Ask a Shiter

[steve_earwig]

No, but the map will be different.

[Lacquer Peel]

No, but the map will be different.

I thought that, and I assume you can't just swap ECUs.

[steve_earwig]

Umm, not sure, if it has a BSI then you he'd have to swap, umm, everything, but I can't remember if Xantias were ever mux, I suspect not (can't find a BSI in the parts diagrams) so it might just* be plug and play.

[maxpower]

Anyone know of a cheap insurer for commercial insurance?

[Lacquer Peel]

Quoteline Direct were cheapest for my Caddy. Results may vary.

[Bobthebeard]

The replacement rear spring for the Oldsmobile has finally arrived (from Canada) at Royal Mail office in Preston. Today I got an invoice from RM for Customs and import charges before it can be delivered. Fair enough, was expecting to pay the usual VAT rate etc, but the bill is for £136!. £112 VAT plus sundry charges. WTF?

£112 is 50% of the purchase price! Can that be correct? All other parts (from the USA, not Canada) have been either free or 20% VAT over a certain value.

No number to call and Royal Mail will not enter into any discussions about import VAT naturally.

A form is available from HMRC to query charges, but that won't be quick. Guess I will just have to stump up the cash in order to release the spring, but...

Anyone any idea if imported car parts from Canada attract silly VAT rates?

Ta.

[Bobthebeard]

duty as well ?

Yes, duty as well. Total charge was £136. Am just wondering why the VAT charge alone was £112.

The part cost £230.

[Eddie Honda]

Ring HMRC and tell them to FRO...well a bit more politely. What's the itemisation of the bill?

 

I'd be very wary overpaying and hoping of getting anything back

[Bobthebeard]

Ring HMRC and tell them to FRO...well a bit more politely. What's the itemisation of the bill?

I'd be very wary overpaying and hoping of getting anything back

Update.

Itemisation of bill is:

Customs duty £16.35

Import VAT £112.27

Clearance fee £8.00

 

Found a number to ring, so rang it. It transpires that the VAT duty is actually 20% and has been over valued by someone. They appear to have probably read the purchase price in Canadian Dollars rather than GBP and charged VAT accordingly. Two options remain according to HMRC.

Pay up, fill in a form to reclaim the overcharged amount.

Or

Refuse payment and have it returned to sender.

Really?

 

Have paid up as no choice given that I want the part, plus sent off the form complete with proof of purchase price etc.

What a faff.

[Eddie Honda]

I haven't dealt with HMRC in years, as I've more recently been dealing the Irish Revenue, but it's all EU and works out like this (having looked up HMRC bits):

Your goods will be taxed either depending on value of goods only, or fully landed cost (value of goods + shipping + insurance).

Tax is made up of the following, not all which will apply: [A) Customs Duty + B ) Excise Duty] and then on top of those two C) VAT. (Occasionally
Anti-Dumping Duty and/or Countervailing Duty are also imposed, but we won't worry about that)

A) Customs Duty, that'll be worked out depending on the TARIC code of the item.

B ) Excise Duty, don't really need to worry about that either as it's more for booze, fags, perfume & pez.

c) VAT, usually at standard rate of 20%.

To find out the Customs Duty, look up the TARIC code, I think a car rear leaf spring comes under 87 08 80 9900. and has a Customs Duty rate of 3.5%. Based on the fully landed cost, if the Customs Duty works out less than £9 it will be disregarded.
 
Given it that element was £16.35, I worked out (in reverse) that the fully landed cost: £467(!), and that doesn't tally with the VAT charged....
 
So looking at the VAT charge of £112.27, the FLC + Customs Duty = £561.35. Less 16.35 Customs Duty = £545 (From that I work out Customs Duty rate used was 3.0%) I find this odd, given that even under the other classification numbers for leaf springs https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/headings/7320, the Customs Duty is 2.7% (?????)
 
Anyway, going back from £545 and given the supposed mix up, was the price including shipping, etc. 545 CAD?
 
If it was, then I can work out what it should of been...

[D Spares & Tyres]

I appreciate this place 'is not like it used to be' but what exactly was it like then? And when did this change happen?

