Beautiful South Martin

Does anyone have a contact for a breaker who deals just in Smart cars. Just sold a 2011 Fortwo with no handbooks other than service history book. Ive promised the lady I would get a book for her. Rang local Smart main dealer who has rang the "FACTORY" and its not available to buy anymore? There's a used one on ebay for £50 which seems a tad excessive......Any advice would be appreciated.

Just took a 2004 BMW 316 1.8 Compact 3 Door in. The front electric windows seem to have a mind of their own. Car sits with doors unlocked and after about 5-10 minutes the 2 front windows just go down by themselves?? Absolutely fine when its locked with the remote fob. Its done it about 6 times this afternoon. Just wondering if anyone has similar issues before I book it into my local sparky.......Thanks

Hi Justina3 Were you already on a deal with G/T and E/B and got it changed when they got together or was it up for renewal? Im on a 18 mnth with Ebay, 12 month in already and about 9 months left on a 12 month G/T package. Ive 20 cars on ebay but only 10 on G/T. Combined Im paying approx £350 a month.

Just rejected a car from local Manheim. Bought online as a grade 2 with two pictures of trolley dents and strong odour in car. Went to collect it turbo whistling its buns off, car needed 2 sides painting and 4 alloys refurbed, crack in rear parcel shelf....not a nice example at all and I would of walked straight passed it if I had actually been at the auction that day. Anyway went straight back to the counter handed over paperwork and keys and said I was refusing the car as it had been graded incorrectly. After several strong emails they agreed to cancel the purchase. It has now been re-graded to a 4 with 16 pictures online. If only we could survey without having to use auctions!! Sorry I mean "survive"

I would renegotiate I pay £130 + VAT a month for 20 cars with 20 pics, and that includes my website! Ive been with them about 2 years now and probably got this deal because they were building up dealers. Its not brilliant return wise, I get much more business off ebay/gumtree but for the money its a no brainer

Jimbo If you send me your email I'll send you a copy of the form I use, not lawgistics, and you can use it as a master copy. I has all this information on it.

Last read off my handheld before it went to auto electrician was P0132 Measurement for the concentration in intermittent oxygen. Short circuit nt to positive. Any thoughts?

Hi Stalker C4 has a flat spot/miss when you pull away and a general lack of power, down to second gear on a hill, also a smell of petrol after it gets warm. So far I'm into a new coil pack, 2 oxygen sensors and a map sensor. Local sparky has had the car a week and seems to think it points towards an ecu fault, really mixed messages on diagnostic, mixture problems and Bank 1 oxygen sensor, hence replacingthem both..... Another option I have been told is both O2 sensors came from Euro car parts, which are not the best and to try a genuine Citroen one. The car is genuine 36k so seems an ecu fault a bit strange.....Any input would be appreciated.

We offer fantastic part exchange prices, amazing interest rates on our finance packages, fantastic 3,6,12 or 24 month warranties, and all of our vehicles are HPI Clear. All cars are fully prepared to a high standard, fully valeted and ready to drive away. We also do deliveries for a competitive prices. Please call to reserve this vehicle today and get the best car buying experience in the market., £11,995 p/x considered You are telling customers you offer fantastic part exchange prices then you are saying p/x considered.....which is it?.....all a bit confusing

Thanks S & B how do you go about doing a wake up procedure?

Ive got a Citroen C4 1.4 Petrol which has been diagnosed by local auto electrician as needing a new ECU unit. I can get a second hand kit, ECU, dashboard body control, keys etc from a local Citroen breaker for about £100+. Only problem is my C4 has only done 36k genuine miles and if I go the 2nd hand route it is going to transfer the mileage off the old unit onto my nice low miler. The chances of finding a used kit with same mileage as mine is probably going to be nigh on impossible. Has anyone had an ecu reprogrammed to mirror the mileage by a auto electrician? or can it not be done? Thanks

I use Close Brothers and they are brilliant. They helped me do all my FCA application, which is a bit of a minefield. Easy online proposal form, very quick payout, normally same day, and some decent commissions too, which arrive in a nice cheque every 4th day of the month. Staff are very helpful and you genuinely feel they are there as your business partner. We push finance quite hard, full credit example on the car screen and in the adverts also. They have a 2nd string they use called Jigsaw finance, it automatically goes to them unless you un-tick the box if its a decline. we have used them once for a deal they accepted and they were an absolute nightmare, totally unprofessional, so we always un-tick the box now with the prop. If its a decline we use First Direct Finance, once set up, online portal, nice and easy to use, no commission but if it gets the deal on worth using.

