Ask a Shiter

[phil_lihp]

The main thing standing between the 220 and another MOT pass is a cracked windscreen. Is it realistically possible to take one from a scrapper or is there a 99.9% chance of breaking it when its removed?

[trigger]

Have you not got windscreen cover on your insurance?, if you have for £75 you might as well claim, it doesn't affect your policy.

[phil_lihp]

Alas not, that was my first enquiry. Cheap TPFT only so no bells and whistles!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Most windscreen dudes won't want to touch it cos of the rust, they think you will be ringing up after a fortnight complaining that its leaking again. I got a bodyshop quote of £225 to fix it including a new screen!

[phil_lihp]

Yes, I did wonder about the rust causing issues. My friendly mechanic is a demon welder and quite cheap so I'll probably dump it on him and see what else it needs in a couple of weeks before committing to any repairs.

[meggersdog]

Got my first ever 419er this week.

I've got a car advertised on both ebay and autotrader with my mobile number in the ad.

I often find email enquiries hardly ever turn into sales and even more so when I reply asking them to phone me.

So Wednesday I get this from autotrader

Message:
Hello is the Car still on for sale if yes what is the bottom price?.....reporting to be a Mr Josh Justin with a gmail addy.

I replied today (Friday) telling him the car is for sale but I'll not talk money until he was stood infront of the car and to phone me.

This is the reply this afternoon

 

Thanks for your urgent response, I'm okay with the price and I'm pleased with the condition as i have already gone through it on the
advert, but just trying to make little inquiry from you, I'm ready to buy it now as a gift for my Daughter, I'm at sea at the moment as I'm  a Navy Officer,and due to the nature of my job.....phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert. I really want it to be a surprise for my Daughter i won't let her know anything about it until it gets delivered to her, i am sure she will be more than happy with it. I insisted on PayPal because i don't have ] access to my bank account on-line as i don't have Internet banking, but i can pay from my PayPal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it, get back to me with your PayPal email asap so as to proceed on with the payment quickly, and sorry if you don't have a PayPal Account, you sign-up for a PayPal personal account.  www.PayPal.com it is very fast and easy to set up.  And there is a shipping company pick up agent that will come for the pick up after the payment has been sorted out .

Await your swift response asap.

Thanks.

 

 

He's good and sounds genuine but no mention of this shizz in his first email.    To report you supposedly have to set up an account

on autotrader.This seems odd, if you have an account to sell stuff why do you need to set another up to report dodgy emails.

I call the whole thing a 419 scam..Opinions please.

[panhard65]

Yeap thats a scam seen it so many times already just email back saying you don't accept paypal but he can pay directly into your bank. That will send him running. You do have to be careful though just in case it is a reclusive millionaire who just buys cars without seeing them (I have had this twice now). I asked in my bank when I sold my fregate as the guy just rang up and asked for my bank details. They said all they need to pay you is account number and sort code and they won't be able to raid your account with just those 2 details

[Mr Lobster]

 You do have to be careful though just in case it is a reclusive millionaire who just buys cars without seeing them (I have had this twice now).

 

Sounds similar to the guy who bought my red R4. Won it on Friday on eBay, rang Saturday asking for my bank details and paid on Monday. Week or so later sent two drivers to pick it up. Easy

[mercrocker]

Happened to me with a W124 too....A lot of folk  seem to  concoct rubbish stories so they dont come across as traders...

[Wilko220]

Pretty rubbish literacy skills for a "Royal Navy officer".

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Just so we're clear after this talk of secret millionaires, it's scam as hell, and a lazy copy & paste scam at that. Don't even dignify it with a response. 

 

Thanks for the prompt response.I’m Okay with the condition of the Car, as i have already go through it on the ad but just trying to make little inquiry from you, I’m ready to buy it now as a gift for my Daughter, I’m at sea at the moment as I’m a Navy Officer,and due to the nature of my Job…..phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you a message regarding it. I really want it to be a surprise for my Daughter i won’t let her know anything about it until it gets delivered to her, i am sure she will be more than happy with it. I insisted on paypal because i don’t have access to my bank account online as i don’t have internet banking, but i can pay from my paypal account, as i have my bank a/c attached to it,Get back to me with your paypal email and the price so i can proceed with the payment quickly, and sorry if you don’t have an Account, you sign-up for a paypal personal account http://www.paypal.com it is very fast and easy to set up. And there is a shipping company pick up agent that will come for the pick up after the payment has been sorted out.

