CGF

With the Saabs, you’d expect it to be just the Aeros etc but no, the 2006+ base 1.8t autos are up there too.

Almost certainly an ABS sensor/pick up issue. Traction control thinks a wheel has lost traction and cuts power accordingly.

My money is on a stretched chain too...very common in these. Don’t let the constantly running fan lead you down the coolant temp sensor route...they will default to a permanent ‘fan on’ if there’s an engine management issue.

Last years cheque wasn’t cashed until March. Still no confirmation or anything yet this year.

We got exactly the same letter this morning...the address is correct but the garage name bears no resemblance at all to us? I've tried to upload it here but it's too large, apparently?

Anything below 12.5v resting on most moderns is bad news. Needs to be 12.7v+ ideally.

That's the badger, although ECP sell the pulley and bearing on its own for around £23 from memory. Done a couple, you still need to remove the whole assembly but once it's off the car, there's a T30 bolt holding it on from behind.

Everything's still for sale until you're holding a deposit. If tomorrow's customers were that keen, they'd have either come over straight away or paid a holding deposit over the phone. The only time I'll hold a vehicle is when someone's traveling from a distance in which case I'll ask them to call us once they're leaving to let me know they're on their way at which point I will hold it for them until they arrive.

Bought an ambulance from Bradford banger auctions back in the mid 90s...old V6 transit I believe complete with red leatherette stretchers etc. No one offered a bid so Johnny looked over, mouthed £150 at me and misread my look of complete disinterest as a valid sign of affirmation. Needless to say, everyone propping up the burger shed in the corner found this highly amusing. My mech who'd come along for the evening was only too happy to drive it back to Leeds...can't say I was overly joyed at being overtaken at the red lights at Thornbury by a tatty looking transit on blues and twos but figured it was his licence so hey? Anyhow, gave it a wash and stuck it on the ad on trader following week at a speculative multiple of the purchase price....unbelievably, the phone started ringing at 7.15 on the Friday morning that the rag came out and was still going well into the following week. Needless to say, it had gone by lunchtime to a guy from Barnsley who was going to convert it into a camper...

Have a look around the water pump. There's an idler pulley that runs off the outer of the aux belt and drives the water pump. Daft set up but if the bearings are noisy (£12.50 from ECP) or the pulley itself has rubber residue from the belt, it can sound like this under higher revs.

Too right. I availed myself of a chicken curry earlier on at Preston and I'm paying for it now.

Another vote from me...it really is a potential nest of vipers that you don't need under any circumstances. Not to mention the potentially quickest way to lose friends and make enemies. As an aside, assuming the cars are viable retail stock for you, why not encourage them to get a valuation from WBAC, then look to step in with a (slightly) higher offer as a 'friend in the trade'?

You're entitled to reduce the amount you refund to take into account the mileage covered by the customer...however, after three days and with the punters head full of tales of woe courtesy of Halfords, you may find it difficult to get them to accept this. At the end of the day, I'd probably just take it on the chin and lick my wounds....even if you did stick to your guns and attend to any issues, the buyer is never going to be happy and will be on your doorstep every week with one issue or another. As stated above, it really is imperative to get the vehicle back in these circumstances rather than letting a third party get involved...I know it's a bit late now but it's something to bare in mind in the future... :-)

Nice looking website, Mat...I may well have a chat with them when I get a few more things in place with the new showroom.

Currently in an old 528i with cloth seats and 170k that I took in px...trouble is, it drives beautifully with no creaks or groans and I can't bring myself to scrap it. It's actually got FSH, the last one of which cost more than the cars value! Having said that, I've got a leggy but tidy E220 diesel W211 coming in next week in a deal so the beemers days could be numbered :-(