The new news 24 thread

[Lord Sterling]

This plating job sounds alright Ls. Driving cars and meeting folk. How is it realistically?

In a few words; Utterly brilliant, unique, frustrating, tiring and expensive.

 

Utterly brilliant as you get to see parts of the country, your office window is often a wilderness of beautiful greenery, different little towns ditted all around and the countryside etc... You are not having to go to the same place everyday sat between 4 walls surrounded by a bunch of twats who don't like you that you are forced to work with and no one is really breathing down your neck.

 

But like most jobs, it has its frustrations; failed jobs, (cars you have reject due to dangerous defects/bald tyres) smarmy arrogant unhelpful dealers/customers, travelling costs, crappy public transport, other drivers, places that be found, time limits and not really knowing where your gonna be/sleeping from one day to the next.

 

It can be very tiring as I'm finding out now. Many early starts and late finishes are usually down to traffic and the distance you travel.

 

Travelling from job to job can be fairly wallett hurting. Depending on your employment structure, you can either have this cost reimbursed every week or get most of it back in a chunk by the end of the financial year if you are self-employed. If starting out in this game, you really need a chunk of money behind you and be savvy about finding overnight digs if you work for a company like mine.

 

Also, it is important that you can drive pretty much whatever they throw at you (and of course according to your licence entitlements) you can't turn up to a job and refuse it because you don't like a certain car's driving position/handling etc... it just wastes everyones time including yours.

 

It's not a job that suits everyone, money can be a bit up and down, some weeks are great, some not.

[Semi-C]

Purchased 4 x pneu tyres for my lass's Liana in 185/65/14 guise.

 

£114 fitted, at my local garage. They're Mohawks according to the sidewall, initial reports find them sufficiently adequate.

 

Also a coincidence is the tyres they've replaced were bald apart from a strip down the middle.

[warren t claim]

In a few words; Utterly brilliant, unique, frustrating, tiring and expensive.

 

Utterly brilliant as you get to see parts of the country, your office window is often a wilderness of beautiful greenery, different little towns ditted all around and the countryside etc... You are not having to go to the same place everyday sat between 4 walls surrounded by a bunch of twats who don't like you that you are forced to work with and no one is really breathing down your neck.

 

But like most jobs, it has its frustrations; failed jobs, (cars you have reject due to dangerous defects/bald tyres) smarmy arrogant unhelpful dealers/customers, travelling costs, crappy public transport, other drivers, places that be found, time limits and not really knowing where your gonna be/sleeping from one day to the next.

 

It can be very tiring as I'm finding out now. Many early starts and late finishes are usually down to traffic and the distance you travel.

 

Travelling from job to job can be fairly wallett hurting. Depending on your employment structure, you can either have this cost reimbursed every week or get most of it back in a chunk by the end of the financial year if you are self-employed. If starting out in this game, you really need a chunk of money behind you and be savvy about finding overnight digs if you work for a company like mine.

 

Also, it is important that you can drive pretty much whatever they throw at you (and of course according to your licence entitlements) you can't turn up to a job and refuse it because you don't like a certain car's driving position/handling etc... it just wastes everyones time including yours.

 

It's not a job that suits everyone, money can be a bit up and down, some weeks are great, some not.

http://autoshite.com/topic/9407-a-bit-of-a-strange-working-day-moderns/?hl=kowalski

[Ghosty]

Purchased 4 x pneu tyres for my lass's Liana in 185/65/14 guise.

 

£114 fitted, at my local garage. They're Mohawks according to the sidewall, initial reports find them sufficiently adequate.

 

Also a coincidence is the tyres they've replaced were bald apart from a strip down the middle.

 

One of our Civics had Mohawks on it, and they were a much of a muchness budget tyre. A bit crap, and no use on a car like a 2000 Civic that actually handles pretty well, but for just knocking about, they do the job.

[cros]

Going to see a caravan tomorrow -I is officially middle aged/old giffer in waiting as it seems a nice way to avoid hotels &   B'n'Bs and take the dog.

 

The fact I haven't got a working towbar fitted despite having two of them is neither here nor there!

 

In work related news one of the assistant managers was taken away by the rozzers this afternoon on suspicion of theft.  Apparently he's been issuing no receipt cash refunds to himself for some time.

I had misgivings about the old twat aspect of caravan ownership, but it was eased by having met the criteria anyway. We saved a fortune on holiday this month.

I got fed up with crap B&Bs, at one recently the bog wasn't screwed down and swivelled round when I sat on it. I've now got a caravan with this feature for 50 quid a night less.

Pictures expected.

[Guest Hooli]

Also a coincidence is the tyres they've replaced were bald apart from a strip down the middle.

Under inflation does that (so does cornering like a twat)

[cros]

Took the family for a week in southern Spain where I did a little spottage much their chargrin.

