The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T(Vol XVIII)

[NomduJour]

They would all have been pretty much unsaleable outside the auction - no keys, no documents, no history, some with dubious modifications, dodgy engine/chassis numbers etc.

[LHD]

I'm actually convinced that half the people who bid at these things have had a couple of bottles of Chablis before bidding.

[rejn]

LHD said:

I'm actually convinced that half the people who bid at these things have had a couple of bottles of Chablis before bidding.

Maybe that's a more reasonable explanation than my money-laundering thoughts...!

[ferrisbueller]

NomduJour said:

They would all have been pretty much unsaleable outside the auction - no keys, no documents, no history, some with dubious modifications, dodgy engine/chassis numbers etc.

Curiouser and curiouser!

[LHD]

This bubble has to come to an end eventually surely.

You could buy a 946 Targa for £15k not five years ago.

Every s pissed.

[SpeckledJim]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think that's the really revealing part. That's not the smart money. That's the stupid money.

Everyone is zigging. Time to zag.

[Output Flange]

olly22n said:

I'm worried about being priced out the puma market at this rate.

I reckon you'll be OK for a while yet.

That said, you should probably snap ::this one:: up.

[Crook]

The E30 M3 track car didn't look too stupid at 33e all current things considered? assuming it works and etc.

Was watching this the other night which was interesting in its own right. When I saw the guy who designed the ZX Spectrum (Rick Dickinson) I thought that he looked familiar and it turns out he's the guy my brother bought his M635csi off (gratuitous picture warning)



I though I'd have a quick search and see if he had anything else interesting (he also had a rather fruity TR6) and I found this which is a photo history of him restoring his old E9 CSL and rather beautiful it looks too.

[E24man]

Crook said:

The E30 M3 track car didn't look too stupid at 33e all current things considered? assuming it works and etc.

Was watching this the other night which was interesting in its own right. When I saw the guy who designed the ZX Spectrum (Rick Dickinson) I thought that he looked familiar and it turns out he's the guy my brother bought his M635csi off (gratuitous picture warning)



I though I'd have a quick search and see if he had anything else interesting (he also had a rather fruity TR6) and I found this which is a photo history of him restoring his old E9 CSL and rather beautiful it looks too.

Cirrusblau and its predecessor Balticblau have always looked good over an E24.

[Patrick Bateman]

shalmaneser said:

do you know how much the labour was for the bearings and bolts?

Tempted to get the same done @ CPC myself for my M3.

The labour estimate the new owner sent me (this was for the timing chain as well) was 15 hours at £70/hour. Rod bearings on their own would be a good bit less.

[ATM]

Patrick Bateman said:

The labour estimate the new owner sent me (this was for the timing chain as well) was 15 hours at £70/hour. Rod bearings on their own would be a good bit less.

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

[Cheburator mk2]

ATM said:

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

I think you need to increase your rates. 2 specialists who shall remained un-named - one 944, one 928 are well over this by the time you add VAT. 911 specialists in the SE are around the £100. One or two are even over £100/h mark, making me question the point, when OPCs like West Sussex or Tonbrdige would offer cracking deals on servicing for older models...

[rejn]

Cheburator mk2 said:

ATM said:

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

I think you need to increase your rates. 2 specialists who shall remained un-named - one 944, one 928 are well over this by the time you add VAT. 911 specialists in the SE are around the £100. One or two are even over £100/h mark, making me question the point, when OPCs like West Sussex or Tonbrdige would offer cracking deals on servicing for older models...

I'm not sure exactly what you do, ATM, but I'd broadly concur with Cheb - I pay £65+VaT for my Integrale specialist, and I think it's a bargain.

If you're good and have specialist marque knowledge, then I think you can put your rates up!

[Patrick Bateman]

ATM said:

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

It's high where I am but they're close to London and are arguably the best around for this sort of stuff on M cars

[ferrisbueller]

olly22n said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

My missus took her A3 in to Audo to have its emmissions thing done on recall.

She had some leaves under the bonnet, around the air intake for the HVAC system.

Does anyone want to hazzard a guess at the price to clear these leaves? (for reference, its a 15 second job to clear by hand)

£20.

Should have gone to Aldi, not Audo.

[ferrisbueller]

olly22n said:

ferrisbueller said:

£20.

Should have gone to Aldi, not Audo.

Close, £26.

I laughed.

I assume they charge a minimum of 15 mins labour.

[olly755]

Cheburator mk2 said:

ATM said:

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

I think you need to increase your rates. 2 specialists who shall remained un-named - one 944, one 928 are well over this by the time you add VAT. 911 specialists in the SE are around the £100. One or two are even over £100/h mark, making me question the point, when OPCs like West Sussex or Tonbrdige would offer cracking deals on servicing for older models...

All greedy buggers imo. My business runs a similar model, with similar staff wages in the sector, with arguably bigger overheads, and can't get away with charging a third of that.

[ATM]

rejn said:

Cheburator mk2 said:

ATM said:

I charge less than £70 per hour. Surely that is high for a mechanic - or do I need to increase my rates?

I think you need to increase your rates. 2 specialists who shall remained un-named - one 944, one 928 are well over this by the time you add VAT. 911 specialists in the SE are around the £100. One or two are even over £100/h mark, making me question the point, when OPCs like West Sussex or Tonbrdige would offer cracking deals on servicing for older models...

I'm not sure exactly what you do, ATM, but I'd broadly concur with Cheb - I pay £65+VaT for my Integrale specialist, and I think it's a bargain.

If you're good and have specialist marque knowledge, then I think you can put your rates up!

I am an engineer and I work in an office pushing a mouse around. I'd say my skills are pretty specialist. My contracts are usually for 6 months so the initial commitment is bigger.

[Cheburator mk2]

olly755 said:

All greedy buggers imo. My business runs a similar model, with similar staff wages in the sector, with arguably bigger overheads, and can't get away with charging a third of that.

The coin has two sides - they charge what they think the market will accept. In the SE I can take the GT3 to Parr, Paragon, JZM, GT One, Precision Porsche, Fern Sport, Jaz Porsche and a few others. It seems the market accepts £100+/hr these days from Indys. Quite why, when OPC will service the car for almost the same and throw in a nice new car as a loaner is beyond me, but you don't hear the Indys moaning on here, so they must still see the punters through the doors.

Secondly - I looked into setting up an independent BMW/Porsche specialist/restoration/race prep in SE London as I have access to the rarest commodity - good mechanics/paint+panel beaters and a machinist. Still, the biggest stumbling block is the rates being charged, even on a farm near Sevenoaks in Kent...

[Cheburator mk2]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I am with you a 100%. The funny thing is that OPC actually could be quite personal - OPC Trade Parts Reading have gone well beyond their duty helping me source parts for my 928 GT$ 5-spd restoration. OPC West Sussex were very helpful with the GT3 on several occasions. And I noticed quite a "haughtiness" with two different indys, who clearly thought the Sun shines out of their exit orifices, when asked to supply a 996 Cup air filter.

As for the Geo settings - they can go and fk themselves if they refuse to supply them, once a king's ransom has been paid. Also, it is not as if the GT cars for example are not well written about, talked about on forums etc. BMWs are the same. A call to Michelin/Toyo/Kumho etc also yields a ton of basic information, which can help setting things up.

As for servicing - of course I will never pay anyone to change the brake discs or pads on my cars. But with a perceived high value car, the basic service stamp still is more powerfull than the detailed description/spreadsheet :cry