Your new shite procedure.

[twosmoke300]

Having read all the collection threads and the follow ups with great interest I was wondering what everyone did once they bought some new shite ? What are your priorities?

 

Mine is to check the lights n levels to get it home . Then I try and pop it on the ramp within a week to give it a good safety check . Dodgy bits get done asap or it gets moved on .

After a couple of months proving itself it will get a good service and niggles attended to . Only after a long run does a car prove itself fully though . This is why I rode my Ducati from Cornwall to Aberdeen shortly after buying it .

 

I dont spend any time or money on them until I know they are worth it , had my leg lifted too many times .

 

 

So , what do you guys do once you pick up some lovely* new* motor?

[cros]

Brace myself for a good bollocking.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

As soon as I get the at home I give it a good wash/polish/valet. That way you get a good feel for the physical condition of the car

 

I then have a good poke round the oily bits, basically give it a mini MOT and check fluids etc.

 

Then I give it some use, checking fluids etc over a few hundreds miles - after this if the car proves reliable and we have bonded it can stay and I'll make a start on bringing it up to as good a standard as is reasonable for a shiter

[twosmoke300]

Brace myself for a good bollocking.

 

Brilliant !!

[beko1987]

Check ALL the wheel bolts

Drive home

Check ALL the wheel bolts again

Good hoover and wash as above

Bore SWMBO as I trawl the internet for info about said car

Find an owners forum and read every thread regardless of wether its for my specific car or not

Check ALL the wheel bolts once more just to be sure

[Rocket88]

sell it a huge loss six months later......................

[320touring]

Once target is identified:

 

Rally troops

mount either W.B.O.D or iron horse as appropriate.

view car

exchange war stories

Lights/levels/tyre pressures/wheelbolts

finish cuppa

get water-both for car and driver (you can never have too much coolant!)

Proceed in a homewardly direction

marvel/regret as appropriate

t

place name of car onto bottom of the " list of shit that needs doing"

Clean

 

Review bank balance and resolve "never again"

 

*opens gumtree*

[Craig the Princess]

 

Sign v5

Get in

Roof down

Drive home looking at the gauges so and slight change in temperature or if the lights start to go dim.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Drive home shitting myself at every bump,rattle ,helicopter flying overhead, Transit di near me in traffic,change in road surface.

The more expensive and complex the car,the more paranoid I get.

[Asimo]

Get depressed because I find something cheaper, better, more fun and close to home and WANT MORE than the shed I just paid over the odds for and don't like.

 

Because of the above I don't drive it and it sits and rots until it's broken when I take it to pieces and break something expensive. So that gets bodged and I decide the heap has to go 'cause I don't like having stuff that isn't PERFECT!

 

So I decide I hate old cars and make a plan for part-exing everything against a piece of new, find out that all new cars are absolutely shit and the money I'd get as part-ex is close to bridge money...................

 

Then I get back to Autoshite and get inspired to cut my losses and get a #### because then my car life will be complete.......

 

And repeat

[bub2006]

Same procedure for cars and bikes. Check tyre pressure and lights before leaving seller. Once home service and if no proof of belt change then I change cam belt and auxiliary belts. Then I do as much mileage as I can in first couple of weeks to find any issues. Sort of a shakedown so to speak

[Cavcraft]

Mostly, absolutely nothing. I honestly base everything on trust, so just turn up, pay cash and drive off. The only time I'm a little jumpy is if it's a model of vehicle I've not owned before, and even then I just keep an eye on the temp gauge and that'll do me.

 

Just to in increase my sadness rating to level INFINITY, if it's a Vauxhall from 1980 onwards (or thereabouts) I never worry because I've never really had to worry.

[Partridge]

Like They All Do That Sir says, I'll be giving mine a ruddy good clean to find any more faults with the body that I've missed.

 

I already know a fair few faults that will be sorted in the first few weeks though.

 

As much as I like to work on things myself, mine will be going to a specialist pretty soon for a service. A) for a stamp in the book and B ) To have an expert eye look over the car.

