the old novice

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Posts posted by the old novice

  1. Posted

    1 hour ago, trade vet said:

    A lot of DVLA staff are still working from home.To try and get a reply from a human,I would be communicating with them by first class,signed for registered post.I still wedge plates on the inside but not now.How about paying 1 months Road tax by cheque  ‘ under protest ‘ and request that they provide a photo.You were not smoking it as I don’t think using Trade Plates for private journeys is allowed.

    Good luck with DVLA

     

    I think that the DVLA is dehumanised nowadays in a cynical attempt to frustrate interaction and get Joe Public  pissed off enough to pay up. Just in the process of putting my appeal paperwork in the post and sending it off and getting it signed for. 

  2. Posted

    As per the title i have an issue with the DVLA regarding an allegedly  untaxed vehicle that i own. So here is the bullet points

    Car bought from auction with no V5 as it was a finance repossession.

    I completed the V62 form to apply for a V5

    Car is notified as being in my possession as per my trade policy

    use the car on trade plates as a smoker whilst V5 arrives

    a few days after the V5 arrives i receive a letter stating that vehicle is untaxed and i owe them a months road fund licence

    I respond to say that the vehicle was on trade plates  

    get no reply to that letter

    now received another letter from DVLA stating that i owe them £338 as an out of court settlement for an untaxed vehicle. Seems very heavy handed for them given the fact that i had responded to the 1st letter.

    I tried to ring them yesterday but the whole options list seems to be geared towards not talking to people and suggesting that appeals are not normally successful.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

  3. Posted

    2 hours ago, Ricardo said:

    Hi I use a guy on eBay that can do BMW, Audi, Merc and VW history 

    I contacted someone on ebay who supposedly can get BMW history. they  didn't answer either of the 2 queries that i sent

  6. Posted

    18 hours ago, mark-s said:

    I know the larger dealerships use the VIP type showroom events to drum up business but then they have a larger budget than most independents so I can see why smaller traders don't use them. These events have now though been running for a good amount of time so does anyone have any ideas on what could replace them or what might be better for the independent? 

    What about having a circus event at our pitches? We should be able to nail it very easily....

    Customers want us to jump through hoops, make their problems disappear, run around like headless chickens, see into the future and do mind reading.Also pretty sure that we've all  employed plenty of clowns as well.

    Roll up,roll up.

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    email V5 and your purchase invoice to

    cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com

    they will send you any service history that they hold

    google        mercedes spec check ,that should give you a few pointers.I normally use  the m decoders website,its free but it  often boots you out if you do too many checks

  9. Posted

    22 hours ago, metcars said:

    Agee with the above. You need to put every effort into producing professional high quality images of your stock. Photography is now a huge part of the job and is always Time well spent!

    :)

    100% agree.Spend a bit of time on you tube searching for photography tutorials.I much prefer a  digital camera, then a quick photo edit to crop the pic, play around slightly with the colour, contrast and sharpness but not enough to make them look false. Takes me about 30 mins from taking a load of pics or getting them on the advert. Most cameras will come with easy to use photo editing software that even i find easy to use.That said i know of traders that get great results with a camera on the iphone but i've got fingers like cows udders so digi camera works for me.

  10. Posted

    This is an extract from a document produced by the  competition and mergers authority, used to be called the monopolies commission. I also think that it might be tied in with CRA 2015.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-contract-terms-cma37

    Section 21(pasted below) seems quite relevant.

    21, A term in a consumer contract is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer. 22. Transparency is also fundamental to fairness. The Act requires that a written term in a consumer contract is expressed in plain and intelligible language and is legible. This sits alongside a more general requirement that consumers are given a real chance, before entering a contract, to see and understand all terms that could operate to their disadvantage (see paragraph 28 below). 23. The CMA considers that the Act’s effect is to apply in substance the same tests of fairness, and of transparency, to both terms and notices.

    Perhaps getting the CMA to force BCA and others to change the auction caveats  to make themselves even slightly accountable would be another option, we as customers of the auction houses need recourse from  this situation as it's becoming  a huge burden that we should NOT be expected to shoulder.

