Kick Those Shoes Off and Relax. It's the Delta 2017 Tea Break

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by bauble

You will not be surprised to hear that it is wet and gloomy today.

Bob, it's hot, sunny & 25 degrees here today! I'm trying hard to think of you sheltering in The Arndale Centre...

[bauble]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

But a bucket without a hole in it is useless. (If there's no hole you can't put anything in it...)

Viv, you truly are a complete dummy (no offence unintended) a bucket is simply a hole surrounded by tin. A bucket without any hole would be a tin.

Bauble BSC, BA, PHD, SoF.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

Bob, it's hot, sunny & 25 degrees here today! I'm trying hard to think of you sheltering in The Arndale Centre...

No matter the weather John it is still France, and no match for the Arndale Centre on a wet day.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by bauble

Viv, you truly are a complete dummy (no offence unintended) a bucket is simply a hole surrounded by tin. A bucket without any hole would be a tin.

Bauble BSC, BA, PHD, SoF.

So, how do you explain plastic buckets then Mr Smarty-Pants?
(I do believe your SoF qualification by the way...)

[bauble]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

So, how do you explain plastic buckets then Mr Smarty-Pants?
(I do believe your SoF qualification by the way...)

A plastic bucket is the equivalent of a Vauxhall Viva compared to an Astra, for example, in the world of buckets. I thought everyone knew that.

Have you been peeking at Mrs Bauble's washing line? How do you know I wear 'smarty pants?

Founder member SoF club.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by John Turner

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Bauble, dear bauble

I challenge you to finish the verse John. Before Brands Hatch?

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

So, how do you explain plastic buckets then Mr Smarty-Pants?
(I do believe your SoF qualification by the way...)

Plastic buckets are better for kicking..........

[Tim Falce]

Been looking for a replacement car for Mrs F, no I don't want to replace her with another car....just yet. I wont buy privately after getting caught out a couple of times in the past but dealer prices are quite high, anyone used auctions, probably looking at an ex motibility car as they seem to be very low mileage.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Been looking for a replacement car for Mrs F, no I don't want to replace her with another car....just yet. I wont buy privately after getting caught out a couple of times in the past but dealer prices are quite high, anyone used auctions, probably looking at an ex motibility car as they seem to be very low mileage.

I would guess some are low mileage and others not but given the number of PCP deal cars that must be around these days after constrained mileage penalties I would think there are quite a lot of options at the 8 to 10 per annum point.

Motability will typically be 3 year old cars, PCP more likely 4 years other than those with early terminations.

We have checked a couple of times when daughter's Motability car came up for change but the "buy at end of period" valuation has always been at least as high as a dealer sticker price for similar mileage so it seemed a bit pointless. Whether they then expect to lose value going to auction I have no idea. It would seem to be a strange way to go about business.

One of the original attractions of some Motability cars was the likelihood the servicing was a regular annual event but modern extended service periods make that a bit meaningless with low mileage vehicles.

The last car we bought was the wife's Corolla (ex. Toyota Employee car, a Japanese manager's wife apparently) sold through the local dealer at 1 year old and 5k miles. That was back in 2006. Not many issues with it other than the service people seeming incapable of sorting out a poorly setup handbrake for several years.

As for auctions .... they often look attractive propositions but I'm not sure I would want to but anything reasonably new. Bottom end of the market throwaway stuff (in the even of a judgement error) would not be so bad as a risk.

Any that might consider taking a wife as a px could be a bonus.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by bauble

What do you call a bucket with a hole in it?

Useless.

Then fix it, dear Henry.......

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Been looking for a replacement car for Mrs F, no I don't want to replace her with another car....just yet. I wont buy privately after getting caught out a couple of times in the past but dealer prices are quite high, anyone used auctions, probably looking at an ex motibility car as they seem to be very low mileage.

My sister has had her last couple of Focus C-max from local dealer, both ex-mobility cars and seemed reasonable value, and had no real issues with them.

I'm a bangernomics guy so always buy from auction of one form or another. We've had our current runners (Alfa 156 V6 and Alfa 147 diesel) for the last couple of years, having paid £280 and £550 respectively. Must think about servicing them sometime.........

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

My sister has had her last couple of Focus C-max from local dealer, both ex-mobility cars and seemed reasonable value, and had no real issues with them.

I'm a bangernomics guy so always buy from auction of one form or another. We've had our current runners (Alfa 156 V6 and Alfa 147 diesel) for the last couple of years, having paid £280 and £550 respectively. Must think about servicing them sometime.........

That's frighteningly cheap! I've had my 2003 Alfa 156 Sportwagon for 12 years & certainly hope it's worth a bit more than that! Being a diesel, I shall probably keep it for the rest of its life. I do have a hankering to own a Alfa V6 at some point though...