[MikeKnight]

sell it a huge loss six months later......................

 

Quoting for truth. I get bored easily and if a car leaves me cold I'll get rid. Life is too short to spend years in a car you don't like.

 

Back on topic though; I'll give it a ruddy good clean then into the workshop to inspect just how high on the "oh god why did I buy this" scale the new acquisition rates.

[fordperv]

Yep when i get shite home it must receive a good clean, hoover and polish. Then it's time to check the mechanicals over, it's been a long time since I've picked something up for me though because I've got too much crap.

[xtriple]

As above really. It's been a while since I bought any real 'shite' so, as I'm in the hands of the dealers (main usually) I just trust them to have done their duty.... Also, I really don't give a fuck, it's warranted so if it breaks, phone call, come and collect it and bring me a courtesy car you knobs! My Insight has been washed and hoovered a few times and I lifted the bonnet to check oils and levels and that's it.

 

However, it doesn't always work like that: bought a brand new Triumph Speed Triple back in 03 and had endless problems with it (new frame eventually as the head bearings just kept pulling through!) and I was seriously unimpressed when my newly PDI d bike was found to have a litre of oil less in it than it should have.

 

When I bought my Merc SL, I spent the entire journey home panicing about every noise, vibration, clunk, rattle etc. I'd skinted myself buying the thing and anything amiss would have been a proper drama!

 

But, back in the day when buying shite was a weekly event, I used to go on 'instinct'! If it felt 'right' I'd trust it to get me home and then, check every inch of the bugger ASAP. Usually, I'd chuck it in for an MOT with the trusted tester just so I could really have a look-see and get a second opinion. I always thought an MOT was a bloody cheap way of getting the car inspected.... so long as the bloke doing it is trusted/a friend and will be honest.

[PiperCub]

Before leave vendor: Check levels under bonnet, check tyres & pressures, check lights - as esp the latter two, if Kevin-the-keen Cop decides to pull you, it's your problem, no use saying 'I just bought it mate' - won't wash.

 

At home: Clean up - get rid of other peoples mess, esp inside, lets you see what you've got.

 

Give a good check-over of everything as there's no limit to the amount of stupid bodges and crap repairs a car can hide, believe me, just when you think you've seen it all, someone will surprise you.

Once you've a list of 'To do' jobs, decide how far I want to go with respect to how long I'm keeping it, usually this involves lube changes, all filters, prob. cambelt etc. Essentially a thorough service because you can bet no-one else has really bothered in living memory to do it! You'll also get to know the car quickly and be able to assess how much life it has left.

 

This should give you a good starting point, then shakedown for a few hundred miles, does it use oil, leak anything, smoke, rattle, piss you off etc. The quicker you find out, the sooner you can decide if you are going to hang onto it or whether it's a bit of a dog and needs to be moved on sooner rather than later.

 

Once shakedown is over and you are pretty happy with it, then you can start spending any other money on it - new tyres etc. tidying it up and so on.

[xtriple]

Cor, I didn't half drip on in my previous post.... what a wanker I am and totally missed the point to boot!

 

I guess I've been lucky in so much as I've never bought a car that's 'hanging'. My personal rule was always: two out of three must be good. That being: mechanics, bodywork, interior.

 

No problem with any one of those three things having problems, but if two of them are needing work, forget it. I lose interest/enthusiasm/desire to spend money far to quickly!

 

I always check oil and water etc as part of pre purchase checks, see if the oil is clean/correct level tells you loads about the way the poor thing has been looked after. Same with the coolant, straight water - why? Where's the bloody anti-freeze and, and.... questions need to be asked.

 

Similarly, suspension, wheels and tyres are all part of pre-purchase checks. I give everything a bloody good shake and then a severe dose of looking at. If dodgy tyres/crap make/tread low then wonder.... And underneath, recent non disclosed welding, exhaust condition/security, any damp spots?

