Common old-school dealer bodges
Discussion
aspirated said:
lord trumpton said:
I had an old VW beetle for my first car. After 3 years I decided to sell it.
I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
Brilliant I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
StuntmanMike said:
aspirated said:
lord trumpton said:
I had an old VW beetle for my first car. After 3 years I decided to sell it.
I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
Brilliant I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
bennyboydurham said:
BMW dealer named after the thing Jesus wore his feet. AUC - a 19 month old E65! Glovebox trim scuffed so I asked for it to be replaced before sale. Rather than replace it (a bit of plastic) they simply sprayed the scuffed one a somewhat different shade of grey to the rest of the trim. It's now all peeling off too. Cheap f*ckers.
Thong BMW?
shost said:
bennyboydurham said:
BMW dealer named after the thing Jesus wore his feet. AUC - a 19 month old E65! Glovebox trim scuffed so I asked for it to be replaced before sale. Rather than replace it (a bit of plastic) they simply sprayed the scuffed one a somewhat different shade of grey to the rest of the trim. It's now all peeling off too. Cheap f*ckers.
Thong BMW?AdeTuono said:
shost said:
bennyboydurham said:
BMW dealer named after the thing Jesus wore his feet. AUC - a 19 month old E65! Glovebox trim scuffed so I asked for it to be replaced before sale. Rather than replace it (a bit of plastic) they simply sprayed the scuffed one a somewhat different shade of grey to the rest of the trim. It's now all peeling off too. Cheap f*ckers.
Thong BMW?I've heard of nylon curtain nets being used to cover up the sound of a knackered gearbox and of a broken bell housing being stuck together with Chemical metal.
But for the real deal you need to watch school for scoundrels for some hints of selling a knackered motor.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2caCgciV_ZQ
But for the real deal you need to watch school for scoundrels for some hints of selling a knackered motor.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2caCgciV_ZQ
Some that were on my punto gt - Floor made of fiberglass and newspaper undersealed of course , oil cooler held on by cable ties same with front and rear bumpers and finally the worst two wheelnuts wrapped in duct tape to hide the fact the hub threads had worn away and the drivers seat bolted to a metal plate held onto the car with fiberglass and one side welded on.
I love reading about these dealer cons that these scumbags pull off.
Another one I've heard, trouble with your airbag, ABS/ TCS warning light enabled? Fix the fault? Why bother, just pull the instrument binnacle and remove the LED!
A kid I used to know had a Corsa C, which one day blew it's engine, turned out it had been run dry of oil. He'd never serviced it of course, expecting the oil light to come on when it needed topped up. However, on closer inspection of his now dead car, it appeared that someone had taken the plastic cover off the instrument panel and stuck a small square of black electricians tape over the oil warning light.
Another one I've heard, trouble with your airbag, ABS/ TCS warning light enabled? Fix the fault? Why bother, just pull the instrument binnacle and remove the LED!
A kid I used to know had a Corsa C, which one day blew it's engine, turned out it had been run dry of oil. He'd never serviced it of course, expecting the oil light to come on when it needed topped up. However, on closer inspection of his now dead car, it appeared that someone had taken the plastic cover off the instrument panel and stuck a small square of black electricians tape over the oil warning light.
john2443 said:
Never seen this but rumoured to be done many years ago.
When cars had starting handles one test was crank it over and you could feel if there was compression on all cyls.
When one cyl didn't have any, take the head off and put a tennis ball in so that it felt OK on the handle, I guess this dates from when engines were side valve and taking the head off wasn't the major job it is now!
I read of a chap who bought a six cylinder Wolesley at an auction. He had the chance to run the engine but not to drive it before bidding and noticed that it seemed to run on five cylinders only, but sounded okay apart from that. No opportunity for further examination, he assumed a fouled spark plug and bid with the slight worry in mind. He was the highest bidder and drove it home before looking at the plugs next day. One cylinder's plug electrodes were closed to zero spark gap so, thinking he'd found the problem and it would take a moment fix, he gapped the plug, started the engine again and after a second or two running there was a booming explosion deep in the bowels of the engine which blew the oil cap off and shot the dipstick out over the garden fence. A compression test showed no reading on the offending cylinder so he had his mate pull the head off to see what was what. In the bore in question there was no piston or con-rod at all, and looking down at the big end journal they saw a load of shim wrapped around the journal held in place by a Jubilee clip. This was to maintain the oil pressure as if there was a con-rod present. Full investigation showed a big-end journal badly scored and they realised that the previous owner had taken the piston and con-rod out and bound the crank journal to hide the absence of the parts. The closing of the plug gap was to prevent exactly what happened when our hero tried to re-set the plug: a spark ignited the flammable mixture of petrol fumes and oil mist in the crankcase and this generated such a pulse of crankcase pressure that the oil cap and dipstick became like cannon balls in a gun barrel.When cars had starting handles one test was crank it over and you could feel if there was compression on all cyls.
When one cyl didn't have any, take the head off and put a tennis ball in so that it felt OK on the handle, I guess this dates from when engines were side valve and taking the head off wasn't the major job it is now!
Escort3500 said:
StuntmanMike said:
aspirated said:
lord trumpton said:
I had an old VW beetle for my first car. After 3 years I decided to sell it.
I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
Brilliant I often got damp carpet behind the seats and this was because of rotten heater sills. Just before selling I taped card over them and covered in underseal.
It came back to haunt me as I sold it to an unsuspecting female graduate who ended up dating and had to pretend I new nothing about it when here dads mechanic friend discovered why the car was smelling damp.
In all seriousness though, I have a lovely 19 year old daughter (who is home from university for easter and driving us mad) because of that bright red 1303s beetle and yes her mother is the female graduate in the aforementioned story!!
After a while I convinced her to sell the car (being pregnant and a bit worried about her safety
) and it was bought by a bloke who had 'always wanted a beetle' and he razzed off in it as happy as punch. Never heard anything after that
Silent1 said:
bennyboydurham said:
BMW dealer named after the thing Jesus wore his feet. AUC - a 19 month old E65! Glovebox trim scuffed so I asked for it to be replaced before sale. Rather than replace it (a bit of plastic) they simply sprayed the scuffed one a somewhat different shade of grey to the rest of the trim. It's now all peeling off too. Cheap f*ckers.
Flip Flop BMW? 
A retred car dealer I know once told JE of a very high mile year old Rover SD1 that came his way cheap.
He turned the clock to zero and put it into auction as an unknown miles car with no service history etc.
Traders examining it all reckoned it had covered only a few miles maybe 20k. He sood it for a profit and then saw it advertised as a 12k motor.....a car that was clocked to zero, then clocked up.
My wife's grandfather told me a tale of a dodgy trader who would give rough cars a blow ver with paint mixed wth petrol. It gave a wonderful deep shine that could last days!
He turned the clock to zero and put it into auction as an unknown miles car with no service history etc.
Traders examining it all reckoned it had covered only a few miles maybe 20k. He sood it for a profit and then saw it advertised as a 12k motor.....a car that was clocked to zero, then clocked up.
My wife's grandfather told me a tale of a dodgy trader who would give rough cars a blow ver with paint mixed wth petrol. It gave a wonderful deep shine that could last days!
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