Your fleet running reports

[scotta]

That does look spanky, and takes about 15 years off the car just from not having arch gaps you could put a tugboat through.

M135i transferred DVLA-wise to Copart (as instructed)

Just need to find out out when they can pay me - at which point I assume I'll need to give the courtesy car back.

Hoping I can arrange transport of the Z4C fairly promptly after that, seeing as while I have realstically usable savings (for the first time in my life), they ain't £9k yet so I can't just buy the car, or reasonably arrange transport till I have the LARGE CASH DEPOSIT in my account. Be a bit embarrassing if I arrange transport for next friday and insurance go "Oh, we won't get the money to you till Monday" or something.

They will bank transfer the cash - it should arrive reasonably quickly once sums are agree'd. they gave us about a week with the hire car after we got the funds with the option to hand it back early for some cash - £150 rings a bell.

[Rich B]

seeing as while I have realstically usable savings (for the first time in my life),

Well done Bean, that’s actually a fairly big thing imo!

[Beany]

That does look spanky, and takes about 15 years off the car just from not having arch gaps you could put a tugboat through.

M135i transferred DVLA-wise to Copart (as instructed)

Just need to find out out when they can pay me - at which point I assume I'll need to give the courtesy car back.

Hoping I can arrange transport of the Z4C fairly promptly after that, seeing as while I have realstically usable savings (for the first time in my life), they ain't £9k yet so I can't just buy the car, or reasonably arrange transport till I have the LARGE CASH DEPOSIT in my account. Be a bit embarrassing if I arrange transport for next friday and insurance go "Oh, we won't get the money to you till Monday" or something.

They will bank transfer the cash - it should arrive reasonably quickly once sums are agree'd. they gave us about a week with the hire car after we got the funds with the option to hand it back early for some cash - £150 rings a bell.

Yeah apparently I need to speak to a separate team to the write-off guy I spoke to last time, to validate that.

It does make sense as the expectation wouldn't necessarily be that the money arrives in your bank 0900 on a wednesday, and you've bought a car by lunchtime. It's not a meal deal, it takes a bit of time to sort out. So I'll check that with them.

And yeah, Rich, it's quite weird thinking "what if I buy the car and the DMF fails!" and the answer is now "just take a deep breath and pay for a new one" rather than "well, you're totally fucked and your life is over for the next three months, suck it up"

[Swervin_Mervin]

Dropped the E91 in for a while you wait oil change at Darren Wood in Stockport. Whilst it was up in there we had a good look underneath - I wanted to check out the rear subframe really. Not too bad, but it could potentially do with a wire brushing and then a coating of Dynax.

Only concerning area was a spot of rust starting on the osr arch, just inside the arch where it's folded over, but it looks to have been resprayed at some point. The paint job on the osf door looked a bit ropey when looking at it from below, which is odd as it looks fine when it's on the ground I seem to recall Flewy mentioning when he went to inspect it for me that it looked like it had had paint at some point on that side. One to keep an eye on anyway. I have a rattle can of paint so if it looks like it's getting worse I might whizz it back, treat it and give it a lick of paint. The bodywork elsewhere is starting to really show signs of age now though, sadly.






Still looks decent from 10yds after good clean and wax though.

[Beany]

In a bizarre twist of fate, a mate was having a smoke break outside the bodyshop my car is at and heard them talking about how the underside of my car is 'a mess' - bent suspension arms, crushed undertrays, both front and rear bumpers damaged and lots of other issues - and that might be why the car was written off. and it's far from the first time they've seen it happen.

Obviously the bodyshop couldn't tell me that because that might be a breach of their contract with my insurers, and as they've been as accommodating as they can be (if a bit slow due to workload), that's not something they'd do or that I'd like to have happen to them. Just a weird coincidence that my mate was outside having a smoke and overheard all of that.

Anyway, make sure you check your policy for the stipulation for a 'preferred repair partner' and make sure if you do need to have the car collected, it is never to Copart. Like, ever.

Now you'll have to excuse me, my neighbour was talking about watching Copart for my car, I'm gonna tell him "best not to mate" - let some other poor fucker discover that it's been turned into an absolute dogs dinner.