Thanks for the reply, i am a marine technician and am always busy at sea thats why l wont be able to check the item due to the nature of my work so whats the present condition, because am buying this for my son as a Surprise gift so am willing to offer you the amount you required. I can only pay through PayPal at the moment as i don’t have access to my bank account online(i don’t have internet banking with it), but i have it attached to my PayPal account, and this is why i insisted on using PayPal to pay, all i will need is your PayPal email address to pay for the item, and if you don’t have a PayPal account yet, you can set one up at http://www.paypal.com it cant take you less than 3mins to do that, i will be expecting your PayPal email so l can pay. I have a pick up agent that will come for the pick up after payment has been sorted. l will be waiting for your reply asap

Thanks for the response Does it need anything to be replace or repair?if theirs please specify,what is your last price? I will arrange for a private shipper to come over for picking it up down to my place after payment has been received. I will be making the payment through PayPal as paypal is safe and secured for transactions online, advice soon as I’m at sea at the moment as a marine engineer and due to the nature of my work, phone calls making and visiting of website are restricted but i squeezed out time to check this advert and send you an email regarding it, I would appreciate if you email me with more pictures (if available) too,since i won’t be be able to see this in person, I will need the following details below to send funds to in order for me to pay you ASAP.

[meggersdog]

Damn should have read that first Conrad.This might turn into a grin thread.Here's my reply....

 

Hello Mr Josh,

your first enquirey did not mention paypal.I am not happy using paypal for such an amount of money as they take 5% in fees just for the privelidge of accepting money transfers.
Another problem I have is with using a shipping company.How is the new keeper,be that you or your daughter, going to sign my V5.The form asks for driver licence number of the new keeper so if you could scan your driver's licence and attach that to your reply then atleast I can fill the V5 in properly.
Like I mentioned earlier I don't like using paypal so maybe you could arrange for your shipping agent to pay me in cash.
Regards Meggersdog

[Bobthebeard]

Pretty rubbish literacy skills for a "Royal Navy officer".

No mention of being a 'Royal' Navy officer, but rubbish literacy skills anyway! Possibly a Nigerian Navy officer.... It's a Scam.

[Tayne]

Many years ago on a Range Rover forum a newbie posted asking where he could get a certain part.

 

Cue the inevitable responses asking for his location.

 

His answer, Lagos. Nigeria.

 

Several posters politely wished him luck in finding a company that would be prepared to ship to Nigeria.

 

He protested and stated that he didn't wish to deal with anyone who had issues with Nigeria.

 

So I waded in with something along the lines of:

"My friend, you are most glorious luck today. My uncle JeremiaH us biggest SCotland Range Roverr parts supplier but has just died leaving no will.

The pesky governmant TAx officers have seized his 2 warehouses of parts (containing 14 - FOURTEEN - of your required widgets) and £$800,000 dollar pounds in CAsh!

I cannot claim the parts or money without facing a hefty tax bill. The only way around this would be 4 a foreen citizen to claim the parts and cash. There would be no tax bill then.

The foreignner who claimed could then transfer ownership back to me.

If you will help me I will give you your 14 - fourteen - widgets and £$150000 dollah punds of cash.

Whay say You??

I awit your bank details by speedy return."

 

Everyone else thought this was hilarious.

 

The Nigerian was not amused.

[cort16]

Is this a Renault 15 or 17? I recon it's a 17 but I'm not sure. I can't get the thought of trying to rescue it out my head.

 

Renault 17 by cort16, on Flickr

[Jim Bergerac]

17 by the side windows.

[phil_lihp]

According to Wikipedia...

 

The main differences between the two cars were their headlight configuration (the 15 had two rectangular headlights whereas the 17 had four round headlights)

 

So it's a 17.  Anyway, never mind that, check out what's next to it, how could you possibly resist?  Seems to be a lot of these cropping up in yards lately I've noticed.

 

Can't be many 15s or 17s left now, go get it!  

