CRW

I must be the only person who likes BMW timing chains. I don't retail BMW for this reason, but last year I took in a 2008 120d M Sport with a broken chain. Allowed £700 for it. Put it on ebay, bidding war erupted and it sold for over £2200. Sold as spares or repairs. Was a nice day that day!

Sounds pretty much like you are referring to a Citroen C5, with electrics not working and being a pedal only affair.

Chances are customer wont ask and if the car is "in trade" you will be ok. Don't draw attention to the logbook issue, get a deal done and then approach the subject of taxing at the post office.

In her eyes she just bought a 4 year old heated steering wheel with buttons on it with a Bluetooth system. Also got a car thrown in as a bonus.

I toyed with an additive in the gearbox oil, but decided to cut my losses. I even got it on the Vagcom to see if we could raise the idle as at about 900 rpm it was silent. My mechanic couldn't find a way to do it, there may be for a Vagcom wizard however. I also considered a gearbox swap out of a 2016 car with the same code, but no guarantees that would have made any difference. Had I done that Id be another £500 down the road with it. Peter, what did you actually do with your one? Sell it or put it through the block? There seems a consensus that from 2016 onwards they seem to rattle less, or not at all. Maybe VAG have done something different. I wont be finding out.

Im pretty sure the clutch replacement wont make any difference. Personally advertise as it, hope for someone to come along who has either had one before and is familiar with it, or is deaf. It will do your head in like it did mine, but once its gone you can move on. It wont fail because of it, your customer may freak a bit if they hear it, but you cant repair what isn't broken. I flipped the money over into a 66 plate Citroen C1 and to be fair, they don't give me much trouble (plus its still under warranty until October). All Ups, Citigo's and Mii's are now on my shit-list!

Personally I would say not, but to be fair I cant hear yours to say for definite. If you really want to depress yourself, google vw up/ seat mii/ skoda citigo clutch rattle, its a well discussed topic (a bit like Autotrader on here). I put the clutch kit in because it was tight to engage first and reverse when cold, it did improve that but made no difference to the rattle. Its possible a bit of regular driving might make it less noticeable, if the gearbox oil gets a chance to work its way in. The cause is just the vibration from the 3 cylinders,cheaply made components, a lack of sound proofing and gearbox oil that is thin like water. I sat with mine for 3 months, not knowing what to do with it. It was mint other than the noise, a 75PS Sport and owed me over £4000, but got back £3750 this week. Down here they are retailing around £5000 and bit more. I did explain that those probably rattle as well, its a characteristic. Made the customer sign the a print of the advert I posted, included a copy of the technical service bulletin and explained it will rattle but actually, it wont break! Time will tell.

Is it a rattle on idle? Does it go when the clutch is down or the idle revs are picked up? If so, its the "gear cluster rollover rattle" that they suffer with. I have just had the joy of that on a 2014 Seat Mii, one lady owner, 17k miles, FSH. Didn't hear it when I picked it up, seemed ok when I first got it back and after a day or so, it was rattling when cold. Its a horrible noise, caused by the combination of 3 cylinders and cheaply made gearboxes. However there is a tsb from VAG that says there is no remedy. I actually put a new clutch kit in and the noise was exactly the same. I have just sold it for less than cost, advertised as having a rattle when cold. Wont be buying anymore.

Rover 200's and 25's with blown head gaskets for £200, doing the head and retailing within a week for £1995. Ford Focus saloons, used to do really well with them. Going into the local newspaper office to place an ad. Going to the scrappy and walking out with about 20 unmarked Rover 200 wheel trims from the rear wheels, paying about a quid each for them and ebaying them for £10 plus P&P. Rummaging the waste metal bins to dig out Ford chrome capped alloy wheel nuts, polishing them up and selling as a set of 16 for £16, used to pay nothing for them. Definitely the tax disc rebate, that used to be great! Don't miss the "wet behind the ears" mistakes I used to make. Still make some though!

No, haven't been honoured with that yet! Is that where I should aspire to be?

I'm sure there used to be more funny stories on here of stupid customers and the like! Not just the continual Autotrader, Dealer Auction, Ebay Motors debate.

Lucky to get his money back to be honest. For the sake of £100, surely it would have been worth keeping it running for a year?! Whatever our opinions of DA, there is always plenty to look at on there.

As much as we all want to get a deal done, this one sounds dodgy. He could surely just as easily get a personal loan for £8000, pay you £7500 and pocket the rest. It looks a bit like money laundering from my point of view. You aren't to know who or where he's sourcing the money from, legit or illegit, but if you then hand him back £500 that draws you into his murky dealings.

