Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

misskool wrote: »

I think the problem is that I'm at the south end of the country and not at the north end of the country. No cars with that low mileage around me

Any car around the 1k mark seems to have done 100k miles around here.

The last couple of times I've helped a family member buy a car, we've found mint-ish older cars from OAPS that are giving up driving.

One owner from new, perfect service history, low miles for the age.

Try looking in smaller towns in rural areas, local papers not autotrader, supermarket message boards, etc.

It does take time and is a PITA to find, but they do exist and are worth the effort.

dopester

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

The last couple of times I've helped a family member buy a car, we've found mint-ish older cars from OAPS that are giving up driving.

One owner from new, perfect service history, low miles for the age.

Try looking in smaller towns in rural areas, local papers not autotrader, supermarket message boards, etc.

It does take time and is a PITA to find, but they do exist and are worth the effort.

Hamish... I nearly put this point to you when you mentioned low mileage cars earlier on... for it is something I've read many times on different car forums (see quotes below). Our car mostly does 14 miles each way commutes per day, and if it has not had a proper run out for some time, I take it for a (controlled and legal and safe) Italian Tune Up on the motorway, just to blow the cobwebs out the system. Also do the same for my mother's car as that rarely gets properly warmed up and going by her. A friend of hers recently was selling her car, which has only done 14,000 over 6 years. I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone due to the fears it would be more of a problem than the same car which has done a regular mileage for its age.

The mileage isn't always an indicator as to whether the car is any good or not. It may have been an old persons shopping car, not good. Rather have a higher miles motorway machine.

If it's done loads of stop/start with an engine that never really got warm - you'll get condensation in the engine and the exhaust will be left wet leading to excessive corrosion.

Surprisingly, very low mileage is more often than not a bad thing. Its spent all is life stop starting and cold runs, that no way to run an engine in properly.

A very experienced mechanic once told me that he's seen loads of cars with very low mileage for the ages and most of the time these cars are in worse condition than a car thats done normal mileage and has been serviced regularly.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

dopester wrote: »

A friend of hers recently was selling her car, which has only done 14,000 over 6 years. I personally wouldn't recommend it to anyone due to the fears it would be more of a problem than the same car which has done a regular mileage for its age.

AFAIK, the "blowing out the cobwebs" thing is a bit of a myth, from the bad old days when you could get carbon build up in the engine. Not really an issue with modern cars and fuel?

I see your point about city cars though, sometimes high wear on brakes etc. It's not really an issue up here because we're in rural areas. Not so much stop start city driving.

I'd agree that high miles motorway cars, particularly german diesel ex-fleet, are usually a good buy.

But a single owner car with good service records and long MOT that's done 5K miles a year or so wouldn't scare me.

Like this corolla for £1200 with 58K miles on it and a fresh MOT.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201048374624719/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-from/0/seller-type/private_adverts/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/price-to/2000/make/toyota/postcode/ab116da/page/1/radius/1501?logcode=p

lostinrates

Car speak is as foreign and alluring as computer speak, I find. misskool, all I cn say is it scares the pants out of me too.

fwiw I inherited a car when a grandparent died, nd it might be that what Hamish says is true nowadays but then it was wretched. Lowest milage of any car I'd ever had, was driven once or twice a week and about 3 months after I'd been given it it started to sound and feel like landing a plane....something to do with ''the steering column'' and it meant death. That one was a volvo.

dopester

Hamish, I'd probably risk a car like that myself.. were I to be without my own car for a a few months for whatever reason... but would point out to seller it's due for its 60K major service and so seek a compromise on the price. It has to be a good bet rather than spending around £299 per month for a 3 month short term contract on an Toyota Aygo or Citreon C1 as a temporary car, which doesn't even include car insurance.

vivatifosi wrote: »

My mechanic is a friend of the family and he told me to get cambelt replaced or it could invalidate other works. He did me a great deal though, a little over £300 for a service, cambelt change and MOT. This was my second. Because car used to be my company chariot, the first change was early and on mileage. Needless to say, I don't take my car to Audi, who wanted something like £600 for cambelt alone.

Your mechanics price for all that work is so good tbh. What is the book time for a cambelt change on most Audis? 3 hours maybe? The kit itself must be £50 at trade price (new cambelt and new tensioners/pulleys - few VW models recommend just belt change without new tensioners, although one or two exceptions). Another reason I'm hesitant on getting my own cambelt done is because a mechanic really needs the skills to fit and line up a new one properly.. else car soon meets problems.

PN I wasn't having a dig about inventing a chestnut opener... just recognising you often seek and contemplate business ideas, as you said a few pages back.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Oh for a product... something, a real thing, not an ebook or a promise. Something small, that I can make, that doesn't require much storage and is easily packed/posted

Manufacturing is fraught with extra complications though. You must already enjoy some successes selling information or affliate stuff.. finding money in your account made was made whilst you were sleeping.

mostlycheerful

Sorry to cut across this conversation about cars but further to Generali’s possum nuisance and desire for solutions, I’ve just come across the following from wikipedia which may be of use :

“Natural deterrents, which play upon the possum's acute sense of smell, are often employed to discourage them. These include cloves of garlic, camphor or naphthalene. As a native species in Australia, possums are protected by Australian regulations, even when they reside in urban neighbourhoods, and cannot be baited. If captured, regulations stipulate that they must be released within a small radius of the capture site, as they are territorial creatures. Preventative measures such as blocking off their access to the roof spaces or building a possum nesting box for an alternative home are instead recommended.”

tomterm8

It's pretty easy to turn copper green, you just use a patina solution... here is an example from the web... http://www.fxl.com/architects/patina.htm ( I haven't tried the particular recipe, if you do a search on patina solution for copper, you get a lot of slightly different mixtures).

lostinrates

I know its milder...no ice on the yard troughs and lighter frosts etc...but I feel colder! Anyone else?

As we were talking about chestnuts and seasonal eating/less usual food nowadays I have to say last night we had a delicious supper. I made a borscht to start based on a recipe given in OS board,and then we had a sugar snap pea salad (whoopsied sugar snaps) and then we had lamb chops and jerusalem artichokes. They are so delicious. The only thing is, well.....they are worse than beans. I guess that's why they aren't popular these days. I want to plant some but with memories of digging them up where they spread like wildfire I'm going to put them in a rough,like Bamboo, to restrict spread. what's the etiquette with farty food....can you feed guests jerusalem artichokes or not?

GDB2222

It's very damp and misty this morning, LIR. That always makes me feel cold. The sun is just beginning to break through the mist right now. We might still get some sunshine today.

SingleSue

Very cold here this morning with a thick layer of frost on the car and road....my feet feel like blocks of ice!