 

But the most important one for me is, the first impression. Does it look 'straight'?  If you really look at a car from a distance of twenty feet first, you can really tell a lot, then get up close and personal and check things out, bumper edges, cills, wheel arches.

 

But, the one that cuts down my travelling the most, is the owner. If they sound like a brain dead mong that cannot string a sentance together coherently, then forget it. If they lie, prevaricate or mess me around, then I'm oot! If they can't answer simple questions about the car (or ask 'which car?') then alarm bells....

 

The last time I was really looking for sheds was with my son. We bought him his Nova for £50 off a mate of mine, and Kyle and I did loads of work to it together to get it 'right' before he used it. It was a cracking little car and he hated it! So we bought him a Mondeo 1.8 from a dealer mate of mine who was fed up with people messing him around. Paid £180 for it and it was a nice tidy car. Mot'd it, serviced it and put BIG wheels (he loves big wheels!) on it and her ran it for ages until he went off to uni.

 

Then, he wanted a Saxo VTR and we went all over the bloody country looking at them. He'd saved up a decent amount to get one and we looked at some right sheds. Some, I'd just look at and walk away, much to his consternation/confusion/disgust! The one I eventually let him buy, was exactly what he was looking for, even had leather interior which is really rare and was mint. Had a few slight mechanical niggles but nothing that needed instant attention, rang his insurance co and drove back from the bottom of Cornwall with no bother. He had that car for ages and it was great, completely neglected and just carried on and on and on ( a bit like me!).

 

Then he sold it and bought an MR2 mk2 on his own. The first time I saw it, I knew it was a bender (been in a big accident) even though it wasn't registered. The panel gaps were all over the place at the front and drivers side and the ABS was faulty and the travel was really long....

 

I said nothing of course, just said what a lovely car and you did well etc. Slowly over the next few months, I sort of pointed out a few of its problems which were born out when he discovered the drivers side cill was 2 inches thick in filler!

 

DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Still, that taught him how to weld and fabricate things and also, he started to question this purchase of his own free will and without me making him feel like a dick. Together we went round it and pointed out all the things we could see that indicated it had had a big shunt and Kyle spotted a few I'd missed. This all has proved really useful to the lad as the next car he bought was his Skyline... the money he spent buying that made my eyes water, but he looked at loads and rejected them for valid reasons and the one he eventually bought, is a cracker! Straight as a die, and over the last three years has been totally reliable.... apart from some of the mods he's done/had done- more lessons learned!

 

Sorry to have gone on so long, but over the years I must have bought thousands of cars for the trade and people I know, and you just get the 'feeling'. Now I just look at a car and will walk away as I can see it's a 'wrong'un' without even getting close.

[dollywobbler]

Let's see. After buying the XM I didn't so much as check the fluids before heading home in it. I think I did check the fluids before heading off on a cross-country road trip in it a few days later. That's usually how it goes for me. Just getting the car home is the first roadtrip, so a chance for a car to prove itself. I've never been let down yet, which when you consider how little I pay for cars and how far away I live from anywhere, is remarkable really.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Based on my last purchase

 

1. Check fluids, 1st, reverse and handbrake, no road test undertaken.

2. Drive home without tax as Sunday afternoon and no postoffice open

3. Leave on driveway for 2 weeks, realise battery needs a charge

4. Drive to Tesco, get petrol, think car may be crap

5. Drive to Shitefest, learn to love car, have great weekend

[oldcars]

Not enough   My chod collection went, pick up reliant, overheat, take back to seller who was kind enough to fix. Get train home - note to self by a return in the future. Go down again and try round two a few weeks later, this time with breakdown cover. Breakdown and get recovered home. Get shouted at, no tea go to bed.

 

I would do it all again, top fun 

[Pillock]

Usually, start saving to fix all the bits that I didn't notice were broken before I handed over cash.

[cort1977]

Mine's boring - check levels, drive home.   Change oil, wash it, make a list.

[Parky]

Been a while but usual routine is new engine and gearbox oil, coolant, brake fluid and a damn good look at the brakes. An afternoons work and eighty quid or so and at least I know that the basics are as they should be.