I always cover a standard 3 month warranty myself. Without getting into the whole debate of being liable for 3 months/ 6 months/ 6 years/ eternity... if anybody wants a longer warranty, its done through the warranty company, currently Autoprotect. In most cases I make them pay "cost" for it. I explain it doesn't cover everything, its not without its loopholes and faults, but I am selling it to you at cost, there's nothing in it for me, but something is better than nothing. Occasionally I get asked why I wont cover a year myself and I just explain as a one man band, selling about 100 cars per year, all covered by me is too much for me to carry. Also, you know they will bring the car back after 11 and a half months for its MOT and try to claim every advisory, bulb or wiper blade be covered!

Strangely enough I have just done a deal to take a 13 plate Insignia SRi 2.0 CTDi (157PS) 80k in part ex. Really didn't want it, tried everything I could not to take it. They started off wanting £4500 as a part ex, eventually shook on £2500. Still don't really want it, wont be retailing it, but its a deal done.

That's fine tradegirl, I just read it both ways and wasn't really sure. I think the few techniques I use are pretty basic, don't pounce on them the minute they arrive, but don't ignore them either. I just nod my head, say hello and leave them for a couple of minutes. If they are still there then is the time to approach. Control the conversation, but don't be too pushy, and get them sat down and away from their part ex as that reduces their emotional attachment to it. They think more clearly when they aren't looking at their dearly beloved (knackered) old car! I often reward the nice customers who don't ask for a discount or quibble about the price, by throwing in an extended warranty or chipping £100 off the price. I already had them on the hook, the deal was done, but that gesture will stick in their mind for next time.

Down in the far west of Cornwall. Always considered the most expensive place to buy cars! Its actually quite heavily populated with dealers around here, so the competition is quite fierce! I cant compete with the pricing I see in the Midlands, simply due to the logistics and transportation costs of getting the stock down here. I get so bored of customers telling me they have seen the same car for £500 less 200 miles away. I simply explain they are welcome to burn £100 worth of fuel travelling to view something that far away. With regards to the local dealers who over price, it doesn't seem to matter to most people as the dealer has them "on the hook" with the last finance deal. They simply re-jig the repayments and the high windscreen price is forgotten. Not quite sure how to interpret that response!

Currently shorts, t-shirt and trainers, no one ever seems bothered. Explain to people that I cant valet cars in a suit! At the moment, the shorts have 3 dollops of superglue staining on the crotch, looks a bit suspicious but gives them something to go away talking about. Perhaps they think Im incontinent and buy the car because they take pity on me. Funnily, no one has asked! Winter time, jeans with an M&S white polo and navy sweatshirt! Never bothered with branding personally.

Customers always generally want too much for their part ex, but just remember, other dealers aren't going to be offering retail money either. You need to keep away from overly discussing the part ex allowance and talk about the cost to change. Around here there are some dealers who's prices are eye watering, I generally undercut them by £500-£1000 sometimes. Of course they can offer £200 more for the part ex car, but the cost to change is still going to be more. On the flip side, I do enjoy it when the customer starts a conversation with " I don't suppose mine is worth anything?" or "Really, you would take it back in part ex?".

Agreed with everything else you said, but I always look at the Car Supermarket p/ex stuff differently. For me, its obvious why they are trading, over 12 months old and 20k miles. With main dealers I tend to think if its sub 5 years old, with nice mileage and a supposed good pedigree about it, why aren't they retailing it, what do they know about it to make them want to ditch it? Of course, if its a Focus in a BMW franchise, I understand, but a Focus in a Ford garage and I always wonder.

You want to watch him, he's obviously catching up. He'll be doing pinstripes next! Its an age thing I guess. I do feel guilty though with the total waste of plastic I create dumping the old plates. Heard of one guy who somehow incorporated them into repairing doors using them as a flat panel to apply filler against! Safe to say, I never used him.

They are horrific and look so cheap and nasty stuck on the outside of the window. I know they are bright and eye catching - but for all the wrong reasons! Fortunately they are a rare sight down here in Cornwall! If you ever asked they will say it either blocks the view or "I'm not advertising for you!". Fine, but don't be my "mate" next time you want a deal. Unfortunately, I perceive it as a customer who wouldn't want it to be known they had bought from an indy. Oh the shame! Would rather the neighbours thought they had been to a main dealer. Funny how they are always too tight spend out on changing the plates as well though!

Does anyone else get annoyed when they see a customer has removed your sticker from their car? How dare they! Bleddy cheek. Its as if they own it or something. Strangely, their service always seems slightly more expensive the next year.

Touch wood I have never seen one of mine on a recovery truck! Tidy record in 14 years! Probably has happened somewhere but has never involved me. I'm a bit fussy over what I sell, tends to help.

Definitely an ego trip thing! If you drive past one are you like me and interrupt somebody in mid-sentence to just say - "one of mine there".