People scare me.

[Barry Cade]

Dabbling a bit with cars again now I have free time again, and I'm enjoying it ..as a hobby. Been busy fitting towbar recently as caravans seem to be the new rubiks cube. Bought a wee suzuki swift as a wee runaround/ tool carrier/ parts runner. Its an 06 and has an mot until January. I went to see it, the guy was selling it for his daughter and was a real decent bloke. He'd  just forked out for 4 new tyres for it ( cheapest ditchfinders admittedly) and wanted it out his drive as said daughter just dumped it there and bought a mondeo as more space for kiddies. I kicked the tyres and handed over a small amount of cash. Driving home- horrendous brake shudder, howling wheel bearings, really notchy steering that had me sawing all over the M8, and cracking,crunching and thumping over every bump. 

 

Spent the last couple of days sorting it out. Next day in daylight, found no oil on the stick, no coolant in the bottle, no screenwash water, bulbs out everywhere. Someone had been driving this , hard. I drove it 30 miles and was petrified. No idea how someone could have used this every day, especially to taxi a kid about. And it still has 3 months non covid mot.. 

Morning out at upullit and I gathered 2 complete suspension legs, with good discs ,2 rear springs, and a few other odds and sods off a 40,000 miler which are now all fitted after wrestling with all the rounded chewed nuts and bolts the last monkey left ,probably when fitting the "sports lowering springs " Its a different wee car now, quiet with no strange noise and brakes nicely without shaking my teeth out. Even the air con sprung to life when I gasses it and its still working 24 hours later, no no massive leaks. Everything else seems good and should have a good few years left. Its called Bawbag..Just amazes me that someone was using it as everyday transport...

[Jazoli]

I reckon around 50% of the cars on the road are in a similar condition, people just don't give a fuck and will ignore lights/noises/tyres until they take it in for its annual MOT, where they will get a shock and have to pay £££'s to have it repaired, and rinse and repeat, I don't know anyone apart from me and my Dad who do any preventative maintenance at all, I've never had a car fail its test and sort any issues that arise immediately, you should be charged double for the mot test if it fails on bulbs or tyres at the very least!

Its also one of the major reasons I don't really like buying cars that much.

[Barry Cade]

I don't usually go near anything that has been changed from standard, and now I remember why. I did enjoy tinkering and bringing it back but to pay a garage to sort out and repair it, would have seen the end.. and some was self inflicted with daft springs which have pummelled the bottom arms and shocks, black tint on the windows, brush painted spoiler..stupid hid's.  I used to get twitchy when a car had Halfords wheel trimz... why throw 3 original ones away if you lose one.. 

Funny how people can find cash for springs and fitting, but not for oil changes and timing belts.  Been off the tools proper now for a few years but noticing things are getting worse when out to a stupid fault at the roadside. Is your eml coming on more important that the wires sticking out your tyres.. or the fact that it looks like someone has lobbed a hand grenade through the open drivers window.

[Kiltox]

I've bought a fair few stinkers in my time, normally trade reject shite for buttons.  I'm an idiot - but fuck me, these cars were all being used until the point they were traded in!

[MikeR]

years ago we had a Suzuki whizz kid , for the wife to run around in ...

one day I drove it and nearly ended up in a hedge when I braked ..

one front caliper was completely seized but the car drove fine according to my wife ....

bit like the day she drove my car for miles to get home  , then phoned to ask me what the red light on the dash meant ..... the only one I knew was the oil light !!

[Bren]

I am on a facebook BMW E60 page - buying and selling. There are some lovely examples for sale but a lot of them have issues hence they are up for sale. The money would have been better spent on preventative maintainence and quality tyres instead of carbon fibre bonnets, quad exhausts and cheap chinese tyres.

[Matty]

I really , really like that generation of swift. A couple of months back we got a new car for her and it was a toss up between a swift sport or a fiesta st150. The ford won, yet I'm still watch listing swift sports 🙄. And yes your right, people are belle's with cars and the idea of giving people mot extensions was as much madness as mot exemption is

[St.Jude]

Why spend money on something that won't get the girls wet at the McDonald's car park? Preventative maintenance? Too many letters in two few words for most of the people who leave cars in this  state!

I have followed what my dad used to do when it came to cars. He'd look at the area code to work out whether it was a shite hole or not. If it was a good area he'd go and view the car. He'd look at the kind of tyres on the car, if they were in pairs. If they were then he would say the car was well looked after. Cheapo things or different brands on each corner, not so much. But then he'd haggle like mad to bring the price down - usually successful - and he'd then proceed to drive the car in to the ground. I don't follow him on that, I look after the cars doing what I can when I can.

