Wheeler Dealer day...Poor Ed China...
Discussion
Today is wheeler dealer day on one of the stratospheric channels on Sky. Its only during prolonged hours of boredom, when all my socks are clean and paired, and the light fittings have been dusted, do I venture to these heights in the channel list.
Anyway, earlier I caught the Ferrari(in a fashion) 308GT4 Dino episodes.
So cokerney Mike again stiches Ed right up, buys a dented Dino with a "blowing exhaust". Now anyone who has any sense know that wont be cheap, but not Mike.
So Ed sets about pulling the dents, as the panels are too expensive, and spends what must be days p1ssing about with a line puller i think they called. (very neat piece of kit incidently, spot weld electrically "keys" along the line of the crease, hook it up and turn, and the line of keys pull the crease)
Now to the exhaust, and the point of my post. To change the exhaust Ed had to:
1) Buy Downpipes at £1000
2) Loosen all engine mounts and use a hoist to move the engine back to allow the back pipe to come out.
3) Remove the wheel, liner, petrol tank, alternator then move the hoist again to get the front pipe off.
4) Reverse all above.
Estimate 10 hours to change an exhaust.
So my question is are there any other cars which were designed my mental cases where what should be a simple job takes a ridiculous amount of man hours? I did hear a story that Meganes or was in Espaces that need the bumper removing to change the headlight bulb.
I'm presuming new Ferraris dont require this amount of effort?
To end the story Mick makes £800 on the Dino, forgetting he's spent about £2000 in labour. T1T.
EDIT. Discovery Reatime +1. The numpty has now been to Italy to fetch a Fiat 500. No douby he will fail to account for travel costs in his budget.
Anyway, earlier I caught the Ferrari(in a fashion) 308GT4 Dino episodes.
So cokerney Mike again stiches Ed right up, buys a dented Dino with a "blowing exhaust". Now anyone who has any sense know that wont be cheap, but not Mike.
So Ed sets about pulling the dents, as the panels are too expensive, and spends what must be days p1ssing about with a line puller i think they called. (very neat piece of kit incidently, spot weld electrically "keys" along the line of the crease, hook it up and turn, and the line of keys pull the crease)
Now to the exhaust, and the point of my post. To change the exhaust Ed had to:
1) Buy Downpipes at £1000
2) Loosen all engine mounts and use a hoist to move the engine back to allow the back pipe to come out.
3) Remove the wheel, liner, petrol tank, alternator then move the hoist again to get the front pipe off.
4) Reverse all above.
Estimate 10 hours to change an exhaust.
So my question is are there any other cars which were designed my mental cases where what should be a simple job takes a ridiculous amount of man hours? I did hear a story that Meganes or was in Espaces that need the bumper removing to change the headlight bulb.
I'm presuming new Ferraris dont require this amount of effort?
To end the story Mick makes £800 on the Dino, forgetting he's spent about £2000 in labour. T1T.
EDIT. Discovery Reatime +1. The numpty has now been to Italy to fetch a Fiat 500. No douby he will fail to account for travel costs in his budget.
Edited by Dan S on Wednesday 30th December 19:10
Motorrad said:
MKIV golfs also need the front bumper removing to replace the headlight bulbs.
Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
MKV Polos also need bumper removal for headlamp bulb replacementSome people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
It's a piss poor design
All of those programmes seem to conveniently forget the man hours of labour when counting the "profit" they make at the final sale. Funny that!
In answer to the OP's question, the other Wheeler Dealer episode that jumps out is the Lotus Esprit one - Ed had to take the whole engine out to make changing the oil filter easier and to replace the mainifold.
In answer to the OP's question, the other Wheeler Dealer episode that jumps out is the Lotus Esprit one - Ed had to take the whole engine out to make changing the oil filter easier and to replace the mainifold.
Dan S said:
Today is wheeler dealer day on one of the stratospheric channels on Sky. Its only during prolonged hours of boredom, when all my socks are clean and paired, and the light fittings have been dusted, do I venture to these heights in the channel list.
Anyway, earlier I caught the Ferrari(in a fashion) 308GT4 Dino episodes.
So cokerney Mike again stiches Ed right up, buys a dented Dino with a "blowing exhaust". Now anyone who has any sense know that wont be cheap, but not Mike.
So Ed sets about pulling the dents, as the panels are too expensive, and spends what must be days p1ssing about with a line puller i think they called. (very neat piece of kit incidently, spot weld electrically "keys" along the line of the crease, hook it up and turn, and the line of keys pull the crease)
Now to the exhaust, and the point of my post. To change the exhaust Ed had to:
1) Buy Downpipes at £1000
2) Loosen all engine mounts and use a hoist to move the engine back to allow the back pipe to come out.
3) Remove the wheel, liner, petrol tank, alternator then move the hoist again to get the front pipe off.
4) Reverse all above.
Estimate 10 hours to change an exhaust.
So my question is are there any other cars which were designed my mental cases where what should be a simple job takes a ridiculous amount of man hours? I did hear a story that Meganes or was in Espaces that need the bumper removing to change the headlight bulb.
I'm presuming new Ferraris dont require this amount of effort?
To end the story Mick makes £800 on the Dino, forgetting he's spent about £2000 in labour. T1T.
