Mistermuttley

Facebook is full of 'private sellers' selling cars who somehow are selling a lot more than one. The majority of sellers who are flogging write offs without declaring them as such all seem to have middle eastern names. I even check to see if they are write offs and send them a quick message asking if they have been involved in any accidents. Funnily enough no reply.

Its not the kit I used but is similar, there is a rain-x windscreen repair kit at Halfords for a tenner and if it is as good as the last kit I used you should be able to do a decent job with it. Alternatively Halfords can do the repair for £25 which might be worth it as they might do a mint job for the price, assuming the repairer is experienced.

Pretty similar experience, guy turned up in a Q5 looking at an Aygo for his daughter, after 1 drive said wanted it and would have it if other buyer didnt buy it(they were second in buying queue but first on test drive and told as such). 1st buyer drove the Aygo but also drove a Suzuki Alto and bought that. Told mr Q5 and he comes for a second drive, after a looong 2nd drive he says the engine has an unusual vibration and he is going to think about it and ask a mechanic. Yes its gonna be different to a brand new Q5. Luckily didnt come back and buy as I'm sure he would have been mr ultra picky. Aygo's do seem to run rough a lot of the time though. Very unrefined, prefer an Alto!

Have done full bumpers in the past and done long key marks on panels with varying success. Spraying solid colours on complete panels is ok as long as the colour match is good. Did an Aygo bumper and the match was really good. Then i did a turquoise metallic which had a long key mark down 3 panels ,frustrating as I got the paint matched but you could tell where the new paint had been applied. With metallics its much harder to get a good match and blend /hide the new and old areas. If you arent careful when painting you can make the car worse with your 'repair'. I tried a bodyshop who seemed reasonable on price and did a mint job on a 207 wheel arch, thought at that point that I had found my 'paint guy'. The next quote from him was laughable though so found another who is a smart repair guy. His price is decent and his work is faultless even with metallics so I will stick with him. He can do bumper scuffs and bigger, but touch ins and really light marks I will touch up myself. If you find a decent paint guy, look after him and even give him a bit of work every now and again that you could do. If you do decide to do large areas yourself then my smart repair guy reckons use acrylic/waterbase for the colour and 2k for the laquer as you then have the tough hard coat protecting the colour underneath. And of course use a mask with 2K! You need filters which are B inorganic (ioscyanate 2K) , and P particulate.

Exactly the same here, when i started i was alternating between Autotrader and Ebay .sometimes I had great results with both and other times not a single bite. Not too bad with Ebay as they only charge you an insertion fee and not a commission if you dont sell. Spending £45 for an AT ad and not even getting a call really galls me though. I try Facebook/Gumtree and Motors at the mo. the results are much better than I expected and good enough for me to consider AT as my absolute last ditch resort to sell a car. I am tiny though just selling a few from home so can appreciate those with scale might need to feed the dragon!

same here, i might have been lucky but no one has ever quibbled paying by card or cash. Did wonder about the card but when you have to look after your margin that's just another thing to eat away at it.

Only started trading last May, so this is the first January I have to experience block madness. Didnt think it would be as bad as everyone made out but after January i have bought precisely zero from auction (Manheim's B'ham). The last couple of cars i have bought have been private sale from Ebay, and compared to Manheim's the stock condition and price is better than what i normally pay for at Auction. May have been a good thing to experience block madness as I am definitely open to more private purchases now.

I know its hard and i do do it myself but traders need to set a limit and then stop. Sometimes i've gone to my max bid with a car with just a small profit in it and then the car has gone up another £200-£300 quid. I just cant see how these dealers are making anything. Generally now at Manheim B'ham I bid on about 6 or 7 and either get 1 or none. If everyone was strict with their max bids then the prices would drop but when there is something there you really like it easy to go over a bit.Might start trying to get some from facebook/gumtree.

