Dave's collection fail.

[Joey spud]

The "send a van to assess" first is a real gripe for the Patrol too.

 

We know it's going to be fooked or not towable (even to a place of safety) but we still have to attend even if it's just to do a membership check.

 

The mindset is if the job is sent to a patrol it is off the dispatchers screen and someone elses problem.

 

Then there is the problem of not enough recovery trucks and contractors available to do the recovery work,so if you send a patrol it looks like you are at least managing the breakdown.

 

Then you could argue that breakdown cover is too cheap.

 

All the time the AA,RAC and Green flag are undercutting each other then the money available for more recovery trucks or better rates paid to the contractors isn't there.

The breakdown bussiness in the uk is in a race to the bottom.

 

A big contractor in SE London went bust last week.

[Captain Furious]

I can understand it from the breakdown services perspective, flatbeds are a finite resource so you don't want them tied up on jobs that could be fixed at the roadside or towed with a smaller vehicle.  And you can't trust the average motorists evaluation of things.

 

With mine the thing that griped was I'd already had the transit van out to assess....they called the flatbed, a flat bed from the same company came out and immediately declared he couldn't take the caravan because "he didn't know there was one" and didn't have the correct electrics for the lights (24v instead of 12v) - flatbed #2 (from a different company) came and declared they could take the car and caravan but not all the passengers because they didn't know there was 3 of us and it wasn't a crew cab... fortunately he stayed until flatbed #3 arrived - he could take the passengers and car but not the caravan because the driver didn't have a class 1 licence...in the end flatbed #2 took the car and one of the passengers while flatbed #3 took the caravan and the rest of us.

 

It was a pretty cool adventure in the end..

 

 

 

Incidentally, Crouches were pretty spot on in the effort to eventually get us home, the problem seemed to be communication from AA dispatch, even though I was onto them almost constantly to make sure they knew the situation. 

 

[Isaac Hunt]

OMG, Three Flatbeds and a Van, epic

[Lacquer Peel]

FFS it's some old shite - if we are expecting fit for purpose the majority of us better stop selling cars on here

 

It's not a £200 banger, it's an older pickup advertised in glowing terms that davenumbers may have paid something in the region of ten times that to purchase.

 

I'd be pissed off even it was a £200 banger, not everyone has oodles of disposable income.

[AnthonyG]

It's a 52 plate. That may be new to people on here, out in the real world it's a nearly 15 year old commercial vehicle and there's no chance of any redress unless the seller flat-out misdescribed it.

[Kiltox]

Didn't say he can't be pissed off but getting all "OMG FIT FOR PURPOSE" will undoubtedly get him nowhere.

[Lacquer Peel]

£1600 and a private seller. I thought it might have been from a dealer. At least davenumbers has the means to fix it.

[dave21478]

The whole "fit for purpose" misdescribed thing boils down to can i prove he knew about the fault at the time of the sale?

I can't. Simple as that.

 

I am not going to get all trading standards on him because it's a dead end and I have neither the time nor the inclination for it.

 

The sale was done outside of eBay so there is no redress there either.

 

Of course I am pissed off about it but it's not the end of the world. The price I paid is fair for what the car is. It's going to cost me a gasket set, a check and skim, then a little more in travel costs.

It's stored safely off the road now so I can fly home tomorrow to get back to my job and earn some pennies, buy the parts I need, assemble the tools I will need and then book travel back over when prices are low.... Among the many errors this weekend doing this during the first week of school holidays was a bad one.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Be prepared to buy a complete head, these are well known for cracking them. We had one at work, needed a new head at 33k!

Also needed a new EGR valve which was eye wateringly expensive due to being water cooled....

Bear in mind being a government vehicle we were stuck with our contracted service provider so Probably paid more than we should have

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[dave21478]

Yeah, there are plenty of new heads on eBay for a few hundred pounds.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Beyond that they are quite nice things to drive, and perky enough given how heavy they are.

Allegedly the one we had would drift quite well on wet roundabouts but I wouldn't know about that now officer

 

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Mally]

Be careful when lifting your bag full of tools into the overhead lockers

[320touring]

Amma just sit this here

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142519256070

[John F]

320touring, on 26 Sept 2017 - 10:24 PM, said:

Amma just sit this here

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142519256070

 

That frontal pic looks like an Allegro!

 

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I hadn't seen this first time around....... luckily I've only had one kit car strand me in similar circumstances. I train'd it back to Belgo-ville.

 

What's the latest on this Dave? Any idea on a timeline for fix n roll home?

[dave21478]

Dunno. I am tempted to just get cartakeback to lift it and move on.

[320touring]

Dunno. I am tempted to just get cartakeback to lift it and move on.

Do that and buy the beige honey with the proceeds

[DodgyBastard]

Dunno. I am tempted to just get cartakeback to lift it and move on.

How much are you after for it?

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

How much are you after for it?

 

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

 

I knew this was in the offing from one or another Shitter............... go on, go on, go on, ad infinitum

[Guest Hooli]

It's off to the FOAD of dreams.

[Mally]

If it had landed up near me I'd have had it running and delivered it to the ferry by now.

.............Maybe.

It is a lot more expense and still a risk for Dave to do though.

Must be worth a go if you live up that way. It looks quite nice.

[dave21478]

I will be in Aberdeen in October so will decide then.

 

There is no solution that leaves me with much change from a grand, and a few that will cost significantly more, plus I dislike the idea of doing a major job like a head gasket and then immediately driving it 1400 miles. If it breaks down again with a similar fault RAC will just laugh and hang up the phone.

 

If I sack it off I take a big hit on the purchase price, and I still need another truck, but buying something else leaves me wide open to more of the same fuckery.... This seems like a good one apart from the obvious and has one of the cleanest MOT histories of this type of truck at this price you will likely find....not a hint of structural corrosion ever mentioned. The chassis has surface rust on the back end, but its just a wire-brush and paint job rather than 4 days of welding as most others are.

 

I am not going to lug my tools over to fix it.....too heavy, too expensive and what about when something rounds off and needs a nut welded on....do I bring the MIG just in case? what about the helicoil kit? maybe I should bring some...etc etc....

 

I have some ideas in the pipeline so will decide when I have given it another look over.

[somewhatfoolish]

Shirley the correct answer is the ARSE relay to end all relays, push it onto a ferry or the chunnel, then trailer back to Chez Numbers for OMGHGF repair at your leisure?

[Lacquer Peel]

If you want some help* with it in October I'll be available on some week days (13th, 18th)

Do you need much more than a well equipped socket set and a torque wrench?

Happy to follow you to Dundee or somewhere to make sure it's running okay.

[dave21478]

A very kind offer LP, thank you. Im not going to decide anything until I have had another look round it though.

[Supernaut]

In a similar vein, I'm in Aberdeen and available most weekends in October apart from the 7th / 8th

[dave21478]

Groovy...might be the time to have a extra-northern meetup? I have met Tayne, but nobody else from the area....fish supper/pint/whatever? I am there from the 11th.

[Supernaut]

Groovy...might be the time to have a extra-northern meetup? I have met Tayne, but nobody else from the area....fish supper/pint/whatever? I am there from the 11th.

It's about time I saw Tayne again. I live about a mile from him! Been a busy couple of months.

[beko1987]

I'd love to see a big group shitter repair thread! Surely the svm/Northern contingent have enough tools for a full engine rebuild and square sausages all round?

 

Or just hammer an xud over it

[twosmoke300]

I've got a fairly handy mate that lives between Aberdeen and Ellon that may be able to lend some tools etc