BHM

It’s yours & if it had come my way I’d give it a go for a couple of months assuming it’s nice miles. It’s VERY specialised being the sort without a normal driver’s seat but there’s obviously a (small) market for them. I’ve done a few of the wheelchair ramp type, £3-5ish, slow shifters but they always go. The genuine customers are nice people who will pay the money but expect a few sob stories immediately followed by an offensively low offer from a few chancers.

Your customer sounds like a chancer - he won’t be paying BMW main dealer rates on an old knacker! I think the problem here is you didn’t register it and the car was ‘in trade’. Others may disagree but I see this as no different to every trade car you own. Others may disagree? My understanding of private sales from business advertisements are that the advertisement must clearly state it’s a private sale & then the invoice must have no reference whatsoever to the business name. The owner’s name should be on the invoice and any of the usual sold as seen etc. applies. Oddly enough I’ve got two of the family’s cars (one my own) to advertise - no funny games, just time for changing. My plan is to clearly state these are private sales of my own cars, and the buyers will be getting a private “sold as seen” invoice. I believe this to be the correct way. Tbh years ago I had a BMW buyer threatening me with a £1600 bill for a head gasket on a 318 petrol. I wrote to him fully itemising the job at a backstreet garage - I think the quote came to about £360.

“I never buy the first no matter how good it is because everyone says not to buy the first one you see”. ”I need to speak to the wife”. ”I like it, I’ll phone you when I sell my car”. ”I’ll apply for a bank loan on Monday & get back to you if it’s approved”. ”I’ve got others to see” You surprise me, where are all these other low mileage, 15 year old, one owner from new BMW estates at £999 with a new MOT? ”I didn’t really want this big engine model, or the middle one for that matter. Really I want the bottom engine“ What? You seriously want the bottom engine? “Yes, for fuel economy”. This was two days ago looking at a Merc E320CDi - thankfully he told me before the testing so he was chased away without a test drive.

No f***ing chance whatsoever.

Work proper hours for a start. The average council is chocked full of steady-away employees who only know one speed - dead slow. Half of public sector employees would shit themselves if they worked in the private sector - their first kick up the arse would be working hours. The last time I heard, a local council were on 37 hours p.w., nowadays too many working at home (what a load of bollocks that is) & flexi-time (more bollocks).

I know, my point exactly but I guess you disagree with that particular business’s practices whereas I see it as being upfront & above board. My point of view is based on the fact money’s tight so if punters want cheap then that’s fine but they should accept some of the risks clearly associated with a cheap deal. To my mind it is morally unjust for a seller to be held liable when openly telling customers no comebacks etc. Times are a changing & ‘rough practices’ may be the way to go, plenty are at it now (I see bangers being pulled out of auction, MOTed with a pass & on sale later the same day) & I’m prepping cars, putting in hundreds of pounds of repairs but the greedy public only see one thing - the bottom line. Haha, yes.

Each to their own. Yes they MAY be contravening the CRA and you can’t legally defend that BUT it’s all there in black & white so MORALLY where’s the problem? I’m pig sick of hearing the trade shitting themselves about bending over backwards for greedy chancers. F*** them, any greedy sods who are ripped off by purchasing from shysters get zero sympathy from me. Good luck to anyone trying something outside of the box as long as you are being open & honest.

A decent valeter won’t ever be cheap. The shitty ‘lash over’ most of these places provide is good enough for the lazy trash who patronise these businesses. I wonder how many environmentally aware council employees frequent these places ignoring the alleged environmental concerns yet go back to work to instigate the latest errr...environmental initiative. To be fair to the lads who seem to run these places working day in day out is hard(ish) graft - it’s unfortunate that a number a run on a gang basis.

What will all the immigrants do for work?

F*** knows BUT I do know of someone who fixed a DSG gearbox in a Skoda - the fix was a £20 ABS sensor (after 2 other garages said the gearbox was knackered) so fingers crossed. I’m assuming the battery has been checked for output as, in my experience, all the German stuff seems to like a battery in tip-top condition.