Sorted the rear demist on the Aygo. Did try to solder the tab to the glass but it just didnt want to solder. Got this Conductive epoxy glue cw2400 by Circuit works. Its a 2 part epoxy and i was a bit skeptical at first but it has stuck the tab on and it is flowing the current so job done. What was a pain though was that after fixing the tab there was no power to the rear screen circuit. Checked the obvious fuses first and they were fine, checked the switch and that was fine so my next thought was the relay which just happens to be buried under the dash! Getting the dash out was quite easy really as its split top to bottom and the top comes off no probs. Checked the relay and it was fine though. At this stage i did think i would have to call the auto electrician out but after examining the pins on the connector which go onto the switch one of them was loose so a little tweak to make it contact more and we were in business. Then just as i was cleaning the interior the lady i had sold it to texted me asking if she could collect it today. Perfect timing!

sounds good, will have to remember that! I ask if they want it to be done online and they say ok then i sort it out for them, but as BHM said some do like to check all the docs logbook etc , so its tippex time!

Hi all, have just bought a mint grade 1 aygo from manheims. Unfortunately they have missed the fact that one of the demister connector tabs is detached from the rear screen. Have looked on youtube for a fix and some vid's mentioned soldering it back on, so I have tried that but there is only an orange translucent area to solder to where the tab came off and the solder just doesn't want to stick to it.Have also tried just heating the tab with solder on it onto the glass but there is no way it is sticking. Have any of you tried the conductive glue like Permatex 21351 on Amazon and if so does it work? Have also submitted a claim via the surecheck app for the detached tab via their app so shall see how that works. Dont know whether they authorize someone to repair or give me the money to fix it. If i cant fix it then its a new screen at around £70 a pop. And.....this Aygo is a one owner 8000 mile minter which was a part-ex from listers, but having just checked the logbook someone has filled in their name and address as if they were going to buy it. I guess there is no chance of getting a clean logbook but if not , what would you tell the customer when they come to fill in the form as someone else's details are already on it? Cheers

Got a call today from a manager called Dale at Manheim B'ham , he asked what i wanted in relation to the burn and offered to take the car back or fund the smart repair. I have asked for them to cover the smart repair cost. Can't fault them really, decent bloke wanted to help. Cant ask for more than that.

I did call them yesterday about 3ish and was told someone would call me back. No call so I'll give them a call today. Willstop sticking a max bid on the bid now and just bid online live as others have said about auctioneers running you up. Learning!.....

I'll get qoutes then, its only about 5-6mm diameter so should be ok. See if manheim call back

That doesnt seem too bad

Just wondered what you guys would do as this is the first time I have questioned a car bought at the auction. Bought a Mazda2 on the friday and collected it today, grade 2 so reasonably clean and the small items mentioned were no surprise. What was a surprise though was the cigarette burn in the drivers seat. This was not on the inspection report and as I bought it online I didnt know about it till pick up. Would have bid less if I would have noticed it, instead it was at the top of my bid anyway. Spoke to Manheim B'ham and they said what do I want them to do about it and half suggested a refund. I asked if they could cover the cost of the repair as its a repair which I wasn't expecting. They said someone would call me back........... So what would you expect Manheim to do in this situation if you have had something similar, and does anyone know of a cheap fix to sort the burn out? Thanks. And another thing, does anyone think the auction houses take deliberately dark/low resolution pics as a way of disguising issues as lots of the pictures seem such low resolution when you zoom in its hard to make out any damage which is there. (case in point my dodgy U grade Corsa but thats another story!) And another thing!.... seems when i bid on items online and set my max I have had 'hall bidders' keep bidding against me until i get to my max bid.Then a hall bidder bids above my max bid, and then somehow the last hall bid was cancelled as my internet bid has reached its limit so I then win the auction. Would the auctioneer run up the bids off the wall to my max bid and then retract the last one over my max so that i pay my max bid?

