BHM

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Everything posted by BHM

  1. Bloody bikes, I gave up on them about 15 years ago after a half-blind pensioner in a Porsche 911 pulled out in front of me. I got the old "Sorry, I didn't see you" line. That was enough for me.
  2. I don't swap texts with potential customers but I cut & paste this into eBay messages whenever I need to - funnily enough I've yet to meet one of these bottom dollar merchants.
  3. Snap & there's no point in buying stock with a hung cloud over them (in the buyers eyes) when there are enough straight cars out there - & sometimes they're bad enough! I suspect many aren't declared as such & I bet the Gumtree/Facebook brigade certainly don't - from what I hear most weeks in the trade there's always a tale about the latest greedy bottom-dollar merchant who's bought cheap via "social websites", wonder why their car won't start the next morning, expect a third party mechanic to get involved speaking to the seller (WTF!!) & wonder why the seller won't answer the phone. Wonder indeed!!
  4. It was cheap in the hall cos it wasn't wanted. We've all been taken by the temptation of a low price, but as for it being below forecourt price that must mean with regards to CAP figures - if I relied upon their valuations on 50% of cars I'd be in the poor house. We all do it, but this is your second. I wouldn't rush to make it a third.
  5. You've answered you post yourself. Desperate cars, as I always say those "prestige German car buyers" are nowt but penniless greedy big-talkers - they shit themselves at anything less than 50mpg. It's the same with all VAG cars as far as I can tell. Give me a nice Honda man any day of the week. Good luck - I recently just wiped my nose on a one owner, 2007 1.8T petrol Skoda Octavia estate with FSSH & new tyres after it took up residence for 7 months. In the end I priced it so cheaply that a Scottish taxi driver bought it!
  6. They normally take them abroad to sell abroad - have you seen the price of secondhand cars in Eastern Europe!?!!! In Poland all of the mega mileage shite from Germany heads over the border to Poland. Although the Polish can only register LHD cars (there was talk of accepting RHD sometime in the future) it's worth them buying our cast-offs, taking it 1200 miles across Europe then ripping out the dashboard, steering gear etc. & still make a good profit. I once saw on a side street, amongst the communist-era apartment blocks, a couple of back-street boys starting work on a RHD Octavia that had been absolutely pancaked - the A-post was totally collapsed on one side! One weekend with the aid of scaffold poles & ratchet steel ropes (whatever they're called!) they eventually got it back into a vaguely Octavia-shaped roof then began ripping the guts out of the front & installed LHD running gear. God knows how on earth they ever got the doors to fit & it must of been finished off with about 200kg of body filler! Honestly, it was only fit for melting down into baked bean tins but as these boys presumably bought it in Blighty, dragged it across Europe & grafted like dogs on the piece of shit I guess it was worth it financially.
  7. You can, or certainly could last year, at a post office for some odd reason but only once doing it that way - I had a whinging punter who bought a shitter so I took it back off him the next week (£500 Mondeo with a £10 cam cover gasket leak - the pillock had spent his money on tax, insurance, oil & filter, reconditioned the alloys (yes, really), valeted it & had the A/C regased but shit himself at the oil leak - try working that out!) & resold two weeks later to a man with a brain. I'm not sure of the situation if you tax it but don't transfer it into your name & have it for a few months.
  8. Yep - that's why they make good money at the block, I guess. Only worth the hassle if you're repairing them properly yourself or not declaring them as write-offs, which seems to be the way nowadays.
  9. No point nipping in to see them - you need to put a few shitters into them & see the condition they're returned to you in. £30 on a shit valet isn't worth a toss, a £40-60 valet that brings up an old pig to almost new is worth hundreds of £££.
  10. You need eyes up your backside to buy anything at the Washington as there's PLENTY of shite to sift through there & from what I saw recently people are paying strong money for pisspoor cars - indeed look at yourself - you've got about £3500 in an 11yr old diesel 3 series. You could buy a proper one with a test drive from eBay for less than that! If I had to rely upon purchasing my stock from there I'd soon be in the Jobcentre. We've all been caught in the past, get rid for whatever peanuts you can get but if you think you're going to wipe your nose at the block with a "P/x direct" or "no name" sticker then you must be sniffing glue. As you're trading & are new to the game you must be doorstepping - I'd suggest you leave all of the mid range German dross to the pitch lads. The fussy, greedy & overcautious "prestige German car buyers" (all big talk, small pocket merchants imo) aren't what you'll make any money out of on your doorstep. Just my two penneth worth, I don't mean to sound harsh but this is how I see it.
  11. I couldn't agree more. I sell plenty of cheap shite but in my experience the punters who can't even afford the entry fee are the sort of punters who expect you to maintain their car for them.
  12. If they can't scrape together the money for a banger then they certainly wont be able to afford to maintain it = sort of punter likely to come back.
  13. About £3K on a Subaru - bloody 3.0 Outback. Never had a serious problem with the 4 cylinder engines but them H6s are cursed - 3 with issues in a row - this was the last one I'll ever touch. Engine blew a gasket, a £1200 repair later, sold the car, promptly blew up 200 miles away, taken to court 6 months later for travel expenses etc. Full refund + expenses & a couple of quid in court costs & interest. Eventually got car back, dumped it in a corner for 6 months & ended up raffling it off on eBay "spares & repairs". The bloody car was cursed - everything associated with it turned to shit, it couldn't even go quietly for spares/repairs. On collection the buyer's transport driver started getting very stroppy cos it wouldn't start (sold with the engine knackered) & it ended with me threatening to smack him in the street. Thanks Beechdale Subaru for that car. I've never, and will never have, another 6 cylinder Subaru.
  14. I'll keep this as brief as possible. I recently sold a two owner from new car, with FSH up to last May, £1500 car (not that that matters under CRA so please save me the lecture). My advert clearly stated "the car is due a service based on time so you should budget for a service". In addition to this I discounted the car by £100. Suspecting a fussy customer (greedy ebayer) who insisted upon a fully itemised receipt, I wrote these two following items on the invoice; 1 "advert states 'budget for service'" 2 "an additional £100 contribution made towards maintenance" Sods law, the engine light came on the next day, car drives perfectly but the fault code is EGR. Anyhow, because of the points 1 & 2 on the invoice I've chased away the customer. I believe I'm correct as it was declared in the advert for all to see AND as a goodwill gesture I'd already contributed an additional £100 towards maintenance which, because of point 1, I didn't need to do anyway. Your thoughts please.
  15. Don't worry, it's dead. I'd wank myself off I was younger & could be bothered.
  16. Obviously not that well known!
  17. I'm obviously a lone voice here. I've had a good few over the years & have never had a single problem. Obviously, avoid a knacker at the auction just like any car - if it's a Rolls Royce that's pissing oil & misfiring you know you've a problem! Apparently the old 0.6 & 0.7 engine needs attention every now & again (I've seen them coughing & farting at the block with 40K on them but I knew one with 130K from new & the owner only ever had it serviced!) & the 1.0 seems fine judging by the few I've had. I think they're great (sorry everyone), they have a small but loyal enthusiastic following although the buyers don't like loads of miles. The camper van crowd are a nuisance - greedy, want something for nowt & cos they usually haven't driven one before always think the car has problems as they do drive a little differently to the average car. As it's pre-sold you don't have that problem.
  18. You can only sell if you're a franchised main dealer.
  19. Haha, they're absolute beauties aren't they? I imagine Bluetooth was on his list of 'must haves'.
  20. Tbf isn't it a case of the quality of the p/xs are poorer cos people only seem to be changing cars cos their's has a problem. HOWEVER, the effing dealers should describe them ACCURATELY. I've noticed a few of these - no f***ing chance whatsoever. Upon arrival at a three dealerships recently I've been optimistically asked to pay "or do you want to see the car first!?!!!" I just smirk, look at them and ask "What do you think?" Fucking chancers - half of them couldn't accurately describe a lump of coal. I wonder if they mean in addition to the DA suggestion of £150 or instead of. A couple of recently rejected cars should of had a figure closer to £1000 quoted! BTW is there a problem with the dealers in Huddersfield? I've been to 3 & had trouble on every occasion. Funnily enough, all 3 couldn't give a toss.
  21. BHM