 

 

 

This was parked inside the bullring at Ronda...I can only assume it was waiting to be put out of its misery

20160606_140112.jpg

I've stayed at Ronda a couple of times, went once in the Sherpa (camping) and once in AH Sprite. There was one of those scooters with two front wheels parked at the Bullring, first time I ever saw one. Not keen on the sport myself so we looked round the museum up the road where theres a section devoted to Spanish torture implements. The devices looked medieval, but the label on a device that goes round your head and allows a screw to be driven into the back of the neck said it was in use in the 1950's. Nasty.

[HillmanImp]

Without actually doing any maths, caravan ownership doesnt add up. However, as I said, i have no idea how much it is to do as i dont know:

 

How much it costs to park up a caravan at a campsite.

 

Park up a caravan over winter if your not using it (and aren't keeping it at home).

 

By how much does a caravan reduce your MPG as a percentage if you rack up a lot of miles in it.

 

However using EU referendum type adding up (i.e. None, I'm just winging it) the combination of these things, with the cost of the caravan seems to be considerably more than i woukd ever spend on some top notch accommodation every time i go away.

[Guest Hooli]

Without actually doing any maths, caravan ownership doesnt add up. However, as I said, i have no idea how much it is to do as i dont know:

 

How much it costs to park up a caravan at a campsite.

 

Park up a caravan over winter if your not using it (and aren't keeping it at home).

 

By how much does a caravan reduce your MPG as a percentage if you rack up a lot of miles in it.

 

However using EU referendum type adding up (i.e. None, I'm just winging it) the combination of these things, with the cost of the caravan seems to be considerably more than i woukd ever spend on some top notch accommodation every time i go away.

That's true.

£15-20 a night if you want leccy, or more at a posh site.

£200+.

25% minimum.

 

Plus the misery of driving around with it, you can't enjoy roads when you're having to tow a hovel.

 

I'm sure it's cheaper to use B&Bs, much nicer too.

[Kiltox]

LIVECOLLECTION

 

 

It's not Autoshite so I won't bother with a dedicated thread

[skattrd]

Without actually doing any maths, caravan ownership doesnt add up. However, as I said, i have no idea how much it is to do as i dont know:

 

How much it costs to park up a caravan at a campsite.

 

Park up a caravan over winter if your not using it (and aren't keeping it at home).

 

By how much does a caravan reduce your MPG as a percentage if you rack up a lot of miles in it.

 

However using EU referendum type adding up (i.e. None, I'm just winging it) the combination of these things, with the cost of the caravan seems to be considerably more than i woukd ever spend on some top notch accommodation every time i go away.

 

That's similar to my thoughts on campers.

I like the idea, but don't want to drive around in a 30yr old van with a bungalow on the back of it.

[Keymaster]

That's similar to my thoughts on campers.

I like the idea, but don't want to drive around in a 30yr old van with a bungalow on the back of it.

Ultimately it depends what you use one for.

 

I use my camper mostly for events where there are no b&b's/hotels nearby... or if there are then the prices are outrageous because "supply and demand"

 

Because I'm sad, I keep a spreadsheet of the costs of the camper and the potential costs of the alternative accommodation available. If at any point it becomes more expensive to keep the camper then the poor old Talbot will be punted on, but so far it works out that it's actually paying for itself... It costs about £1k a year to run & use, but I'm saving about £2k a year vs alternative options.

 

It doesn't stop it being a miserable and slow driving experience mind you

[Cavcraft]

It was November last year I picked up my brand new car. Today was a mileage milestone day...

 

 

... I also definitely did NOT discover that a 1.0 litre Vauxhall is only at 5k revs doing 100mph. Not me M8.

[cobblers]

I thought two months was excessive for it:

[Six-cylinder]

I thought two months was excessive for it:

In my Fiat 500 I did 2,000 miles in 14 months, that was when Mrs Cyl suggested I should sell the drive ornament while it still had some value!

 

It did look stunning and even now I miss it looking good on the drive.

[twosmoke300]

The other thing with caravan ownership is that you may end up driving a bigger more expensive to run car all year just to pull the caravan twice a year

[vulgalour]

Not really news, but I think I spotted Vulgalour in his Rover coming off the A1 at Newark. Either that or there are 2 red Rover 400s with black roofs driven by men in trilbys.

 

I managed to get some internet to find out if it really was you I saw hurtling off the roundabout of DEATH in the Aerodeck, which, btw, looks ace.  I'm Lincolnshireland for the weekend and the Bourne show.

[Kiltox]

On the final train of the morning. Standing room only.

[M'coli]

Camper: costs around £500 or so to insure, tax and MOT for a year, it does about 25mpg, campsites with electric vary from £15-25 a night but you can just park and sleep in some places.  As compensation, here's the view as I woke up one morning two weeks ago.