    CMA is not some toothless tiger government body they wouldnt't shy away from a battle with any company regardless of size.In the past have took on JCB for price fixing, also exposed a price fixing cartel with multi national concrete companies that can and have resulted in those guilty parties being fined up to 10% of their annual turnover.

  11. Posted · Edited by the old novice

    My take on things is.

    The fuel shortage was just a news story that went viral and perfectly illustrates how easy it is the get joe public to do stupid things ,in this case queue for petrol, at the start of the pandemic is was bog roll and the mind boggles as to what we may next nearly run out of. Although hopefully its Audi A4 cabrio's as i've got one hanging out of my arse. We run 15 large hgv's and eat through masses of fuel. All of our fuel suppliers contacted us to say it was " business as usual"  and to ignore the hype. The wagon driver shortage is also not far away from a non story as well. Although i do think that certain sectors of the haulage industry struggle to source and retain drivers, this is mainly (in my opinion) due to how those guys are being treated and demoralized at  large mega warehouses where they are almost dehumanised told to wait in wagon, not allowed to go and have a brew in canteen,its only just been forced through that it wasnt lawful to stop a driver from using the toilet whilst waiting on your premises. Then the constant risk of finding an asylum seeker in your wagon who will 100% fight you for the right to hide in your wagon. There was and might still might  be a £2000 fine  per stowaway found in your wagon if you're seen to have not taken enough precautions at thats for the driver  by the way! Overnight parking is a total lottery with facilities being more often than not complete shit holes. More investment is needed in  improving the facilities and this will quite easily solve many issues that are at play here, offering big pay rises doesn't work longer term, this will be only cause inflation to rise. We have all our hgv's mounted up and a waiting list of guys to start, thats not because we are good at what we do its because our guys  get looked after and shown a bit of respect and courtesy. Providing a   clean toilet, a rest room with free coffee and tea isnt rocket science  FFS.

    By biggest worry is the impending change in fuel regulations whereby red diesel/gas oil will not be able to be used on construction sites. Meaning that all heavy plant will be running on  white diesel/derv. I can only imagine at the amount of site theft of fuel that will now occur. So we are now looking at buying a fuel truck to fuel our on site plant rather than keep fuel on site. Security guards and camera's will have to be  the order of the day wherever we've got heavy plant located. I got notification this morning that the aggregate  suppliers are putting a cubic metre of concrete by £11.00 in April  2022 to cover the fuel uplift.

    Anyway, hopefully those that have read this far have found  my ramblings insightful.

    All of a sudden paying well into CAP clean seems like a  piece of piss.

    Just got sell this soft top Audi now and a well earned piss up will be on the cards.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    XFS,is bang on with his summary.Just to add that you might find more benefit in visiting youtube and watching some tutorials on how to take better pics.Personally i use a Canon  camera for car pics  and then load the SD card onto the laptop for editing and uploading to an advert, as i find the  software easier to use than fiddling around with the phone.My first camera was second hand and still performed well for many years of general abuse. Good lens's are the key and are readily available on ebay.I have 2 go to lens.10-22mm is great for tight spaces when you cant get far enough back to get the whole car in the frame but can tend to distort  the car from certain angles, so mainly i use a 24-105mm lens which is just about perfect for my needs.

  13. Posted

    My intention would be to contact all staff members to see who wants to return to work (subject to not getting a return to business as normal date from the government).If all employees wish to return on the same day i will then create a skills matrix that would include skills,length of service,adaptability etc etc .Just in case any body gets grumpy and harbours thoughts about a constructive dismissal case.

    I can foresee that getting guys back to work for only a perceived 20% increase in pay is going to interesting.

  15. Posted

    I will probably use suction pads   to place the trade plates inside the car.top of windscreen .One of my concerns is that if i encounter a jobsworth who starts spouting off about rules and regs. I've actually had  a  visit in our haulage yard from the DVSA who issued us with a PG9 ,which is a roadside prohibition ...........or 'crime' was for  the wagon driver having a number plate with his name on it,it was placed against the windscreen at the back of the clocks.Apparently part of the plate was in the sweep area of the wiper arc , the DVSA said it was causing restricted vision,driver removed the number plate ,we were then issued with a PG10  which then allowed us to carry on with our days work. Very annoying and very petty .I would  hazard a guess that the same rule could also be used against a car driver with plates in the window.Just a thought...........

