Muggles and a 'hideous lack of maintenance...'
Discussion
My sister had a 1.4 saxo, got it ex demonstrator
Had it serviced the first couple of years then just never got round to it
I only saw her 2 or three times a year, always needed the oil topping up from below the min level, same with coolant
I seem to remember always finding something massively wrong with a tyre and off ing to fit the spare, of course the spare was the same state as the others or just flat / not legal
Think she got a bill for a stoned radiator and that put her off garages
That little saxo kept on for over 150 thousand then the silly cow scrapped it, despite it having 11 months mot. I would have loved that as a first car, would have been a good fixer upper for a young lad
Now got a Kia, the bonnet has not been opened by them in four years. Winds my old dad up
Had it serviced the first couple of years then just never got round to it
I only saw her 2 or three times a year, always needed the oil topping up from below the min level, same with coolant
I seem to remember always finding something massively wrong with a tyre and off ing to fit the spare, of course the spare was the same state as the others or just flat / not legal
Think she got a bill for a stoned radiator and that put her off garages
That little saxo kept on for over 150 thousand then the silly cow scrapped it, despite it having 11 months mot. I would have loved that as a first car, would have been a good fixer upper for a young lad
Now got a Kia, the bonnet has not been opened by them in four years. Winds my old dad up
Europa1 said:
This. I remember watching some quiz show on TV a while back in which Liz Hurley referred to the general public as "civilians". I could not believe her arrogance.
My sister-in-law went to school with her, apparently she was very much a civilian before she adopted her public persona 
On topic, recently I had cause to be kicking my heels in a leisure centre car park, and I started randomly looking at people's tyres.
There was an almost complete correlation between illegal baldness and evidence of children being carried in the car. Baffling.
I think the Germans have a much stricter regime. Not sure what it is.
I don't think a 6 monthly health check from new wouldn't be a bad thing. Not as through as an MOT, which isn't even that through, but a simple 10 min check on a ramp at say £20.
Cars I've had previously are usually in the garage every 2 or 3 months having something done, checked or tweaked. I hate the fact that my lease car will go 18000 miles before anybody thinks to inspect it!
I don't think a 6 monthly health check from new wouldn't be a bad thing. Not as through as an MOT, which isn't even that through, but a simple 10 min check on a ramp at say £20.
Cars I've had previously are usually in the garage every 2 or 3 months having something done, checked or tweaked. I hate the fact that my lease car will go 18000 miles before anybody thinks to inspect it!
Rincewind209 said:
The problem is that modern cars can shrug off neglect quite well. But anything over 30 years old really needs tlc. I still remember the first time I tried a classic mini. About 12 years ago, I offered to park it,as there was no spaces available when a friend brought it round one Christmas. Only drove it 100 metres or so. The brakes were so ineffective I was genuinely afraid. The car was a drums all round model but my friend assured me they were in tip top shape and had only recently been checked all over ready for its Mot. His weekly checklist on the car was very extensive. Quite put me to shame.
Ah, mini drum brakes. The bane of my life. I spent almost every other week, replacing one or other wheel cylinder and shoes on a 1979 mini 850 that my wife commuted across Birmingham in. One tip I can give you is that if one seal is knackered, they all are, so get the car in the air and do all four, plus the master cylinder in one go. We eventually gave that car to my wife's friend to learn to drive in it, and her boyfriend used it in his first job to drive all over the northwest daily for a year, before they scrapped it, because "it failed the MOT on the brakes" When I asked about this, the brake warning light had been on for months, and he'd probably done 8000 miles with no brakes. He also said that it ran pretty badly on 2 cylinders, and had a weird smell from the engine bay. Well it had a set of points, and I used to change them and the oil every 3K whether it needed it or not. And I checked the coolant weekly.
What happened to the "I'll have first refusal when you get rid of it" I'm not sure, but she now has a 2007 cooper S that she won't take on long journeys as "it over heats". I offered her £1000 for it, on the assumption that the engine is fecked.
charltjr said:
Christ that is depressing viewing 
Mr2Mike said:
charltjr said:
Christ that is depressing viewing 
Didn't we have a long thread of all this stuff not so long back? The bodge thread or something?
I had a temp job at an estate agents in Brighton doing all the lettings viewings so I was out in their Mini (quelle surprise!) allll the time.
While waiting for a viewer I looked at the FOS tyre & it was almost completely bald on the inside edge. When I got back to the office I told the boss & she just shrugged & explained the car was going back in a few months (it was a leased company car) so she wasn't going to waste money on a new tyre.
I tried to explain if I was stopped I would get the points but she didn't give a monkeys. I walked a lot more after that & thankfully the job ended soon after
While waiting for a viewer I looked at the FOS tyre & it was almost completely bald on the inside edge. When I got back to the office I told the boss & she just shrugged & explained the car was going back in a few months (it was a leased company car) so she wasn't going to waste money on a new tyre.
I tried to explain if I was stopped I would get the points but she didn't give a monkeys. I walked a lot more after that & thankfully the job ended soon after
littlebasher said:
Much like my Daughters cars
Seems it's my responsibility to make sure that there's air and tread on the tyres, water in the screenwash and oil in the engine.
Daughter 1 car is a Scenic, which had been warning her about low oil for weeks before she let me know. Took 2 litres of oil just to get the level to appear on the bottom of the dipstick. Probably not the best way to ensure the longevity of a Turbo Diesel.
The younger one is worse, by the time she told me that her brakes were making a noise, one half of the brake disc had completely disintegrated. Weeks later, she complained that the car felt a bit wobbly. Turns out she's hit the kerb and buckled the wheel. It was that bad, it was physically impossible to hold the steering wheel at speeds above 30mph. She'd been driving it for a week like that before she told me.
My mates daughter absolves herself of any responsibility for her car, to the point he has to drive 80 miles to sort it.Seems it's my responsibility to make sure that there's air and tread on the tyres, water in the screenwash and oil in the engine.
Daughter 1 car is a Scenic, which had been warning her about low oil for weeks before she let me know. Took 2 litres of oil just to get the level to appear on the bottom of the dipstick. Probably not the best way to ensure the longevity of a Turbo Diesel.
The younger one is worse, by the time she told me that her brakes were making a noise, one half of the brake disc had completely disintegrated. Weeks later, she complained that the car felt a bit wobbly. Turns out she's hit the kerb and buckled the wheel. It was that bad, it was physically impossible to hold the steering wheel at speeds above 30mph. She'd been driving it for a week like that before she told me.
This is what is known as the Playstation Generation.
Many owners turn up with a borked car thinking that the warranty covers servicing. Cars are regarded by the majority as white goods. Why do you think the scrappage scheme was so popular?
I had a Harley in for some shiny stuff to be fitted. It was a '93. And had 3000 miles on the speedo. It took a long time to convince the owner to have new tyres fitted - the old ones were almost impossible to remove they were so stiff. I am negotiating over a 911 at the mo'. It has been stood for 4 years, but, amongst other things, the owner is convinced the tyres are "good" as they have plenty of tread. Date code puts them at 10 years old + flatted on a 911. Oh help.
BTW what is a "Playstation"??
Many owners turn up with a borked car thinking that the warranty covers servicing. Cars are regarded by the majority as white goods. Why do you think the scrappage scheme was so popular?
I had a Harley in for some shiny stuff to be fitted. It was a '93. And had 3000 miles on the speedo. It took a long time to convince the owner to have new tyres fitted - the old ones were almost impossible to remove they were so stiff. I am negotiating over a 911 at the mo'. It has been stood for 4 years, but, amongst other things, the owner is convinced the tyres are "good" as they have plenty of tread. Date code puts them at 10 years old + flatted on a 911. Oh help.
BTW what is a "Playstation"??
I think a lot of it comes down to the cost of maintenance and the lack of a visual return for it. People don't see the benefit of servicing as nothing really goes wrong as things are caught and resolved before it gets to that stage so they just get into the habit of not maintaining as they don't see the point. Where as spending £300-£400 can get you a bit of a holiday etc so you get an actual return for your money.
It's similar with tyres. Most of the cars in our car park at work are fitted with Triangle, Courier or Ling Long tyres. The owners thing anyone that fits anything remotely near a premium brand tyre is insane and must be getting paid far too much but they are happy to spend hundred on clothes and nights out.
It's similar with tyres. Most of the cars in our car park at work are fitted with Triangle, Courier or Ling Long tyres. The owners thing anyone that fits anything remotely near a premium brand tyre is insane and must be getting paid far too much but they are happy to spend hundred on clothes and nights out.
Pints said:
What's the answer to having these rolling death traps on our roads?
Government education? Enforced minimum servicing alongside the MOT? More regular spot checks for the more obvious issues (e.g. tyres, discs and shocks)?
This random survey carried out outside one school found a third of all the cars dropping children off had tyres in an illegal condition. Government education? Enforced minimum servicing alongside the MOT? More regular spot checks for the more obvious issues (e.g. tyres, discs and shocks)?
http://www.tyrepress.com/2014/08/30-of-cars-in-shr...
How about spot checks by the police outside schools checking things like tyres, lights and other safety aspects of the cars being used to transport children?
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Mr2Mike said:
charltjr said:
Christ that is depressing viewing Didn't we have a long thread of all this stuff not so long back? The bodge thread or something?
https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/horror-story-...
k is a "Muggle?"
LimaDelta said:
Zoobeef said:
It's a made up term used for nothing else yet has now been used or mentioned in many tv shows, papers, news and you have never heard it? Do you not leave the house?
Just pointing out the way people pretend to know absolutely nothing about something so they can go round saying it's crap and they've never seen it. It's probably been used on the front page at some point of all newspapers but you never thought then, I wonder what that means?
Or you do know, yes you may not have read the books, but saw this thread and thought, I know, I'll ask what muggles are. That'll make them all impressed that I've avoided everything for the last 17 years.
No, but I don't spend much time in the UK. Maybe that's it. Or maybe I just wanted to impress some men on the internet with my lack of knowledge of a children's book.Just pointing out the way people pretend to know absolutely nothing about something so they can go round saying it's crap and they've never seen it. It's probably been used on the front page at some point of all newspapers but you never thought then, I wonder what that means?
Or you do know, yes you may not have read the books, but saw this thread and thought, I know, I'll ask what muggles are. That'll make them all impressed that I've avoided everything for the last 17 years.
Are you J K Rowling? You seem to be taking this very personally?
I have also not read any of the Harry Potter books, chiefly as I am an adult.
Ben
The guy who lives nextdoor but one to me had a couple of Audi A4s in succession. He used to leave them, sometimes for days, with the lights on as well as leaving the radio playing and the windows down with the alarm going off. Of course the cars would end up with flat batteries. He then swore he would never have another Audi because they were so unreliable and had a problem with their batteries.
This, and the comment above about the girl who suggested she'd been sold a dodgy car because two and a half years later some wear and tear parts had worn out, are why you should take reliability surveys and customer satisfaction surveys with a pinch of salt.
How many people who say cars are unreliable and garages are selling faulty cars are complaining about problems they've brought on themselves through mistreatment of their cars and lack of maintenance of them?
This, and the comment above about the girl who suggested she'd been sold a dodgy car because two and a half years later some wear and tear parts had worn out, are why you should take reliability surveys and customer satisfaction surveys with a pinch of salt.
How many people who say cars are unreliable and garages are selling faulty cars are complaining about problems they've brought on themselves through mistreatment of their cars and lack of maintenance of them?
BigBen said:
I had heard the term but had no idea it was from Harry Potter, I would have guessed it was what people from Cornwall called folks from the mainland or something like that.
I have also not read any of the Harry Potter books, chiefly as I am an adult.
Ben
When I saw the word "muggles" I picked up on your definition first - there is an early '60s public information film about holiday traffic in Cornwall (it's on YouTube), which refers to the muggles dragging their shells behind them (ie caravans) I have also not read any of the Harry Potter books, chiefly as I am an adult.
Ben
.Or was it "grockles"?
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