 is pretty good.
While they may have eagle eyes they didn't spot the sill repair my local bodyshop did a couple of months ago. It was an immaculate repair of a long kerbing dent and he achieved a perfect match across both the shiny finish and the rough underseal type paint. He operates from an old shed but there are lots of fancy cars as testament to how good he is. And only £300. Try getting that from a glass palace!