Quite apart from anything else, I enjoy the cameradarie of 156 ownership - there's several of us around here & we all exchange waves etc. 147's are in plentiful supply too. Remarkable really, as we are no better served by Alfa dealers than the UK.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

That's frighteningly cheap! I've had my 2003 Alfa 156 Sportwagon for 12 years & certainly hope it's worth a bit more than that! Being a diesel, I shall probably keep it for the rest of its life. I do have a hankering to own a Alfa V6 at some point though...

Quite apart from anything else, I enjoy the cameradarie of 156 ownership - there's several of us around here & we all exchange waves etc. 147's are in plentiful supply too. Remarkable really, as we are no better served by Alfa dealers than the UK.

On mainland Europe, Alfas appear to maintain their prices - here they are bargain basement after a few years - my mate bought a 2006 159 2.4JTD for just over £1500 recently - from an auction. That was cheap, but 147/156/GT are definitely sub £1K for the most part, now. Just check out Ebay.co.uk - we Alfisti blame Clarkson - he of course famously said you couldn't be a petrolhead until you'd owned an Alfa, but still trots out the tired old jokes about Alfas expiring in a cloud of steam after 5 minutes...........

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

On mainland Europe, Alfas appear to maintain their prices - here they are bargain basement after a few years - my mate bought a 2006 159 2.4JTD for just over £1500 recently - from an auction. That was cheap, but 147/156/GT are definitely sub £1K for the most part, now. Just check out Ebay.co.uk - we Alfisti blame Clarkson - he of course famously said you couldn't be a petrolhead until you'd owned an Alfa, but still trots out the tired old jokes about Alfas expiring in a cloud of steam after 5 minutes...........

Depreciation generally in France is nothing like the UK. I also have a 1991 Peugeot 205 Junior that is still worth about 1,000 euros.

I like the look of the 159 but it is significantly bigger than the 156 & really bigger than I need now. Quite fancy a GT Coupe though. Someone recently told me of an Alfasud Sprint for sale but fortunately it's a long way away! I still regret selling my last Sud...

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by grantp

As for auctions .... they often look attractive propositions but I'm not sure I would want to but anything reasonably new. Bottom end of the market throwaway stuff (in the even of a judgement error) would not be so bad as a risk.

Any that might consider taking a wife as a px could be a bonus.

I was thinking mainly of Motibility cars at auction because of low mileage and the servicing regime they get, apart from the fact Quick Fit do the servicing. BCA is the auction people that sell them and i can't seem to bid online as I'm not a dealer and it's too much hassle to set myself up on there and the nearest BCA that does Motibility is miles away. I'm not sure the margins are that great anyway so it's probably not worth the hassle for a one off.

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

I'm a bangernomics guy so always buy from auction of one form or another. We've had our current runners (Alfa 156 V6 and Alfa 147 diesel) for the last couple of years, having paid £280 and £550 respectively. Must think about servicing them sometime.........

I'm similar with buying cars but she wants an auto and she does a reasonably high mileage each year so I want something I haven't got to worry too much about letting her down, It's a shame my Landcruiser is so thirsty or she could use that as a daily.

[grantp]

Quote:
Originally Posted by grantp
As for auctions .... they often look attractive propositions but I'm not sure I would want to but anything reasonably new. Bottom end of the market throwaway stuff (in the even of a judgement error) would not be so bad as a risk.

Any that might consider taking a wife as a px could be a bonus.

I was thinking mainly of Motibility cars at auction because of low mileage and the servicing regime they get, apart from the fact Quick Fit do the servicing. BCA is the auction people that sell them and i can't seem to bid online as I'm not a dealer and it's too much hassle to set myself up on there and the nearest BCA that does Motibility is miles away. I'm not sure the margins are that great anyway so it's probably not worth the hassle for a one off.
======================

Tim,

I think the availability of autos is far higher than it was these days so there are plenty of possible sources when once Motability were probably the main source of supply for lower and middle market cars with auto.

My daughter has an auto only licence and has had 2 Yaris (Yarii?) to start her driving career and is now half way through the term of her third Golf, the Golfs, of course, being DSG so pretty much mainstream these days.

We have looked at buying the first 2 Golfs at the end of the term, partly because of the specs she had chosen. However we could get more or less the same spec. or better direct from the VW used car fleet with warranty, etc., etc. for the same money if prepared to accept around 30k miles instead of 22k and match or beat the mileage for a couple of hundred more.

I would imagine that the car sales boom over the past few years will mean a lot of vehicles about to come out of 3 and 4 year finance deals (so around the same age as a typical Motability car) with many being slightly better specced as PCP deals.

That was one of the more annoying things about the Motability stuff. Having paid cash in advance to up-spec. the car, compared to the base offers, it always looked like they were trying to overvalue at the already paid for higher spec. come the end of the lease. I wish I could have found out what the cars went for at auction. Assuming they got to auction.

[gary396]

BCA auctions of Motabilty cars are scheduled on the BCA website but obviously it doesn't provide much detail of what's on offer at each location:

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.u...on/Motability/

[grantp]

Originally Posted by gary396

BCA auctions of Motabilty cars are scheduled on the BCA website but obviously it doesn't provide much detail of what's on offer at each location:

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.u...on/Motability/

Thanks Gary,

Interesting.

Looks like most of the auctions are now batches of cars from dealers probably with little detail of what is really on offer before they kick off for 30 cars in their allotted 20 minutes.

I am contemplating registering - but spotted some advisory pages for the general public.

Buyers fees are quite substantial at the lower end of the market.

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.u...nuary_2016.pdf

I also checked the delivery costs.

From the Derby site to where I am can be driven in about 15 minutes door to door assuming the traffic is moving. It's 8 miles. The fee is £70.

I wonder what the savings are compared to retail?

[bauble]

Personally, I have always favoured purchasing from adverts in the local paper, one can then easily check out the sort of person you are dealing with from the locality. People are less likely to rip off someone who can easily come back to haunt them.
Talking to the owner also gives an impression of the type of character they are, and one is able to take a close look at the vehicle before making a decision.

I take along a document that states; "While making no guarantee of condition I do declare that there is no fault that would make the car un-roadworthy."

A particular advantage to this method is that is the ability to bargain and get a lower price.

Tip; Say the car is on offer for £5000, ring and say I have a £4500 budget is it worth my coming to look? If the answer is yes you have already knocked £500 off before you start.


Well it has always worked for me, but I always buy old and cheap that have little re-sale value once they are done.

[gary396]

Can Vauxhalls ever be classed as bargains though?

[bauble]

Originally Posted by gary396

Can Vauxhalls ever be classed as bargains though?

Sadly Gary snobbery causes many to overlook the multitude of fine virtue possessed by the Luton marque, too proud to drive what they see as mundane, preferring often to choose some thing they see as exotic. Personally I prefer to go for a sound value for money car that does good service for me rather than something flashy, unreliable, and foreign in order to try and improve my image.

As I have said in the past; "A car is for driving not polishing."

Once while driving home from Thruxton in a hired Chevette, I was forced to overtake a Saab and a Porsche, along with several other more mundane cars in order to proceed swiftly onwards. Nothing very special about the incident I agree, but it was an object lesson in the; I drive an image' syndrome.

No I will stick what works for me, a good old (and I do mean old) Vauxhall.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by gary396

BCA auctions of Motabilty cars are scheduled on the BCA website but obviously it doesn't provide much detail of what's on offer at each location:

http://www.british-car-auctions.co.u...on/Motability/

Thanks for that, there is a list but nothing of much interest to me locally

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by bauble

Sadly Gary snobbery causes many to overlook the multitude of fine virtue possessed by the Luton marque, too proud to drive what they see as mundane, preferring often to choose some thing they see as exotic. Personally I prefer to go for a sound value for money car that does good service for me rather than something flashy, unreliable, and foreign in order to try and improve my image.

Best all round car I've ever had has been a 1995 Corsa with a 1500 Isuzu diesel in it that's been in the family nearly 20 years now. My daughter hit a BMW up the backside with it and flattened the front. A new rad, bonnet, slam panel and wing and £350 later it was up and running again. Sadly the engine is now dying and where the cheap front panel has rusted badly so not worth repairing any more.
The newer Corsas I've been looking at have every conceivable bit of modern convenience and safety feature as standard and specced well above my top of the range Ghia X Mondeo. The downside is they seem to depreciate more than say a VW

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Tim Falce

Best all round car I've ever had has been a 1995 Corsa with a 1500 Isuzu diesel in it that's been in the family nearly 20 years now. My daughter hit a BMW up the backside with it and flattened the front. A new rad, bonnet, slam panel and wing and £350 later it was up and running again. Sadly the engine is now dying and where the cheap front panel has rusted badly so not worth repairing any more.
The newer Corsas I've been looking at have every conceivable bit of modern convenience and safety feature as standard and specced well above my top of the range Ghia X Mondeo. The downside is they seem to depreciate more than say a VW

It's interesting how many of us on here seem to hang-on to cars for a long time. As presumed petrolheads one would expect us to be updating to the latest must-have bolide every year, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by John Elwin

It's interesting how many of us on here seem to hang-on to cars for a long time. As presumed petrolheads one would expect us to be updating to the latest must-have bolide every year, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

John This is THE HISTORIC section.