Stoneacre Liverpool

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Just to update on this - I got my money back from Stoneacre and MotoNovo Finance and the car has been returned. (:j) Thank you trading standards!!! It did take me 4 months and a lot of hassle, but sometimes you just have to be stubborn (and make a pain in the backside of yourself) to make these companies comply with the law.

The final straw seemed to be the two letters from trading standards plus a letter from me saying i would take it to court in two weeks if it wasn't sorted. Apparently it's a 'goodwill gesture' and is just 'to draw the matter to a close' but I seriously doubt I would be getting nearly £5k back if they didn't know damn well I would kick their sorry backsides in court.

I will be a lot wiser and more cynical when I make my next purchase!:o

worried_jim

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

Just to update on this - I got my money back from Stoneacre and MotoNovo Finance and the car has been returned. (:j) Thank you trading standards!!! It did take me 4 months and a lot of hassle, but sometimes you just have to be stubborn (and make a pain in the backside of yourself) to make these companies comply with the law.

The final straw seemed to be the two letters from trading standards plus a letter from me saying i would take it to court in two weeks if it wasn't sorted. Apparently it's a 'goodwill gesture' and is just 'to draw the matter to a close' but I seriously doubt I would be getting nearly £5k back if they didn't know damn well I would kick their sorry backsides in court.

I will be a lot wiser and more cynical when I make my next purchase!:o

Glad to hear you had a happy end to your experience! Good luck on your next purchase and make sure you post on here the cars you are considering so you can get some excellent and genuine first hand advice. All the best, Jim.

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Thanks Jim

I've now got a lovely Toyota Aygo fire - sent my dad in to inspect and bargain with the salesman as I am an appalling haggler!

It's a pre-registered 62 plate one, 6 miles on clock, 4years 10 months left on the warranty, AC & Mats thrown in, £1k off brochure price. Am very pleased with it, here's hoping I have more luck with it than the last one!!

gilbert_and_sullivan

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

I've now got a lovely Toyota Aygo fire - s Am very pleased with it, here's hoping I have more luck with it than the last one!!

Good little car those, should give you years of economical service.

You might find it suffers from road roar.this is easily and cheaply cured, like many mass produced cars there is ample soundproofing at the front end and under the passenger cell, but nothing at the back end at all and nothing under the door skins, the thin boot mats and plastic rear arch panels are covering bare painted metal, a pack of self adhesive soundproofing pads (8mm min) will take 50% of said road noise out.

Similarly you might find the existing stereo poor, an upgrade to the head unit (£50 for decent kit in Halfords sales plus £5ish for fashia adaptor plate and £2 for aerial adaptor bought online) will improve things but the 4 speakers (2 door and 2 dashtop) are tinny cheap things and upgrading to some decent Alpine/Pioneer speakers bought carefully online for about £100 will put the icing on the cake, each upgrade not really worth it without the other i was informed, i checked sound improvement each stage after fitting radio first so can confirm this.

You don't need to do any of this of course, i have done these upgrades to the family Aygo and the owner is over the moon, has given the car the sound and quiet ambience of a considerably more expensive car.

A grand total of £200 and half a days easy work tranformed the car, easy DIY with care and online research..

Enjoy your new bargain anyway.

photome

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Good little car those, should give you years of economical service.

You might find it suffers from road roar.this is easily and cheaply cured, like many mass produced cars there is ample soundproofing at the front end and under the passenger cell, but nothing at the back end at all and nothing under the door skins, the thin boot mats and plastic rear arch panels are covering bare painted metal, a pack of self adhesive soundproofing pads (8mm min) will take 50% of said road noise out.

Similarly you might find the existing stereo poor, an upgrade to the head unit (£50 for decent kit in Halfords sales plus £5ish for fashia adaptor plate and £2 for aerial adaptor bought online) will improve things but the 4 speakers (2 door and 2 dashtop) are tinny cheap things and upgrading to some decent Alpine/Pioneer speakers bought carefully online for about £100 will put the icing on the cake, each upgrade not really worth it without the other i was informed, i checked sound improvement each stage after fitting radio first so can confirm this.

You don't need to do any of this of course, i have done these upgrades to the family Aygo and the owner is over the moon, has given the car the sound and quiet ambience of a considerably more expensive car.

A grand total of £200 and half a days easy work tranformed the car, easy DIY with care and online research..

Enjoy your new bargain anyway.

Thats interesting about the road noise. My wife has an i30 which is noisy. I assumed it was tyre noise.

do you have any suggestions about reducing the noise, I wouldnt have even considered anything without reading your post

worried_jim

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

Thanks Jim

I've now got a lovely Toyota Aygo fire - sent my dad in to inspect and bargain with the salesman as I am an appalling haggler!

It's a pre-registered 62 plate one, 6 miles on clock, 4years 10 months left on the warranty, AC & Mats thrown in, £1k off brochure price. Am very pleased with it, here's hoping I have more luck with it than the last one!!

Sounds like you have got yourself a lovely car! You are now an experienced car buyer and you know what to look for and how to research and purchase your next car now with ease. Congratulations. Happy safe motoring- and remember to keep posting here with your questions and issues so we can offer advise and others can take your experiences on board.

gilbert_and_sullivan

photome wrote: »

Thats interesting about the road noise. My wife has an i30 which is noisy. I assumed it was tyre noise.

do you have any suggestions about reducing the noise, I wouldnt have even considered anything without reading your post

I've done this to several cars with major improvements every time, tyre roar is a big problem.