Our local auto electrician has a little gadget where you point the remote at it and tells you if it is sending a signal or not. If it is then it should just need re sinking to the car, if not your remotes are donalded

Volvo update FIXED!!! Many thanks to Arfur Dealy. Contacted the people (via the link you sent me) by telephone. A really helpful guy answered, asked for registration number of Volvo, so he could work out which engine it had, told him the various codes it was throwing up. Sounds like it needs a new Actuator Position Sensor he says, this is the ebay number, we keep them on the shelf £40 inc VAT and delivery. Arrived this morning, fitted, 20 mile road test, drives like new. HAPPY DAYS. That's what is so brilliant about this forum, helping each other out with advice and our years of combined experience!!! I owe you a pint or 3 Mr Dealy !!!

Yes I ask all customers to sign a disclaimer stating that they have received 2 sets of keys & LW Nut key, PDI sheet and it has been explained to them, been shown all controls in car, have inspected the car before collection and in the event they wish to reject the car or get repairs done it must returned to me, Belt and braces I'm afraid since the CRA came along. Had a chap collect a Saab 9-3 off me last week and a long drive back to top of Scotland. Rang me 5 hours later, kicking off big style saying the passenger side mirror glass had flew off whilst driving home???? Sorry about that Mr customer not something I checked other than made sure it went up and down off the switch. Not a problem though I will send one out to you in the post as they just stick on, 2 minute job. Not good enough why should I have to fix it, should of been checked blah blah blah. After 10 minutes of getting no where I asked him to read the disclaimer he had signed and he would need to return the car to me for repair. Never heard back from him....as I say belt and braces.

Thanks Arfur Dealy I'll look into that tomorrow!

Ive got a Volvo V50 2.0 Diesel Automatic 2008 which is causing a bit of heartache at the minute. When you pull away in lower gears it is missing & snatching at the gears, absolutely fine when warmed up on a long stretch of road. Code on my basic handheld read P2263. Took it to local Auto electrician who said it is either Boost pressure solenoid or the actuator that bolts on the turbo. Went for the cheaper option and got a new solenoid from Volvo. 2 Bolts holding it on, multi-plug on the bottom, a couple of push on vacumn pipes at the back, 5 minute job. Just took it out for a road test and EML back on and still missing when you pull away and to be honest not as quick on flat either. Just rang local Volvo main dealer Actuator not available on its own, part of turbo! My handheld is still reading P2263. Just took it to my MOT guy whose diagnostic is a lot better than mine. His reads as follows: ECM - 003 A Turbocharger/Supercharger Boost Control A Position exceeding Learning Limit ECM- 2263 Turbocharger (TC) control. Faulty signal ECM- 2566 Position sensor turbocharger (TC) Signal missing. If I have to bite the bullet and replace the turbo obviously I will, but just wondering if anyone has had similar problems and found another fix other than replacement turbo? Thanks

Got a very clean 1 owner diesel 4x4 Full 12 months MOT & FSH. Had it up at £3995 and just reduced it to £3695 and included was now price in the advert. ( Cap Retail £4280) Just opened an email sent last night at 11pm "£3000 cash mate" Grrrrrr what is it with these keyboard warriors, they absolutely boil my Pizz. Friggin chancers hiding behind their laptops whilst their wives have probably gone to bed. I won't even entertain his enquiry with a reply. What do you guys do? Sarcastic reply or ignore and move on?

I normally ask that to get the train up and I pick them up from the local train station. The cost of a train ticket will surely out weigh transport costs.

A pal of mine has just started as used car sales manager at a local Vauxhall main dealer, 50-60 used car set up and 3 salesman. He has told me that his employers have targeted him with a stock turn of 2 x month??. Does anyone know what the industry norm is or what anyone on here, with that size pitch, or close to is doing? Just seems a bit excessive to me 100+ units a month!

90k?

Had an interesting conversation with one of the yard staff at my local auction (not one of the big 2). I was waiting for a car to be dug out and we were discussing the poor quality of stuff going through the auctions at the minute. I mentioned there was a lot of finance repoes going through, same cars rolling through every week, no V5s, no history, all needing major paint work. He told that they have an agreement with MONEYWAY Finance that they guarantee to return them 98% of CAP and if they have not sold within 30 days they have to buy them back for that price.....WOW!

Many thanks to everybody for their suggestions but especially to CGF, Changed the drive for the water pump, its like a figure of eight shape with a pull cord on the top to tension it. £83 + VAT (dealer part only) + fitting. Its as quiet as a Sunderland home game!

Yes totally agree I work on a £100 a panel. I pay about £60 for bumper corner or £100 full bumper, odd wing mirror scuff a £10, full side £250. Alloy wheel refurb £35. When I worked at a main dealer it was exactly the same, bodyshop stiff you whenever they could and don't get me started on the parts department charging full retail internally. Its all down to everyone chasing that month end bonus I suppose.

No noise from cold start, just when you put the revs on.