The grumpy thread

[D Spares & Tyres]

Yep. Canned a useful spares donor 605 S1 and an automatic sinker Xantia using your method. Money was there within hours and I wasn't kept waiting. 

The cars were there, the cars were available. People didn't play the game, so the cars got binned. 

Sometimes your bank balance has to come first. 

I've lost so much money being a soft sentimentalist (emphasis wherever) that it strengthened my resolve never to buy a worthless heap again.

 

You are doing it wrong, I don't invest much money in most of my cars so if they piss me off they get weighed in. I'm done with selling cars too. I rarely lose much on them. It doesn't pay to get too financially involved!

[Datsuncog]

Given the well-established ball-achery caused by selling cheap cars online, is there a reason folk here tend not to just punt their old snotters through the auction ring to take their chances?

 

Genuine question. Lack of suitable nearby auctions? Still more hassle than calling the scrappie?

 

I know one or two forum members who use this route to get shot of unwanted rammel quickly, with no comebacks or having to fend off insulting misspelled texts, and they seem largely happy with this solution.

 

Better yet, every now and again some woeful old turd seems to spark an unexpected bidding war, and they come away with far more than expected. Kinda like the penny falls at the seaside amusements, in a way, only car-related.

 

[alcyonecorporation]

You are doing it wrong, I don't invest much money in most of my cars so if they piss me off they get weighed in. I'm done with selling cars too. I rarely lose much on them. It doesn't pay to get too financially involved!

100% correct. 

 

However, sometimes you have to make the mistakes to realise where you're going wrong. 

When a pile of rubbish adds to your financial worries and chronic stress levels, you eventually awake to the fact that the shit cars own you (and not the other way around). 

 

I have enough crap little projects to keep me going 'til doomsday, and unless an XJ Cherokee turns up at a price I can afford, I'm done buying tat for the lolz. I'm forgetting stuff and concentrating on keeping going. All I can do. 

 

Here's a savage run down of everything that transpired last year. 

 

MGF: sold. PBK sold it to someone who sold it to Chris who sold it on to someone else. Sorry, forget your name. 

 

Stellar: sold to SCTSH_ANDY mk2 and his mrs who liked my pew joe. 

 

Applause: sold to a banger racer. 

 

Xantia Auto: scrapped. CCC clucked, cooed and frotted but did sweet FA so it got binned.

 

C15 van: sold to colleague then bought back after I got stuck down a lane and tore the back end off it in error. 

 

305 Estate: in long term storage owing to an utter lack of brakes. Will get the money together to sort out. Turns out it had PAS and I didn't realise. 

 

Amazon: Now goes but doesn't stop; will be having words with Goodridge. Broke the sunroof again. 

 

Piazza: Cracked its head, won't run right. Secondhand panels purchased. IPTOC shall revive. 

 

SVX: Down a bank, blew its bottom hose. Community say I'm stupid for not knowing all the running gear is 'the same' as Imprezas and Legacys (they're not). Passed an MoT late last year. 

 

Impreza: Blebby round the windscreen, MAF fault, new brakes, new boot liner, fitted JDM stereo y0, blew fuses, having earthing issues. Should be MoT'd again early next month. 

 

605: chronic voltage drain means I have to have it hooked up to a charger if I leave it for more than two days. Intact door sourced but not bought. Suspect glow plugs, ricked earth strap and alternator in that order. Is still on the road.

 

Leon: stupid rattling trim but otherwise works. Can knock on the door of 80mpg if driven right. The best car I own objectively.

 

Given the well-established issues with selling cheap cars online, is there a reason folk here tend not to just punt their old snotters through the auction ring to take their chances?

 

Genuine question. Lack of suitable nearby auctions? Still more hassle than calling the scrappie?

 

I know one or two forum members who use this route to get shot of unwanted rammel quickly, with no comebacks or having to fend off insulting misspelled texts, and they seem largely happy with this solution.

 

Better yet, every now and again some woeful old turd seems to spark an unexpected bidding war, and they come away with far more than expected. Kinda like the penny falls at the seaside amusements, in a way, only car-related.

 

20181205_204942.jpg

There aren't any local auctions which'll take my shit. I'd end up paying them just to have turned up and have everyone laugh. ACA is too far after trailer fees etc.

 

The scrap man turns up on time and pays cash. 'Tis pity (but t'were it ever thus).

[Cavcraft]

Spot on, uwotM8alchycooperation. Some lessons are learnt quickly, some take ages. Can't be a person on here who hasn't chucked good after bad at some awful motor and ended up losing out.

 

There are still thousands of bargain bangers out there, it's knowing when to call it a day with them.

[loserone]

Sometimes I wish you'd just scrapped the MGF

[Datsuncog]

There aren't any local auctions which'll take my shit. I'd end up paying them just to have turned up and have everyone laugh. ACA is too far after trailer fees etc.

 

The scrap man turns up on time and pays cash. 'Tis pity (but t'were it ever thus).

 

Fair enough so; your options are understandably limited.

 

Was just curious since the outfit closest to me seems to have a considerable stock of unwanted low-end trade-ins and other near-end-of-life heaps, most of which will admittedly have a list of fault codes longer than the Greater London phone directory. Still, at least a dozen no-reserve cars seem to realise less than a £200 hammer price each week, and cracking the £1000 ceiling here would be the exception rather than the rule.

 

There are other auction houses nearby that specialise in fleet disposal/ ex-Motability cars, but even they still turn up the odd battered Rover 200 or pogweaseled Volvo S40 in amongst the rows of white Insignias.

 

I've seen perfectly serviceable MOT'd runabouts like Corsa Bs sell for as little as £70 - but perhaps Ballyclare (and the fabled Cannock) aren't representative of most local auctions anymore.

 

Books about car ownership that I used to devour in the 1980s and 90s (like James Ruppert's Bangernomics) seemed to indicate that the auction ring was a reasonably common route for car disposal, especially when you couldn't be 100% certain that a private buyer via the local rag's classified ads wouldn't be back on your doorstep half an hour later, covered in oil and gripping a stout stick - but mebbe CarTakeBack and WBAC now mop up this end of the market.

 

Pity. It'd save a lot of grief to sellers, if not necessarily buyers - plus avoid halfway reasonable cars being bridged. Anyway, question answered - thanks!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....Books about car ownership that I used to devour in the 1980s and 90s (like James Ruppert's Bangernomics) seemed to indicate that the auction ring was a reasonably common route for car disposal....

 

OT, but my parents sold their 1989 Jetta GL to the fella who ran a Bangernomics website, and the car got a mention here - incidentally the 90mph he mentions was merely the speed it would comfortably cruise at thanks to a Weber carb conversion (the original Pierburg was a pile o' shite) being fitted; it could in fact go further still (110mph indicated) with alacrity.

[Bazfr69]

OT, but my parents sold their 1989 Jetta GL to the fella who ran a Bangernomics website, and the car got a mention here - incidentally the 90mph he mentions was merely the speed it would comfortably cruise at thanks to a Weber carb conversion (the original Pierburg was a pile o' shite) being fitted; it could in fact go further still (110mph indicated) with alacrity.

Liked for the use of alacrity during a Jetta description.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Liked for the use of alacrity during a Jetta description.

 

Seriously though, giving it a Weber carb gave the Jetta an eagerness that I was very surprised by, so naturally I tested* it to see how fast it would go.

 

Pierburg carbs are shite.

[fordperv]

Seriously though, giving it a Weber carb gave the Jetta an eagerness that I was very surprised by, so naturally I tested* it to see how fast it would go.

 

Pierburg carbs are shite.

I can agree fully, weber converted and tuned a few vw 8v the difference is night and day

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I can agree fully, weber converted and tuned a few vw 8v the difference is night and day

....and manual choke much easier to use.

 

Wish they hadn't sold it now. The Weber turned it into a bit of a Q-car without ever attracting GTi insurance premiums.

[Eddie Honda]

Pierburg carbs are shite.

But not as shite as Solex carbs.

[Bazfr69]

I took a Jetta GTI for a test drive before buying a Mk2 16v and I must admit I quite liked it.

Didn’t like the lack of PS though.

[Zelandeth]

Isn't home ownership great.

 

 

That will be yet another bit of roof needing fixed then.  Reckon given where this is it will be the ridge tiles needing repointed.  At least this bit is relatively accessible with a normal ladder.

[alcyonecorporation]

Sometimes I wish you'd just scrapped the MGF

Fuck me, is it that bad?

 

Fair enough so; your options are understandably limited.

So's my patience. If people didn't expect the moon on a fucking stick more cars would get saved.

Sadly, entitlement culture means someone like me will pick the easiest option that results in money.

 

Talk is cheap; metal has value.

I've scrapped cars to spite gobshites before. If I end up with a car below £200 it will do a round on a few banger sites I know of and then it's on to WBAC - it depends what metal prices are doing.

[somewhatfoolish]

I've just opened the calendar thread for the first time and realised I'm on the front cover. I should have looked earlier & ordered one.

 

Bugger.

Unless Eddie has built some slack into his order, you'll have to brave the horror of Aldi's terrible calendar-buying software to order one.

[BorniteIdentity]

Isn't home ownership great.

 

IMG_20190122_142255.jpg

 

That will be yet another bit of roof needing fixed then.  Reckon given where this is it will be the ridge tiles needing repointed.  At least this bit is relatively accessible with a normal ladder.

 

More money spent on the house that COULD be spent on a decent hi-fi system.  Sadreactsonly.

 

Never mind mate.  Keep on savin'.

 

(!)

[Datsuncog]

I've just opened the calendar thread for the first time and realised I'm on the front cover. I should have looked earlier & ordered one.

 

Bugger.

 

I think the deadline's been extended to later this evening, as Eddie's stuck in work.

 

 

Just laying out the front cover just now, but work interrupts...

 

Any late takes better sneak their order in whilst I'm at work - that'll be an approx 10 hour extension to the deadline. Another batch of board-backed envelopes ordered yesterday as I was down to my last 17. Payment details will follow tomorrow probably.

Go for it!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I took a Jetta GTI for a test drive before buying a Mk2 16v and I must admit I quite liked it.

Didn’t like the lack of PS though.

 

The GL had power steering. Wasn't bad at all. Easy to drive once the carb was sorted out.

[Bazfr69]

The GL had power steering. Wasn't bad at all. Easy to drive once the carb was sorted out.

I’ve learned something new there.

 

One of the 16v selling points for me was the power steering, it’s what lured me away from the Sciroccos I’d had previously.

[barefoot]

 

One of the 16v selling points for me was the power steering, it’s what lured me away from the Sciroccos I’d had previously.

 

 

What are you?

A lightweight?

 

The steering on the Type 53b Scirocco is one of life's pleasures, especially when you're parking it.

[Bazfr69]

What are you?

A lightweight?

 

The steering on the Type 53b Scirocco is one of life's pleasures, especially when you're parking it.

Mine were both mk2s, a gti and a gt. both had larger than standard alloys and very heavy steering at low speed as I recall.

[Zelandeth]

Just made the mistake of venturing out to pick up some brake fluid. Big mistake.

 

Nearly 40 minutes to do probably six miles or so.

 

It's sleet folks, occasionally tending towards very soggy snow. It is not lethal radioactive fallout...can we all stop driving like total lunatics who are scrambling madly fearing for our lives? Please...asking as someone who's sharing the road with you and would like to not die...

[beko1987]

We have proper snow here, I left Marlow in sleet/slush and drove into Narnia! 20mph average speed dropped my MPG to 41...

[fordperv]

A few flakes in good old stoke and everyone has forgotten how to drive

 

#omgsnochaos

[barefoot]

My grump is that I'd love to enter another raffle,

I've far too many cars, the wife is armed and dangerous,

none of the current crop are automatic.

And worse than all of that, I can't make up my mind which one to put my money on.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I’ve learned something new there.

 

One of the 16v selling points for me was the power steering, it’s what lured me away from the Sciroccos I’d had previously.

 

Jetta GL had power steering as standard. That's why my parents bought the car back in about 1993; they liked VWs (they run a Polo 6R now) and wanted something that was easy to park. Still remember they bought it from the Honda dealer, Cornes Motors near West Hampstead, right next to Hampstead Cemetery..... Think it cost about three-and-a-half bags back then.

 

Mk.2 Jettas are another car you don't really see anymore. It was a much bigger seller in the US.

[chaseracer]

I can't make up my mind which one to put my money on.

 

What you need, my unshod friend, is something small, French and white... 

[Guest Hooli]

I think the deadline's been extended to later this evening, as Eddie's stuck in work.

 

 

Go for it!

 

All sorted already chaps, Eddie PM'd me to call me a silly cunt & to offer to add me to the order.

 

A few flakes in good old stoke and everyone has forgotten how to drive

 

#omgsnochaos

 

Aye we had an hour or so of snow falling here, it's not settled at all & yet the traffic report has so many accidents you think every road turned to sheet black ice (it's hasn't it's about 4c out there ffs).

[John F]

chaseracer, on 22 Jan 2019 - 5:49 PM, said:

What you need, my unshod friend, is something small, French and white...