[integrale_evo]

Sounds like they’ve been moving it around with a forklift as per standard copart practice

[Mito Man]

They should be investigated. It's beyond a one off coincidence from all the cases that have been reported. As I say I reckon they're doing their best to get the cars written off as they then get to auction them.

[Beany]

It really is something that an investigative journalist with access to Autotrader and a high limit credit card could have a field day with.

Just bang a window through on an M340i, send it to copart through their insurance.

Repeat five times. See how often the car comes back with massive underbody fuckery.

[Jobbo]

Those who listened to the Smith & Sniff podcast from 21 April may remember mention of the Grampian Transport Museum. Since I was pretty much passing today I visited. Lovely place, too many photos for the Scotch internet to cope with right now. But have photos of my car in the Grampians and outside the museum.





Running updates: passed 3000 miles on the clock today somewhere near Perth. Ran out of screen wash for the first time since I bought it - the reservoir is tiny. I have purchased three more packs of cosmetic wipes to clear the bugs off the windscreen.

[Beany]

Courtesy car returned.

No pics of the damage to the underside of the car (it wasn't on a ramp) but you can see where the forks have ripped through the undertray panels etc. Billy Bob the telehandler operator clearly wasn't paying enough attention that day.

I can't be fucked chasing it up. I'm done with the M135i - just give me the fucking money and let me buy something else.

Also courtesy car returned, I am currently without transport - which is fucking annoying given the claim isn't complete yet (yes I checked with insurance, no, they won't allow me another courtesy car for a week till I find another one)

Suffice to say I'll be on the price comparison sites for Z4C quotes when I do them 'for realsies' once i know when I'll be buying it. If even a "PrEmIuM" manufacturer approved insurer is that laissez faire then why bother paying for one? Might as well pay less if I'm gonna get fobbed off anyway.

[Rich B]

Bean, get quotes for the new one today with the assumed day you’re buying it. insurance is massively more expensive if you get the quote in the day you need to buy it.

[Beany]

Bean, get quotes for the new one today with the assumed day you’re buying it. insurance is massively more expensive if you get the quote in the day you need to buy it.

I need to know when I'm getting the money - I'd *assume* this week (so good for the weekend) but given my luck with this so far, I'd not be shocked if they delay it till next week.

As soon as I know when the payment is coming in, I'm getting everything sorted on the spot.

[IanF]

Why not start insurance on Monday and if you end up paying for a couple of days before you take ownership, it’s not really an issue?

[Beany]

Why not start insurance on Monday and if you end up paying for a couple of days before you take ownership, it’s not really an issue?

I need to arrange more than just insurance (transport etc) so I'm gonna do it all at once.

Also insurance gets weird if two people are logged as being insured separately, does it not? So I'd rather not potentially cause problems where none are really needed.

As noted, given my luck with this so far, I'm not doing anything without firm confirmation of what to expect.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I think Rich was just suggesting you get a quote now, not actually take a policy out. Will likely be cheaper to lock in, in advance, than doing it at the time you actually need it. Get quote, come back to it when ready.

[Beany]

Oh, duh, yeah

Been a busy and frustrating day

BMW Flex want £155/month for a Z4C

Admiral want £550/PA

I think I'll be fucking BMW Flex off then

[mik]

As per above - quotes are usually valid for 28 days or so.

[Beany]

As per above - quotes are usually valid for 28 days or so.

Annoyingly, I got quotes for various cars....over a month ago now, because it's taken so long to get to this stage

Admiral seem the most competitive and it's a good chunk lower than the M135i so I suppose I shouldn't grumble.

[Rich B]

i think my Elise needs new battery - i’ve tried the recondition mode on the CteK few times now and i think it’s beyond saving. It wouldn’t start today without the ctek plugged in and the rev counter is struggling to read right.

they only seem to be about £50 or so, so i might as well get a new one to try. Any recommendations from the Elise people?

[Matty]

i think my Elise needs new battery - i’ve tried the recondition mode on the CteK few times now and i think it’s beyond saving. It wouldn’t start today without the ctek plugged in and the rev counter is struggling to read right.

they only seem to be about £50 or so, so i might as well get a new one to try. Any recommendations from the Elise people?

I can't recommend one but....changing the battery in an S1 Elise is a rite of passage. You've never really owned one until you've changed the battery