GreenGiant

Available for sale. £99 + p&p. Not absolutely 100% guaranteed to work on all models all the time, but certainly worth a shot for those niggly, intermittent EML issues.

Interestingly, bought a car from Manheim online this week. First time I've used them under our own steam, as we used to share our auction buying with another local dealer to keep costs down. Anyway, I'm stunned* at the level of charges they just impose. Buyers fees - massive, SureCheck - £40. The car is under manufacturer's warranty, so we won't need it, but I've got to have it. Online fee - £45 for the privilege of using their website! None of it negotiable and most of it charged to the seller as well as me, but it will reduce if I buy more. Ain't gonna happen. Congratulations, Manheim. Your sharp practices and greed know no bounds and so a customer disappears into the sunset. Still, you won that one, so good for you! Time for an OFT investigation, in my view, for them and the other lot; this overcharging has to stop. *Not stunned

You can ask them to send you a list of cars close to cap and glass trade prices and go from there. I get one every week.

Unlike the stuff on AutoTradeMail.... Did you ever have a chat with them to ask about specific cars? The stock they display is not actually theirs - they are just a portal for main dealers to advertise. so the pricing issue is not down to them and they will talk to the dealers to try and get the price down as well as asking about history, condition etc. Maybe the problem lies with dealer staff not actually understanding there has to be a difference between Trade and Retail? It never ceases to amaze me how some Main Dealers buy deals to make their targets and then expect the rest of the trade to pay for their mistakes. At least you get condition guarantees and secure escrow payment system - more than Dealer Auction.

I tried..... I really tried............cannot...... fight......... pedantry gene......... That isn't 572sq m Umesh, old boy. If the workshop is 15m high (!?), it's 242sq m in area and 3630cu m in volume. At 11m high (still !?), it's 330sq m in area and the volume is obviously the same. I know it's none of my business, but if you were considering buying paint for the floor, for example, you'd be getting waaaaay ttoo much.

Free Cap & Glass Trade & Retail prices when you sign up with Autorola for FREE. (Did I mention it was free?) Details here You're welcome.

You should be ashamed. Selling 'Poor value' cars at a good profit based on your own valuation? World's gone mad.

Boom! Nice One. Had a sneaky feeling about one at auction online once - declared as 'believed incorrect' mileage of 50k and no history. Bought it £1200 behind. Turned up and the speedo was set to km rather than miles. 15 seconds and a couple of button pushes later, real mileage reads 31k and main dealer service history is in drawer under seat. Double Boom!

Total Days Live Search Appearances Advert Views Total Daily Total Daily 2 4734 2367 249 125 48 1717 36 66 1 The above are the stats from this morning on the car I changed the price to on Saturday. My Conclusions: I cannot rely on the advice given by AT regarding recommended retail prices - I can clearly produce better results on my own. The advert viewing figures can be easily distorted. Therefore the comparison figures given can be (and have been) distorted by one simple pricing adjustment and are now totally flawed Experience wins. Who knew?

Today's stats for the latest price change...... 1819 search appearances, 101 advert views. From 1 view to 101 views. In one day. I need more time to process this to try and understand how I can benefit fully from the results. Notwithstanding how it makes a nonsense of the data we've been given previously.

In the interests of scientific analysis and balance, I've made the exact same change to the price of another car today. Current AT stats: Daily average of 34 Search appearances and 1 advert view. I know; not great, so let's see what the change does for the numbers. Sorry Umesh, the bus isn't coming today, despite my promises. But the good news is that, if my suspicions are correct, this information could make a mockery of all i-Control, Retail Price Checker, DeltaPoint etc info, so it could save fortunes in the long run. Could be worth the wait I think?

Blatantly stolen gag alert: I hear that the guy who invented DMS systems, ATM machines and PIN numbers has died. May he RIP in peace.

Just to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke, I changed another one as follows: Originally advertised at £10495 (around £300 more than AT suggested Retail) for a few weeks and the Average Daily Stats were: 36 Search Appearances. 2 Advert Views. Yesterday, I made the SAME PRICE ADJUSTMENT as I did to the car above and the stats for just the one day are: 1185 Search Appearances. 32 Advert Views. I feel there is more research and analysis required here, as I'm finding it difficult to get my head around the implications. I'm also wondering whether this is info that I should be sharing for free...?

