BHM

If you only answer eBay message WHEN YOU ARE ACTUALLY LOGGED INTO EBAY then you won’t come a cropper. Anyone answering from their email account & logging in from there is asking to be bum raped.

I have often thought the same. It seems plainly wrong to me but I suspect it’ll be something to do with auction ‘rules’ & disclaimers. Perhaps they’d say “you’re not forced, don’t bid on the car”. Clear as mud but, as written, it seems wrong to me.

Tbh I have £999ers that sound better prepped & come fully MOT’d. Big heavy bonnets dropping on punters? F*** me, struts are a few quid on eBay. I think this is a case of the trade thinking that because it comes with an MOT it’s ok to sell it when in reality the present MOT counts for nowt. My prep standards are pisspoor with regards to cosmetics but nothing leaves here half-knackered and/or dangerous unless it’s a £2-400 spares or repair knacker. There is absolutely no excuse for faulty retail cars leaving your premises. Normally I’d say sack off the customer but in this case I think the seller needs to take a look at the car & re-assess their business model.

Taking Zafiras for their free blower motor upgrade gave me an insight into main dealer assessments & charged with their complimentary health checks. £327.60 (Inc vat) for front discs & pads only! One had passed an MOT’d the day before - they suggested over £700 of work (£500 came in the bright red under immediate/dangerous column). Funnily enough discs & pads feature prominently on their ‘danger’ list - someone more suspicious than I would think they were frightening customers into paying inflated prices.

The biggest ever transfer of data in the world (apparently). Yes, a balls-up & yes, some inconvenience but speaking as someone who banks with the TSB I just let all of the excitement blow over & got on with my life.

Don’t worry, she’ll of forgotten about the discount as soon as she drove off your forecourt!

I think BSM was looking for something a little more constructive.

The trouble with running a mid range German, RR Sport etc. is most people assume you’re either a company driver in a leaser or just another wannabe living on credit in a leaser - which of course is true in most cases irrespective of whether or not they could actually afford to buy outright. At least these folk are keeping me supplied in £2-5K bits of flash for not much cash a decade or so in the future.

I was at the MOT station today & there was their external auditor who sort of liaises between them & Vosa (I think a sort of glorified filing clerk who no longer gets his hands dirty & dots the ‘i’s & crosses the ‘t’s on their paperwork). Anyhow, at the moment the official line is that failures should not be allowed on the road & the keys should be kept until the repair is authorised or the car IS TRAILERED AWAY!! However it’s seen as unworkable due to issues over MOT inspectors confiscating cars owned by third parties (I think it may be called theft??). I suspect the official line may change & I’m sure the independent guys will deal with this in a sympathetic manner but I imagine main dealers will make hay - they must be rubbing their hands with glee at the opportunity for profit here.

Funnily enough I’ve had all my enthusiasm for cars knocked out of me by this industry. Or more accurately, by my dealing with the general public

I don’t think your average independent garage will be uploading to a USB stick for a while yet.

I sometimes do a few but they need to be ‘looked after’, NOT 10 owner dross or you’ll be asking for trouble. Basically it depends what it is. Forget small cars or Insignia/Mondeo rubbish - you can barely raffle them off to the greediest of scum with those miles. However, if it’s something like an S-Max/Galaxy (probably half price) or a 4x4 then they’ll look so cheap that they’ll sell fast(ish). Funnily enough, last Xmas I bought a 163K 07 new shape CRV on DA for about £1600. A morning’s travel, the car was on the internet that afternoon at £2999 & the phone almost set on fire. Basically big 7 seaters, vans or 4x4s in my experience. Forget anything else.

I’ve never understood why in this game do many complain when they’ve made a sale & then think they could of got more. You were sick of it so should be happy it’s gone. The internet is very competitive as it’s rammed full of cars so they need to be photographed correctly to gain interest however decent photos don’t sell overpriced cars. Every couple of months I assess my stock & any sticky cars are blown away & I never feel regret - just pleasure at seeing the back of one & freeing up a space for something more profitable. Is he referring to a few scuffs on the door cill trim? I was staring at the photos to try & work out what the problem is. If that’s what is being referred to I really wouldn’t worry, it’s a 162,000 mile CRV & the sort of man interested won’t give a fuck about a few trim scuffs - he’s buying on price (and a very attractive price it is too).

I suspect the finish would stand out a mile. If you’re going to the trouble of painting full bumpers even a cheapskate like me would take it to a painter.

It surprises me that anyone would want a “best offer” button - in a roundabout way you’re saying you don’t want the advertised price. Also, I’d imagine it’d just attract more divvies than normal with their stupid offers.

I cannot argue!

Especially with my cars!

If it’s sunny they go to the beach, if it’s rainy they go to the shopping centre. What sort of weather does it have to be to get them to the car dealers?

About 6 months ago I had a BMW bore, with a BMW p/x, interested in one of my gems. Firstly he emailed War & Peace telling me his engine was based on the 1970s Formula 1 engine, so I ignored him. Strangely for one of these email bores he phoned up with the same spiel, you’d of thought this idiot’s car was actually a Formula 1 car - embarrassing. His car? A f***ing clapped out 18 year old 318 estate with about 200K on the clock. Arsehole valued it at something like £1500, I bid him £100 and when he started his patter again I cut him off. I’d hate to have to deal with an Alpina bore

The certificates look a mess - at least the old certificate was clearly laid out & everything neatly written in their own boxes.

Motorised colanders but even when finally entering the scrapyard they drove in under their own steam. I was just a youth in the 70s but on any Sunday you’d see men working on cars outside their house doing maintenance with cars jacked-up or sheets of glass fibre trying to make the most of whatever heap of shite they owned. As for the winter months, for many it was a lottery whether or not their car would even start. Now look at the ingrates! The great unwashed come here & whinge about stonechips on cars with 100K on the clock.

.....and another - a £1500 cheapie just sold. I’ll be dead next week

It’s dead, but for some reason yesterday afternoon & this morning I’ve just done 4 - busy for a one man band & reasonable profit for a change. Before anyone thinks I’m having it off, it was just pure luck, 4 out of only 4 enquiries. I think last week I didn’t even get 4 enquiries all week. I anticipate nothing more because it seems dead, even the arsehole emailers have died off. Money is definitely very very tight.

Yep, no more main dealers getting prosecuted either I’d wager.