[sierraman]

I don't know, I still enjoy it. I've only used it for about 2-3 years regular so.

[steve_earwig]

It used to be about horse-drawn carriages but then some bugger invented a car and made it out of something that quickly disintegrates and it's gone down hill ever since.

[scaryoldcortina]

It used to be impossible to join except by knowing a member who could prod the admin into approving you. This made it very, very quiet most of the time.

 

"Autoshite is a hub of great international activity, cunningly disguised as a dozen blokes posting up photos of Talbot Solaras"

[Pillock]

It used to be somewhere between better, worse and different and continues to become worse, different or better.

 

Hope this helps.

[trigger]

It just used to be full of the same members moaning about the same things that old men moan about down the pub and then fighting with each other as soon as a thread about politics and religion got posted, so TOTALLY different to what it is now.

[skattrd]

It also used to be about more obscure cars with virtually no mention of anything made in the last 20-30 years. People asking questions like "what car should I buy" were generally abused, ignored or told "Horsey Horseless". There was good banter, but also quite a bit of abuse, and very little tolerance for stupid posts/questions.

 

I think it changed when MrBefore7 fixed it so new people could join and it didn't fall over every few weeks. Without the change it would have most likely died.

[trigger]

We didn't suffer fools very easily, I'm not sure some of the current members would have lasted has long as they have! 

[HillmanImp]

How muc should I pay for wheel alignment. Not had it done since I owned the Scirocco which was about 6 years ago but am sure it didn't cost anything near the £60 i am getting quoted now.

 

Is that reasonable. It needs it quite badly judging by the wear on the tyres.

[trigger]

I paid £30 recently for a 4 wheel laser alignment at a garage where they put it up on a ramp with mirrors on each wheel and a computer told them what to adjust.

[Inspector Morose]

I've been banned by my pet wheel alignment fella. He put the mirrors on the BX, the rear went down and snapped the mirrors off.

 

Got to find somewhere else for the CX as its a fair way toeing out. I pay around £30-£40 as a rule.

[HillmanImp]

I paid £30 recently for a 4 wheel laser alignment at a garage where they put it up on a ramp with mirrors on each wheel and a computer told them what to adjust.

Thats more like what I was expecting. Just checking I hadn't been out of the game so long the prices had shot up everywhere. Will keep looking. Ta chaps.

[twosmoke300]

I charge 25 for front only - 40 for 4 wheel

[Sloth in a bowl]

I've been banned by my pet wheel alignment fella. He put the mirrors on the BX, the rear went down and snapped the mirrors off.

 

Got to find somewhere else for the CX as its a fair way toeing out. I pay around £30-£40 as a rule.

 

 

If just one end needs changing then Selly Oak tyres will do one end for £25, if both then £50.

[omegod]

How difficult to change an injection pump on an old Merc W124 300 td ? 

[twosmoke300]

Knowing merc and their general awkwardness I expect it's a complete twat and different to every other injection pump known to man

[steve_earwig]

Chap here is asking for help with the central locking on an old Merc. Needless to say I didn't volunteer.

[twosmoke300]

I've got to say that mercs are the worst cars to work on overall . They just seem to do everything differently to every other manufacturer . Diagnostics is a pain on them too , I suppose if you were doing them every day it would get easier .

[wuvvum]

My Golf struggles to idle properly, especially when warm.  The chap I bought it off reckoned he'd been told it was the MAF sensor.  Mechanic mate suggested unplugging the sensor, and if the idle improved I'd know that was the problem.

 

I unplugged it and it made F all difference.  Presumably, though, if the MAF was completely dead (rather than just sending dodgy signals) that would be the expected outcome?  Is a MAF likely to cause the engine to misbehave at idle when warm?  There's no EML on (didn't come on when I unplugged the MAF either), and the car's too old for my code reader to talk to it anyway so I'm struggling to ascertain what's causing the problem.

[cort16]

If the maf is at fault it tends to also drive like shite. The power delivery also tends to be quite hesitant.

Sounds s bit like vacuum leak have checks for air leaks past the maf. It might be worth spraying a bit of carb cleaner around the suspect areas and see if the idle evens out. That's how I found the rough idle on my rover