2003 1.8 D Connect won't start?

Makes sense, as long as you can accommodate all the other stuff (like

2 x insurance, 2 x parking, 2 x servicing etc). It would be easier for her to just hire another van at £35/d/w as and when etc.

We have always had (at least) two cars or two motorcycles available in the household and as all the cars have towbars, any can also make use of the trailers (goods / boat / motorcycle / caravan) etc.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m
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Partly, yes, but on site they get damaged. The type of materials loaded in to them destroys the load area, even with care. When you have spent the day in the rain, and are absolutely filthy, it's difficult to protect the cab.

My Son is fussy about his own vehicles, but even his van gets ruined during its lifetime.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Perhaps a failed business might encourage her to learn more efficiently through education rather than through one's own mistakes.

Perhaps a business course or two?

Just a thought?

Reply to
Fredxxx
[...]

As long as off-road storage was available for one vehicle, you wouldn't need them both insured at the same time. As long as you chose a company that let you swap FOC, just move the insurance onto the one currently in use.

Servicing wouldn't be double; the total mileage would be the same spread over two vehicles.

I know an electrician who runs an old Transit. He also runs an ancient Ford Galaxy that he can use for work in an emergency. Only risk is that using the Galaxy for work is questionable WRT his insurance. He knows this, and knows how to answer any questions the police might ask him.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Nice if you have the cash or just justify (and want) the loan(s) etc.

Nice. The repair we are having done on the EDC is guaranteed for 2 years.

Quite.

I am sure that is they way our daughter might also go, if / when the business requires. However, because this is all something of an experiment for her, she didn't / doesn't want to over commit to anything or even commit over and above those things she is obliged (like insurances / accountants etc).

No loans, minimum (reasonable) outlay, maximum utilisation and effort and see what happens from there. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Daughter is quite keen to look after her van, possibly more so than her car because no one would judge her business on the car because they never see it.

In fact I predicted exactly what the guy programming a new key into her van would say the other day ... and that was it would be the cleanest (inside and out) van he's seen for a long time (and it's not new but 14 years old etc). ;-)

It was funny with her showing him where the OBD port was. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

It may well ... however, 1) I can't see it failing to exist (even if it's not hugely viable), only if she decides to knock it on the head as she is banged out 6 days a week. 2) (Therefore) I'm not sure she is interested in any formal 'efficiency / T&M exercises because she is physically working as hard and efficiently (when working) as is possible for anyone (and such has been commented on by her customers).

And I graciously accept the positive thoughts on her behalf. However, imagine that you love making chairs in the woods and part of that love is the fact that you don't have to work to any time scales and aren't making more than one or two at a time ... and that your overheads are low because you are living in a caravan in the woods.

Now, that person might be happy earning 'a living' and simply may not want a brick built workshop, 10 machinists and all that goes with that as it's no longer doing the thing that make it all worth doing *for him*.

Another real-world example of that was a mate ran 4 record shops and as all the electronic downloads / streaming started he gradually shrunk down to just one shop. I asked him why he didn't just go online and he said he'd rather just sell up and go minicabbing. A big point of him running a record shop was the people, his customers, not something he would get surrounded by boxes in a warehouse. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m
[...]

It's nice seeing a young person doing something for themselves, and having the support of a parent. I hope she does well, and when she's famous I can tell everyone I *know* her Dad!

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Quite.

Luckily (and possibly unusually these days) it's 'parents' ... and when he was alive, Grandad and still her grandma etc. As she has grown up and seen how other people / families are, she's even further appreciated how lucky she is.

Thank you for the kind words and I will pass them on (and thank you (and everyone) for your help as well).

The (minor) frustration for us and any parent in the same situation is when you know they could do better ... the issue is 'by who's standards'.

Most if us want for the nice things in life an accept we have to (often) sell our souls to 'da man' to get them but luckily (?) she's not like that, she doesn't want for the latest this or best that and has a strong enough character to not GAS what anyone else thinks about that (unlike many of her age). That said, you would be surprised what bargains (and quality) she's found in the charity shops. ;-)

So she get's up and out pretty early each morning (6 days a week), always does her best and tries to give her customers both good value and the best quality work. Part of why she does this (and especially for the older customers) is she tries to redress the balance and trust many of these older people have lost by being 'ripped off' by others in the past. ;-(

The problem therefore is she probably isn't 'hard nosed' enough to be making good money and because of her nature, may never be.