I thought it was only me kept awake by the latest purchase that limped off the back of the auction delivery wagon, almost praying it’s not a catastrophic fault I’ll second that. I turn off my phones on a Sunday & after 7pm on a night and even then I sometimes find I’m working, looking to buy stock on the internet auction sites or searching for a repair of an obscure problem on a car.

I’ve heard anywhere outside the posh parts are desperate but my mate’s in Kensington - there’s no need for food banks around the corner from his company paid apartment at nearly £5000 a month! It’s all another world to little old me, the streets really do appear to be paved with gold to an ignorant northerner who normally eats cold turnip stew out of a wooden bowl. Personally I’d try & fiddle the rent money & live in the back of a van but that’s why I’m where I’m at & he’s well up the corporate ladder. Overpriced Chinese dinner at the Shard, Belgravia pubs charging £6 a pint and I saw the most expensive loaf of bread I’ve ever seen in a shop window in Primrose Hill - £8!!!

Years ago I was asked similar by one of ebay’s finest and answered the same as you. He said something along the lines of about 40,000 less. I then offered to take the clocks out, clock it & charge him £500 for the low mileage. I then gave him some patter about it being a cheap low miler! He didn’t seem very impressed.

Was talking about this last night with a couple of friends, one up (or is it down?) from London. London’s in its own wealthy bubble but the rest of us are just about fucked. Last night we decided to assist the licensed victuallers in Costa del Darlington & the London visitor couldn’t believe how quiet the pubs are - a Saturday night & the pubs barely a quarter full. Never mind next month, these hard times are here for the next few years. Any supposed growth in the economy is mainly financed by personal credit - cars chuckied-up, cards maxed-out, loans up to the hilt. Credit is at an all time and surely must be at a stage were it can’t increase? Talk is of the UK dipping back into recession in the future, I suspect the reality is we’re almost there. The town centres are full on a weekend but many are window shopping & those with bags that are full are full of cheap shite. The only thing I can’t understand is why the coffee shops are full - who the f*** pays £3 for a cuppa??

Sorry, dunno then. Bloody cars!

True but 95% don’t want to pay for it. If asked I say “Lampost warranty”. And I’m not joking.

Takes ages & ages of cranking to start? Starts easy once it’s got a little warmth in the engine? I had this before, possibly the SCV, see attached or search the internet; https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/142960-starting-problems-20-d4d/

+1

Correct but if it’s all there in black & white my attitude is they’re playing fair. Too much worrying about CRA etc.

Hahaha, I missed that. I take back all I wrote if it’s one of its finest citizens.

It used to be different 8 years ago, I used to sell up £7Kish from the door with a couple of eBay auction cars into 5 figures (those were the days!) Despite running a (slightly ) more professional business my stock profile is lower & as I have no interest in dealing with chuckie punters, unless it’s something ‘different’ or ‘A bit of flash for not much cash’ then cash customers over £3K are a rare beast. The thought of having a compound full of £4-5000 Focuses etc. would keep me awake at night because family man nowadays is a chuckie punter or wants to max-up his credit card.

What in earth’s all this whinging about a customer wanting to transfer money!?!!! I’ve never read such rubbish & anyone who thinks selling via a credit card is foolproof is deluding themselves. If you want to worry yourself to death just think the next punter might be a crazed axe murdered who slaughters you on the test drive. Better stop trading then! Come on guys, get real! You’re all over-thinking this.

Dead here, as a one man band one of my quietest month’s ever - only sold a few so very grateful two of them had decent money across them. Nowt ‘on the board’ this week & not a single enquiry that I’d class was serious. A few ‘bottom dollar’ phone callers wanting to come & look sometime in the future. For some strange reason rather than the usual ridiculous email offers the emailers have all changed tack and the question is now along the lines of “What’s your absolute bottom/last price?” I was at the block yesterday & although overflowing with cars it was the quietest I’ve seen it in ages so I guess many traders are fully stocked.

Tbh you’ve summed it up in those four words. A risk free enterprise eh? I think you need to have a good hard think because I suspect you’re thinking this is going to be easy money. Good luck whatever you decide.