James Bush

Welcome back and good luck.......

I'd probably do a proxy alignment and see if that solves it. If not diagnostic scan should point to if its a Blue and Me module failure. If it is you can pick the modules up off ebay for £40-£50, just make sure its the same part number and then its about 1-2 hours labour. I'd check for an insurance black box type thing, which if its a Punto tend to be fitted behind the glovebox, I now some insurance companies now don't offer black boxes on Fiats and Alfa due to the issues they cause.

If bluetooth isn't operating it'll be the Blue and Me unit - the speedos flash on Fiat and Alfa to indicate a none engine related issue. We've replaced a good few blue and me units. Can buy a second hand one, plug and play and they're located behind the glovebox, once fitted do a proxy alignment, it would be worth doing this first just to see if it cures the issue. Very common and we've replaced around 10 this year. We normally find its been caused by some aftermarket electric item been fitted, most common on the Punto is an insurance black box but others are hard wired dashcams, different head units etc. Any decent diagnostic machine will perform the proxy alignment, we use Snapon.

Yesterday a family friends transit was stolen from their driveway in Grantham, Lincolnshire area. WN63 ODJ. Due to the stress of this the owner today died of a heart attack. Please keep your eyes and ears open, it’s probably long gone now but these people need to know what damage they cause in what’s often described as a victimless crime as they’re insured so on the off chance anybody is offered anything. RIP

messaged you

You could find out as long as you don’t need to come out backwards :-) could be the best £1000 you ever spend :-)

I haven't given a lot for it, and honest customer told me about the no reverse. I've watched a few go through auction and are always amazed and the prices they fetch

We've just taken a 58 reg Jimny in px, fairly tidy thing, few rust blebs around back window and the front bumper has a small crack low low. 138k mile with excellent service history. Starts, drives and stops fine and its an Auto - only issue is there's no reverse gear - any buyers for it? Thanks

Grimsby is near me, 20 miles up the road. If you need any help give us a shout, I’ve a few trade contacts in Grimsby so should be able to help. Libera and Son on railway street are a decent small and honest place.

I drive a 6 series and its i-drive (same system i think?) goes really lazy every now and again and eventually stops working. Remove all CD's, DVD discs etc from and then remove battery, then do as suggested above, test and fully charge. Refit battery and off you go. I've been told not to leave the DVD sat nav disc in the unit unless I'm using the sat nav and also make sure they keys are a long way away from the vehicle when not in use.....apparently they have a get ready mode or something when they can still detect the keys and they never shut down 100%............sounded a load of hear say advice but a few months on and mines behaving perfectly.

Just a heads up, revived this email enquiry and when you click on the link it takes you to a ebay login page - obvious signs of a scam to me but further so when you see the webpage is addressed "eday"

I’d agree, all about due diligence. If you’ve got a paperwork trial to show you’ve checked everything and you found nothing suspicious then you’ll be ok. PX form that customer signs to say it’s correct, MOT history with no jumps in mileage, condition of the car (I presume there’s nothing to suggest it was clocked) and the fact somebodies been driving it around for the last couple of years without any worries. I’d also ask to see what evidence they have to suggest it’s clocked, sometimes obvious MOT input errors flag it up as a discrepancy.

We use it for colour changes of wheels and its fairly easy to do, and if you make a mistake just peel it off. Use proper platidip though and not the cheaper versions as we've tried some and it can be a nightmare. Like anything like this its all in the perpetration and it won't cover gouges so sand them away or it makes them stand out even more and use there thinners. When you 1st apply it will look awful and you'll be thinking what have you do but let it dry and it all kind of settles, also if you can get the wheels off the car and do it on a flat surface its easier. We buy it from here www.matt-pack.co.uk some wheels and a grille we did ourselves......

When I started up i didn’t have a website and soon realised how important it was for customers to see an online presence. After been scared to death by the costs I went with a My 1&1 website which you build yourself, fairly easy once you get your head around it I think it cost around £6 per month and gives you a email address as well so you don’t have to use a gmail or Hotmail one which I think gives the customer confidence. I now how a cardealer5 one, their basic package isn’t that expensive and then you can up spec it with what you need. Looking back if I knew about cardealer5 at the time I’d have just gone with them in their basic package.

My friends has his car stolen. Smashed through his patio doors and stolen with keys.

The strangest request was a PlayStation and flat screen TV!! The strangest actual car was a Suzuki X90 - soft top, 2 seat small 4x4 looking thing. Just horrible. The biggest cock up was a Ford camper van. Rang a big local camper place and gave them all the details, checked for leaks and damp patches where they told me and they gave me a bid. Hit the guy with it and he snapped my hand off. A week later camper people came, showed them the thing and they fell about laughing. The guy had apparently bought the worst cheap camper and stuck the most expensive, best stickers on it!!! Oops

What is the car and have you tried to chase previous history up? We always try and do a bit of investigation work via manufactures customer care line of previous MOT testing stations and can normally come up with a few more services.

We've used Goo Gone in the past and it works OK and then finished with a bit of texture paint and make a "feature" out of the radio surround area. I think anything like a phone holder to go over it will have to be HUGE to cover it.

Downloaded and tried a couple of times, can seen it been quite A useful app, thanks. Just one thing, the moving background is soooooooo annoying, makes my eyes go funny, but I am a speccy (speccy emoji) And what does the pro version get us?

Hi try 1&1 internet and set your own up from one of the templates. It's how I started off and you can get some professional looking results with a little time.

Highest mileage we've taken in recently is 180k miles P Reg, 1 owner from new, full history.......Ford ka......and he haggled me up from £50 to £100!!

Can you sort mine please? Thanks in advance.

I can get into buy and sell area but not the private lounge, do I need to do anything further? Thanks

I used to buy a fair bit of DA but now only buy from a very very select dealers I've already dealt with. It just seems main dealers are happy to screw over the independents and I just got tired of having my time and money wasted going to collect cars that when you turn up have obvious issues or dmamage that was unreported, DA don't want to know about any issues are are very unwilling to help. My worse experience came from the Vauxhall dealer in hartlepool who advertised a Alfa 159 as all good which struggled to start, leaked oil, had 2 tyres down to cords, paint spilt on the rear leather seats (obviously I left the car with them) and I only got to see the car after hanging around in the showroom for 40 minutes, there was only a service customer and myself in the place. All sales staff were hidden in the managers office and in the end I just walk up and knocked on the door which I was told was rude!!! Oh and searching DA on the way home the Alfa was relisted with the exact same advert hours later adapted DA assured me they would be investigating. DA just said some dealers are better that others but there's little they could do.

I used to post on here a bit but after a customer pointed out one of my posts to me I stopped. I agree as it's a dealer forum any tom or dick shouldnt be able to read it, a few trade secrets are given here which after a simple google search a customer could read. I personally think a few more would join if it were closed.