[Matty]

28 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

I reckon around 50% of the cars on the road are in a similar condition, people just don't give a fuck and will ignore lights/noises/tyres until they take it in for its annual MOT, where they will get a shock and have to pay £££'s to have it repaired, and rinse and repeat, I don't know anyone apart from me and my Dad who do any preventative maintenance at all, I've never had a car fail its test and sort any issues that arise immediately, you should be charged double for the mot test if it fails on bulbs or tyres at the very least!

Its also one of the major reasons I don't really like buying cars that much.

Its a personal challenge to put a car in knowing its near guaranteed a pass. My old 330ci has never failed in 17yrs and only had 4 advisories.  Imagine the pressure I feel under every year 😅

[Barry Cade]

11 minutes ago, sgtberbatov said:

Why spend money on something that won't get the girls wet at the McDonald's car park? Preventative maintenance? Too many letters in two few words for most of the people who leave cars in this  state!

I have followed what my dad used to do when it came to cars. He'd look at the area code to work out whether it was a shite hole or not. If it was a good area he'd go and view the car. He'd look at the kind of tyres on the car, if they were in pairs. If they were then he would say the car was well looked after. Cheapo things or different brands on each corner, not so much. But then he'd haggle like mad to bring the price down - usually successful - and he'd then proceed to drive the car in to the ground. I don't follow him on that, I look after the cars doing what I can when I can.

Following on from another thread though, cheap cars are getting harder and harder to find, and good cheap cars... well.  They are out there but I have to work and do other things.. some people must scroll through Facebook and gumtree as a career going on some cars I missed after only being listed for minutes! Then they are relisted at 100% mark up. 

 

Many of the cars I see roadside with scary faults are £30,000+.. and i see their houses when I drop the cars off.  I'm  seeing more and more running out of fuel.. half million pound house, 60 grand car.. no petrol. 

[Barry Cade]

18 minutes ago, Matty said:

Its a personal challenge to put a car in knowing its near guaranteed a pass. My old 330ci has never failed in 17yrs and only had 4 advisories.  Imagine the pressure I feel under every year 😅

I had to fail my own car once... broke a spring on the way in..😁 got some stick for that..

[Jamie]

its really baffling though i have a relatively desirable 05' 206 gti which is MINT which i've just spent nearly the car's value on a rear axle, new wheel bearings and there is nothing needs doing, for less than a grand. 

yet, the mouthbreathers on Facebook seem to be missing a trick, not one viewing just a load of messers...  or its less desirable than i think. 

thank fuck for Roffles

[Agila]

1 minute ago, Jamie said:

its really baffling though i have a relatively desirable 05' 206 gti which is MINT which i've just spent nearly the car's value on a rear axle, new wheel bearings and there is nothing needs doing, for less than a grand. 

yet, the mouthbreathers on Facebook seem to be missing a trick, not one viewing just a load of messers...  or its less desirable than i think. 

thank fuck for Roffles

That gti is great. I'd be tempted to have a couple of randoms for old times sake but shielding for 28 days so can't.

It's not much more money than wrecked examples, has been looked after clearly. Also had all important things done to it. 

You literally couldn't buy a poorer, cheaper example and make it to the standard yours is now for less than what you're asking.

I'd honestly have it up for £1500-£1750, I'm only surprised you're selling it because of that diesel one. 

Don't let Facebook muppets get you down, somebody will buy it and absolutely drop on to a bargain.

[DoctorRetro]

I think it's a combination of a) not giving a damn b) having no mechanical sympathy c) being blinded to a car's faults as they have developed over time and d) not doing preventative maintenance /servicing. 

I am driving my 218D at the moment with several faults that are sending me loopy, but they are only - a slight tap/rattle from a rear top mount (parts on order) a fueling issue that causes an occasional cough and a leak in the boot area. The average person would probably not notice any of these. 

In contrast there was a car I sold that I considered 'end of life' that ended up doing another 25k, likely without any work being done and is still around / MoT'd! 

And there was also a car I got in a trade that I thought would have been usable, especially as it was driven several hundred miles to me, but was the biggest pile of shit I'd ever had the misfortune to (very temporarily) own. How a car that leaves a huge puddle of oil underneath whenever it is parked and looks and smells like a rubbish dump can be viewed as acceptable is beyond me. But then everyone has different standards I guess. 

[Jamie]

Just now, Agila said:

That gti is great. I'd be tempted to have a couple of randoms for old times sake but shielding for 28 days so can't.

It's not much more money than wrecked examples, has been looked after clearly. Also had all important things done to it. 

You literally couldn't buy a poorer, cheaper example and make it to the standard yours is now for less than what you're asking.

I'd honestly have it up for £1500-£1750, I'm only surprised you're selling it because of that diesel one. 

