What have you done to your car today?

Acme said:
Just had a minor panic attack as the advert disappeared from AT, gave the dealer a ring and he said he removed it because someone was very close to putting a deposit down on it and they have a limited number of adverts they can use on Autotrader. He said it should still be for sale when I go over to view it at 5PM though.

Fingers crossed... Damn thing has been for sale for weeks, if it gets sold on the day I was going to go and look at it I will be a bit ****ed.

This does somewhat ruin my chances of getting a good deal as well, as he could now just turn around and say that he could just sell it to the other person... :(

Will see what happens...

I suspect that link above is for the right car though, as it is a dead link now. :p
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What do I win for guessing what car it was :D if it's sold then It just wasn't meant to be! Probably better selling your car privately anyway then you can buy my ST220 off me :D much better car than the Corolla ;)
 
Dav4 said:
What do I win for guessing what car it was :D
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I honestly think you deserve to win the internet for 2 reasons:

1. no one actually thought Acme would ever give up the Slowlo, given the care and attention he has lavished it with

2. no one can be believe he actually decided on what car to get


:)
 
I remembered him mentioning the Corolla T Sport quite abit in the past and when he described the seats it was a no brainer. That's if it hasn't actually sold then that would be annoying if it's been on there for weeks
 
Hilux new stater motor gratis though Toyota Warranty, they kick and scream but I get them there in the end, they regret giving me a 2 yr Comprehensive warranty on a now 8yr old 80k Hilux.
 
Not today but over the past 3 days viewed 5 different cars. None of which were as described, wish people would be honest about their cars condition and/or service history.

What I saw ranged from 4 stamps in a book and no receipts at all supposedly being a full service history (3k/68k/79k/106k) through to a 'pristine example' which had lacquer peel on rear tailgate, practically bald front tyres, bad respray on the corner and a wheel bearing groaning noise.

Off to see a 6th car tonight, fingers crossed it'll be better :D

Also now looking private only, given up on lying dealers as I can't stand the bs they come out with.
 
Called up to make some enquiries about this

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...uar-daimler-xj-x350-v8-super-lwb-2004/4396617

jaguar-xjr-v8-super-lwb-S1898525-1.jpg


It's basically the car I've got now but with the highest spec available and the 400BHP supercharged XJR engine, and XJR brakes.

The seller was a very friendly chap and seemed to be an enthusiast (he had a BMW 750 and Mercedes SL500 as well). He'd got it from a friend who'd bought it nearly new, and had always taken it to Jaguar for servicing. Recently, the gearbox broke, and as Jaguar wanted £7k for a replacement, so instead of fixing it, it was given to the seller, who paid for a gearbox from a 50k mile car to be installed, and changed the gearbox oil and filter at the same time.

This didn't put me off, as I'd rather have a replacement gearbox at that mileage as they rarely last over 200k. However, when I asked about the advisories on the MOT, he said the following:

Needs 1 tyre (so 2, really)
Needs pads and discs
Needs rear shock bushes
Surface corrosion to rear subframe (probably just needs attacking with a wire brush and some paint)
Slight seepage from steering rack joint (think that was what he said, can't remember 100%)

All of that combined with the fact that the adaptive cruise isn't working, (so it'd need to be either coded back to the standard system or repaired), and there's a patch of corrosion on the wing makes me think it's just not worth the trouble. He wouldn't take any less than £4k, and I reckon I'd have to throw about £1.5k at the car to get it as I'd want it, and due to the mileage the car it'd be pretty much worthless by the time I've finished with it.

Shame, as it's a lovely spec and colour combo, but I'll just have to keep waiting I reckon. I want to change car by October when my insurance runs out, and I just can't see past the XJR/XJ Super V8. Part of me thinks I'm being boring by going for the same type of car again, but there's just nothing else sub £10k that appeals to me.
 
Tried to learn to understand the unneccisarily complex Clifford alarm that's fitted to my MX5. It seems so utterly inconsistent and very unhappy with me as it's new owner :D
 
Acme doesn't have a new car, because the dealer was an interstellar see-you-next-tuesday, and to be honest I didn't want to do business with him. He also gave me an insultingly low offer for my car (lower than the trade in value that I saw on his screen with my own eyes) and claimed he couldn't hear a suspicious whining noise in third gear, which you could hear over the engine as plain as day...

Are all car dealers like this?
 
Come on, I need something to make me look grown up!


Plus I reckon my flip flops would feel fantastic on that high pile rug in there ;)


Acme > yes, mostly. When you find one that isn't, lock him up and share him with nobody. It's the only way!
 
As for the drive of the car itself though, I didn't really like it. The engine was totally gutless until it got up to about 5K RPM, the clutch was stiff, the gear changes were very short and stiff, the steering wheel was very thin, and the armrest got in the way of the handbrake...

Might look at Polo GTI's in a couple of months. :)
 
Acme said:
Are all car dealers like this?
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Quite likely the ones selling £2500 hot hatches...

If it was T-Sport I'm not a fan. My best mate bought one new in 2003. The engine was utterly gutless below the VVT cut in, so if you wanted to any progress that was faster than a bus it obliterated your eardrums, rolled like a barge round the corners and did sub-30mpg. He chopped it in for a 1.8T Golf within 6 months.
 
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geekman said:
I bought my car from a dealer, was a good £1k cheaper than the equivalent private sale. I wouldn't particularly go for a dealer over a private sale, but if he's found a good car at the right price surely it doesn't matter?
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Looks like his subsequent tale of woe has nicely made my point for me without me needing to elaborate :D
 
To be honest I would have been reasonably happy paying what he asked, but I didn't want to let him feel like he had got away with stitching me up.

He offered me lower than the trade in value of my car, pointed out all of the flaws with my car, wouldn't drop the price of the car he was selling to reasonable levels, and denied any knowledge of any issues with it - All I assume so that he could maximise his profits when he pulled all of that together.

My favourite sentence was "I'll be losing money on it if I let you have it for that!" when I offered him £2200 + the Polo for it.

Pfft, yeah of course you would be mate... :rolleyes:
 
[TW]Fox;28428282 said:
Looks like his subsequent tale of woe has nicely made my point for me without me needing to elaborate :D
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I could tell you my tale of non-woe from buying my car from a dealer if you want? :p

There's bad dealers and bad private sellers, just as there are good ones.
 
He won't want a 1000 quid polo against a sub 3k car. If you were buying a 10k car he'd have enough margin to give you a good tradein, or if you had a 200 quid banger he'd be able to offer you book value. It's just how dealers work - when you said the figures earlier I thought you were miles off.

All dealers are *****s normally but your expectations were pretty unrealistic I reckon.

Also, wasn't your gearbox actually knackered?
 
It would have been perfectly reasonable to accept £2200~ + the Polo (£350~), especially considering the list of things I noticed...

-scratch through to plastic on front bumper
-rubber window trim had separated from the door
-heater didn't blow hot air, only "slightly warm" air
-little scuff on rear bumper
-tiny little dent/dink on the driver side
-badly pitted rear disks
-not much meat left on the pads
-tyres all getting a bit low
-mileage was 2K more than advertised
-aerial was snapped off
-alacantra had slight staining/water damage
-gearknob had separated from the gaiter
-mysterious whining noise which he claimed not to be able to hear, and then pitched the fact that it comes with warranty to me again.

Because of that I wanted to knock £400 off of the overall price, taking it from £2750 down to £2350, but he wouldn't even accept a £200 off offer of £2550, and was a total penis the entire time.
 
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