Halfpenny

These used the Jatco JF404E which was fitted to a few small cars of that era. A decent enough box but yours is 17 years old. Normally they start to fail by slipping in 1st and 2nd when cold and work ok when warmed up. Fluid change won't help much. Basically it is age and wear and tear. I suspect you will struggle to find a decent 'warrantable' used box.

It was far from scaremongering. My brother's 2002 996 failed after about 2 years and 30k miles. All covered by Porsche UK. There was a big legal case from customers in the US and IIRC they were admitting 5-10% had failed before they modified the engine in 2006. OTOH we probably have sold half a dozen (quite long time back) with no problems.

996 is a solid car, especially the 3.6. IMS bearing is the only major concern. Sold a few with no major issues and also done work on a few. The GT2 is very complex though and best avoided. Of course any 20 year old car has exceeded its design life and potentially costly in future.

Hobby? Definition of a hobby: "A hobby is a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay"

Lipped plates and keyrings. Used to put in stickers too but dropped that a few years ago.

We don't know the sale price only that he took £9k cash balance. He possibly transferred a few thousands by PayPal prior to this.... Also those of you accusing the buyer of being 'greedy' how many of you have rushed somewhere on hearing of a motor going very cheap? I know I have - a few times with a wad of cash to wave under the sellers nose..

You should contact Autobulbsdirect to discuss your options. They are usually very helpful. Ask them if they will agree a refund if your beam pattern is no good (reflectors often give too much scatter with a distributed light source - projectors are usually ok).

The whole story is a bit odd.... 'Smiths Ford' is not a franchised Ford dealer - its a backstreet outfit and you'll find the company was dissolved last year. The guy who ran it has a bit of a 'track record' shall we say..... Call the buyers bluff...'no further communications will be entered into...'.

You might try these: https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/twenty20-compact-led-headlight-bulbs-H7-pair.html They have a built in ballast that should prevent CANBUS error message. Be aware that retrofitting LEDs is technically illegal (there are no E-marked 'conversion' LEDs). However if the beam pattern is OK most MoT testers will pass them.

Well I just did a Google and apparently £100 in 1978 is worth £577 today. So I made about £450 on a £370 car in today's money, less the cost of some filler and paint. Of course there was no CRA or any of that nonsense so once the buyer had driven off that was the end of the matter. The Tagora had a 2.2L version of the Simca 180 2.0 engine (remember the Chrysler 180?). It was a rough old thing with troublesome Solex carbs. It was the Simca 1294, 1442 and 1592cc engines that had bad rattle - remember Talbot Horizon, Solara, Alpine... ?

We saw plenty of Marinas and Avengers that were clapped out at four years. Oil contamination of Marina clutches was a common job for the workshop. We also used to look after a couple of Talbot Tagoras for a local taxi company - they spent a lot of time in the workshop.... We used to source exchange engines from a place in Derby. Blue Diamond or Blue Star or something... they were good and cheap. Many many years ago though....

Back in the '70s tubs of Isopon were a vital weapon in the armoury of the used car dealer. I used to buy tons of the stuff. P38 for surfacing and P40 for the larger areas of damage. We also used chopped fibre mat and resin to bridge the larger holes. Spraying cellulose paint with a cotton-gauze face mask. It all seems another world now. We also used to sell and fit Sparkrite and Piranha ignition systems - these were aftermarket electronic ignition systems you fitted to a distributor to give a more reliable spark. That was about the extent of electronics on cars. Of course cars nowadays are way faster, safer, more durable etc. When I first started out we'd have cars not much more than a year old with knocking diffs and slipping clutches. Quality of things like Marinas and Avengers was shocking. Back then mechanical/electrical repairs were mostly cheap and straightforward though. I remember even in the mid-80s we could buy an exchange short motor for a Chevette for about £150. Now everything is a bonkers price and mechanics with proper diagnostic and repair skills are thin on the ground. Fed up with overcomplex modern German stuff that breaks too easily. For example last year we took in a perfect five year old one-owner X5 off a guy I know (rich uncle of daughter in law). Only about 65k miles. Sold it easy and two months later it completely trashed its autobox...'box sump full of shrapnel...customer demanding immediate refund etc.. And don't get me started on Minis - refuse to touch those things now.

Hello Gents... Been reading the forum on and off in spare moments and thought I might as well sign up and chip in now and again... About me.... Well, I am semi-retired now. Made enough from the car business to spend half the year in the sun - other side of the world from Blighty. I do two months overseas, two months back in UK.. and so on. Sold my first car at age 18 back in 1978. A Hillman Imp bought for £70 and sold for £150 a couple of days later (after a tub of Isopon P38 and some brushed-on gloss paint)!. I parked it in a back street in Coventry city centre with a hand-written For Sale in the window and my home phone number (no mobiles in those days). Two Sikh guys bought it off me next morning. After that bought a rusty Triumph Spitfire which I welded up and sold for a good profit. Then more old Spitfires - used to buy cheap and repair - everything - body. mechanical and interiors. It was a good niche market. After that build up the business into general sales and repairs - employed a couple of mechanics and ended up with a pitch with about 40 cars.. Seen most things over the years - had a few disasters but also some good luck. Its much tougher now than it ever was. Unrecognisable from the 80's and frankly I don't know how the younger one-man operations make any money. Anyway, couple of years ago at age 57 I decided that I had enough money put by and a good enough pension plan so I packed in full-time work. Now I have a 50% share in a 30-car pitch. I am basically a sleeping partner and just work when I am back in the UK and get bored. Act as a bit of guiding hand for my younger business partner. What we like: Most things Japanese and recent Korean (especially petrol), intelligent customers..... What we don't like: Any JLR product, German SUV's, Autotrader, Insurance companies, a certain type of customer that thinks they own you because they bought a car off you (you know what i mean).