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I miss... Scrounging last months (if I was lucky) dog-eared Glass’ guide off the local tame main dealer and putting it in its leather cover. Thumbing through it for insurance groups etc, reading the write up at the front each month. Thumbing through it and finding an actual name of an underwriter up-country that you could call up and get a bid on something. Getting up early to buy the local rag and AT magazine to scour for bargains. Going to the block and knowing I’d buy something but no idea what. Breaking down on the way back. Haircuts (and hair for that matter), service stamps etc Tyre paint. Pom and newspaper. Vinegar and newspaper to clean windows Calls on landlines only. Putting stripes on cars Tax discs and cashing them in. Removeable car stereos and fitting them yourselves. Speakers on parcel shelves. Autotrader woman that came out in her cavalier and took your ads and photo’d the cars. Going to scrap yards and actually going inside, climbing up, in and around cars to get the bits you needed. Delight if you found a body panel or door etc in the same colour. Cash.

Motor traders with a personality. I swear to God everyone on my Facebook and that I'm vaguely connected to is starting a car sales business. A guy with a courier firm, some double glazing fella, the guy that does carpet cleaning, a musician, the ice cream man... seriously? It's not that I'm afraid of the competition it's just stay in your fucking lane. I don't come and start pouring out Mr Whippy's calling myself Soft Icie when times are hard thinking the grass is greener do I? Not to mention they're drips. All of them. Poncing around on their social media page telling you how "cool" their Mini Cooper Clubman is and how they take it home every night because it's their favourite of the 3 shitboxes they own. They pay garages labour by the hour.. retail!!? They come up to you in auction "how much do you spend on this" "where's best to advertise" "how many cars do you sell" "why do you think my red 13 plate corsa 1.2 with no air con for £5k hasn't sold?" "should I offer finance because I'm selling 3 cars a month" "look I built this website in C++ Python dick code aren't I good?". No. Just fuck off. After a month or so they get their first screamer. Immediate refund. No questions asked. Please don't harm my precious reviews. "We really went above and beyond for that client". What? You're flogging cars on Facebook from a bit of space you rent in an oversized car park. Where are the sheepskin coats and that guy that smokes a pipe? An auction and the motor trade shouldn't be a welcoming place. It wasn't when we started. Now it's a creche.

Out of interest.The introduction of VAT in 73 killed off bumpy deals.The Gov.credit squeeze on luxury goods meant that to buy a car ( a luxury) on HP you needed a min 30% or 40% deposit depending on the age of the car.So you might have a poverty model Cortina at £600 which required £240 deposit.Many punters did not have the deposit so on the HP doc you would describe it as a top of the range model selling for £900 with £360 deposit.So the punter only actually paid £60 deposit and thanked you. Because people rarely defaulted on HP agreements ( not like today ) you got away with the bumpy deals. Crazy days,my basic was £10 but I earned £150 per week,I was 21.

Punters realising a banger was a banger. Punters who readily accepted Caveat Emptor. Cash men who understood what a cash deal meant. Blu Tak-ing EML lights (or just flinging the old fashioned bulbs in the bin). MOT sheets with no advisories. The early days of Ebay auctions when they were ‘on fire’ & the private punters bought any old shite. Simple road tax rates (no punters whinging cos the car ain’t £30 a year). Easy clutch changes.

Dictating your ad down the phone to the local paper on a Thursday afternoon. Going into a main dealer and buying a px. Having a fault on a car and knowimg what it was. Getting the paper on a Saturday and seeing they had got something in the ad wrong. Chrome wheel trims. Vinyl roofs. Rinigng up the paper on a Monday and getting a discount on next weeks ad because they got it wrong. Waiting for cheques to clear. The main dealer who used to valet the px's for me and deliver them too (for a small fee) Having traders bring cars out to you. Buying a car and finding it had optional power steering. Explaining why 5 gears was better than 4. Having unlimited energy and enthusiasm

BCA delivered my V5C via Parcelforce and the drivers sent it to a street away with my door number.... The resident said he has binned it !! Where do I stand now as I have had the wheels refurbed etc . Whos at fault. Bca in my eyes as I had an agreement with them not parcel force. Thanks

Not the kind you lot are thinking off.....even better! The Porsche submarine I wrote about.. Well, it took a lot of work, but it was actually a real gem once it was buffed up and ready to roll. A minter really. Didn't cost much to sort in the end, just a lot of time and skinned knuckles. First lead makes an appointment, rolls up and bang, full price right away. Sold within a week at a good profit. Happy!!

Yes, felt a right brucey bonus at the time. Then it went to 20%

They put it down to 15% for a bit during my time in the trade, so last 8 years

It's only £28 but it'll go to the last owner... And I don't want to add another owner as the car depreciates it . I might have to get a fast track duplicate

White dog shit

Like Great result

Having a foreign holiday just off cashing tax disc's. Telling autotrader what to do, getting a free ad if they f**ked up the typo in that weeks mag. prestige green cars being good news - white cars kiss off death. smoking something different daily - rarely buying fuel. fearing monthly book drops. having a choice of local painters! two toning lower half of cars. p38 - large tin please. pinstripe everything. dreading an mot - rust. being able to make good profit at auction - weekly. being able to buy good cars cheap at auction - weekly. don't miss - sales managers also having foreign holidays off my brown envelopes, autotrader children telling me how to suck eggs, finding a decent painter, rust, traders bouncing cheques!

Success.... I think they are returning the car once vosa has done there inspection. Anyone want an 03 Cooper s that needs 4k worth of work .......... Apparently.

Rocker cover is a throw a way item on that engine but they are only £300 so easy fix Stupid design