BigWig
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,101
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The standard buying guide in e.g. retro cars obviously covers different aspects of what to look out for, body/enigne and so on, but on top of the 'owners interviews' etc what would you like to see/read within a buying guide?
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Adam.
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Examples of cars currently on the market. Like the 'driving our ads' features in C&SC.
Alternatives - eg. A Viva/Marina instead of an Escort, or an Imp instead of a Mini.
Owners club contacts.
Useful web addresses.
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Yeah i'd like to see the alternatives... i know my vw's off by heart but i'd have no idea what other manufacturers made an equivalent to, say, a golf.... is a marina the same size? is driving an avenger better or worse than a mk2 escort? example parts prices... it's all very well buying a cheap retro motor but if a set of brake pads cost you £350 and you can only get a indicator lense imported from Uzbekistan you might as well not bother  |
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Never trust a man
Who names himself Trevor.
Or one day you might find
He's not a real drug dealer.
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maybe a "what you get for your money" type thing, not just good fair and neds work, actual pictures of what sort of car you can get etc like the driving our ads bit i spose ;D
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Benmarina16v
Part of things
1974 2ltr 16 Valve Marina Coupe 200Bhp On The Way
Posts: 414
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Maybe origional adverts from the manufactures?
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 '87 2.8 Ford Capri '74 2.0 16V Marina Coupe '72 1800TC Saloon '72 1800TC Coupe -------------------------------------------- www.morrismarina.net |
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Buyers guides eh? If you are gonna write one, make sure its NOT one like the ‘101 buying tips’ feature of this months ‘Classic Cars’ magazine. You can tell this mag comes from the people that bring us Practical Classics. Check these out: No. 12: ‘Buy Something you like’. Yeah that’s helpful, thanks. No. 52: ‘Check the general wear and tear on the pedal rubbers and gear knob’. Very original that one. That might help if you’re looking at some 5 yr-old Mondeo down the auctions, but don’t waste your time looking at pedal rubbers on a fugging 1966 Morris 1000 for fooks sake. No. 54: ‘The finish round areas like the fuel filler cap is often a clue to the true quality of a restoration’. “Areas Like” round the filler cap? So, all areas made of metal then. Put the kettle on eh. No. 80: ‘A mechanically well-sorted and properly set-up car should be a pleasant experience on the road’. Thanks, it never occurred to me that this might be the case. No. 81: ‘Let the buyer know you’re serious’.  ?? What the…? You heard it here first folks: Don’t go viewing cars for sale in a clown suit or do a stand-up routine on the sellers driveway. No. 82 (My favourite): ‘Don’t insult the seller’! Quality! “Hi, I’m ringing about the Midget for sale in the autotrader….you fat w*nker!!!”. Fugg me you can tell as you read through the tips that you are less and less likely to learn anything new here. I’ll not be renewing my subscription to this one, especially as Buckley has migrated to C + SC. |
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1972 Fiat 130 1985 Talbot Alpine 1974 Lancia Beta Saloon 1975 + 1986 Mazda 929 Koop + Wagon 1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica 1977 Toyota Carina TA14 BEST CAR EVER!!!!!!!! 1979 Datsun B310 Sunny 4-dr 1984 Audi 200 Quattro Turbo 1983 Honda Accord 1.6 DX GONE1989 Alfa 75 2.0 TS Mr T says: TREAT YO MOTHER RIGHT! |
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jeez.... that's where i've been going wrong, i turned down no end of sub-£100 1960's 23-window split-screen vw campers because the pedal rubber was just a little bit too worn methinks
it's copied straight out of Buying Ex-Rep Cars for Dummies i reckon... but next time i'm out to rip someone off i'll make sure there's some fresh paint around the filler cap and bung a new gear knob on. that ought to throw 'em!
lol @ 'don't insult the seller' - "Well i'll have to knock you down a bit, the suspension is a bit worn - mind you i'm not surprised if you've been driving it, you big bloater"
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Never trust a man
Who names himself Trevor.
Or one day you might find
He's not a real drug dealer.
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Buyers guides in magazines?!DarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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No. 80: ‘A mechanically well-sorted and properly set-up car should be a pleasant experience on the road’. Thanks, it never occurred to me that this might be the case. What if you're looking to buy mid-90s Astra? Pleasant experience?! What number was the "use a magnet on the bodywork to look for filler" tip? Handy if you're buying a Scimitar or TVR ;D WHen you've got stacks and stacks of car mags like what I have you notice the same articles rehashed over and over... There are only so many things that change every 18 months when they rehash an MG Midget/B/Spitfire buyers guide  |
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2005 11:58:52 GMT by DarrenW
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BigWig
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,101
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;D Some good points there, cheers, the guides can be repetitive can't they. The Ed of this magazine said he might use press photo's within the guide. But surely it's easier to relate to a car photographed from a recent date and not the manufactures handy work!
