Halfpenny

IMO Facebook is a magnet for illiterate morons and we no longer use it. Good for dumping scrap to Eastern Europeans. Presumably a lot of it gets shipped back in bits to Poland or wherever. I remember once selling a Passat to a Polish guy via Facebook. It was a 300k'er. He said he was going to convert it to LHD and take it back to Poland!!!

With all the money that the government has been throwing around a lot of folks are living in a fool's paradise right now. Its the calm before the storm. When furlough ends its all going to hit the fan. Bike vouchers, half price meals and all the other BS will quickly be forgotten when people are filling in their Universal Credit forms. What I would say to any new starter right now is the market is highly irrational so don't overpay for stock.

Spot on! Be careful out there. The cracks are starting to appear. Picked up a lovely Boxster today off a pilot. Been laid off. His weekend car and he was desperate to get out of it so we picked it up stupid cheap. Cracking condition, been looked after like a newborn baby.

Yes they were unreliable. But I meant I liked them to drive. They were good on a twisting road. Not so good on a motorway on a windy day though...

Haha! In the late '70s I was rebuilding knackered Triumph Spitfires and then selling them. But my first 'proper' bit of trading was in 1978. Also £30 in and £80 out! It was a Hillman Imp. Bought it privately on a Saturday as a non-runner - bad misfire and very stiff steering. I sorted it later in the day (new dizzy cap and rotor arm and squirted lots of grease into the steering swivels). Parked it up with hand-written 'For Sale £100' sign on Monday morning. Got a call Monday evening and two Sikh lads turned up with £80. Off it went. Happy days. Always liked the Imp, they were fun little cars and had a lot of rallying success. The annual plate change was introduced by the government as a way of leveraging British oneupmanship to boost the car industry. It was too successful though and completely distorted the market. I think up to 1967/68 it changed at the end of the year, then they moved it to August. My father was in the motor trade and so I vaguely remember this change...

Well in about 40 years I've bought my fair share of scrap. Years back it used to motors full of P38 and old newspaper. Recently had an MG with engine management fault we gave up on. However the OP's Porsche would have a giant red flag on it for me.

I think you have close to no chance of a successful claim. Online, multi-source non-inspected is always going to be 'some you win, some you lose'. Sorry to sound unsympathetic.

We bought some cars in around 15 years ago. Generally they were very good. Mainly FTOs and MX5/Eunos. Put through SVA with speedo dial, rear fogs, tank restrictor etc. We had very few problems and it was good business. I went out to Japan twice. What killed it was the exchange rate. At the time Sterling was well over 200 Yen. 240 at one point I think. Now its half that. So its not economic any more, although I do see there are people bringing in Prius, the occassional Alphards and 'specialist' stuff. I thought it was common knowledge that these guys also run a laundry....... Quite how they are allowed to carry on is beyond me.

Mitsubishi are part of Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi appear to be winding down in Europe and the US and concentrating on selling pickups and SUVs in Asia/Australia. They already shut down their car factory in Thailand and only sell pickups and SUVs there. My guess is Europe will be left to Renault and the US and China to Nissan. Not sure where that leaves Nissan in Europe. They're closing their Spanish factory and can't see the Sunderland built cars being exported to the EU if there is a no-deal Brexit. I'm thinking there will be a few dropping out of the UK market. The GBP is very weak, especially against the Japanese Yen so I don't see a great future for Subaru in the UK....

These things are an unholy nightmare. Thankfully I haven't seen one in a long time. My suggestion is as above - ignition on and press the button five times. ....

To be fair its not like they work 9-5 with an hour for lunch. Its 8-1pm and 2-7pm so they open 10 hours a day. I guess there is basically two 'shifts' of staff. We always moan about DVLA but overall I find them OK. I have had a lot more problems with other organisations. The worst ever was Npower, absolutely shocking.

Really? Business must be good!

The falling pound will affect the car market because the country will become poorer. Fewer people in work, pay falling or stagnating. Fewer youngsters taking driving lessons and buying their first car. Demand drops across the industry.. The value of currency is a good indicator of a country's economic health. It is significant because a lot of UK's debt is non-Sterling - so interest payments rise when the pound falls. Also we import more than half our food plus most of our cars, car parts, tools and equipment etc etc. It will all get more expensive. We all get relatively poorer and business gets a lot tougher.. The economy was struggling BEFORE coronavirus. In the first three months of the year the UK GDP fell by 2.2%. That's the biggest fall since 1979. I have been in business since the late 1970's so I have seen my share of ups and downs, but what we are facing now is the biggest downturn in history. The fact that the government are contemplating a no-deal Brexit with concomitant tariffs in the current situation just beggars belief. We are being led off a cliff. And I say that as someone who has been an active member of the Conservative Party for 27 years.

Its going to be carnage. Government and private debt are escalating to unsustainable levels. We're fcuked. Brexit will be the final nail in the coffin. I think there is a real chance of a catastrophic devaluation of the pound at the end of the year. I semi-retired a couple of years ago but still have 50% of a business (40 car pitch plus service, MoT). I think I will bail out soon. Been having discussions with my partner. I have property overseas and want to get out. The UK is a hellhole now - for many many reasons.

High prices over the past few weeks are a blip. Once furlough ends all hell will let loose and prices will fall. Mark my words.

Email the manufacturer's UK HQ. Some will issue a CoC free and some will charge a fee (e.g. Suzuki charge about £100). Normally its not a problem but allow a month... If the manufacturer won't help then there are independent companies that will issue a CoC for about £200. Look on Google.

If its one of these so-called parking charge notices (PCN) then its really just an invoice to the driver requesting payment for parking. Since you can presumably easily prove that the parking charge arose after you sold the car then its really nothing to do with you - its between them and whoever the driver was at the time. You can either bin it or, if feeling generous, send them an email telling them to go back to DVLA.

According to Office for National Statistics about 0.06% of the UK population were infected with Covid19 on 12th June (its probably lower now). The risk of transmission at 1m from an infected person is 3%. At 2m it is 1.5%. So total overall probability of catching Covid from a random stranger is 1 in 55000 at 1m and 1 in 110000 at 2m. If you screen customers with a quick temperature check then the risk will drop further. So up to you to decide, and take your chances. I think good ventilation (air movement) is crucial to lowering the risk. So doors and windows open as much as possible. Personally I am more worried about being in busy supermarkets... its not like car showrooms get that crowded... ;-(

We're in what is known as an irrational market. Buyers with government money burning a hole in their pocket, limited supply of vehicles and online auctions. This will lead to a lot of dealers making bad decisions that come back to bite them. The indications are for a big rise in unemployment and reduced annual mileage (more working at home, cycling etc). That doesn't sound like a market that's going to sustain higher prices. Its going to kick off when the furlough money stops.

Nicely explained. IMHO we are about to reach the day of reckoning on all these 'Spanish Practices'. PCP and leasing is an unexploded bomb under the economy. Its all smoke and mirrors. There's a guy lives near me who runs a fairly grotty little bar - about twice the size of my living room. Just after lockdown started we talked about business and he was moaning to me all about his debts, which he can't pay. Leased Range Rover was something like 550/month, then he'd got couple 100k's on his house, another 100k on the business and some more on other stuff. It was around 400k plus the lease. I'm just thinking WTF?.... how can you sleep? Of course when this goes belly-up it won't be the finance houses that lose out. The losses will be 'socialised' as in 2008 and we will all pay for it. £500bn I believe the last bail out cost us...

All the companies get their data from basically the same sources but can be more or less accurate in updating their own databases. I think plate changes can often cause problems because a certain amount of manual data input may be required. IMHO HPI is the best for correct data.

As a quick fix a wipe over with DoT3 brake fluid on a cloth will remove the yellow (yes, really!) and then a polish will bring them up good enough. For a proper job start with 300 grit paper, work up to 2000 grit. Then few coats of lacquer to finish and protect against UV (ideally 2K, but 1K works too). That should last a couple of years.

I first got into the trade in the late 1970's. My father and grandfather were both in the motor trade - service and repair (mostly trucks in the case of my grandfather). I obviously had access to a fully equipped workshop and by the time I was 18 I had a driving license and could do pretty much any mechanical or electrical repair, welding, basic panel beating, loading, painting etc. I started out buying rough/damaged Spitfires, MGs and other Triumphs such as GT6 Vitesse etc. for repair. I made a profit but not much given the work involved. In the late 80's and early 90's I tried with repairable salvage. Had a Chief body jig at the time. Again made some profit but not a lot given the time investment requirement. As the rules and regs tightened up I packed it in. I really made my money with careful buying of proper 3-10 year old cars that required minimal prep. Plus service/MoT and repairs of this demographic. Turnover is king. Buy right. Get it prepped and get it out of the door as quickly as possible. The last thing I want is money tied up in vehicles awaiting repair. My view is... 1. Don't mix business with pleasure. Restoring old cars for sale is a massive time-suck. If its a hobby/sideline then fair enough, but not the way to pay the mortgage. Restoring rusty low-value stuff will mean you're working for less than minimum wage. 2. The cars will be at least 20 years old - but the customers will expect the things to be in mint condition and run like a Swiss watch. Makes me laugh on programmes like Wheeler Dealers, Flipping Bangers etc. Buy at £5k, spend £2k on parts. Sold at £8k. 'Oh, we made £1k profit'.... Well what about the 40 hours labour in a fully equipped workshop etc etc.?

Admin fees are dodgy BS. TS and/or FCA should come down on those who conditionally waive it.

Signs the previous owner ran on a shoestring, tyres are often a clue (e.g. random selection of Chinese tyres). HVAC works (can be costly to put right). Scruffy/smelly interior. I don't buy 'automated-manual' cars (like Honda iShift or Toyota MMT etc). If its DSG then check operation - obviously assumes you can road test the car. After 40 years I can quickly spot paint and panel problems.