I know , I looked at getting a cheaper battery but thought if it doesnt work its just more time money and reputation I have lost so I just thought stump up once and do it right

Cheers, I'll remember that one

Just thought i would share a fault with a fiat 500 that i had sold around a month ago explain the fix and see if any of you guys have cures for faults which at first seem tricky/expensive but are actually easy fixes. The Fiat 500 was a Twinair in lounge spec, full service history, 2012 with only 27,000 miles. I gave the buyer who was older lady but as nice a customer as you could expect, 3 months self warranty and said any problems just give me a call. Expected no calls from her as the car was mint in every way. She rang though after owning it for 2 weeks to say that it had not started twice on a couple of mornings and that now she had a steering wheel light on the dash. Looking into the issue it could have been the main engine ecu, the steering column motor/torque sensor and i was thinking that my decent profit was going to vanish on this one. However on the net some have said 'just change the battery,problem solved' for the steering to be fixed. Swapped out the battery for a brand new one and problem solved! Apparently the steering ecu expects a certain voltage and when a battery starts to get flakey the voltage isnt enough for the steering motor so it shows a fault,probably same for the starting/ecu faults. The battery was a stop/start one so cost me nearly a ton but much better than swapping out steering columns etc. Had also heard that the main battery earths and engine to chassis earths can give issues on the 500's so cleaned them all up and even added another engine to chassis earth so grounding will NOT be an issue in future. And yes she was a nice lady and the batteries are a consumable item, BUT even though she knew it was a brand new battery there was no offer to pay for it!

Thanks for all the replies guys, I think I have been a bit silly with some people ringing to view, case in point the Jazz. The 2nd caller was fairly local and was going to come round and pay cash! Instead I have made him wait until the 1st viewing appointment has finished and may therefore lose him as a potential sale. Hopefully the 1st one will buy it. Will think about my approach with customers from this though and tell them that they can book an appointment but the car is open for viewing till then and may go before they come to view. I think asking them to call before they travel to confirm they're still coming and the car is still for sale is a good idea. Time to toughen up!

Hi, not posted much before except to rant about Nissan Leafs (cos I like em!). But I wonder if the more experienced traders could help me out with a question I have. I have had a few cars where someone has arranged to view a car and then someone else rings up wishing to view at an earlier time. For example I have a Jazz at the moment and someone is viewing tommorow at 4-5pm. Someone else called and wished to view it and said they have the cash and they are fairly local. I have then explained that as someone is coming to view on the Sunday, that I am giving them first refusal. I have then told customer 2 I will call them if the 1st viewer doesn't purchase. The missus (probably rightly) thinks I'm mad and should just let viewer 2 see the car first as the 1st customer could be one of the famous no shows. So my question is when customers ring up to view cars do you mention if other people are viewing and prioritise them or do you let anyone view and let the other potential buyers know if it has sold. Feel I may be being too fair to the customer as lets face it, half of the potential customers dont treat us with consideration. Thanks

Yes the styling looks like a dogs dinner, and yes the range is admittedly poor. But the rest of the car is great. Have you driven any electric car yet? Don't care about street cred or the neighbours, people that buy bmw's and audi's do. Happy the punters buy them though as that keeps everyone in business. Bought used for £7500 and its probably worth about 6k now. running costs are nothing as is the fuel. Yes their are lots of costs with lithium mining etc , but then look at the costs and complexity of petrol/diesel drivetrains. The energy required to refine and ship crude oil around the world and then burn it up is immense. With lithium batteries they can be recycled at the end of their useful life. With a battery car you just keep charging the 'tank'. Not all but some of the electric will be renewable and that amount is increasing year on year.

Iv'e got a Nissan Leaf and to be fair the range is woeful. But everything else about the car is amazing, 1 gear, limo quietness and loaded with spec. The only thing stopping electric cars from taking over is the range of them and the cost. Range is going up as the new Zoe has around 180-200 miles range now.The Model 3 will have well over 200 miles range in its cheapest form which is priced on par with an equivalent BMW (elon musk has said the 3 series was always his target car to compare to). The cost of them though , for what they are currently though is just too expensive and this is deliberate on Nissan ,renault,bmw's etc part because they don't really want to sell them in volume as it would cannibalize sales of their real money generators, the petrol/diesel models. I honestly think once manufacturers really start to compete with each other on their electric cars including price then we will see a quick shift over to electric cars. There is a vast amount of lithium in the ground and supply of this wont be a problem. The electric power to feed all the cars though might be. Hopefully we will move to solar with battery storage in homes which would ease the Grid supply but without government initiative/support that may never happen. Im not an eco warrior and loved my civic type r before the nissan but after driving both i can see where the future is.