The grumpy thread

[abir246]

3 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

If you can't afford, or refuse to pay for consumables for your AMG Mercedes, just walk rather than risking the rest of us with your selfish stupidity.

No surprise there were two child seats in the back.

All four tyres were in a similar state.

Is it an A class or CLA? They tend to be the most used "look at me im AMG" cars around where I live

[EyesWeldedShut]

2 hours ago, myglaren said:

I am a Linux user and Videodownloader is equally simple, just paste the address into it and select video or audio.  Creates a folder and saves the file into it.

I don't have a Linux box at the moment but I did (recently) quit using Spotify and found a site (spotifydowloader.com) that swifts a complete playlist off there and converts to mp3.
Very handy

[Zelandeth]

7 minutes ago, abir246 said:

Is it an A class or CLA? They tend to be the most used "look at me im AMG" cars around where I live

A class I think...no idea exactly which version as the only badge on it was an AMG one - which I'd almost be willing to bet came from Halfords.

[myglaren]

I don't have spotifry.  Tried it for a bit and didn't like it.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Aye - we only used the freebie version but found it more and more advert-laden. It was good for finding new stuff to listen to though (can  often get stuck in a rut just listening to the MediaMonkey tracks)
Use a lot of internet radio - Spoon is good for stuff that sounds like you should know the artist but don't (noughties and younger). Blues Radio Athens is also v.good (no ads)

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

No surprise there were two child seats in the back.

All four tyres were in a similar state.  Parked taking up three spaces in a busy car park.

Thames Valley Police refused the dangerous driving report (their form states that knowingly driving a vehicle with dangerous defects should be treated as such) as I had "No proof of the vehicle being having been driven in this condition" so would not be taking any action.

Yeah, it just teleported into the Morrison's car park then did it?  Don't know why I bloody bother.  I normally wouldn't have, but the condition here was so egregious, blatant and combined with the way it was parked was just asking for it.  It's not like it's got that bad overnight.  They've known those tyres are fscked for months and just don't care.

is there not some sort of standards body or watch dog you can report to regarding the polices piss-poor response? (especially if you have clear photos of the car in its entirety clearly in the public car park so you can challenge the police to explain how it got there if not driven on the public highway)

[sheffcortinacentre]

10 hours ago, purplebargeken said:

Completed an application for a pt time NHS job. Whoever designed the application needs to fuck right off. So much useless repitition of info required. Ridiculous.

How else can they justify their job & screw money outs the NHS.

[sheffcortinacentre]

2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

If you can't afford, or refuse to pay for consumables for your AMG Mercedes, just walk rather than risking the rest of us with your selfish stupidity.

No surprise there were two child seats in the back.

All four tyres were in a similar state.  Parked taking up three spaces in a busy car park.

Thames Valley Police refused the dangerous driving report (their form states that knowingly driving a vehicle with dangerous defects should be treated as such) as I had "No proof of the vehicle being having been driven in this condition" so would not be taking any action.

Yeah, it just teleported into the Morrison's car park then did it?  Don't know why I bloody bother.  I normally wouldn't have, but the condition here was so egregious, blatant and combined with the way it was parked was just asking for it.  It's not like it's got that bad overnight.  They've known those tyres are fscked for months and just don't care.

Not surprised all round, had a neighbour driving on a learner licence ( so insurance was invalid) few years ago we got fed up of reporting her to police, she moved about 3 years ago still doing it as far as we know.

[brownnova]

8 hours ago, brownnova said:

I’m hoping that their repair has failed rather than the clutch!

Looks like this is the case. The garage were incredibly apologetic. Had it recovered straight there.

RAC man was rather rude though. First time I’ve ever had that, they’ve always been polite at least! 

[richardmorris]

3 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Looks like this is the case. The garage were incredibly apologetic. Had it recovered straight there.

RAC man was rather rude though. First time I’ve ever had that, they’ve always been polite at least! 

Complain, surely recovering cars is his job?

[High Jetter]

45 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Complain, surely fixing cars is his job?

EFA

[robt100]

Finally got a chance to clean the car this evening. So gave it a pre-rinse, full decontamination and a wash. Then some 'proper' wax on it....

..all was going fine till I had one side of the car left to do. Then in the distance was the sound of a combine firing up, next thing I know you couldn't see for all the chaff and dust flying through the air, clean now totally ruined and sitting in a few mm of dust. What a good waste of a few hours..

[Metal Guru]

TV suddenly decided to identify as a radio at lunchtime. Picture disappeared without warning , just sound alone. Second one to have gone like that. Bought during lock down , so 5  1/2 years, works out about £1 a week, 

Replacement £239 for a 50 in TV.  Crazy really. First TV I bought myself was 21in for around £300 in 1990 (~ £750 with inflation), for a pretty basic TV but it did have Ceefax and a remote control.

Every TV since has been bigger and bigger but about the same price or cheaper. 

[New POD]

8 hours ago, brownnova said:

Looks like this is the case. The garage were incredibly apologetic. Had it recovered straight there.

RAC man was rather rude though. First time I’ve ever had that, they’ve always been polite at least! 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3428921720668193/?ref=share

 

 

[New POD]

8 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Complain, surely recovering cars is his job?

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😅🤣😂

Erm No. 

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, New POD said:

🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😅🤣😂

Erm No. 

selling memberships and insurance.

[artdjones]

9 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

TV suddenly decided to identify as a radio at lunchtime. Picture disappeared without warning , just sound alone. Second one to have gone like that. Bought during lock down , so 5  1/2 years, works out about £1 a week, 

Replacement £239 for a 50 in TV.  Crazy really. First TV I bought myself was 21in for around £300 in 1990 (~ £750 with inflation), for a pretty basic TV but it did have Ceefax and a remote control.

Every TV since has been bigger and bigger but about the same price or cheaper. 

Colour TVs were around £300 in 1968 when the service started. For context my dad was earning £15-20 PW, and had bought a terraced house the year before for £1850!

In 1952 , my mate's dad had been saving up for a telly for the start of the TV service in Wales. £200 for the set. The average wage was £6.80, so he must have been a good saver. When the Coronation was on in 1953 they had half the street in their front room. In 1952 terms a telly costs about £3 or £4.

[Lord Sterling]

Air-con again.

Yep. So dropped off the car today and walked the 4 miles home because I didn't have enough for a bus. They were going to look at it for free so it wouldn't cost me anything anyway.

Just had a call, it appears to be a directional flaps issue. The air-con system is working but the air is mixing with warm air. 

Directional flaps, now where've I heard that before? 

Oh yeah:

£565 for what? A common fault to appear. 

I honestly feel like ripping the whole system out and just be done with it. The Vectras system is still not fixed.

It's taken me since last year to sort this on both the Vectra and Jag, and both still aren't working, both have cost me a total of £800+ for nothing....

I don't understand why THE FUCK this issue is such a SHIT to resolve. Why the FUCK is fighting me at every.single.opportunity? 

I give up. I cannot honestly be arsed anymore. The whole lot is basically gonna get ripped out if by the time I go to Belgium it still isn't working.

Plus, vehicle tax. The air-con saga has put me right back financially. 

[beko1987]

8 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Air-con again.

Yep. So dropped off the car today and walked the 4 miles home because I didn't have enough for a bus. They were going to look at it for free so it wouldn't cost me anything anyway.

Just had a call, it appears to be a directional flaps issue. The air-con system is working but the air is mixing with warm air. 

Directional flaps, now where've I heard that before? 

Oh yeah:

£565 for what? A common fault to appear. 

I honestly feel like ripping the whole system out and just be done with it. The Vectras system is still not fixed.

It's taken me since last year to sort this on both the Vectra and Jag, and both still aren't working, both have cost me a total of £800+ for nothing....

I don't understand why THE FUCK this issue is such a SHIT to resolve. Why the FUCK is fighting me at every.single.opportunity? 

I give up. I cannot honestly be arsed anymore. The whole lot is basically gonna get ripped out if by the time I go to Belgium it still isn't working.

Plus, vehicle tax. The air-con saga has put me right back financially. 

Can you find these flaps and force them to 'cold' manually for now?

Sounds like a right pain though, sorry to hear it. I'll give the initial regas a gamble but if that fails then the car just doesn't have aircon 😂 (if the qashqai passes it's mot I'm going to get it regassed 🤞)

[Lord Sterling]

4 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Can you find these flaps and force them to 'cold' manually for now?

Sounds like a right pain though, sorry to hear it. I'll give the initial regas a gamble but if that fails then the car just doesn't have aircon 😂 (if the qashqai passes it's mot I'm going to get it regassed 🤞)

Maybe if I could be arsed. I can't be arsed. I've paid (a lot of) monies to get it working, and just when it worked, it decided to fail.

What I'm getting at here, is trying to resolve a long-standing problem.

A problem I've ignored for too long as the fear of shitting a load of money on something that just refuses to work has long been a fear of mine.

I've shit money on other stuff that hasn't worked so it seems like a bit of theme here.

No, I'm not as handy with a spanner as I used to be, I barely do any shit to my cars any more. I usually chuck it at a garage. This generally works but when it comes to air-con issues, the issue refuses to be resolved like a UTTER BASTARD.

As I said, I'd rather rip the fucking thing out of both cars, blank off their buttons than search/pay for a solution anymore. I've reached the fucking end.

I'm sure for many of you here, it's a simple case of doing this and that. Certainly when it comes to air-con its a case of simply topping up the gas or replacing some fuse or simple pipework and voilà! It works.

Not for me.

[New POD]

2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

selling memberships and insurance.

And overpriced batteries.

[IronStar]

Right rear power window packed up on 159. Seems like the window has detached from the mechanism. Arsebisquits. 

[IronStar]

2 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Maybe if I could be arsed. I can't be arsed. I've paid (a alot of) monies to get it working, and just when it worked, it decided to fail.

What I'm getting at here, is trying to resolve a long-standing problem. A problem I've ignored for too long as the fear of shitting a load of money on something that just refuses to work has long been a fear of mine.

I've shit money on other stuff that hasn't worked so I'm like to think I'm very careful.

No, I'm not as handy with a spanner as I used to be, I barely do any shit to my cars, I usually chuck it at a garage. This generally works but air-con issues have been a long standing BASTARD of an issue and it refuses to go away like a bad smell.

As I said, I'd rather rip the fucking thing out of both cars and blank off the buttons than search/pay for a solution anymore. I've reached the end.

I'm sure first you guys here. Its simple to do this and that. Certainly when it comes to air-con its a case of simply tipping up the gas or replacing some fuse. Everything else works.

Not me.

Aircons are a bastard. When something fails in the system, unless it gets fixed straight away, it gets progressively worse as it sits. Compressors seize, pressure switches stick, rubber bits dry up, random shit stops working, and it all becomes a bastard to fix. Bravo had a hole in the condenser, but it turned into a leaky compressor, porous pipework, and a rusted-through dryer. Essentially every single bit of the system is non-operational and needs fixing or replacement. 

If you're ever around my neck of woods with any of your cars, I can take you to the shop that will fix literally anything aircon for not all that much money. 

[castros_bro]

Hitting a brick doing 60ish on A3 is not a good idea.

[alcyonecorporation]

20 hours ago, abir246 said:

Is it an A class or CLA? They tend to be the most used "look at me im AMG" cars around where I live

Just because they can afford a finance agreement doesn't mean they can afford (or want to pay) for upkeep. 

The reason you see so many of the fucking things is because M-B finance will literally take any old belming ned on tick if they can sign their name. 

I fucking hate those A-Classes - I ain't paying Merc money for a tarted up Megane and they're horrid, inside and out. About as Mercedes as I am a giraffe. 

[cobblers]

17 minutes ago, alcyonecorporation said:

Just because they can afford a finance agreement doesn't mean they can afford (or want to pay) for upkeep. 

The reason you see so many of the fucking things is because M-B finance will literally take any old belming ned on tick if they can sign their name. 

I fucking hate those A-Classes - I ain't paying Merc money for a tarted up Megane and they're horrid, inside and out. About as Mercedes as I am a giraffe. 

Quite ironic that new mercs all have "class" in the name, because none of them have any class in the drivers seat (hohohoho) Absolute fucking scrote chariots, every one of them. 

A class being the worst, especially a sporty one.  100% cast iron guarantee that the driver is an absolute dickhead.  One of a few cars that I will purposefully stay well away from when I'm on the roads. They make coked up Golf R drivers look like fucking Bob Ross in comparison. 

[DavieW]

20 hours ago, brownnova said:

 

RAC man was rather rude though. 