         

  16. Posted

    My trade plates finally arrived today.Im wondering what you guys are using to display them?

    1.wedged in dash with a rag?

    2,suction cups?

    3,trade plates in a housing with rubber straps(might be better if the rozzers stop the car then at least i can fix them outside the car)?

    4, clip on brackets over existing number plate to allow trade plates to be displayed clearly,directly below existing reg plate.Although i would guess that there are quite a few cars with recessed plates that will make this impossible.

    A ever your thought and ideas are welcome.

    ps,as this is my 25th post i will be in the lounge soon,where hopefully there will be a monster piss up ongoing!

  17. Posted

    11 hours ago, Mr Bob said:

    Does anyone know the name of the trader known as Lancashire car sales of Mill Eden st Blackburn. Is he the same person who runs Lancashire car sales ltd of 172 Wensley rd Blackburn ?

    Hi Mr Bob,

            After reading some of the replies to your  recent used car buying experience,i feel that some of  the unhelpful comments just go to show what a shower of shite most motor traders actually are.I think its actually because they are all making so much money that they close ranks to protect their own kind, on average they make at least £2000 cash on every single car they sell,this money gets spent on beer and tabs.So to stop them I think you should buy a new motor every time and remember that most new car dealers have nice coffee and free wifi.

       

    • Haha 1

  18. Posted

    6 minutes ago, trade vet said:

    Is Pistonheads not just for punters or NFE ‘s.

    Pistonheads is a very varied site,covers many different motoring and non motoring subjects(Interestingly enough there is also a lot of cars for sale on the site) the point i was making is that there are threads on there that use the 'sticky' concept.

  20. Posted · Edited by the old novice

    Im finding some really useful information on this forum, such as the links to sites that give info on car specifications and options. So i'm wondering if the moderators could create a sticky that will reside at the top of the topic page.If any one has any specific links then perhaps a comment from a fellow forum member would assist the mods.I  think we would all find it easier to visit that page instead of either searching or trying to remember what thread a decent bit of info cropped up on.Perhaps even have chapters  for warranty providers,trade insurers,car deliveries etc etc.

       

    • Like 1

  22. Posted · Edited by the old novice

    I would suggest a Canon EOS800D, its a good camera with a decent pixel count  and also has the flip out rear screen that i find very useful for shooting images at either low levels or elevated shots to capture the best angles for each vehicle.If you want to buy something second hand then perhaps a Canon EOS70D would work well.I use this model and mine gets a regular battering from being carted around construction sites etc . Use the camera  in full auto setting until you get used to it,then try using the different settings such as aperture priority to get those shots  that you want.

    Editing is so easy  and takes seconds to get the image to your liking.Always take loads of pics and just delete the one s that you dont like.Watch out for background distractions.I actually prefer using a  telephoto lens at they have a narrower depth of field that kind of automatically concentrates the focus on the subject (the car) and blur out the rest of the frame.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted · Edited by the old novice

    Firstly can i say.'Fair play ' for asking for your adverts to be critiqued. My thoughts for what they are worth are as follows.

    Pictures are very  generic and lack impact.I first viewed your  list of cars and instantly saw  that all cars had been photographed from the same front angle for  your main advert pic.I'd rotate the  pics  for each  car to show its best angle.Not sure if you use a smart phone but for me a digital camera is great and i find is very easy to make sensible tweeks to the pics.More time taken on focus would be invaluable.If you're going to take pics of things like gearknobs etc,then knowing how to use depth of field settings makes a huge difference. Youtube has some tutorials that ive used and found very useful,same goes for the photography section on Pistonheads.

      The wording of your adverts  perhaps need a bit of  personalisation they are perhaps  a  bit 'robotic' at the moment.The prices all look right so it could just be the January blues.

    Best of luck

    • Like 1

  25. Posted · Edited by the old novice

    Am just in process of applying for my plates.

    OK,so this might be a piss brained idea but can you not just unscrew  the existing reg plates and display those in the car window and simply attach your trade plates in the now vacant aperture?