And to be honest, as a parent, I'd rather have that ... strangers telling me how hard working, how considerate, how nice, polite (< that was the first thing the AA guy said to me the other day ) and trustworthy she is, than not hearing such things or seeing her take liberties with people.

But she is young so there is plenty of time for her to find her niche and everything she does (win or lose) is helping her to see / learn the bigger picture.

The small part I try to play in all this is giving her some encouragement to try to do stuff herself (like working on her own car, van or motorbike or building / repairing things etc) and let her try stuff if she shows an interest (like arc welding when she was about

8).

One interesting thing she experienced when working in the cash office of a major clothing chain during the New Year sales ... she was lifting about £1k from each of the 17 tills every *hour* (and taking it back to the cash office I mean). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

As the van is really just used to carry tools and some materials (so not 'fitted out' as such), she could hire a van for £32/day at the weekly rate, should she need. As it happens this time, it worked out it wasn't appropriate.

Agreed.

Quite. One of her friends was able to put commercial use on the van he happened to drive as his personal wheels for not much extra (he need to do so to be able to carry stuff for the place he worked and to claim the appropriate mileage rate).

;-)

An long-short update to the Connect / pump FI saga.

A new (reman) Bosch pump was initially offered to us by the FI place the garage use for ~£800+Vat. Because the FI van wasn't available to collect, we took it there ourselves and they tested it for us while we waited and found it was a faulty EDC. Being as we were local to a ECY reman place we know and have used we took the EDC unit to them and they turned it round in a couple of days for ~£200, with a 2 year warranty. The FI specialists put it back on the pump, ran a quick bench functionality test and it ran fine for 3.5 minutes before failing with the same error codes as before. ;-(

We had the EDC sent back to the repairers who tested and repaired it again, returned to the FI guys, put back on the pump and again failed but after a couple of minutes more. They know the unit and regularly repair them (known simple fault) so were puzzled as to why the repair hadn't held (re-bonded the wires to the two solenoid driver transistors).

The FI place then came up with an alternative pump (via another refurbisher) for £525 + Vat and so that is being delivered (to the garage) today.

The FI guys were also kind enough to swap the re-worked EDC for another (all agreed by the other Co etc) to be able to return the old pump (exchange) and hopefully with that we will be able to arrange some form of refund from the ECU Co (they have agreed on such in principal).

We still feel it was worth the effort / gamble at the time but with hindsight ...

Fingers crossed time now ...

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m
[...]

Sorry to rub salt in the wound, but the total cost will be more than the van was worth.

You only need one more small disaster in the next year to be really regretting not dumping it.

I'm not trying to appear clever (although it might seem like that); I'm just speaking from my own bitter experiences of spending too much on ancient old vehicles.

I'm crossing mine for you too; you get my admiration for persistence!

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Worth to whom? ;-)

If you have (or could point us to) an internally and externally tidy, LWB / High top Connect that for say the ~£900 it may finally cost to get her van back on the road, that is 'guaranteed' to be immune from any further costs the next day, let alone a week later, and ignoring the time and effort it would potentially take to transfer the roof rack, towbar, bulkhead, bluetooth phone and any other bits over, we would be pleased to hear about it. ;-)

The only way I realistically see you getting close to that is if you know someone personally selling something they have had from new, was in perfect condition and you knew how they had treated it from day 1? ;-(

I don't know about that. Given that it's cost her little (over and above the purchase cost) over the last 18 months, it has already saved her lots over say hiring, leasing (£200 / month for 18 months = £3600) or the depreciation of anything newer she may have alternatively bought that would have cost more ... and even more in interest had she had to get loan out to buy it (and she probably would have).

The value of something can sometimes be more about it's total value to you as a viable / (semi) known solution, over any arbitrary fiscal / book value?

Apparently the guys dealing directly with the FI pump recently scrapped a 2008 Connect that 'just' needed a new windscreen and some other stuff. However, it wasn't lwb / high top so not as much if any use to our daughter, even if it had been fully functional.

It reminds me when I had a Company Sierra estate with towbar and one of the sales persons wanted to borrow it to move stuff and offered me his (company) XR3i in return. I declined because if I needed to tow something, their car would have been completely *useless* to me (even though it would be a perfectly useable car to possibly 99% of the population).

No, I know (and appreciate) where you are coming from Chris, it's just we don't have that crystal ball we would actually *need* to

*guarantee* we weren't simply stepping out of the frying pan, into the fire? ;-(

Thanks, appreciated. ;-)

I'm not sure it's worthy of such ... more commitment, circumstance and 'needs must' / 'the devil you know' I think Chris. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

En el artículo , T i m escribió:

So her business/livelihood depends on a 14 year old banger and she doesn't have any kind of backup plan in place if it goes phut?

You/she are idiots.

Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

On 23/06/2017 10:11, MrCheerful wrote: snip

I spent some time a couple of years back looking for a sub-£1000 small van for a mate. All of the 6 or so that I saw/drove were wrecks - just thoroughly worn out. And not even a sniff of service history with any of them. Asking when the oil was changed got a 'dunno' answer - the owners didn't even bother lying. A couple had no oil on the dipstick.

In the end he impulse bought a small Citroen van with a non-turbo diesel. He spent about £2000 keeping it on the road (including a new engine and gearbox), before leaving it in a ditch.

The moral for me is there's no such thing as a cheap good van.

Reply to
RJH
[...]

With you 100%. I've struggled to find them in the past for myself, without success.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

A nasty game (looking for any vehicle for someone else) at the best of times.

This one wasn't / isn't as was till we bought it off him it was part of the business of a mobile mechanic.

Same with this one ... just a list of the things that had been done recently and hints as to what might need looking at.

This one was very honest and helpful. Even threw in a brand new / unfitted (big) battery for it (after we had agreed a price without). He has also been available to help us with any little questions we have had since.

I'm sure there are thousands of cars, motorbikes and mowers out there like that too. ;-(

Funnily enough, her ex swapped his old Hi-Lux for a Berlingo non TD van and that's also still going strong. It's needed bit's like even a fairly new vehicle and he offered to lend it to her for nowt (all be it a bit small for her needs).

Why did he do that after spending so much as unless there was something 'else', it could then have gone on for years?

I think there is, but you have to be lucky in getting one that is being sold cheap because of a potentially expensive but turns out to be minor issue (like a broken wire that looks like a bad ECU) or someone you know is selling one for a 'good reason' (like they need a bigger van or are giving up their business).

I bought two Morris Minor vans cheap (the first was £25) and ran both of them (pretty hard) for years (both in distances traveled and loads) and only one ever stopped me getting home once ... and that was a sheared half shaft at the top of my road (I pushed it home myself). ;-)

Daughters van cost about £2k about 18 months ago and all she's spent on it so far is servicing stuff (yes, she does it and herself), the alternator overrun clutch (£25 and changed it herself), some new tyres and fuel etc.

Had she been leasing a new van it would have been ~£200 / pm, assuming she can get a LWB / high top (so already £3600), she services it her herself (so does so when it suits her, no downtime), it would be cheaper to insure than a brand new van and she doesn't have to worry too much about the odd knock and scrape.

So, if this FI pump job ends up costing £800, she is still under the cost of leasing a new one and who is to say that it won't now carry on for another 18 months.

If it's lease hire I think there can be some fairly high penalties if you give it back 'scruffy / damaged' and least to buy still requires those monthly payments, even if it's not earning any money.

As I mentioned elsewhere ... this whole 'business' is an experiment for her ... not only the work itself but the idea of running herself so the smaller the long term commitment and background costs the better. The fact that she has got as far as she has without any loans and has more work than days in the week to do is also 'a good thing'.

And also as mentioned, if her van wasn't available short term or while she looks for something else, she could hire one from round the corner for £32/ day for 7 days.

Anyway, hers is back on the road now and only time will tell if she carries on saving money with it. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

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