Insurance companies are the ones that artificialy inflate prices 😮

My old man was in insurance for 60 years. People would ask him what to do about the first offer from an insurer. His answer? Reject it, because most people accept it, they’ll offer you more than their lowball figure if you start costing them time/money.

Hi, re your comments on insurance, I recently sorted out my relatives car, he had a slow speed shunt in a car park, 2013 Suzuki Alto, rear bumper cover was cracked and broken, no damage to the bumper bar inside, anyway the insurance wrote it off and offered him £2200, I told them that was not enough for him to replace the car with similar, they said, " we do not offer market value", after some bak anf forth they offered £2800, which was still a bit light, they also offered him £1900 to keep the car, he accepted the £1900, I got him a brand new bumper from Suzuki dealer and got it painted and fitted by the repair shop the dealer used, cost ?,,,,,£400.00, so he has his car and £1500.00 in his pocket,,,,,,,,biggest question is where is the fiscal sense in the Insurance company not spending £400.00 on repairing the car instead of £1900.00,,,,,,no wonder premiums keep rising .

Hello James I am the chap that called for some advice a few weeks back regarding my old boy customer that purchased a metro from Peterborough classic cars we got them to take it back ,what a battle it did get collected by them on the condition that after it was inspected by them the old boy would get a£3000 refund that never happened, I held back the v5c after more heated phone calls eventually paid him back the hole excupaid cost the 80 year old gent cost him£4000 not a bad blow considering, he only drove it 200 miles and it spent most of his ownership off the road, thanks for your help much appreciated

The Firebird wasn't popping and spitting - it was barking. It's a dog. 😂😂 We've all been there with cars though...

Absolutely amazing generosity James for Ella and Daisy's hair cut fund raiser, Not only are you a superb, Conscientious used car dealer with a cracking KZfaq channel (Which in itself is even more work for you) You also support local charity's. 👌

Some Insurance companies will only pay out trade values on write-offs and then tell you to take out GAP insurance in future, another scam...

I had this at the start of the year. Motorcycle written off, 1 year old, insurance offered me £1000 less than I could buy a like for like for. They asked for evidence of my valuation, I sent them a dozen adverts from that day and an email from the dealer I bought it from with his valuation of my bike. All were within £200 either way due to less or more mileage and they still refused full pay out. I claimed off my own insurance in the end, got full value pay out and let them argue with them. Cost them a lot more because I kept the £196 a day hire bike for another 4 weeks. I did warn them that would happen but they still refused to meet the true valuation. Make sure the company you insure with pay out like for like value when buying from a reputable source, just ask them outright before you take the policy out and do not be afraid to claim through your own insurance even it it wasn't your fault. That is why you have it, to protect your self.

That Firebird had one careful previous owner. Burt Reynolds.

Mate I absolutely love how correct you do it. You don’t put a car up for sale till it’s as mint as it can be. I used to do the same when I was trading.

@21:53 Yes, James, in the US of A, exactly that happens. Dealers bought cars way too expensive during the covid craze. Americans like to be "debt slaves" when it comes to cars, but recently the interest rates went up, car prices went down and dealers mark up their inventory by $5000 or more despite barely selling anything - sunken cost fallacy reloaded. They financed most of their stock. 🙂

A fiesta, focus, polo raffle would be good.. Little runarounds

The trouble is insurance companies only give trade value most of the time and dealers are holding used prices up, as an example an Audi A1 63 reg is listed at £9895 but the used price guide values it private between 5 to 6K and dealer between 7 to 8K so a good mark up, also don't forget when buying to carry out an online check, which highlights any problems the car may have and a valuation which is a good bargaining tool

I've notice this at my local 'previous loved cars' show room, prices seem well over the top ranging from £9K to £19K for 6 to 10 year on petrol\diesels . Considering the years left for the change over to the enforced move to electric, the prices seem ridiculous

Amazing over £1000 raised by the girls now , Im going to donate too as sadly ive had many relatives pass from cancer and its just not right Kids getting ill with Cancer it makes me very sad so will always do what i can to help.

The fester humming is a fan in the center console that circulates the air around a temp sensor for the A/C climate control. It runs for a while even after engine off. On that age car it comes lose from its housing and resonates. You can pull it to bits and cable tie it down or leave it

Everyone is guilty in keeping car prices high. How can any car, regardless of cost new and service history, be worth 15k when it is 12 years old and done 100k miles?

