The grumpy thread

[AnnoyingPentium]

Left my earphones at home... and I'm on the train.

[AnnoyingPentium]

...aaaaaaand there's a guy listening to music without earphones in.

[andy18s]

  On 10/02/2022 at 11:36, AnnoyingPentium said:

...aaaaaaand there's a guy listening to music without earphones in.

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Are you sure it's not a mirror?

[grogee]

  On 08/02/2022 at 19:44, Fumbler said:

Had some work done on the car... dropped it off at midday Friday and most of the work was done at the end of the day. I've just received the invoice thinking it'd be £200 or something. Well nope

Fuck. Only 18% of that is parts. The rest is labour and VAT.

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I don't know the full story but that feels expensive. Particularly if you didn't have an estimate to work on beforehand, even verbally. 

I am a 'casual' mechanic and do stuff for friends and neighbours. I charge £50/hr because

a) I'm careful

b) if I said the job will take me 2 hours, I charge for 2 hours, even if it took me 4

c) they don't have to pay VAT and can supply the parts if they want. 

£1000 labour would be 20 hours for me, I could get a lot done in that time. 

If Chevonics charge £65+VAT that's fine, but I'd expect their knowledge and experience to reduce the total time spent doing Citroen-only jobs which they should know about. 

Most of all I'd expect a phone call before the work to say, "it's going to be a big bill. Do you want us to carry on or not?"

With our sensible hats on I think we'd all be questioning the value of a BX versus this bill. But if it's paid then yes it's a keeper and good luck with it, I hope it brings you much happiness. FWIW I'm desperate to scratch that Citroen itch and these stories don't put me off at all. 

[Dead_E23]

  On 10/02/2022 at 14:24, grogee said:

I am a 'casual' mechanic and do stuff for friends and neighbours. I charge £50/hr because

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Do you have (or need) public liability insurance to cover that?   

I'd be wary of charging the neighbours to change their brake pads on their shitheap and then the very next thing they do is stick it into the back of someone's Ferrari Enzo.

[reb]

It's fucking freezing in my house today.

It's supposedly 6° in the nearest town, but I'm up a big hill from there. It's also windy and that seems to suck all of the heat out despite there being no noticeable draughts.

I could stick the utterly ineffectual storage heater on boost, but that would just be burning money because it doesn't actually seem to make it any warmer.

I do love this house, it's a shame it's so poorly insulated. Maybe it's time I revisit the idea of double glazing with the landlord.

[paulplom]

Same here, there seems to be strange draughts coming from everywhere. The fire is doing weird things to. 

[twosmoke300]

Todays mind bender 

Booked in for a non start issue 

Like fuck am I road testing that . 
 

Let her know in my special diplomatic way and this was her response. 
 

Yeh fucking top lolz love . Until you kill some fucker 

[Fumbler]

  On 10/02/2022 at 07:45, captain_70s said:

When I put the Volvo in for a pre-MOT they said it'd just cost an hour's labour. Me being 200 years old thought that it'd be about £45. Nope, £66. OOF. I was actually disappointed with the tiny list of things to repair given the amount it'd cost to get it...

  On 10/02/2022 at 14:24, grogee said:

If Chevonics charge £65+VAT that's fine, but I'd expect their knowledge and experience to reduce the total time spent doing Citroen-only jobs which they should know about. 

Most of all I'd expect a phone call before the work to say, "it's going to be a big bill. Do you want us to carry on or not?"

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The OOF size was definitely large when I initially looked at the bill, but upon driving home I also remembered Chevronics go through the (expensive and headache inducing) process of asking OEMs in France and places to drag out old tooling and manufacture parts Citroen obsoleted. Octopus return pipes come to mind. So, in reflection, I was very lucky with the £45.00 labour charge previous garages have invoiced me and Chevonics' pricing is, luckily, not the end of the world even if it was a surprise.

When I called them up today they very kindly offered to pick me up from the station and he said he wants to wash it as well, free of charge. I can definitely credit their customer service- it's very, very good.

  On 10/02/2022 at 14:24, grogee said:

With our sensible hats on I think we'd all be questioning the value of a BX versus this bill. But if it's paid then yes it's a keeper and good luck with it, I hope it brings you much happiness. FWIW I'm desperate to scratch that Citroen itch and these stories don't put me off at all. 