[catsinthewelder]

Not sure if H. Imp has MOTed his car yet but if you remove the front passenger seat from a car then the rear seat behind it becomes the front passenger seat (so needs a seatbelt if built after 1970ish).

 

Off topic but does anybody know if superglue remover will damage Kingspan insulation?  I've superglued a small electrical switch into a hole in some (on a model railway) and used too much glue.  It will be a sod to replace as it's connected to a mechanical linkage so I'm hoping just to melt the glue out of it's innards.

 

Thanks

[Wilko220]

 

My question is about the concoctions above (and similar).

 

I use these religiously whenever I fill up my Sceptre. A bloke at one of the garages I use advised me recently that I should stop doing so because "if you don't use the car very often, it all sinks to the bottom of the tank and does more harm than good".

 

Is this correct? The car does only get occasional use but, nevertheless, I was under the impression that running a 37-year-old car just on unleaded without any additive would eventually do pretty serious damage to the engine.

 

Any thoughts from you lot?

 

 

[saucedoctor]

Even if the sinking bit is true, presumably you turn corners when driving? That'll mix it up again Shirley. For the bit where the engine is running and the car isn't moving, the "lead memory effect" of all those years of 4 star should see you right.
Just my theory!
 

[Grundig]

Even if the sinking bit is true, presumably you turn corners when driving? That'll mix it up again Shirley. For the bit where the engine is running and the car isn't moving, the "lead memory effect" of all those years of 4 star should see you right.

Just my theory!

 

....pretty much what I thought & all that sloshing about as you drive would mix it all back in 

[Sigmund Fraud]

"if you don't use the car very often, it all sinks to the bottom of the tank and does more harm than good".

 

I'm not a chemical engineer but I presume that all those lead replacement additives are highly soluble in petrol.

 

In that case, secondary school chemistry teaches us that the additive will remain dissolved until its concentration reaches saturation point. Considering the minute amounts of additive that are meant to be used, it is highly unlikely that any lead replacement 'sediment' will appear at the bottom of your tank.

[Wilko220]

Thanks chaps. This is going the way I anticipated!

[daveb47]

Looks like i am keeping the Estima,no interest in it whatsoever.

Mot expires iin Jan 2014

If i was to take it in for an mot soon would a failure cancel current mot.

Just want to find if its going to cost a fortune for next mot repairs.

[bub2006]

No I don't think it cancels it out but if it fails and you use it,you are in effect driving a vehicle not fit for the road.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks chaps. This is going the way I anticipated!

 

You won't do serious engine damage. Eventually, you might suffer a bit of wear on the exhaust valve seats, lose a bit of compression and therefore have a sluggish engine. We didn't bother with any additive in our Mini and that did 30,000 miles quite merrily, using the engine the FBHVC used to test fuel additives because it was known to have issues.

 

It only really becomes an issue if you're working the engine hard for long periods - ie motorway work. If you're pottering about, there's really no point bothering with additives in my opinion. If you eventually do knacker up the valve seats (after tens of thousands of miles) then get a replacement cylinder head that has been modified for unleaded. Until then, just keep motoring.

[Station]

What are those mk2 Clios like (the late 90's ones). A friend wants one and I am scouting about for one.

What should I expect to pay? What are the engines like?

Etcetera.

I can't seem to find one now, even though my old unit was strewn with the buggers.

[Partridge]

You mean these?

Not bad. My friend had one and loved it. IIRC it used a 16v lump and went like the clappers, although admittedly she drove it like everywhere like her knickers were on fire.

Better made than you'd think and quite comfortable for a little car. Sadly, the fuel sender threw a wobbler, which confuzzled the ECU and in the end it was clusterfucked and got weighed in. She bought a later Clio though, so must have liked it.

[Cavcraft]

Pretty shit it would seem. Seen far too many with HGF and the cars themselves seem pretty temperamental really.

[HillmanImp]

Those Clio's are quite nice to drive from what I remember. I think the main killer for them is cambelt faliure so just make sure they are up to date on their servicing in that respect.

 

And Cats in the Welder, I dont have any rear seats in the GT6 either......  Not taken its for its test yet as brassic this month. In next few weeks though.