Name and shame the insurance company James, that's the only way they will ever change.

Great video bit of everything. Keep it going James all the best 👍👍

I think it's great you share these interesting cars with Brooke.These create great memories for you both

Such a great channel - keep up the fantastic work!

Always delighted to see a new video go up! Great work being able to support so many good causes too.

Meanwhile James im still driving that old 2007 Colt 135 thousand on the clock now , still the knocking suspension but starts first time everytime , its not fast but as long as i have wheels to get me to work thats the main thing lol best £600 i ever spent in 2017 lol

Whenever I buy cars if I'm buying anything over 10 grand I always buy from dealers but when buying cheap run abounds. £3000 and under I've always bought privately or from car auctions basically wife's cars or runabouts for work, saying that the days of me having 3 cars that includes the wife's have long gone, I'd buy raffles tickets on the S2000 or any car if tickets were good value

Fab diverse content this weekend, loved it!

Donated to the little ladies, thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for another interesting update video. I'm sure you'll enjoy working with your Firebird, as you work through all its problems and end up with a safe and fun car for trips out.

Looks like that corner hit a few kerbs never mind potholes lol 😂. Great content ad always mate keep up the fantastic work

Glad to see you use Davey for your bodywork repairs , he has done a few minor repair jobs for me. His best job ever was on my Yamaha Virago fuel tank , it looked beautiful when he finished it

The worst thing is, if you have a non fault accident, your insurance premium goes up for the next 3 years.

What a great video and fantastic gesture to a good cause 👏

Not sure how the UK Car Market is at the moment James, but I've been watching some USA financial Channels, and Car Repossession levels have been smashing through record levels there, and interestingly, Banks are backing off from loans financing all sorts of things, so if only people with Cash Can buy things . . . ould be collapsing prices at some point? Odd though, this is happening at the same time that there is a War on Cash Transactions, and people in businesses that handle Cash, are having their Bank Accounts shut down. Lots of food for thought at present. Best Wishes. Bob in Wales. 🤔👍✨️✨️✨️eta put back the C that had fallen off Car during posting. 👍

polishing cars got more high tech but looks quicker, probably last longer as well.... a chamois leather used to be what you dried a car with then t-cut (or brasso!) if you needed to remove oxidised paint then some turtle wax to add a shine ! 🙂

Hair for the Chop, Cash for a Chopper, All from Chops Garage (Viewers) well done

Excellent on the amount sent to the girls charity choice.

A nice a early upload, stunning car one of my childhood favourite.

Great content as usual James 👌👌

Davy & Craig in the house! 👏😁👍

we had similar from tesco ins after my son had a crash, tesco rep was quoting the absolutely lowest prices advertised, a lot higher mileage, we sent in adverts and got it increased.

Enjoyed that video James....a bit of everything there!👍👍 Sure you haven't been off-roading in the Jag? Never seen a tyre with so much damage! 😲😲....Keep up the charity work mate, and I'll happily buy tickets for the Camry/ S2000 (as I've just sold my Mx-5😥😥) or a tech bundle....Less keen on the basic motors but for someone on a tight budget just keep the prices lower, and mix it up with something more costly with a higher ticket price....Keep up the good work!

I got the GT shine products after you recommended them James and have to say I’m very impressed too

Top guy for the extra charity donations and no quibble 👍👍👍👍

Last time I had a car written off after being rear ended, back in 2014, insurance company coughed up pretty much retail money and we are only talking about what was then an 8 year old Daihatsu. I did have a discussion with the assessor about having just had it serviced etc and he said he would take that into account, which he clearly did.

The hum from the dash is from a small fan to cool a component down. i have the same thing in mine.

When you fed up with the bird mate you'll be for it if you sell it from your place, as you know laws the same whatever the car is,it's why it was on a trade only auction site, you like me are easy going with what we buy, but I've not met many buyers who are, I've done loads of classics and they still want a new car, sold an e type and he was pursuing me for a cracked dash top, when prices went up tho and he made 20k on it he didn't bother me much.