First place i'd look is under the probably plastic or maybe thin carpetted section covering the rear wheelarches, a dickens of a lot of noise comes from there, then under the boot covering and rear seat and around the spare wheel if lucky enough to have one and up the sides of the inner rear wings.

Pound to a penny there's minimal if any insulation there to speak of, if you get those sections insulated well you'll probably be able to work out easier where any further noise is coming from.
Bulkhead and front arches and under passenger floor tend to be well insulated on most cars, but by all means have a poke about, if its not in place put some in.

If you get down a dirty with a good Merc Lexus etc you'll find all these areas already heavily insulated, the underfloor of my old pillarless Merc seems to be built of girders with rubber covered felt insulation around 3" thick between the joists, very quiet.

I bought self adhesive pads roughly 16" square from the usual auction site, best to get something destined for automotive insulating as it really should be fire retardent, underfloor covering and around wheelarches i used 8mm thick i think thicker the better, not that much space to play with under an Aygo, any heavier gauge would have been a struggle.

You can get quite carried away with this , much thinner panels for applying to door and bootlid skins.

Traditional underfelt fire retardent insulation can still be bought, much thicker, probably 18/20mm, i think it would do a better job but would be more difficult cutting to shape and would need glueing to hold on to upright panels, messy.
Maybe a mix of all types would be the best, heavy traditional laid on the flat and self adhesive pliable on the curved wheelarches and upright sections.

In the days of Exchange and Mart you could buy pre cut felt insulation for your chosen car, its not a new idea by a long chalk.

Go on Photme have a poke about and see whats there or isn't, but take a tip, leave it till the weather warms a bit, French plastic clips do not like the cold and many will break annoyingly, i have no idea what Hyundai clips will be like.

Its well worth doing especially with modern elastic band tyres which make a dreadful noise as well as offering no shock absorption whatsoever.

Head-Out-Of-Sand

worried_jim wrote: »

Sounds like you have got yourself a lovely car! You are now an experienced car buyer and you know what to look for and how to research and purchase your next car now with ease. Congratulations. Happy safe motoring- and remember to keep posting here with your questions and issues so we can offer advise and others can take your experiences on board.

Thank you I'm very pleased with it, and it is an absolute dream to park after having driven my mum's 307cc for a few months!!

Head-Out-Of-Sand

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Good little car those, should give you years of economical service.

You might find it suffers from road roar.this is easily and cheaply cured, like many mass produced cars there is ample soundproofing at the front end and under the passenger cell, but nothing at the back end at all and nothing under the door skins, the thin boot mats and plastic rear arch panels are covering bare painted metal, a pack of self adhesive soundproofing pads (8mm min) will take 50% of said road noise out.

Similarly you might find the existing stereo poor, an upgrade to the head unit (£50 for decent kit in Halfords sales plus £5ish for fashia adaptor plate and £2 for aerial adaptor bought online) will improve things but the 4 speakers (2 door and 2 dashtop) are tinny cheap things and upgrading to some decent Alpine/Pioneer speakers bought carefully online for about £100 will put the icing on the cake, each upgrade not really worth it without the other i was informed, i checked sound improvement each stage after fitting radio first so can confirm this.

You don't need to do any of this of course, i have done these upgrades to the family Aygo and the owner is over the moon, has given the car the sound and quiet ambience of a considerably more expensive car.

A grand total of £200 and half a days easy work tranformed the car, easy DIY with care and online research..

Enjoy your new bargain anyway.

Thanks -I agree, it's a fab little car and the fuel economy is really impressive. I can't say I've been bothered by noise as yet, but haven't had a good run on the motorway yet - If it gets on my nerves I'll consider what you've suggested, thank you. (My first car was a 2002 Clio, so it's certainly a lot quieter than that was! And hopefully less likely to randomly cut out on the motorway :eek: fun times!)

Head-Out-Of-Sand

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Good little car those, should give you years of economical service.

You might find it suffers from road roar.this is easily and cheaply cured, like many mass produced cars there is ample soundproofing at the front end and under the passenger cell, but nothing at the back end at all and nothing under the door skins, the thin boot mats and plastic rear arch panels are covering bare painted metal, a pack of self adhesive soundproofing pads (8mm min) will take 50% of said road noise out.

Similarly you might find the existing stereo poor, an upgrade to the head unit (£50 for decent kit in Halfords sales plus £5ish for fashia adaptor plate and £2 for aerial adaptor bought online) will improve things but the 4 speakers (2 door and 2 dashtop) are tinny cheap things and upgrading to some decent Alpine/Pioneer speakers bought carefully online for about £100 will put the icing on the cake, each upgrade not really worth it without the other i was informed, i checked sound improvement each stage after fitting radio first so can confirm this.

You don't need to do any of this of course, i have done these upgrades to the family Aygo and the owner is over the moon, has given the car the sound and quiet ambience of a considerably more expensive car.

A grand total of £200 and half a days easy work tranformed the car, easy DIY with care and online research..

Enjoy your new bargain anyway.

Oh and as for the radio, my listening habits are Radio 4, or a CD of something cheesy for me to screech along to - not sure I deserve a better sound system! :rotfl: