The grumpy thread

[Pillock]

Rear box on the Saxo has just developed a cracking great hole in it, around where the hanger is welded on.Kwik-fit.... "Oh yes sir, £99 fitted"Me... "No, just the back box price please"Kwik-fit.... "That is the back box on its own"FFS! 99 quid!F1 Autocentre can do it for £42 but they need to order it. Does anyone know if it's rude to ask for a supply-only price, since I only replaced the clamps two months ago so I know they'll not need cutting off and it's a job even I can do. Sadly searching for Saxo Backbox on eBay leads to a squillion and ten "Peco 6 inch slash cut dtm flameout quad pipe" boxes and not much stock. It's for a 51 plate 1.1 if anyone has anything suitable

[Cavcraft]

Hell yeah go for it. Try CES (Chester Exhaust Supplies) as they have other depots now too I believe.

[MrDuke]

Does anyone know if it's rude to ask for a supply-only price

Why the hell would that be rude? You're the customer, you're doing them a favour by giving them your custom. They probably just assume (quite rightly) that 99% of their customers wouldn't know how/want to fit parts themselves, but they'll still be making a profit by just supplying you.

[meggersdog]

Yesterday the listing for one of my cars ended on ebay,didn't sell but hey.Now I generally list them on a buy it now with best offer.All this "what's reserve " and "best price,please" gets on my tits so I automatically decline offers more than 150 quid less than the buy it now.With buy it now people know roughly what you want and if someone views the car we often do a deal there and then saving on sellers fees.So yesterday I get an offer of 250 quid on a car advertised for 600,no problem,it's rejected.Then I get a message from the guy "hope my low offer didn't offend you but some people can be really rude when I offer a price" Hmm,well I have better things to do than sit and watch a buy it now listing end so I didn't reply.He then sends a text message saying he could probably increase his offer.Yeah right,you offer less than half price then wonder why people are rude to you.It just seems to be accepted that when buying a car people offer less than half price.Do these people,when on the weekly shop,offer the cashier less than half the cost of their groceries.No they don't so don't do it to me and expect a courtious reply.

[Pillock]

That's the weird thing though. 90% of the population would haggle on a car - new, secondhand, salvage. Nobody expects to pay full whack, it's just the way things go. If you're selling a car, you're also expecting to be haggled so you lob a few quid on to give you room to do it.I don't think I've ever paid full money for a car. Admittedly not stupid offers, but I always go below what I think they actually want - say, car up for £750, they probably want £650 for it so I'll offer £575 or something. We end up around £650. Seller happy, I'm happy.But your groceries, your new TV, the window cleaner, gas and electric, petrol...... we just pay up without question. Why? I'm not suggesting we should haggle for petrol, that would be highly irritating in the queue, but why do we do it almost automatically on cars but not for anything else?

[pogweasel]

It's not the not haggling over the groceries that gets me, it's the not haggling over some services and haggling over others. I get bloody pissed off with people trying to 'chip' me on the price for the work I do. I don't charge alot for the service I provide anyway. Plus I have thousands invested in equipment & software, 'running costs' and insuranes, wages to pay, plus it has taken me a long time to learn all this shit, it's a professional job where you simply cannot fuck up. Yet it is guaranteed now that you will be chipped on whatever quote (QUOTE. Not Estimate) you give on the work. But folk happily pay 'trades' or their local garage £40, £50, £100 an hour + without batting an eyelid. Grr!Then, when I do pitch up to do the work, with expensive kit & hired help, they say 'ooh, you do a thorough job' or 'oh, I thought this would only take an hour'.....

[brammy777]

AGHWent to fleet, made the shite discovery of the year! But there was 2 women next to it, and their kids round the other side, so front and rear shots impossible. Im going to try again tomorrow.For anyone interested, someone on here has one, and its not a Tagora. Its Japanese and its owners also have 2 escorts, a nova and a 3 series Beemer rotting away.

[retrogeezer]

is it on google streetview?

[pogweasel]

Datsun 510???

[brammy777]

Annoyingly no! Its partially covered on streetview and the registration obscuring has blurred most of the front. So it doesnt help....Ill give you the reg actually, LGP 637Y.DVLA is down, but cartell is okay.

[pogweasel]

OOOh, a stanza!1.6GL gr8 4 understeer not rwd drft 200sx.

[brammy777]

AND its a saloon!

Heres my pathetic shot of it, this was seriously the nearest I could get. I only went down this road because there was a MK2 Cavalier on streetview there, not there today though.

[155V6]

Where's that then Brammy?

[brammy777]

Kenilworth Crescent! Didnt look too bad, its near Fleet Pond. I think theres also a Yugo under a cover nearby, at least it looks like it.

[Milford Cubicle]

OOOh, a stanza!1.6GL gr8 4 understeer not rwd drft 200sx.

