Mikey360

Been under the Mrs's Cmax for most of this morning replacing the lower wishbone bushes, thankfully it all when well and the lower ball joints actually came off with a little encouragement from my trusty hammer. I've always been reasonably handy with car work (learned from the old man, first car was a MK3 GT6 that we restored years ago, and had done plenty with my brother on his MK1 Capri 2000GT) I'm looking at changing the cambelt and water pump on an Audi TT I picked up yesterday from Birmingham, and the engine bay just looks too tight! Been quoted £390 to get it done this Thursday and it'll be the first time I've had a garage do something like that. What jobs do you guys outsource?

I had a lovely couple buy the mini off me last week, left a heafty deposit and travelled all the way from Dorset to Corby! Said they loved the car and were extremely pleasant to deal with.

Fully agree, they're closing down 3 branches in our area which'll just leave the two all ready busy ones left, that have had a "refurb" to remove the old style counters (4 of them) to just 2 completely open counters. And the automatic pay in machines never bloody work!

Would you part ex a date with my sister in law?

Any service history?

I've seen a local kawasaki dealer offering "service usb sticks" instead of paper ones, had a chat with the guy in there and said all modern bikes are starting to do that, but you can only view the service history in a dealership with the tech to do it. Could be paving the way for all motor related documents to become available online, at least it means the second hand market will have fewer "no service history" cars!

I seem to get emails most weekends on my personal ebay account with ridiculous cheap selling fees

I've always had high mileage cars for my own use. Only if they've got a decent service history backing them up and low owners. Running a 135k, tatty legacy estate that does eat a bit of oil, but there's no smoke and I can chuck the kids, dog and Mrs in the boot and not worry about the mess! The CRV's been well looked after and it's as tight as a drum. Even had an engine carbon clean done to quiet down the engine (worked well for £80) That's a very good way of looking at it, I'm sure the smarter buyer out there would see the dead stock and put in a low baller. It is a nice feeling seeing that space free'd up! Yeah caved into the pressure of the game! Always happy to make the mistakes early on and learn from them, onwards and upwards!

Great idea, does look worse in the photos than it actually is, thankyou!

Believe me I wish I'd kept the price up but felt the need to shift it and move on. Lesson learnt for next time!

So retook the photos this weekend, and my phone has not stopped ringing today! (Had one shite viewing yesterday, people expecting showroom condition even after explaining all the points over the phone). Deposit taken today with collection tomorrow! Thankyou all for the great advise and tips! Greatly appreciated!

Had about 7 phone calls today all after a Mini Cooper S, really brightened my day after a crap viewing yesterday of people expecting a show room condition car when I'd explained all the points to them over the phone. Some people just cant be pleased!

Nice little write up!

Most places around here charge about £45 a corner, which I thought was pretty reasonable. Couple of then couldn't do them as they're the split web rims. I'll most likely have a go at them myself and sell them off cheap

Im not too sure, they're genuine mini wheels that I bought off ebay as the ones it came with had some really bad corrosion and every wheel refurb place in my area that doesn't charge £100+ per wheel was booked up 2 weeks in advance.

Awesome thanks Mark, when I do a reshoot I'll make sure to crisp them up a bit and I'll have a look at the listing again. I think I'm in the same boat as you, except my midlife crisis startd when I had kids and hasn't really finished!

All great points, thanks! I think I need to do a reshoot Damn I knew I missed something in the autotrader ad, got lost in trying to list everything in that click select bit, thanks! My storage is smack bang in the middle of an industrial estate, so would make perfect sense to do all of my shoots here. And great advise on the headline attention grabber missing, I'll have a think on that, thanks!

Now that's a tidy motor

I'm always open to feedback, be that good or bad! Never going to up my game without making some mistakes

Now that you've said that, i do agree. Just doesn't look contrasting enough. Any tips on getting some better pictures without going mad in post editing?

Very very good point on the "review" statement, has been changed accordingly, thankyou! Bugger I completely forgot to close the boot and let the handbrake off! Noted for next time! Annoyingly my storage has a skip that's visible in every shot, went to Kirby hall thinking no one would be there so I wouldn't get any other cars in shot, sods law someone turns up to feed the peacock, and parks two spaces down from me, as I'm mid photo shoot! Noted, it is a high tax band! And I think the next few will be CRV's and 320d estates to get some cash flow

I know i know, its just the lack of attention its getting Yup, here's the majority of them https://www.gumtree.com/p/mini/2005-mini-cooper-s/1297159454 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112953327319?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804275977427?price-from=3000&price-to=3500&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&aggregatedTrim=Cooper%20S&postcode=pe91dj&sort=sponsored&maximum-mileage=70000&model=HATCH&make=MINI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1 and my website www.theautomotiveapproach.co.uk Don't hold back on any criticisms!

Good point, I have heard plenty of horror stories (shame because they're a laugh to drive), but hopefully this one isn't too much of a lemon. Full service history and drives without fault..... for now!

Looks like I'm selling this one at cost to shift it on!

True, it does seem like they get a sharper facelift every 6 months