Don't let Facebook muppets get you down, somebody will buy it and absolutely drop on to a bargain.

cheers pal, appreciated. Im tempted to keep the GTi to be honest. I'm already loosing nearly 300 quid at present and the only places ive driven are from the sellers house home, then to my mechanics and back what a shame. 

[The_Equalizer]

I think everyone has bought something with eyebrow raising faults. The worst I had was a car whose rear alloys were held on by roughly two turns of each bolt. I drove it from Peterborough to Belfast via the Liverpool ferry in blissful ignorance. It also had broken rear springs.

[Jamie]

following from what @barry cade says, the amount of PCP mercs / bmw's / audi'snow that have properly bald tyres (with no one to say owt unless they get pulled, becoz not old enough for MOT) is frightening.

our estate is full of them-  can just about afford the £3/400 a month for the PCP and then run round with the fuel light on all the time and fuck maintaining or even washing the bugger.

[bunglebus]

Cars are an appliance these days, just expected to function with zero maintenance from the owner. I think most people view them the same way they do mobile phones, they just want it to have lots of bells and whistles and always work. When it doesn't or someone has one with extra bells and whistles, they bin it off for a new one.

[stephen01]

32 minutes ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

The amount of cars I see driving around with 1 or even no brake lights, FULL FUCKING BEAM because nothing else works is unbelievable.

A few years ago driving home in my boxer meeting my wife at kickboxing, headlight went pop, pulled up and the drivers side went. This was around this time of year, you know dark at 5:00 o’clock. 
 

never fear I thought I have a bulb kit in the glove box, nope couldn’t be found for love nor money. I popped a headlight bulb out the Honda before the wife went, you know one is better than none?!  but the van was a different type, walked down to the massive Tesco while the lad was doing kickboxing. Not a single bulb kit.  Literally had to drive home on mains, surprisingly only got flashed a couple of times, thankfully home was only about 3 miles and by the time I’d left rush hour was over.

but I agree the number of people with bulbs out, especially round the Midlands, is crazy.  

I once stopped a lad in a 205 as he had zero rear lights, offered to give him a bulb or two and fit them there and then, his reply was just ‘thanks mate’ and he went. 
 

[juular]

I've gone the opposite way after a few scares. The tiniest rattle, clunk or bang will see me pull into the next layby / services and check the car over. It's partly perfectionism and a rattling droplink will have me driving about with hackles raised, but it's also a problem.. I've had to sometimes just get over the fact that cars are machines and sometimes make strange noises even when in perfect condition.

How people can drive about with juddering brakes or random steering is baffling. A friend of Mrs J once drove her Merc around with a rear control arm partly detached from the car, going everywhere at 30mph or under because the banging and juddering was too bad. She then put it in for an MOT and was irate at getting a fail.. the rear subframe was nearly split in two! The £600 repair was too much for her so she got £100 scrap value, took out a personal loan for £18k and got another one..

Would these same people get onto a plane with the wings hanging off? I don't get it!

 

[big_al_granvia]

Seems you are either a car person or not, folk use cars as tools and they just dont care. You say to folk they have a bulb out and get met with a blank look. Yet car peeps know every inch of their machines and every misdemeanor, okay we all have big to to lists but they get done

[sierraman]

Modifications always put me right off. I saw a tidy Mondeo a while back, swiping through the pictures it got to picture 4 and it had Lexus lights and the brake callipers had been painted red. No thanks...

 

[bunglebus]

I know what you mean but then I almost always modify my cars. Depends whether it's worthwhile upgrades or stick on shit really.

Drums upgraded to discs, sensible alloys instead of steels are all good, picnic table on the bootlid and ill fitting bodykits are a no from me. Also a little bit wary of performance mods in case it's been thrashed - but I'd happily do those same mods myself. 

[steveo3002]

i find nearly always these faults are met with mumbling about mot still valid ...no engine oil yeah mate got 3 months mot

somewhere in history its been drummed into these morons that the mot a full refurbishment to like new , even smart people , rich people etc just cannot be told ...scuse me sir all 4 tyres are smooth , yeah leaving that till the mot !

mrs got a mate that finishes every car off by running it out of oil ...then spouts off xxx brand are crap left me stranded on motorway etc 

warms my urine!

 

[bunglebus]

Just remembered, when I bought my Cosworth Granada, the heated seats were wired into the dash illumination circuit. 12v is 12v right?

[Lord Sterling]

I find it equally annoying as I do utterly interesting into how these people think...

We live in a society of where the car is either seen in one of 3 categories;

1. A form of reliable transport

2. An accessory

3. An accessory that is to be "improved" by more accessories for "individuality"

The former are mostly non-car people. The car is seen in the same way a fridge or washing machine is seen; just an accessory. They barely ever get maintained unless they are told to do so by the yearly MoT or a policeman, usually along with a fine and some points if their tyres are bald.

The accessory-types are much like the those who want reliable transport, except that the transport must look "fashionista" up to date, be as new as possible and act as an accessory much like the latest iPhone or pair of Jimi Choo shoes. Again, maintenance doesn't come into the question, unless reminded of an MoT date or a warning/fine/points kicks them up the arse.

The third category is much like the second, except they are pseudo-wannabe petrol heads without any real knowledge of how a car works. Again, it must be reliable, new(ish) good on MPGs

For both of these categories, the idea of taking a car to a garage is thus; chuck it at the grease monkey mechanic, he'll know what he's supposed to do because he is a mechanic, but if he makes any recommendations for changing parts, he's just trying to rob me, so I'll say no, because its got an MoT.

The third category is much like the same as the second one in that those in this category are pseudo-wannabe petrol heads without the actual knowledge of how a car actually works. Its easy to spot them; they are the pretend petrol heads that spout complete and utter rot about cars i.e how fast they are/ 0 to 60 times. But the biggest giveaway is the fact that they'll spend £1000s on shit modifications rather than a couple of hundred on replacing the increasingly bald tyres and an oil top-up. They are the fake petrol head fasionistas. All the gear, no idea.

The first 2 categories will only ever change something if their car passes the MoT. As explained above, their idea of an MoT is a grease monkey man at a garage looking over their car and ensuring it's safe to use and for many, actually servicing and repairing the car. As far as they are concerned, if the man at the garage awards their car with a 1 year MoT certificate, it means its safe to use for the next year. Advisories are overlooked despite actually being on printed paper for them to read.

The third category are a bit inbetween. Some fall into the above thinking, some will try to talk shit to make it look like they know or understand cars leading to bad decisions and some will actually acknowledge that work needs to be carried out.

The very idea that a car, a complicated bit of engineering and machinery needs maintaining is rather too much to take in and understand for much of the car buying public, even those who lived way back when, when cars needed tinkering with every few days to keep them going seemed to have forgotton those days. Way back when, cars were a much simpler affair, a tin box on wheels, often badly made from factory. The only thing that sold them were that they were a bit more modern and shinier than what went before.

I think the point is here is that the public do need to be educated in car maintenance, but then that goes against manufacturers' marketing where by they live off the reputation of having the greatest engineered cars ever. Manufacturers love a throwaway society, it enables them to create more. Teaching people to be thrifty means less waste and lower quantity of production which ultimately means less money.

[sierraman]

I’ve modified my own cars years ago when I had time to fuck about with them but then again I wouldn’t buy one of my old cars they’re usually fucked and that’s why I’ve got rid of them. 🤣

[Jerzy Woking]

Some motorbike owners are worse. I remember my brother (who ran a popular bike shop at the time) telling me of some of the bikes he got in to fix or for part exchange.

One day he showed me a nice looking Suzuki GSX-R1100 that had been dropped off for the slipping clutch to be looked at. The problem was that the teeth on both the front and rear sprockets were worn down to little stumps, and the chain just ran over the top of them when accelerating.

[wuvvum]

And yet bikers still have the reputation of being more mechanically minded than car owners.  I suppose with the advent of electronic control for pretty much everything on modern bikes tinkering has become a lot harder though.

[strangeangel]

8 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

And yet bikers still have the reputation of being more mechanically minded than car owners.

 

 

Commuter riders and yoofs are the worst IME;  both these groups seem to be strangers to maintenance, and the latter also add shit and illegal modifications to the mix. I've seen all sorts at the shop where I go for my MOTs. A Sinnis that 'just stopped' one day... they collected it and when the compression test read zero  they stripped the top end to find just a biscuit-shaped piece of piston crown left in the bore. Predictably, the cause was no oil in the sump. "But you only MOT'd it 10 months ago" says the owner, all indignant...

 

One bloke recently rode in on a Chinese 125 with 4 adjacent spokes missing from the back wheel. And, no, that was not the reason he'd brought his bike to the shop... Another on a Jap middleweight four had a stand-up row with him about taking links out of shagged old drive chains once they'd stretched out of adjustment. Our man did explain that once the chain could stretch no more it would simply snap, taking a big lump out of the crankcase or his leg, whichever it encountered first, but laddo wasn't having any of it.

 

Yoofs: my favourite one recently was an Aprilia SR50, complete with 125 engine that was still a fiddy as far as DVLA and, presumably, his insurance were concerned. He brought it in to be looked at because he reckoned it went slower than it did with the original engine in. The genius had drilled holes in the exhaust "to make it more powerful" 🤣 Oh, and I'll leave you with a Znen 50 (a horrible Chinese scooter) that had had a fucking massive air horn fitted. The owner wanted to know why the engine cut out whenever he pressed the horn...