Isn't there a photo kicking about of a Stanza demonstrating heroic lift-off oversteer?

[trigger]

It in one of my road test reviews Milf, What Car I think, I can't get it now as I'm out but it's a fab picture.

[Milford Cubicle]

 

Look out!

[trigger]

That's the one!

[Mr H Sceptre]

Wow! I remember that road test/photo of the Stanza like it was yesterday. What Car magazine if I remember correctly....

[brammy777]

I cant even remember seeing the Stanza on the road, but then again Im not very old...Yeh Ill definitely go back tomorrow morning, it seems to be a shitetastic area, there was also a Nova GTE and a Scimitar rotting away in a (much easier to photograph) driveway.

[Guest]

I could do with the bolt-on scuttle panel off that if it's any cop, mine is a bit nasty. Suppose I could order a new one in from Nissan but I imagine it'll cost a fortune.

 

Here's the HIRST CABS Stanza:

 

Interesting timing as just last week it received a new front pipe and centre box! It's pretty much ready to go down for a test now. Might even do it next weekend or something.

[Mr H Sceptre]

Leave that rear door as it is though, it looks ace.

[Guest]

Too late, I went to Wilkinsons a while back and bought some cream paint and some "economy" brushes and left the whole lot with Vic to make it look half-acceptable for an MOT.I'm going to paint it properly at some point, but it's got some really nasty clear stonechip on it which is cracking all over the place.

[brammy777]

The Stanza looked pretty rusty, but Ill see again tomorrow. DVLA is back up and it says not taxed since 1996.

[Guest]

Anyway, this is the grumpy thread so let's get on with that.Sickness at work. I feel rotten at the moment, but I'll be effectively forced to turn up to work tomorrow because otherwise I'll have exceeded my number of sickness incidents and would actually be in line for possible disciplinary proceedings and all sorts.Never mind the fact bar one time, I have only been off sick for a single day (as one time I took a whole two days off). But it's based around number of times you were off sick instead of length of time, so I'd be lumped in with people who are off for a fortnight every so often with something or other.I wouldn't mind taking it as unpaid annual leave but I don't think I'd even be allowed to do that. As a result, I'm just going to turn up unwell, make a load of mistakes because I feel drowsy and tired, not to mention that I'll infect a load of other people too. Useless!

[Station]

Sounds familiar!I worked for a big shitty bank in Chester for three weeks. Got called into the office and was told I was being let go. Apparently I'd been late 14 times in three weeks. OK, so I had one day off because my car's coolant had frozen and I thought the head had cracked (it hadn't, but I was elbow deep in engine parts by 11am). Out of 15 days, I was on time once? Surely not, twice maybe, but not fucking 14 days, jesus christ! Looking forward to watching Quincy ME in the morning though, another shite office agency work looms this week.

[brammy777]

I cant stand the way our college is organised, fact is, if youre late you will get into more trouble then the ones who just dont show up. Whats the point in that? I do miss the 732 Bus quite alot, Ill admit, but its not my fault the next one isnt til 908. Oh and Karting didnt happen last week. Because apparently we have to sign countless papers regarding H+S because its happening during college time. Its a Kart, not a bloody trolley with a rocket on the back. If they knew this, why let us book it in the first place? I suppose its a slight consellation that its been re-booked for the 25th, but what a joke.Oh and I have 20 days off for Easter, Im not going to complain about that because I know you lot would kill for that, but it means even less time on the project car.

[Rusty Pelican]

No sooner had i fixed the non flashing indicators on my Commer , well they did flash but only if you hold the lever in the correct position , then a bloody bearing on the alternator decided to sieze , guess il be rebuilding that this week then , more money spent

[Station]

The paint shop bloke gave me base coat instead of two pack. This is fine, but I don't know what the fuck to do with it - I prefer 2pk as cellulose just doesn't harden enough to me. He also offered no advice as he wanted to close the shop. I'd just spent 30 quid on a fucking tin!

[whiskeyonesix]

Not only have I managed to crack the Air-Con bracket on the Volvo, I've also found a leak on the radiator... Due to the position of the radiator, I can't actually see where it's leaking from, and the local Volvo specialists won't be able to take a look at it until tomorrow.... but that's ok because due to having to pay the mortgage on my place in the UK I won't be able to pay for any repairs until next week.... Add to that, the supposed buyer of my place in the UK has pulled out saying "The flat is too small" It's a one-bedroom flat, What do you expect!!! On the plus side I get to drive the Wife's Hyundai Getz to work and back.... It's not quite Automotive Narcolepsy, but it's not far off.... Lessons to be learnt here :- A) If you're going to Emigrate, totally sell up first. Don't run a Volvo 360 in Australia - unless you can buy another one for spares.