A few years ago, I broke down on the M74. Got recovered to Abingdon services where another truck picked me up and took me 3 hours home. First thing he said was "you got me out of my f*cking bed to recover you". I felt like saying that was his job he'd signed up for but bit my tongue. The 3 hour journey was completed in virtual silence after that.

[Lord Sterling]

3 hours ago, IronStar said:

If you're ever around my neck of woods with any of your cars, I can take you to the shop that will fix literally anything aircon for not all that much money. 

I'm glad someone understands. I really wish I could bring the car to your neck of the woods, but its sadly very unlikely. What I really need is as you say, a competent mechanic who's going to understand a system the same you do.

Here, they'll diagnose it to the most identifiable fault, charge you a fortune to change the part and then something else will wrong, as you mentioned, like a domino effect. My current garage diagnosed the issue as being directional flaps and have decided they don't want the job. Fair enough, I'll take my all of my business elsewhere. When I picked up the car, they couldn't have given less of a toss if they tried 

This year, I suppose I at least did get to enjoy it for a few days last month.

Last year, the old garage I stopped using didn't even get that far. They got me a new condenser for the Vectra, pipework and then decided they couldn't put them together because of cheap clip, so flared the pipes, tried that, didn't work and suddenly they decided I needed to pay for a new condenser. 

Seriously, here in the UK, many garages and mechanics seem to be a bunch sad, incompetent crayon eaters these days. Little interest in the job.

[IronStar]

38 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

I'm glad someone understands. I really wish I could bring the car to your neck of the woods, but its sadly very unlikely. What I really need is as you say, a competent mechanic who's going to understand a system the same you do.

Here, they'll diagnose it to the most identifiable fault, charge you a fortune to change the part and then something else will wrong, as you mentioned, like a domino effect. My current garage diagnosed the issue as being directional flaps and have decided they don't want the job. Fair enough, I'll take my all of my business elsewhere. When I picked up the car, they couldn't have given less of a toss if they tried 

This year, I suppose I at least did get to enjoy it for a few days last month.

Last year, the old garage I stopped using didn't even get that far. They got me a new condenser for the Vectra, pipework and then decided they couldn't put them together because of cheap clip, so flared the pipes, tried that, didn't work and suddenly they decided I needed to pay for a new condenser. 

Seriously, here in the UK, many garages and mechanics seem to be a bunch sad, incompetent crayon eaters these days. Little interest in the job.

It’s a slippery slope there. They need to identify the most identifiable fault, fix it, and retest to find the next one. On cars worth £notmuch, it quickly goes beyond the economical repair, and that’s what 99% of people are looking for. In my example of Bravo, condenser replacement is close to monetary value of the car. Everything else is going double over it. If I wasn’t a regular, and they weren’t sure I’d pay up, they’d try talking me out of it or out outright said no(t until autumn when we have time). It’s understandable really, they’re left holding the bag if you say fuck it and leave them the keys, and it’s even more potentially expensive there with hourly rates higher. 

Flaps are an utter bastard to fix, it usually requires dismantling the entire dashboard, and then you’re on the hook when an idiot determines that it’s now rattling and it wasn’t previously, so you did something to it (it was rattling when it first came in).

The phenomenon of absolute incompetence is the same across all the locations and industries, it’s just* a small matter of finding the actually good ones. Takes people in the know or a lot of time and money for trial and error approach. 

[Lord Sterling]

11 minutes ago, IronStar said:

It’s a slippery slope there. They need to identify the most identifiable fault, fix it, and retest to find the next one. On cars worth £notmuch, it quickly goes beyond the economical repair, and that’s what 99% of people are looking for.

Flaps are an utter bastard to fix, it usually requires dismantling the entire dashboard, and then you’re on the hook when an idiot determines that it’s now rattling and it wasn’t previously, so you did something to it (it was rattling when it first came in).

The phenomenon of absolute incompetence is the same across all the locations and industries, it’s just* a small matter of finding the actually good ones. Takes people in the know or a lot of time and money for trial and error approach. 

The only serious alternative for me then is to rip out the whole system, condenser, pipes etc... bin it, blank off the A/C button and be done with it. That way I won't be tempted to try and fix it again, it'llnever be fixed and has been the bain of my existence, so maybe as well get rid. I might do that for both Vectra and Jag. 

I'll probably be in my 50s by the time I get around to having a car with working air-conditioning. It's  a pathetic situation to be in, but, here I am.