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I started at 15 as a Saturday boy site car washer, then a Petrol Pump Attendant, then Consol operator then became a Valeter at 16 at the same garage, when I passed my car test at 17 I bought my first PX, a Moggy slpit screen in dove grey... I was on £50 a week and I bought the Moggy for £150, sold it to a Dr for £800 out of the local paper on the Thursday the paper came out... Absolutely hooked from there on..

Great thread! Really enjoyable reading through those. Mine is a bit more recent. My father unfortunately suddenly passed away and given I hated my job as an auctioneer/antiques valuer I quit after 12 years (bloody terrifying leaving the only real job i'd had after working my way up the ranks) and spent the summer on the beach before realising that I NEEDED a job. It's always funny how I imagined a life of being on the beach, touring Europe and bumming around was my dream but in reality I need a focus and i'm a grafter not a player. Brother in law that I barely conversed with at the time worked at a main dealer and suggested starting up together and running a used site. I had never driven a car at this point. Signed a lease for a 30 car site and I had two months to get passed. Failed my theory first time round by not studying and thinking 'how hard can it really be' and eventually passed two weeks before my practical. Smashed it out the park and within a week I was cutting down overgrown bushes and learning how to clad a Portakabin with UPVC. We went out and bought 25 cars in two weeks from our local halls (my god the bad stock we threw our money into, we were so green) and I learnt how to open a bonnet, watched a Youtube on how to charge a flat battery and worked out that some stuff needs to have the clutch depressed to start it (that took half an hour to work out). Spent a lot of that first few months very very worried...out of my depth is understatement of the century. I used to go on test drives in the passenger seat with the handbook in my lap; 'what's hill decent? One moment whilst I find page 85-3.' I spent a lot of time in cars, driving everything, opening everything, reading every handbook, online every day watching and reading forums. Three years in and now we have two sites, 100 cars and two staff. I understand and use the CRA15, know how margin scheme operates, get what an EGR does and why it gets clogged, know all buyers are liars and have a love/hate relationship with it. Not my most modest sentence but we've come a long way and i'm bloody proud. (feel sorry for those first few punters I had to handle though!)

I started 6 months ago with fuck all experience but a lot of enthusiasm. I’m doing it full time, for now. If I can’t make ends meet i’ll have to get a job. It’s hard work and stressful but i’m like a pig in shit. The thought of going back to being told what to do by someone else petrifies me.

we are all at different levels, that's whats great about this forum. It welcome to all

Hi Marc I think you will be OK at this job.I would say cultivate your NHS contact,that could be valuable.Keep it to yourself and try and buy anything they offer you.What you don’t want for yourself you can trade or auction ( but not in your area or you will lose your contact).You can always describe stuff to the guys on here......Good Luck

Can you imagine the ‘headbanger’ who will buy that ?

bitty

£495 PX with full tank of fuel and auto! Does it get any better?! Guess what I’m driving the next few weeks!

GOOD!!!!! Once they reduce down to that level you know they’ve ‘switched off’ to coming back to you. It’s very unlikely he’ll be back in touch. In the unlikely event he’s on the phone again just verbally abuse the c*** - and I’m NOT joking. Youve dodged that bullet. Well done.

How very true.

My earliest memory: being shouted at by my dad for letting the T Cut dry and not keeping the muslin cloth flat and not turning it over/not using all the cloth. Really enjoying valeting a mustard Opel on my own when they went up to the block up country. Doing a great job and the w****er didn’t even say well done but promised me 50 quid- it never arrived.. Watching them make a grand a time in the early 80’s like shelling peas. My own first trade car (Didn't give me a penny) so I had to buy a Viva with my own money with a knackered box and I put a Chevette gearbox in it on the old bastard’s driveway and got no help so had to figure it out myself. Good old days

Here's a nice one I've just seen on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mercedes-Benz-sl350-2004-awesome-jaw-dropping-looks/123203360325?hash=item1caf7e1645:g:EVUAAOSwn8pbIRDM

passed my test and only had £150 saved up ,i was on £14.16 take home a week so the only way to buy a car was at the auction,never been out of it since but the first 10 years of my adult life i was a doorstepper so thats why i always like to help because nobody helped me back then,think of me as mr carnegie 2

WAM, stripe, and trims.. (One for the old school amongst us)

Always used Autosmart, failing that most motor factor stuff is ok for the job.

I just took an 08 Ka Style in with full tank 11 and a half months mot spotless in purple 2 owners 42k for £400, lady said it has been serviced with the mot each year to be honest i thought dont care just going to punt it out for £799 and low and behold its only a Ford service and mot ever year.

Traffic Film Remover Another thumbs up for the Numatic, mines outlived 2 Karchers!

I've got a Valporetti Polti. Brilliant. Can press the trigger for at least 5 minutes before losing any pressure. Then it takes 45 seconds to get back up again. I find it perfect for interiors. Use it with cloths to wipe down immediately or a blower

Reminds me of 'nearly buying an Astra'.

This one; https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb351vac-1400w-20ltr-wet-dry-vacuum-cleaner-240v/56239 The blower is well handy for getting into air vents and engine bays!

The Titan one I bought works fine on carpets and I can't see why it wouldn't work on seats. You shouldn't be getting the seats soaking wet anyway cos it plays havoc with the seat belt sensor. Use Autosmart Brisk which doesn't over wet the fabric.

What is your anticipated 'footfall' in the 3rd quarter?

get a proper valeting machine, if you treat it right it will last years and years i would expect you would burn the motor out on a wet/dry fairly quickly

and how much exactly do you have in your pocket at this moment oh and what is your inside leg measurement in inches please

Sometimes when I log into this forum I feel like I've been diverted to mum's net.

More coffee coming my way this is getting better by the day. And regarding the original post, your garage drained the oil on a fiesta thats a first on me, as tradex pointed out a 10 year old could work out a thrust bearing fault

Hahaha! I love that one. Yeah and with £10k more you could have a Mercedes, what's your point?? I've had a guy try to haggle me down because the clutch will need doing in about a year...

It must be me. Whenever I’ve had cause to contact the DVLA I’ve immediately got through to the correct person, they’ve handled my query or problem efficiently & resolved it to my satisfaction.

Curve ball - I have only good things to say about DVLA. I find them knowledgable, helpful and the Online services have really helped speed things up. The only criticism is the length of time it takes to obtain a replacement log book - otherwise, I get logbooks back in about 3 days.

Who gives a f***? It’s a lump of turd fit only for the budget market. If I’d owned it it would be long gone by now & I’d be pouring the proceeds down my throat. BRAVO! That’s what FIAT dealers shouted when they actually managed to sell one. Who the f*** types “Fiat bravo” into the search bar on the internet? You’d have to be some sort of deluded ex-FIAT dealership manager suffering from Alzheimer’s harking back to the not-so-good-old-days.

out of all the hoovers ive bought over the years i really should have bought a henry if in for the long haul buy a henry