 

After that its just cleaning and making sure things like windows go up and down smoothly and anything loose gets tightened up but that's stuff you can do as you go. I think I can say the cars I have bought have always left me in better order than when they arrived!

[mercrocker]

One thing I do try to do if buying something is leave it idling as long as possible after a road test.   If it hasn't boiled up after 20 minutes or so I am still interested.    Surprising how many 190Es have failed this test - one or two quite spectacularly.   Once home, remove all PO shit such as mats, stickers, air fresheners* or funny* tax disc holders.   Order replacement number plates that actually look right for the car.   Join the relevant forum, get my sign-on and probationary period and never look on there again.   Spend six weeks listening for noises that I am sure weren't there when I bought it and approximately the same length of time unfavourably comparing minor details of seat adjustment or ventilation with the car I had before.   I also seem to be plagued with inaccurate or plain busted fuel gauges too, so I have developed the habit of learning the mileage range that will guarantee a gallon or two left in the tank.   I am not a natural car buyer which is why I hang on to them for as long as possible.....

[vulgalour]

Turns out I'm getting lazy, in order of collection:

 

Princess - Hear it running, have a thorough poke about, find a few issues, haggle quite a bit, get someone else to drive it home and realise afterwards I've still managed to buy a bit of a dog but carry on regardless, fixing stuff as I go.  Drive later at stupid o'clock.

 

Ledbury - Inspect thorougly, take for test drive, mention a few niggles which are resolved, see no need to haggle, pay cash and drive home.

 

BX - Look at ALL THE PICTURES, totally underestimate the scale of the job, get someone else to fail to drive it home because it broke, carry on regardless, drive as much as possible.

 

Xantia - Familiarise self with controls, check bodywork, hear it running, hand over cash, drive home.  Wheels try to fall off.  Put them back on and drive home again.

 

Corsa - Check photos online, familiarise self with controls, drink tea, CHECK NOTHING, drive home without incident.

 

 

I always tell myself to check for rust and problems and haggle and be a hard nose about it all but I find I buy cars from nice people who are honest and the cars are so cheap there's no point arguing about the foibles.

[burraston2006]

Everyone seems so organised. All I do is check which side the filler cap is on and that the cigarette lighter works! If it's still going after a couple of weeks I may check the fluids etc if the car has behaved it's self. I'm either very lucky or the breakdown gnomes haven't got my address as I've not bought a pup yet!  Touch wood,spin round three times etc!!

[JohnK]

With me I very much go on instinct. It's always good to speak to the seller before heading off to look at te car (especially if distance is involved). Genuine sellers who know you are travelling a distance will tell you little niggles on the phone. If somebody doesn't, I tend to make it clear on the phone that they might as well tell me so I know, so that I don't waste either of our times.

 

Just looking at a car when I turn up can give me all the information I need. When I bought my Mk3 Escort i thought it was slightly overpriced so planned to haggle on arrival. When I got there and checked the car out, I determined it was a steal so paid up without haggling. Hence why I he annoyed with time wasters who try to haggle behind a laptop 200 miles away.

 

I must admit I generally don't check fluids etc until I get the car home. Then it's a thorough clean up and a service so that you know it has been done. Touch wood, I've only screwed up once (Seat Toledo with a knackered water pump - I didn't check it over at all and it conked out on me in no time, but for 300 quid I couldn't argue too much).

[MarvinsMom]

what i've ended up doing is give the car a good look over, check levels etc, pay deposite and then collect .

 

then when i've got it home, wash and admire, then drive it abit and make a (mental) list of what needs looking at.

 

if its a keeper, then a good service- oil, water, belts, brakes....

 

then get bored/loose patience/ well at a (usually) massive loss.

 

i make wheeler dealers cry. i seem to buy expensive, puit right and then sell cheap, what a dummy!!

[twosmoke300]

If buying a bike I always ask if the reserve and or fuel gauge works. Usually after the sale tho.