April 2025
A few months ago, I recall a poster on here querying why they weren’t getting much interest in a second hand car that they were selling as a private seller. Turns out that (if I recall correctly) they were asking similar money to the traders, who were advertising the same car, mileage and condition.
I’m starting to get my eye in on £8k-£9k cars, with a view to purchasing around August time. Surprised to see plenty of private sellers asking in excess of £1k more than traders, with no recourse for the buyer in the event of any immediate issues post-purchase and no form of warranty.
I’d have expected the private sale cars to be at least 10% - ~£800-£900 cheaper (on a like for like basis in terms of year, mileage, condition, service history etc) compared to those from a motor trader.
Am I just out of touch, having not bought a second hand car in decades?! Read more
Hi guys. I've moved to Halifax, West Yorkshire and I'm wanting to know labour costs in this area from independent garages if I supply my own parts which i like to do so I can buy premium stuff.
I have a renault megane and a vauxhall zafira diesel.... Read more
If you want the best job done, then DIY. Plenty of YouTube videos.
With regard to buying premium parts, I don’t wish to cause offence, but those are both pretty mundane cars. They’ll run just fine on mundane parts. The main improvement is you’re putting new oil & filters in. The difference between a Bosch part and a Euro Car Parts own brand is negligible.
If you were running a high performance machine/s then go ahead and buy the best.
Most garages I’ve dealt with as a new customer are reluctant to put customer bought parts for reasons outlined. It’s the ramp availability. They won’t know a part is incorrect until the car is on the ramp and in bits. Then, it’s too late and they have to wait for the correct part to arrive. They lose use of the ramp.
Where on earth is the OBD port on my ateca, I need to find out why my engine management light keeps coming on so I have bought a little reader off the Internet, but can't for the life of me locate the port, none of the videos or images Ive looked at on line match up to the interior of my own vehicle Read more
Sorry I didn't come back earlier, it's conveniently located just above the pedals on the right hand side, I had the use my phone as a bit of a periscope to help me with it.
Just about to plan a visit to see one of youngroverbelles and found this. handy to get in advance although strictly speaking I could manage without it crossing at La Cure and only driving down to Versoix. easier to use public transport on a day pass.
... Read more
Do you have any reference for this ORB?
I've Googled and all the official Swiss sites that I've found seem to state...
Hi im looking for help to see if there are any hyundai mechanics or ex hyundai mechanics that can help me with my hyundai i40 1.6 estate . And willing to fix the car as the fault code won't go off and I've had things replaced what the diagnostic was showing and the code is still showing. . Ive had new egr valves and new mass air filter and the car still won't run. It runs if the air mass flow is unplugged but plugged back in it won't run. Thanks Read more
and the car still won't run
So the engine isn't running at all with MAF plugged in?...
I have an old car and currently use my phone with Googlemaps for navigation.
This works well enough most of the time but occasionally let's me down in remote areas with poor or no mobile signal even when I think I have downloaded the map area.... Read more
Some TomToms used to work with what3words but I'm not sure which. Worth googling.
My issue with Google maps tends to be it losing GPS signal rather than not downloading maps. If you're having the same issue, it may be worth getting an external GPS antenna....
Hello,
Im an Irish resident who travels every weekend to the UK.... Read more
We have family who come from Canada, Iraq. and the EU. Never had a problem adding anyone on temp cover on our policies for the past 15 years.
Saw the two above cars in the past few days out on the local roads.
Omoda grey ? overtook me and looked fairly innocuous..... Read more
Is it me or does that Omoda look like a cross between the KIA Sportage (front) and the Nissan Qashqai (rear)?
Hi
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Update number 2
It was the main charging cable which is being replaces under the vehicle warranty....
Not long found out that the £42000 car I foolishly signed up on PCP at Honda has lost £19500 of its value after 6 months with only 1800 miles on the clock, it’s worth less now than the buy it price at the end of the 3 year PCP, I love the car but no more Honda’s for me after this, Read more
PCP or contract lease are the only safe ways to finance a new EV. This protects you from the instability in the used market as the trade try to figure out what to do with the things and how to repair them at viable money when they do go wrong. It’s as if the manufacturers want them to fail when they price repairs at nonsensical money. I’ve heard stories of Renault Zoe chargers costing £5/£6k to fix, which is madness for a relatively simple piece of equipment. Plenty of them coming up for sale as non-runners for this reason.
I should think that's people who have taken their EV in for a part exchange, just couldn't believe how little they were being offered and decided they'd sell privately. They may have finance on them and are stuck in negative equity for the amount they're trying to sell for.
The increase in energy prices over the last 3+ years has stopped new EVs being the no-brainer they once were and there are more in circulation than the market can now sustain. Brilliant used buys for those that they suit and, presumably, heartbreak for those they used to suit...