 

[Guest Hooli]

I can haz builders van!

 

 

110 reclaimed tiles to finish the garage seem to compress the suspension a touch...

 

 

(Still hasn't FTP'd btw)

[Craig the Princess]

I thought the first picture was showing a coolant leak :-S

[kfsgo]

In a few words; Utterly brilliant, unique, frustrating, tiring and expensive.

 

Utterly brilliant as you get to see parts of the country, your office window is often a wilderness of beautiful greenery, different little towns ditted all around and the countryside etc... You are not having to go to the same place everyday sat between 4 walls surrounded by a bunch of twats who don't like you that you are forced to work with and no one is really breathing down your neck.

 

But like most jobs, it has its frustrations; failed jobs, (cars you have reject due to dangerous defects/bald tyres) smarmy arrogant unhelpful dealers/customers, travelling costs, crappy public transport, other drivers, places that be found, time limits and not really knowing where your gonna be/sleeping from one day to the next.

 

It can be very tiring as I'm finding out now. Many early starts and late finishes are usually down to traffic and the distance you travel.

 

Travelling from job to job can be fairly wallett hurting. Depending on your employment structure, you can either have this cost reimbursed every week or get most of it back in a chunk by the end of the financial year if you are self-employed. If starting out in this game, you really need a chunk of money behind you and be savvy about finding overnight digs if you work for a company like mine.

 

Also, it is important that you can drive pretty much whatever they throw at you (and of course according to your licence entitlements) you can't turn up to a job and refuse it because you don't like a certain car's driving position/handling etc... it just wastes everyones time including yours.

 

It's not a job that suits everyone, money can be a bit up and down, some weeks are great, some not.

 

That sounds about right - I work for a vaguely reputable phone company's van tinkering dept and so end up talking to a few dozen movement drivers a week - most of the ones driving for smaller subcontractors are completely exhausted all the time, stories of being on the road from 2am and expecting to be on the road until 2am (this when taking a van from us at 4:59 to jet off down the M62!) are common and it shows even before they leave us - had one just this week who neglected to close the back doors of the van he'd just finished giving a once-over and drove off with them flapping in the wind, not a glance at his mirrors or anything; cue failed chase down the road and covering about 5 miles before I got through to one of his colleagues on the phone to stop him !. 

 

Drivers employed by the larger companies/auction houses seem a lot more relaxed - lot more semi-retired/hobbyist/'smart' drivers, like the one regular we have who spends six months driving and then takes off to South Africa for the other six, more likely to have a regular team and bus driver to shuttle them around, try to keep normal business hours etc. Don't think the pay is any better, but conditions far less awful. I think I could manage the latter, the former would kill me stone dead pretty quickly...

[Largactil]

A few of the local lads are off to France to cheer on Ireland, and have created an Autoshite camper specifically for the purpose...

 

 

It's currently down in Bordeaux, and has only 'failed to proceed' three times so far. Not bad!

[andy18s]

Watch out for low bridges..........

[Largactil]

It's come on a bit...

 

 

 

 

[oldcars]

Lot of work gone into that. Paint looks good too, was it rollered?

[cros]

That's similar to my thoughts on campers.

I like the idea, but don't want to drive around in a 30yr old van with a bungalow on the back of it.

You're right, if you spunk up 16 grand that most new caravans seem to be, insure it, fill it with all the shit that people can't seem to manage without like TV and bidet and central heating. I have a 30 year old one that lives in the garden. I wrote about the costs on my recent 'delivery' post. Worked out less than B&B for two of us did when we had a similar holiday 3 years ago.

 

 

Quite a few places let you camp free these days, this was at a friends place that was unoccupied so free. No electricity needed as this must have been the last of the gas lit caravans, but LEDs will run for ages off the car's battery. Just about every other car you see these days is four wheel drive and have lots more than my series 1's 75 bhp so slopes should be a piece of piss.

[Kiltox]

Target acquired

 

 

Driven about 40 miles so far and it's behaving

[anonymous user]

I've just about finished my shonky caravan, it's been fun building it and it's turned out pretty much as I wanted, but I am still deciding whether to use it or just sell it on unsullied; hopefully to the trendy glamping/garden room brigade. What puts me off using it is the idea of having to stay on a campsite with other people.

 

Ideally I'd prefer one of the giant showman's living vans, a selection of fields around the country to park it up in and a Scammell Explorer to move it around as necessary when I fancied a change.

[skattrd]

I managed to get some internet to find out if it really was you I saw hurtling off the roundabout of DEATH in the Aerodeck, which, btw, looks ace.  I'm Lincolnshireland for the weekend and the Bourne show.

 

Cheers Angyl, red Aerodeck looks worse close up