October 2024
I recently advertised my car for sale on Autotrader. It is a 67 plate with 54000 miles and in excellent condition. Having included 48 photos and a wordy description of the love and care bestowed on my car I expected it to sell reasonably quickly being a popular model and with an asking price of £12500 on a par with other models on the site. After posting the ad I noticed that whilst almost all similar ads were labelled as “Great Price”, “Good Price, “Fair Price”, mine did not. The ad ran its full term with one enquiry and no offers. All the cars ‘recommended’ by Autotrader were sold. I took this up with Autotrader who told me that only trade sales get price approval. This discriminates against private sellers, potentially forcing them into the arms of the car buying sites at prices much below what the dealers will sell the cars for. I took the registration number from one of the dealer ads and asked Autotrader to value it. They valued it at £2000 less than it was being sold for on their site; suggesting that Autotrader are discriminating against private sellers. Does anyone else have a similar experience? Read more
Yes, It's that time of year.
Renewal quote for Korando and Venga multicar £594... Read more
A phone call this morning resulted in the premium going from £153 back down to £131. So only a £1 more than last year. Happy with that.
Car has just passed the MOT as well with only the usual advisory on 'Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement' (both sides) but they've reported that for years and it hasn't progressed to a fail yet. Hopefully won't be more than a few hundred to fix if it does.
I was insured with Darwin Car Insurance until just over a week ago when I could not find their renewal notice so switched to another provider as I was about to go on holiday and short of time.
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The OP cancelled the policy and not the insurer.
The OP didn't do anything:...
Maybe it's impossible to know but taking an educated guess , with proposed ban on diesel/petrol by 2035, do people think used 4x4 prices for older bigger 4x4's such as a Toyota land cruiser are going to plummet which some analysts say or basically become too expensive to run as the government will do silly things with tax and insurance ?
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FACT
In 2022/23 VED generated £7.3B and Fuel Duty £25.1B in revenues....
In May 24, my 40yr old son was sent an email by his insurance saying he was involved in an incident in March 24 and they would be accepting a 50/50 settlement. My son told me he wasn't involved in any incident.
My son called them but they could give NO times and NO evidence, and it was only after the third time of calling that I was able to ascertain the make and model of the TP and find the location of the incident as I spoke to the complaints dept as the claims dept didnt tell us anything! My son still says it wasnt him. ... Read more
Forgive me if insensitive, but why are you taking this all upon yourself? Why doesn't your son call his insurer and ask for the facts if they won't tell you?
Can you not reduce the premium on your wife's insurance by just taking him off again?
Just paid £1500 to replace all four injectors on my 2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi. The work has been done and I've paid so too late to change my mind now but I was just wondering if this seems a fair price. The price also included some diagnostics on the DPF and running a regen to check it was all working correctly, as the DPF was having issues due to faulty injectors.
The garage I went to I've used plenty of times before and the mechanics always seem very professional and good at what they do so even though the quote seemed high I didn't want to risk going with someone I don't know. I use the car for work a lot and needed to get it fixed ASAP by someone I trust. Read more
Was that Northampton Electrical and Diesel GB
Indeed, a great place. run by people who had forgotten more than the competition would ever learn....
Further to my three year report…..
https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=164315 ... Read more
Very interesting and useful. Thanks for taking the time to provide an update, these real owner reports are one of the forum's most valuable features.
The 'Owner Reviews' section on the website has sadly not been used by people to add their own experiences as much as 10 years ago, which is a real shame. This is common across many other similar sites to this one, so not a criticism of HJ....
Good morning backroomers,
Hope everyone is well? ... Read more
Not a fan, but there’s no reason not to buy one. At least it has character. Pretty sturdy car, but make sure it’s not getting crusty underneath, it’s the main killer of Hyundai’s and Kia’s. Hope it serves her well
Mobile phone theft has hit the news again, this time phones being snatched from tables in fast food restaurants. Previously it was phones being snatched from people using them while walking along the street. What is never mentioned is the fact that it is people's behaviours that allows this to happen. People walk along with their phone held out in front of them, oblivious to the outside world as they facetime their friends, just asking for their phone to be snatched by someone on an e scooter. Many of these are £1000+ phones, would they walk around holding £1000 worth of banknotes out in front of them? Likewise, would anyone who puts their expensive phone on the table next to them in MacDonalds do the same with a pile of notes or a credit card?
I know people should be able to do these things but in these times, people need to change behaviours if they don't want to lose the whole life that exists on their phones.... Read more
I suppose I am in a much better situation living in a rural area. Most of my riding is done on quiet country lanes so I don't have all the issues that come with cycling in towns and cities thankfully. However, I now have one of those carriers that fit in a water bottle cage which is a bit more secure and means I can fit my phone and tools somewhere in sight. Am also in the process of repurposing an old phone of the wife's for taking out on the bike.
Hi all, I have just put a deposit on a 2018 Celerio with only (supposedly) 9800 on the clock. To pick up tomorrow.
There are 2 things that are bothering me though. You have to use a key manually to open it and the very high clutch biting point. I have been awake all night wondering if I'm doing the right thing.
I currently own a Swift which I have had from new since 2008 and I feel as if I'm going backwards in comparison. I will be sad to see it go
Can anything be done about this clutch? Read more
The Viva has a lot more features than the Celero too.
Cruise control...
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buying a car from a dealer gets you a whole world of legal protection - see my experience on my thread. Buying privately then you're on your own.
Whenever I've called a seller offering a private sale 90% of them say they are selling it for their dad, maiden aunt, their mate, or give some other reason why their name isn't on the V5 and yes they can bring the car round to me, no problem. Not today dealer!