They're in the wrong business too...
A commercial barrister earns up to £500 an hour...
- Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
- Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!
Collapse
You are not logged in or you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
- You are not logged in. If you are already registered, fill in the form below to log in, or follow the "Sign Up" link to register a new account.
- You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
- If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.
Logging in...
Previously on "I am in the wrong business, and so are you lot"
Collapse
-
Originally posted by DimPrawn View PostMy triple garage contains:
BMW M Roadster (S54 Engine)
BMW 320d (6 months old)
Ford Galaxy
All spare cash is sitting in my war fund waiting for the bottom of the property decline.
BMW Z4 3.0 (wife)
BMW E46 M3 (cos I just can't grow up!)
Vauxhall Astra (borrowed off daughter when we are on shopping expeditions)
Leave a comment:
-
I am told that these days the Japanese are most reliable. Is this correct?
We have a Toyoya garage near us - I might take a look sometime.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Peoplesoft bloke View PostThis is why I stopped buying VWs. They aren't appreciably more reliable, but they are expensive to repair. People claim that British cars were shoddy and unreliable, but everywhere there seem to be stories like this about the supposedly well engineered German ones.
VW are still trading on an image from years ago of bulletproof reliability.
I get all my work done from a VW qualified grease monkey who does the work at home at weekends at half my VW dealers price.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by DimPrawn View PostMy triple garage contains:
BMW M Roadster (S54 Engine)
BMW 320d (6 months old)
Ford Galaxy
All spare cash is sitting in my war fund waiting for the bottom of the property decline.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by oracleslave View PostWhat do Swindon millionaire tycoons drive these days if not a porsche or an Audi?
BMW M Roadster (S54 Engine)
BMW 320d (6 months old)
Ford Galaxy
All spare cash is sitting in my war fund waiting for the bottom of the property decline.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by VectraMan View PostWas the original price for new parts?
I had the gearbox go on my S2000 (don't tell me S2000s never break). It was going to be £4000 from Honda (I didn't even ask if that was inc VAT or not), but I also used that partsgateway place and got a nearly new one for £450, plus about the same for an independent to fit.
Most people won't go the extra mile, and also get all obsessed about dealer stamps. If it costs you a couple of thousand pounds more to get the dealer stamp, do you really gain enough in resale to make it worth it?
To answer your first question, no, mine was a 2nd hand box, from another Saab with much the same miles as my existing one, but you never can tell. The grease monkey made some shrieking noises about the box looking "very, very old", but then many Saabs go 200K miles without anything going wrong, so it's a chance I'm willing to take for the saving I made.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Charles Foster Kane View PostRecruitment consultant being shafted.... I think that's called karma.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by DodgyAgent View PostI am shocked. My VW Touran broke down with a hooky alternator.
Bill for repair
£690.00
£100.00 per hour for labour!
£100.00 for diagnostics which "they had to do" as the battery was flat as it would be.
£100 for a new battery.
"never mind" said the service rep, "you get a 2 year warranty on it"
Yeah great, it goes back to the leasing company tomorrow!
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by VectraMan View PostMost people won't go the extra mile, and also get all obsessed about dealer stamps. If it costs you a couple of thousand pounds more to get the dealer stamp, do you really gain enough in resale to make it worth it?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by JaybeeInCUK View PostA few months back my gearbox packed up in my Saab, got quotes between 1100-1500 PLUS the vat to put it right. Now, the engine in it went Boom! a few years back, and that barely cost me £400 supplied from some big breakers up north.
I had the gearbox go on my S2000 (don't tell me S2000s never break). It was going to be £4000 from Honda (I didn't even ask if that was inc VAT or not), but I also used that partsgateway place and got a nearly new one for £450, plus about the same for an independent to fit.
Most people won't go the extra mile, and also get all obsessed about dealer stamps. If it costs you a couple of thousand pounds more to get the dealer stamp, do you really gain enough in resale to make it worth it?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by Moscow Mule View PostNo, that's for a car with a turbocharger, active 4WD and all other sorts of shiny gubbins.
That said, Audi dealers are absolute highwaymen.
I always get the minimum work done just to get the dealer stamp, then get anything serious (new brakes etc) done at my friendly local garage who can source the same parts and whose labour costs much less.
EDIT - correction to self - the 2wd ones were unofficial imports.Last edited by Peoplesoft bloke; 10 September 2008, 11:19.
Leave a comment:
-
I'll give you guys a tip; buy the parts yourself. Here's why...
A few months back my gearbox packed up in my Saab, got quotes between 1100-1500 PLUS the vat to put it right. Now, the engine in it went Boom! a few years back, and that barely cost me £400 supplied from some big breakers up north. So I'm thinking..."something doesn't add up".
Got a price from www.partsgateway.co.uk for £230 inc vat and delivery. All I had to do now was get a price from a grease monkey to fit it. I had a falling out with my last big-job mechanic a few years back so I had to shop around for labour prices. Guess what?
Phoned up 6 places and every bugger wanted to SUPPLY and fit, but nobody wanted to touch the fitting only. "Sorry, we don't do that here".
"Oh? So you don't fit customers brakepads if they bring them in?"
"Well, yes we do, but yours is a big job".
"But your way, you need to source a gearbox yourself AND fit it - surely that's an even bigger job?"
"Ermmmm, naah mate, it's not like that".
"Riiiiiiiiight."
I found a mechanic to do it - oddly, the same herbert who'd done my MOT all this time, I just got lucky when I walked in, he was out, his dolly-bird Mrs knocked up a quote with her 'Point and Click' pricing software, and I insisted on a hard copy, otherwise, as he told me afterwards, he wouldn't have touched the job either. Paid another £300 for labour, so got the whole job inside £600 - so even if, against the odds, something goes wrong, and I have to start all over again, I'm still quids in.
Same principles apply anywhere else you go to buy anything - you see a lot of blokes in their 40's and 50's working under the same roof, all with wives with frivolous spending habits and 2 brats in universities each needing 20k a year, you know you're about to get your pants pulled down.
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by oracleslave View PostDidn't you buy a Phaeton or some such crap?
Leave a comment:
-
Originally posted by DimPrawn View PostMust chime in on the Audi front.
Mate had an S4. Nearly bankrupted him.
Audi, more expensive to run than a Porsche and no more exciting than a VW.
Leave a comment:
- Home
- News & Features
- First Timers
- IR35 / S660 / BN66
- Employee Benefit Trusts
- Agency Workers Regulations
- MSC Legislation
- Limited Companies
- Dividends
- Umbrella Company
- VAT / Flat Rate VAT
- Job News & Guides
- Money News & Guides
- Guide to Contracts
- Successful Contracting
- Contracting Overseas
- Contractor Calculators
- MVL
- Contractor Expenses
Advertisers
Contractor Services
CUK News
- Streamline Your Retirement with iSIPP: A Solution for Contractor Pensions Sep 1 09:13
- Making the most of pension lump sums: overview for contractors Sep 1 08:36
- Umbrella company tribunal cases are opening up; are your wages subject to unlawful deductions, too? Aug 31 08:38
- Contractors, relabelling 'labour' as 'services' to appear 'fully contracted out' won't dupe IR35 inspectors Aug 31 08:30
- How often does HMRC check tax returns? Aug 30 08:27
- Work-life balance as an IT contractor: 5 top tips from a tech recruiter Aug 30 08:20
- Autumn Statement 2023 tipped to prioritise mental health, in a boost for UK workplaces Aug 29 08:33
- Final reminder for contractors to respond to the umbrella consultation (closing today) Aug 29 08:09
- Top 5 most in demand cyber security contract roles Aug 25 08:38
- Changes to the right to request flexible working are incoming, but how will contractors be affected? Aug 24 08:25
Leave a comment: