Continues from: https://www.nohemingway.com/post/wheeler-dealer-flawed-formula
I took a picture of a car in need of some obvious repairs but without knowing the condition of the inside of the car or the number of miles travelled and the number of occupants who travelled in it.
As a family car with a lot of miles on it, it probably doesn’t have much value but a quick look would suggest there was a front impact that damaged the bumper and grill and who knows what else. The bonnet is not aligned with the rest of the vehicle but can you imagine how easy it would be to clean that front alloy wheel? Yes that wheel probably needs a lot more than a cleaning but lets straighten up that car with a replacement grill and a repainted and repaired bumper.
Since the car doesn’t look to be a popular make of car, a new grill might be needed if one can’t easily be found in a scrapyard. That is a couple of hundred that will add huge value to the children who travel frequently in the car and to the driver’s pride and considerably less if the old grill can be repaired or replaced with a second-hand part.
I have also highlighted one of the door handles as needing replacement because of discolouration or a previous replacement and the reason it is important is that the family sees that handle every time they reach for the handle.
Returning to the missing grill and I forgot to mention that that grill also offers protection for the engine and radiator which is another reason to get it replaced. The bumper could probably be straightened up with a little bit of sandpaper, adhesive, and a little bit of matching paint.
In the area where this car was parked, there were a number of cars parked bumper to bumper so I wouldn’t be in a rush to replace a bumper but I did see a 7 series BMW near-by with a missing plastic cover on one of the side mirrors. The car looked to be in great shape and unlike the seven-seater with front damage to the bumper, grill, and bonnet, the seven series BMW just needed to replace a small cover and even though a BMW part might be expensive to replace, the quicker these jobs are tackled, the more value the driver can get out of his/her prestigious Bavarian motor.
There are easy fixes and complicated fixes and I remember having to replace a part on my Alfa Romeo which I got done quickly in a garage and replaced with a Fiat part they had in stock.
The NCT, (National Car Test) never said which side needed replacing on the front wheels and I thought the garage would know which side needed the work.
Unfortunately, they repaired the wrong side (or maybe both sides needed work) and I was left with the cost of replacing both sides. The garage didn’t have a part for the other side and I was left waiting a couple of weeks for the part to arrive as my friend and I tried replacing the other side which involved the car parked outside my parents' house on a jack for a couple of weeks. They didn’t appreciate that I didn’t appreciate the mounting costs associated with the repairs.
My friend and I ended up cutting off the old part with a hacksaw and I ended up with costs of €750 for a car I sold a month later to a friend for €850 as I was moving to Spain.
I regretted selling the car and not keeping it as I loved it and it might have been an idea to bring it to Spain as the same make and model would have cost you almost ten times as much at the time.
I think the car lasted less than a year and my best friend helped strip the car of any profitable parts such as the seats which were sold to a Fiat Punto owner.
I remember my friend pointing out that even the dipstick had value for someone who needed one.
Car maintenance can be pricey as everyone knows and lack of essential maintenance can be even pricier but at least Wheeler Dealer shows us plenty of useful tips in keeping cars running and looking well and in an entertaining way as well.
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