That is what our problems are can't trust private sellers with buying a used car so nice to no dealers are inflating prices

That towels looking good

Firebird is an absolute shed 😆

The GT Shine Twist Drying Towel - the original GT Shine creation. I have 10 of those, and they are very long-lasting and high quality. And they work very well at drying the car quickly.

Love the content, keep it up. Would like to buy a car off you one day. Well done for supporting local charities.

You're a good man for sure

As a refreshing change my car got written off a few years ago and my insurer Admiral asked me how much I wanted to settle, I said I could replace from a dealer for £12k, they replied we think it’s worth £13k and gave me that. A week later I’d forgotten to ask for the money to put a towbar on the car which my previous one had. I asked them for another £500 and they gave me that too! Well done admiral now a very loyal customer 😊

That XF could do with a detail James. They are one of my favourite cars to valet. Nice carpets to hoover and generally good quality, Only thing that you have to be careful with are the rubberised inserts on the steering wheel and buttons on the dash as they go sticky when you try to clean them. Jaguar paint is my favourite to machine polish as well as its soft and corrects very easily, 3D SPEED compound and a green flexipads hex pad will make that black come alive.

My local garage has a Selby Camara he bought a while ago. It's in bits. Same problem. He started looking in depth and found a multitude of sins. Fortunately he's a panel beater

Had the same problem from a big insurance company when my Kawasaki zephyr motor cycle was written off by the insurance company just twisted forks but still written off told I could buy the bike back after I accepted the pay out for the bike £150 there guy who assessed the condition of the bike assessed the bikes condition and said it was in excellent Anyway they offered me a silly low price I just laughed at them on the phone was far to low they offered me £600 for a bike which was worth at least £1000. I asked them where they got that value for my bike was told they looked in Parkers guide and wait for it on ebay laughable, I said you have priced my bike on a different model they had based the price on a Kawasaki zephyr 550cc that's not even my bike most of the things are different on that bike to mine different engine size different in wheels could go on it was like something out of a joke. I told them I knew they would try to under-value my bike and there was no way I was accepting their joke offer! They then asked my what I thought the value was in which I replied it's worth £1000 I said if you can get me the same bike in the same condition as mine for £600 then I will take the bike off you now 😅 anyway after a few different people from the insurance company over the weeks kept ringing me up after they realised I'm guessing they couldn't railroad me into a daft low offer they offered me £950 which I said would except as it was only £50 short they sent the cheque and a letter to sign to say I excepted the offer by them. Moral of the story insurance companies are trying to squeeze us the public out of money for every pound they don't give us is a pound in their pockets.

The state of jag rim explains the sidewall damage to tyre I would be surprised if the wheel isn’t bent or cracked.

10:28 That happened to my '09 focus (exactly the same sound) and it was a small fan that is used to pull air towards the interior thermometer for the temperature control (HVAC). In my case it was in the lower centre console.

I don’t know you from Adam, but you are a good man for what you do for charity

Great James.glen.

I've just made a small donation to tip it over the £1000 mark. They will be ecstatic when they see the total, they where aiming for £150 ❤

Definitely think you should name and shame the insurance company!

Another brilliant video chops 🚘🚙🚗⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏

Love your videos mate. Still think you need to get your own number plates on the cars. The software and hardware isn't actually that expensive and not only will it be good advertising for your garage but a nice set of new plates always looks better than a tatty old set.

never thought id see the day an insurance company spit truthful facts

Email sent in regards to my Astra, another great video James

that's common practise with insurance companies.and yes they have put up insurance prices again.

It is my understanding that insurgence only pay bottom book trade value and you will never be able to buy from the trade at that value since many charge top book value. It usually tells you that in the small print of your insurgence documents. The only way around that is if you have an unusual or exceptional version of the car and you're in a club and the club issues you a valuation. This can often be used to squeeze some more from the insurers.

As long as the Netzero stupidity continues the prices of second hand cars will continue

I had a Skoda Octavia VRS that I paid 9 grand for had it 3 weeks the car had all the bells and whistles which I looked at loads before purchasing it and it got written off in the snow I was offered 7.5 grand! I went back to them and said I couldn’t find the same car for that money either privately or from a dealership I even went through the insurance ombudsman and didn’t get anywhere with them either Insurance in this country is a con!

Sad but true

The Firebirds rear cart springs are so old fashioned, primarily used to keep cost down years ago, they are at least pretty strong.