EDIT. Discovery Reatime +1. The numpty has now been to Italy to fetch a Fiat 500. No douby he will fail to account for travel costs in his budget.
It's only TV. It's not real.Anyway, earlier I caught the Ferrari(in a fashion) 308GT4 Dino episodes.
So cokerney Mike again stiches Ed right up, buys a dented Dino with a "blowing exhaust". Now anyone who has any sense know that wont be cheap, but not Mike.
So Ed sets about pulling the dents, as the panels are too expensive, and spends what must be days p1ssing about with a line puller i think they called. (very neat piece of kit incidently, spot weld electrically "keys" along the line of the crease, hook it up and turn, and the line of keys pull the crease)
Now to the exhaust, and the point of my post. To change the exhaust Ed had to:
1) Buy Downpipes at £1000
2) Loosen all engine mounts and use a hoist to move the engine back to allow the back pipe to come out.
3) Remove the wheel, liner, petrol tank, alternator then move the hoist again to get the front pipe off.
4) Reverse all above.
Estimate 10 hours to change an exhaust.
So my question is are there any other cars which were designed my mental cases where what should be a simple job takes a ridiculous amount of man hours? I did hear a story that Meganes or was in Espaces that need the bumper removing to change the headlight bulb.
I'm presuming new Ferraris dont require this amount of effort?
To end the story Mick makes £800 on the Dino, forgetting he's spent about £2000 in labour. T1T.
EDIT. Discovery Reatime +1. The numpty has now been to Italy to fetch a Fiat 500. No douby he will fail to account for travel costs in his budget.
Edited by Dan S on Wednesday 30th December 19:10
Don't get so worked up. The 'buyers' are either actors or production crew staff members.
Motorrad said:
MKIV golfs also need the front bumper removing to replace the headlight bulbs.
Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
Says who? I've done it a few times.Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
Left hand bulb is easy to change. At worst, you need to push the battery back to make more room.
The right hand side is more difficult but not massively so.
You certainly don't need to remove the bumper or to visit the main dealer. If you have done either of the two, you've been well stitched up mate!
Motorrad said:
MKIV golfs also need the front bumper removing to replace the headlight bulbs.
Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
Have done it easily a number of times without hassle Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
Edited by Six Fiend on Wednesday 30th December 19:43
Motorrad said:
MKIV golfs also need the front bumper removing to replace the headlight bulbs.
Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
Anythng bar HID's doesn't need to have the headlight out.Some people claim to be able to change them without doing that but they must have very, very slender hands.
Great bit of design eh?
B'stard Child said:
MKV Polos also need bumper removal for headlamp bulb replacement
It's a piss poor design
Not normally ime. By Mark 5 you mean the 9n twin headlight shape? Not the "just out" 6R shapeIt's a piss poor design
reddragon said:
Not just car related programmes forgetting other costs. Buy antiques for £200 from one auction, sell at another for £300, yippee £100 profit... minus costs, travelling, and 2 days spent at auctions for two people. Better off working a day in a supermarket!
These programmes are devised by antique dealers, they are designed to stop the belief that the selling public have that they are being ripped off when offered 200 quid for grannies old tea set, hoping to make more people sell direct to the trade (as they did pre ebay etc). Id have to question why Ed had to do all that when he has access to a lift and most people manage to do it without taking most of the car apart 
Another good example of engineers not thinking about servicing, is the diff on a Maserati Ghibli (90's one) where the later cars had the filler plug blocked by the diff carrier itself!
Another good example of engineers not thinking about servicing, is the diff on a Maserati Ghibli (90's one) where the later cars had the filler plug blocked by the diff carrier itself!
The Highway Man said:
I've got a 11 year old Mondeo, I nearly fainted when I was quoted £700 by a Ford dealer to change the clutch!!! The car's not worth that, it's got 135,000 miles on the clock so I've had my monies worth out of it. Time to scrap it and buy a new one methinks 
Take it to an independant garage who'll do the job for less than half that.Madness taking an 11 year old car to a main dealer.
I really like Ed, he seems like a top bloke. Do we know much about how he gained all of his knowledge? He seems to know everything, or is there a team of mechanics behind the scenes?
He makes the show for me, fat Mike just bangs on about how good a car salesman he is, only to fold at the merest hint of negotiation from the buyer.
He makes the show for me, fat Mike just bangs on about how good a car salesman he is, only to fold at the merest hint of negotiation from the buyer.
The Highway Man said:
I've got a 11 year old Mondeo, I nearly fainted when I was quoted £700 by a Ford dealer to change the clutch!!! The car's not worth that, it's got 135,000 miles on the clock so I've had my monies worth out of it. Time to scrap it and buy a new one methinks
I got mine done for £450 from a local shop. But that was when it was worth £450 - probably wouldn't do it now...It is a very long job - from memory, 7 pages in the Haynes manual. I read the first two, and though "This would take me a day". And then I realised there were another 5 pages. So I decided to stump up for the cash.
The Highway Man said:
I've got a 11 year old Mondeo, I nearly fainted when I was quoted £700 by a Ford dealer to change the clutch!!! The car's not worth that, it's got 135,000 miles on the clock so I've had my monies worth out of it. Time to scrap it and buy a new one methinks
You must be crazy, going to the stealers for an 11 year old car to have the clutch doing?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff