Dodgy shit hidden by sellers

[Boycie]

So that's it , the Aviation scamp for the environmentalists , the imp for the working class and the Argyll GT for the toffs .....what about the Scottish middle class ...what do they drive .....

[Boycie]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I was under the impression you could still buy yourself a brand-new Scottish designed and built car, should you desire one...

Not straight from the showroom, but the Argyll GT tooling still exists and I'm told Bob Henderson will knock a new one up for you... at a price.

www.argyllmotors.co.uk

Getting NOS Datsun Cherry rear lights might be a pain, though.

Look at the quality .....proper 4 seater to , can someone on here get one asap 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 6/16/2022 at 6:22 PM, Boycie said:

Look at the quality .....proper 4 seater to , can someone on here get one asap 

I'll buy a Lottery Ticket tomorrow and see what happens... 🤩🤩🤩

[Boycie]

7 hours ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

I'll buy a Lottery Ticket tomorrow and see what happens... 🤩🤩🤩

Thats the spirit Leyland 

[New POD]

On 14/06/2022 at 08:51, St.Jude said:

A friend of mine works at JLR in Solihull, and was telling me that after the cars come off the production line they go for a shake down around the factory. Mix of town and “spirited” country lane driving.

There are some though who take it too “spirited” down those roads, and end up scratching and scraping the paint as they go too far in to the roadside bushes and brambles on the drive. I think a few have also had their wing mirrors smashed.

What do they do? Well instead of parking them near where they are meant to be, they park them at the other end of the car park which is host to a few skips. They then hand the keys in saying they couldn’t get a parking space any closer to the office.

I was once late for work because a JLR worker had parked* a brand new (complete with trade plates) freelander on top of the central crash barrier of the Knowsley Expressway.  With a view of Halewood in the distance.  Probably got promoted. 

[Supernaut]

5 hours ago, New POD said:

I was once late for work because a JLR worker had parked* a brand new (complete with trade plates) freelander on top of the central crash barrier of the Knowsley Expressway.  With a view of Halewood in the distance.  Probably got promoted. 

Stability control was faulty, evidently. They saved JLR the embarrassment of the customer finding it out.

[UltraWomble]

The state of the wob in that tailgate of a 70 plater

[GregZX]

On 6/2/2022 at 3:27 PM, Gerrymcd said:

I've been mostly lucky.  All minor stuff compared to most.

Seen many a tarted up motor over the years on London Road in Glasgow.  I echo @big_al_granvia  comments -  Ayrshire seems to specialize in shit traders. But all close to home so I've just laughed and moved on. 

I did drive to Manchester once to buy an "immaculate" MR2 Rev1 turbo from a trader that had rear arches made of filler and a huge exhaust leak ("sports exhaust innit"). That fucked me off and put me off long distance collections for a long time but on reflection it was only time and fuel wasted .

 

I bought a MK3 Cortina 2000E from a bloke on London Road in 1999. It had catalloy in the floor pan, no inner sills, shot rear void bushes and the timing belt slipped a notch. Oh and the MOT was fake. 

[Boycie]

48 minutes ago, GregZX said:

I bought a MK3 Cortina 2000E from a bloke on London Road in 1999. It had catalloy in the floor pan, no inner sills, shot rear void bushes and the timing belt slipped a notch. Oh and the MOT was fake. 

Ohh  2000E , how posh 

 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

The bait and switch  is alive and well.  My sister is looking for a first car for my niece and we went to  a local well known  2nd hand car supermarket chain and  strangely all the specials were gone.. tho that had similar but more expensive ones  -£1500 more. There was mumbling about not being able to take the adverts down something something..

 

Buying wise I saw  65 Galaxie that the well swore was a good solid example, bar the "structural" carpet underlay in both front footwell,outer corners, blithely  excused "seperate chassis and body, you don't need to worry"  yeah.. that where mine and my sons feet go..so no.   I didnt bother asking about the mass of gravelin the boot wings and  twigs/ leaves in the base of the A pillars

 

As for one over the dealers I traded an x type I  at we buy and shitter and lo yes they were utterly more interested in its appearance and failed to note the borked rear suspension.

[GregZX]

3 hours ago, Boycie said:

Ohh  2000E , how posh 

 

In 1974 perhaps. 
 

In 1999 with holes in the floor and a missing vinyl roof? Not so much. 

[Mudster]

Went to look at a mk2 Astra GTE 16v in the mid 90's. Lifted the carpet flap next to the drivers seat (where the shell is stamped with the VIN),  and there was a rectangular hole.

I think the guy had bought it without realising and was trying to get shot as he was almost in tears when I pointed it out. Often wondered what happened to it.

[martc]

On 6/16/2022 at 6:19 PM, Boycie said:

So that's it , the Aviation scamp for the environmentalists , the imp for the working class and the Argyll GT for the toffs .....what about the Scottish middle class ...what do they drive .....

The Scottish middle class? Well please step this way, you have the choice of two...