Whatever criticism i would give janes for his being so legal minded on the channel i gotta hand it to him for supporting good causes and charity, fair play to him

Is that a MK3 Polo hiding behind the Camry? Another one that's getting rarer. Looking forward to the Camry raffle. That's mad feedback from insurance companies considering the values they put on costs of repairs, causing cars to be written off which could probably be done much cheaper too.

We have paint guy. Of course he’s called Gary. But he is unbelievable and a friend there is noting he can’t do with scuff and blend.

In my 50yrs of driving I have encountered a lot of second hand car dealers. some have been good, some have been crooks. But i can honestly say that you must be the most pleasant and honest car dealer i have ever seen. Good luck with the charity and i hope your business increases every year. Can you tell me how i get to the raffle tickets as i cant seem to find them,(I am getting on a bit so that could explain it)

The drone noise will be the aircon internal temp sensor located left of the steering wheel behind the trim panel

Can just see some good ole boys welding another floor in on top of the old one, splashing bondo everywhere back in the day, god bless America.

It all starts at auctions high prices, you've got to bid high, yes there will be part of the auction process where they up the price, but basically that's where the pricing begin s.

First thing I said was timing and running to lean will make it over heat. Derek on vice grip garage hates them electric fans it should have a clutch fan on that so it pulls air all the time not just when it gets hot

On my interceptor it always ran hot, usual thing is bigger rad, if it's a big cast iron engine can't see heads gone, might be all stilted up, you may have to put your Ital, saab, fiat, mgb restos down the work list now (!)

Main dealer aproved used prices can be significantly higher than other trade retailers. A similar 12 month warranty taken with a regular dealer does not warrant this premium. The key is to shop around.

Car dealers inflating prices😮. Try looking at estate agents and house prices. That's why the house market is in the state it's in. Banks don't help giving out these mortgages at 4-5 times annual salary. Unfortunately this is the world we live in now.

Fiestas of that era have an internal temperature sensor for the climate control that has a tiny fan. They can get noisy, but are not a problem. Also, a few minutes after turning the ignition off, the ventilation system goes into into re-circ mode, and you can hear that happening. Not sure when your noise was happening, but it's likely to be one of those things, neither of which are a problem.

Some of these so called scuff chaps /ladies are not good for you chaps !! I bought an 04 R.Rover l322 that had been attacked by one of these and three months in it all showed up really really pissed me off with the chap that sold it to me to the point I will never go back So make of that what you will !!

Fair play with the girls James.

Not in the market for a car at the moment but love watching your take on cars and stuff , just curious you don’t seem to have many Toyota cars 😊 anyways keep up your great vids . Ps still driving my 2009 Yaris from new pps me a low mileage driver ie 35000 mls regards Fred oops commented before the end and then the Toyota popped up

Fiesta should have Bluetooth as got aux input. I had a Style + with that as option pack, so Titanium should be standard, great catchup

I use aldi furniture polish on all my cars, followed by some demon shine

James, If you pay the proceeds of the donations to the charity from your business it can be tax deductible in your accounts so no need to deduct tax from the proceeds. Do check with your accountant as I'm not giving formal advice (!)

Couple of my customers have had, due to increase in prices got more than I sold the car for, you can get gap ins as well, I sold a guy a van years ago for 6900,he did 100k in it, it got written off and he got 6k for it, unfortunately it wasn't really enough to get him the same van as prices have gone that high.

Didn’t realise we could dictate the values of our cars I have a 2007 Meriva here that’s now worth 5k

Pontiac needs an Italian Tune up, Fuel maken happener. Weight reduction is normal and no one needs brakes.

U definitely going for the obe Fair play to you sir

I had timing out on an interceptor, chrysler 383,turned out disturb shaft bent, also running rich, flooded that much when I took the plugs out fuel p**Sed out.

lol the girls did very well out of that :-)

On an American engine I had turned out to have the wrong distributor so didn't run right, only take you a few mins with a strobe to time it up, could be seized on the advance mech if it's old style points, I bet its all rusted and stilted up in the block, been run for years just on water probs.

Donation sent to little princesses charity as Chops garage subscriber, hopefully others will follow.

Insurance is saying that because the know they don't have to pay up, that's a dirty trick

Brave man power washing a French car's engine bay 🙏

Previously on the rockford files