    Holidays

    Dead easy. You either stay here working or you shut the doors & forget about it. As for getting the wheels turning, to my mind in this game that means punters calling - you can't do much more than fire-up your adverts & man the phone. After the fortnight I've had I may as well of been away - my wheels are turning but the f***ing punters aren't interested. The only calls I'm getting is from a few other traders phoning for the craic & whinging about the emailing & texting scum - I've even heard from someone from 18 months ago he was that bored! Anyway, that's my two penneth.
  22. Why waste you're time cos you may not be the highest bidder anyway? No point checking over what you can't afford. I check them upon collection BEFORE handing over my hard earned cash.
  23. I drive every p/x unless I've valued it at scrap money, even a £300 shitter cos if that has problems it then gets valued at scrap. I find it depressing that punters blatantly lie about obvious problems; "Oh, I didn't know my exhaust was blowing & the clutch seems ok" "Sir, your backbox is hanging down loose & I could bare get your car back up the drive" If they're the sort who've misdescribed their p/x & are walking away I asked them "Would you expect me to lie to you regarding the car I'm selling?" Once I've forced an answer out of them I then ask "What would you think of me if I lied to you and why should I think any different of you?" The deal's dead at this point so I may as well get some enjoyment seeing them squirm - it's best when it's Mr & Mrs so I direct the questions to her and after she answers look at him. It's nice to be nice to nice people but I don't seem to meet to many of them nowadays.