The Galloway made in a factory, near Kirkcudbright, staffed mainly by women, tag line "a car made by ladies for others of their sex".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galloway_(car)

 http://www.gallowayengines.com.au/news_items/view/galloway_12

But of course as we all know Galloway was a subsidiary of the Scottish auto industries behemoth Arrol-Johnston, another purveyor of horseless carriages to the middle classes -

http://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/life-work/key-industries/engineering-firms/arrol-johnston.aspx

To pander to the needs of the middle classes, particularity when they are taking the bairns to school, Arrol-Johnston pioneered four-wheel drive. A feature never used by the yummy mummys who drive them. Often referred to as 'Dumfries Tractors' and found straddling a pavement near you. 

 

 

[JMotor]

 

2 hours ago, martc said:

The Scottish middle class? Well please step this way, you have the choice of two...

The Galloway made in a factory, near Kirkcudbright, staffed mainly by women, tag line "a car made by ladies for others of their sex".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galloway_(car)

 http://www.gallowayengines.com.au/news_items/view/galloway_12

But of course as we all know Galloway was a subsidiary of the Scottish auto industries behemoth Arrol-Johnston, another purveyor of horseless carriages to the middle classes -

http://www.futuremuseum.co.uk/collections/life-work/key-industries/engineering-firms/arrol-johnston.aspx

To pander to the needs of the middle classes, particularity when they are taking the bairns to school, Arrol-Johnston pioneered four-wheel drive. A feature never used by the yummy mummys who drive them. Often referred to as 'Dumfries Tractors' and found straddling a pavement near you. 

 

 

The factory they built in Dumfries still stands.

Was used to make the Hunter welly boot at yin point! 

I'll have to post the quality repairs and hidden shit with a Satria GTi I bought, later on. There was plenty hidden or not told about with that POS!

[chaseracer]

On 23/05/2022 at 17:57, Timewaster said:

Mentioned before, but my friend bought a mk1 Golf 1.1 from the auction as a stop gap.

It was absolutely gutless, despite every attempt to sort it out.

A quick check of engine numbers revealed it had an 850 Polo engine.

Similarly, my mate Andy's first car was an Austin 1300 which turned out to have a tired 848cc Mini engine.

It wasn't quick...

[JMotor]

Bought a Proton Satria GTi a while back. Super neglected POS. 

Found all sorted of shite that was wrong. 

The handbrake was the best bodge. Look closely at the bolts too. They filed the holes out 🤣. Still didn't work anyway! 

Seller also hid the fact the thing would pop out of reverse too. 

[Richard_FM]

I wonder if any 1.3 Capris ended up with a 1.1 litre engine, the Haynes Capri Restoration book mentions it's more or less a straight swap, but will make the car even more of a sheep in wolf's clothing!

[DodgeRover]

On 6/26/2022 at 4:53 PM, Mudster said:

Went to look at a mk2 Astra GTE 16v in the mid 90's. Lifted the carpet flap next to the drivers seat (where the shell is stamped with the VIN),  and there was a rectangular hole.

I think the guy had bought it without realising and was trying to get shot as he was almost in tears when I pointed it out. Often wondered what happened to it.

Sadly stolen and burned whilst the owner was witnessed being elsewhere would be my guess

[bunglebus]

8 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

I wonder if any 1.3 Capris ended up with a 1.1 litre engine, the Haynes Capri Restoration book mentions it's more or less a straight swap, but will make the car even more of a sheep in wolf's clothing!

It was bad enough them putting the 1.3 crossflow in the Crapi and Cortina. 1.1, 1.3 and 1.6 are a straight swap, 1.6 has a taller block. You could even get a 950 in Italian MK1 Escorts, feel the power

[cobblers]

8 hours ago, DodgeRover said:

Sadly stolen and burned whilst the owner was witnessed being elsewhere would be my guess

That was so common in the 90s, my mate had his escort van "stolen and burned out" because the cambelt went. The insurance would have paid out about £750 if his neighbours hadn't seen him towing it away the night of the "theft" on a rope behind my other mates very distinctive and noisy renault 5 turbo, waking up half the cul de sac 😅

[Eyersey1234]

On 5/23/2022 at 7:22 PM, Dobloseven said:

Since he got paid for writing the columns, it must have solved the problem of his holiday money a few times! I don't think he's anything to do with our Barry. 

He wrote in Car Mechanics Magazine at one time as well. As far as I know he didn't actually exist as such, the column was an amalgamation of several genuine trade contacts. Apparently at the relaunch of Practical Classics in 2000 there was talk of his garage catching fire and him going up with it, though in the event this didn't happen.

[Eyersey1234]

When I bought my old Mk2 Focus the turbo hose had split and had been bodged. Thing was a new silicone one was about £20 off a certain online auction site and was 2 Jubilee clips to fit, it must have been more effort to bodge it than to simply fix it properly 

[Merryck]

When I bought the Land Rover one of the mud flaps was missing. I bought a new one and when I tried to remove the old one I realised it had been welded in place.

I think I posted on a forum complaining about it and someone replied "When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". I get what they were saying, but surely anyone who has a welder has a set of spanners.

Anyway, I need to replace them again and it is such a pig of a job trying to reach in to get the nuts in place that I found myself looking over at the welder thinking "It would be so easy..." I haven't given in yet though!

[New POD]

On 23/05/2022 at 23:16, R114 said:

Went to look at an MGF once. It'd been on Autotrader for a few weeks, gradually getting a little cheaper. I'd asked if all was well head gasket wise before setting off and told it was. "Everything is perfect, I've never had any trouble with the car"

Drove 90 mins to the location. Nice area, expensive houses, seemed ideal. Looked around the car, it seemed fine, seller was well dressed, could string a sentence together, he was chatting away, saying he'd always wanted one and had owned it a few years. He pointed out a few things he'd had done that showed a good knowledge of the cars and their quirks. I mentioned that I was surprised it hadn't sold yet and he quickly tried to change the subject.

I asked for the key to open the boot and he seemed a bit reluctant but handed it over. There was a 5 litre coolant bottle in the boot.

"You can have that, only bought it last week so there's quite a bit left."

Not a good sign.

I pulled the inspection flap back and reached for the expansion tank. Seller goes quiet.

I unscrew the cap and am greeted with overflowing contents that Hellmann's could have bottled and passed off as their own.

"Errmmm, you told me there were no issues, that's head gasket failure." I said curtly.

"Err, ummmm, what do you mean?" he responded, now visibly trembling, glancing nervously about the street.

"You clearly know about these cars, head gasket issues aren't exactly a secret are they?!" I reply, wife sensing a situation brewing, begins to pull my arm away.

"There isn't a problem, it's fine, it's always been like that, it's never bothered me."

I shook my head in disbelief, handed him the cap, wiped the residue from my fingers on the boot seal, got back in my car and drove away with him stood staring after me, cap still in hand.

It stayed on Autotrader for a few more weeks before "NEW HEAD GASKET" being added to the description.

I could tell by his demeanor that I wasn't the first and probably wasn't the last that he'd tried it on with, before finally giving in and getting it done. Maybe the embarrassment of the curtain twitching neighbours seeing his best bullshitting skills played a part too.

People don't always become successful by being totally honest.  Bought a 1500 spitfire once that was actually a 1300 mk4. Actually it was a proper bitsa. 

[sierraman]

2 hours ago, New POD said:

People don't always become successful by being totally honest.  Bought a 1500 spitfire once that was actually a 1300 mk4. Actually it was a proper bitsa. 

Probably 3/4 of cars for sale below say £7k will have got something wrong not immediately obvious from the advert. Sometimes it will genuinely be that they’d not spotted it, but often you can see how the seller is trying to portray it in a particular way. I once had this on a car I was test driving, the guy wanted to literally go ‘round the block’, took a wrong turn ended up on the bypass when it overheated which according to him ‘it had never ever done’. 

[Jazoli]

1 hour ago, sierraman said:

Probably 3/4 of cars for sale below say £7k will have got something wrong not immediately obvious from the advert. Sometimes it will genuinely be that they’d not spotted it, but often you can see how the seller is trying to portray it in a particular way. I once had this on a car I was test driving, the guy wanted to literally go ‘round the block’, took a wrong turn ended up on the bypass when it overheated which according to him ‘it had never ever done’. 

There's no way 75% of used cars have undisclosed faults, a percentage do absolutely but 75% and £7k are just numbers you have picked out of thin air.

[NorthernMonkey]

1 minute ago, Jazoli said:

There's no way 75% of used cars have undisclosed faults, a percentage do absolutely but 75% and £7k are just numbers you have picked out of thin air.

Bang on.

 

 

It’s actually nearer 78%…

[sierraman]

7 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

There's no way 75% of used cars have undisclosed faults, a percentage do absolutely but 75% and £7k are just numbers you have picked out of thin air.

It was intended as an illustration, I apologise profusely if I haven’t brought a sheaf of studies relating to back up some exact figures. I’ll go away now and conduct a study and come back to you with some nailed on statistics. 

[Eyersey1234]

1 hour ago, Jazoli said:

There's no way 75% of used cars have undisclosed faults, a percentage do absolutely but 75% and £7k are just numbers you have picked out of thin air.

To be fair @sierraman said probably 75%

[New POD]

On 27/06/2022 at 21:08, chaseracer said:

Similarly, my mate Andy's first car was an Austin 1300 which turned out to have a tired 848cc Mini engine.

It wasn't quick...

My mate Simon, Manufacturing Engineer at Ryton, for Peugeot, had a Citroën AXGT, and after head gasket failure, warped the block, he fitted a 1.1 engine, changed the engine number and cc on the V5 and flogged it on, with the words Sold as Seen on the receipt. 

It was 1990.  But someone is going to want their money back sooner or later.