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I'd say it's worth it to have one, but if you buy one that's been neglected or has been recently recommissioned, you'll have a few decent-size headaches for the first year or two. Fortunately, I can afford the bill but it does mean the car's a keeper whether I like it or not. It's probably a good thing!

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

  On 07/02/2022 at 10:14, Metal Guru said:

It is a Timothy Oulton! ( no ? me neither)

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Maybe they've just misspelled Timothy Dalton and have a Licence to Sell.

[artdjones]

  On 10/02/2022 at 18:52, Fumbler said:

The OOF size was definitely large when I initially looked at the bill, but upon driving home I also remembered Chevronics go through the (expensive and headache inducing) process of asking OEMs in France and places to drag out old tooling and manufacture parts Citroen obsoleted. Octopus return pipes come to mind. So, in reflection, I was very lucky with the £45.00 labour charge previous garages have invoiced me and Chevonics' pricing is, luckily, not the end of the world even if it was a surprise.

When I called them up today they very kindly offered to pick me up from the station and he said he wants to wash it as well, free of charge. I can definitely credit their customer service- it's very, very good.

I'd say it's worth it to have one, but if you buy one that's been neglected or has been recently recommissioned, you'll have a few decent-size headaches for the first year or two. Fortunately, I can afford the bill but it does mean the car's a keeper whether I like it or not. It's probably a good thing!

 

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What exactly did they do?

[Fumbler]

  On 10/02/2022 at 19:06, artdjones said:

What exactly did they do?

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Replaced steering rack gaiters

Replaced hydraulic pump and alternator belts

Replaced distributor O ring

Replaced bronze bush in rear H/C linkage

Replaced instrument binnacle bulbs

Replaced brake flexis

Replaced handbrake cables

Pressure tested coolant system to investigate coolant loss.

 

These are all jobs I could have done myself in time, but I didn't have the time or the patience to fight with flimsy French plastics or stuck tensioner bolts, didn't have the know-how to fix the rear suspension linkage nor the space to leave the car immobilised for potentially weeks as I can only work on it during weekends.

[omegod]

  On 09/02/2022 at 17:35, Bren said:

When I had my xantia there was a chap in Widnes who was ex citroen. I had water pump  timing belt and spheres replaced. I paid £350 for the lot. Sadly he is no longer with us.

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I used him for my xantia, sadly he only put one bolt back in the height corrector which caused me a few problems days later and I had to drive it back with no suspension which was a filling rattling journey. I recall he had a CX prestige out the back...phwoarrrrrr    

[Bren]

  On 10/02/2022 at 20:06, omegod said:

I used him for my xantia, sadly he only put one bolt back in the height corrector which caused me a few problems days later and I had to drive it back with no suspension which was a filling rattling journey. I recall he had a CX prestige out the back...phwoarrrrrr    

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Was it C&T? The chap I used was called Gary Ball - sadly no longer with us. He had a little unit on Tanhouse Lane in Widnes.

[jakebullet]

  On 10/02/2022 at 18:25, twosmoke300 said:

Todays mind bender 

Booked in for a non start issue 

Like fuck am I road testing that . 
 

Let her know in my special diplomatic way and this was her response. 
 

Yeh fucking top lolz love . Until you kill some fucker 

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Pay now before they get killed driving to the cashpoint.

[artdjones]

  On 10/02/2022 at 19:59, Fumbler said:

Replaced steering rack gaiters

Replaced hydraulic pump and alternator belts

Replaced distributor O ring

Replaced bronze bush in rear H/C linkage

Replaced instrument binnacle bulbs

Replaced brake flexis

Replaced handbrake cables

Pressure tested coolant system to investigate coolant loss.

 

These are all jobs I could have done myself in time, but I didn't have the time or the patience to fight with flimsy French plastics or stuck tensioner bolts, didn't have the know-how to fix the rear suspension linkage nor the space to leave the car immobilised for potentially weeks as I can only work on it during weekends.

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Still seems a bit expensive to me. The handbrake cables can be awkward, and of course only Citroens have a height corrector linkage of that type, but the only stuff in the rest that is specialist  is bleeding the front brakes, which is no harder than on conventional braking systems, just slightly different.