DING DING! ALL ABOARD!

Anybody else? Answer tomorrow. It may surprise you.

So. A little teaser for you: I have a regular, good spec, 1 year-old, 11k miles, white, City car in stock. Nice little thing, should have no issues selling it. But I thought i'd have a little mess around with the online selling price, just to see if and how the stats could be manipulated and, therefore, trusted (or not...) We're told endlessly how we have to make sure it's absolutely in line with the Market Price as decided by AutoTrader's Log of Rhythms, or whatever, as the better the price, the more chance of a sale... So I priced it up at the figure suggested (£8000) and achieved, over time, a daily average of 144 Search appearances and just 2 advert views. "This is not so good," I thought to myself, So, I changed a couple of things and have now had the car advertised without pictures at a different price and have generated a daily average of 2608 Search Appearances and 23 Advert views. 'Vs similar ads' my Search Appearances for this car are now +1007% and it's in the green for Ad views at +512% (apologies if you don't have AT Dealer Portal stats, but this is, apparently, a good thing). And it's sold. So, the question is as per the title: How much did I advertise it for to generate such high viewing figures?

You're right. I should hope that the administrators/moderators have a grip on most of it and any obviously dodgy post is suitably dealt with. If you're bothered about what you post and like to stir it up a little, Mr Guy, maybe you should use a pseudonym. I've heard it works.

...there's a Presidential Election over the pond later in the year. And then we could really find out what it's like when the lunatics take over the asylum. I was directed towards a fascinating piece in The New Yorker that may, sadly, prove prophetic: http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/being-honest-about-trump

Don't even know why you're asking - the AutoTrader Part Exchange Valuation tool is clearly the definitive guide on all this, so what does that say? What? You don't trust their valuations? You're in a minority, my friend..... it says here.......

The quality (actual or perceived) of the products is not what I'm asking about. I just wondered if they had any effect on residual value, in your opinions.

Question: If someone presents a vehicle to you for part exchange and they tell you they had had Supagard/GardX/DiamondBrite etc etc applied when they bought it, would you ever consider offering a higher price than you would otherwise have offered because of it? I think I already know the answer, but I'm curious.

Kebab anyone?

Whilst I'm not actually committed either way, a couple of questions remain unanswered in my eyes. (With apologies for the rambling) Regarding Remain: The Prime Minister, head of the IMF, bankers, industrialists, other politicians et al have scared the poop out of us with the warnings about the dangers of leaving. If leaving is going to be such a catastrophe economically, financially, politically, for us as individuals, families, employers, employees etc etc, why is it even in question? If we were debating going to war (again), our opinion would be (has been) irrelevant, so what is the point of elected representatives if the first REALLY important decision in yonks can't be made by them? And why give the decision to poorly-educated, ill-informed, easily-swayed tabloid readers? Isn't that just asking for a bad result? Regarding Leave: How long would any changes actually take to make? We aren't going to just shut the tunnel, pull up the anchor and float off into the Atlantic, never mind how attractive it might sound, especially when you think about it... Will what is left of the EU impose tariffs or massive import/export charges on goods to and from the UK? Will they insist on free movement of people as a condition of continuing trade agreements? If so, what actual difference will there be to today, other than our total inability to change anything because we won't have a say? Workers rights, safety of products you purchase, ability to retire to the sun if you wish and get free healthcare out there (how many Brits have retired to Spain and take advantage of this, even though Spain can't afford it?); All achieved because of EU membership. Nothing to do with human rights has any place in the discussion, as it outside the remit of the EU. Whilst we are a united group, it is unlikely that we will be in serious conflict with the others and those that can afford to will look after those who can't. If these things don't interest you, they should. I heard this somewhere: leaving would be like being in a nightclub with your mates when one of them says " it's crap in here, let's go somewhere else." So you all go outside, giving the doormen some verbal on the way out. Then you realise there is actually nowhere else to go and now you can't get back in. You all end up in a kebab shop at 3 in the morning, arguing about whose fault it was. What happens to all the public figures that back the wrong horse in this race? General election immediately? So I still don't know.

Do we want a thread about the referendum, or is there a danger it will just end up as a dreary, shouty thing, like all the other debates? I suspect there are many conflicting views amongst us, but are we bothered enough to share them?

I heard that