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Shortcut
Posted a lot
I won't be there when you cross the road, so always use the Green Cross Code.
Posts: 3,037
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car magazine used to do a good, bad and ugly section that pretty much told it how it was. I think they upset a few manufacturers though cos they don't do it now, or didn't last time I bought Car.
i think that would be good, cut throug the bull. explain which cars are actually dogs but you can love/improvethem if your dedicated and which are actually still "good" drives etc etc
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This space available to rent. Reach literally dozens of people. Cheap rates!
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What if you're looking to buy mid-90s Astra? Pleasant experience?! OI!  Actually, "pleasant" would be stretching it a little. Mind-crushingly dull would be more accurate. (although, in a complete moment of lunacy I did manage to get ours into a full on four-wheel-slide the other day!  -completely unintentional, piled onto a roundabout far faster than I ought to have! ) I rarely read the buyer's guides in magazines. Mostly for the reasons already outlined by Mr_Bo11ox and others. I think it would be more entertaining if they featured cars of different standards (and drove them too). Usually the main illustrations are of minters that will be so top end of the price range it's daft (not to mention unrepresentative), and the grot only features in tiny pics. Far better I say to feature a Minter, a generally well-used but all there car (the type that most folk would be happy to live with?) and an absolute snotter with rust and bodges by the bucketload, all side by side. |
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2005 13:22:25 GMT by nickb
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Buyers guides in magazines?!BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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I think a detailed model guide is always good - pointing out what engines they came with, what changes were made and when...
It'd be interesting to find some reviews of the car when it was new - not the whole article re-printed, but a snippet of what the journos of the day thought of it.
Example parts prices is a good one - price up service items for each car so you can see what's cheaper / more expensive to run. Also parts availability.
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If they actually did a little research themselves it would be nice, I can't count how many times I've read/watched "journalists" along the lines of the Practical Classics Buffer Brigade, Mike "The Chimp" Brewer or Jeremy Clarkson pipe out the same old "Ooohh, Hillman Imps, <teeth sucking>, head gaskets spontaneously combust and you can't stop them overheating no matter what you do" curse word or similar about other non mainstream cars (believe it or not Mike Brewer actually did dribble something similar to that out on one of those used car programs he presented while he was standing next to a gorgeous little Stiletto and it's owner who he was no doubt offending, had it been my Imp I'd have broke his nose! Practical Classics are little different, the Imp is always classed as unreliable and not as good as the competition, this from the same mag whose staffers own a good number of Jaguars, which are great cars but by no means offer great relibility.  Maybe when writing/presenting a program about buying old cars they should actually do some research about what it's like to actually buy one in the real world (and no telling us you can get one for £500 when the one they picture is immaculate and one like that'll cost over three times that etc) and then maybe they'd have something valuable to say about buying a classic instead of just what they heard down the pub or telling us that you should look for a 40 year old car with immaculate pedal rubbers. |
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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No. 82 (My favourite): ‘Don’t insult the seller’! Quality! “Hi, I’m ringing about the Midget for sale in the autotrader….you fat w*nker!!!”. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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BS Nymph
Singer Chamois Coupe
Series 3 Landy
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Would you expect anything else from Classic Cars... the ed who took all the dashboard out of his XJ6 as he didn't know where the draught was coming from: then realised it was from a footwell vent!
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Mar 26, 2005 21:33:23 GMT
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What a clever guy! ;D ;D ;D ;D |
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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.... but then thought oh it was such immense fun!
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BenW
Part of things
Posts: 145
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No. 82 (My favourite): ‘Don’t insult the seller’! Quality! “Hi, I’m ringing about the Midget for sale in the autotrader….you fat w*nker!!!”. ;D I haven't laughed so hard for ages. Good work!  |
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Mk1 Triumph 2000
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Mar 27, 2005 12:48:55 GMT
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.... but then thought oh it was such immense fun! Shouldn't that be jolly good fun? ;D ;D And I bet, being a buffer, he didn't even swear and shout like the rest of us do when we realise we've done something stupid on a motor, he just said "oh bother" and went off and had a cup of tea! ;D ;D ;D |
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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?? What the…? You heard it here first folks: Don’t go viewing cars for sale in a clown suit or do a stand-up routine on the sellers driveway.
-completely unintentional, piled onto a roundabout far faster than I ought to have! 