[Fumbler]

  On 10/02/2022 at 22:04, artdjones said:

Still seems a bit expensive to me. The handbrake cables can be awkward, and of course only Citroens have a height corrector linkage of that type, but the only stuff in the rest that is specialist  is bleeding the front brakes, which is no harder than on conventional braking systems, just slightly different.

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The cables were a healthy £50.00 each, as the nearside was seized and the offside was old and likely to break if a strong new nearside replacement was put in. It took two hours so that was an additional £146.00 on top. Ultimately, it came down to the time I had to fix stuff on it, which I didn't have. I also needed to send it back to them anyway because they hadn't finished fixing the oil leak (distributor O ring didn't arrive) last time I was there, so adding the MoT jobs, especially the hateful rack gaiters, was a convenient way of getting niggly bits done. If this has taught me anything it's to just stop dawdling and worrying about what ifs etc and just get on with fixing things. Even if stuff breaks, things are still cheaper.

[omegod]

  On 10/02/2022 at 21:40, Bren said:

Was it C&T? The chap I used was called Gary Ball - sadly no longer with us. He had a little unit on Tanhouse Lane in Widnes.

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Just checked and it was indeed C&T I used 

[anonymous user]

  On 10/02/2022 at 17:30, paulplom said:

Same here, there seems to be strange draughts coming from everywhere. The fire is doing weird things to. 

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Ghosts, definitely ghosts. 

[reb]

  On 11/02/2022 at 09:33, anonymous user said:

Ghosts, definitely ghosts. 

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My house is at least 200 years old and not once has anything happened that has made me think "ghosts", I'm quite disappointed to be honest.

[AnnoyingPentium]

  On 11/02/2022 at 11:13, reb said:

My house is at least 200 years old and not once has anything happened that has made me think "ghosts", I'm quite disappointed to be honest.

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I'll come round for the weekend and make weird noises in the loft and you can charge tourists big bucks for a "haunted house".

[reb]

  On 11/02/2022 at 11:30, AnnoyingPentium said:

I'll come round for the weekend and make weird noises in the loft and you can charge tourists big bucks for a "haunted house".

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Unfortunately upstairs is a flat, so no loft, people would just say "that's your upstairs neighbor you twat"

[Fumbler]

Well this isn't great. I come to collect the BX, put the key in the ignition and the blower is stuck on. 

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

  On 11/02/2022 at 14:24, Fumbler said:

Well this isn't great. I come to collect the BX, put the key in the ignition and the blower is stuck on. 

 

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Hot or cold? If so, what's the weather like?

[Fumbler]

  On 11/02/2022 at 15:03, AnnoyingPentium said:

Hot or cold? If so, what's the weather like?

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It's just stuck on full all the time. Heater control panel is ok but when it's disconnected the fan keeps on running. They suspect the blower motor resistor has failed, but that requires taking the blower box out of the car because the resistor pack is butted up against the bulkhead.

[HillmanImp]

Neighbours have cut down a big tree behind our house. 

There had been a tree protection order on it. The woman that lives there was always complaining about it so I reckon she's copper nailed it and got it removed. 

Feel a bit agrophobic now looking out of the office window with it not there. 

[Fumbler]

Fan speed controller was fucked. I have a feeling the transistor blew up.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Got some new pattern BX parts but can't give them away???

[Fumbler]

  On 11/02/2022 at 20:23, sheffcortinacentre said:

Got some new pattern BX parts but can't give them away???

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You do? May be useful. 

 

Anyway, just got home. Motorcycle accident on the M25 made a 3 hour delay. As I was driving I thought "man the speedo is bouncing a bit more than usual!" So of course, just as I was getting on the last road home, I heard a clunk and the speedo sat at 0.

[Crackers]

  On 11/02/2022 at 20:59, Fumbler said:

You do? May be useful. 

 

Anyway, just got home. Motorcycle accident on the M25 made a 3 hour delay. As I was driving I thought "man the speedo is bouncing a bit more than usual!" So of course, just as I was getting on the last road home, I heard a clunk and the speedo sat at 0.

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Old cars man. 

It never rains, it pours.