Have the same gear crunch in my Punto. Easy fix, put it in first then reverse, smooth reverse every time

The world needs more people like you. I worked in the automotive world for 15 years...was absolutely fed up with all the dishonest scammers and all kinds of wankers. Watching all your videos should be a mandatory step to be allowed to sell or fix cars😁

Very reasonable more honest than many garages out there today. There are those that will sell cars in any state of repair for as much as possible and change the name of the company regularly to avoid any comeback.

As I understand it, there is no synchro on reverse gear, hence the crunching on reverse only. The usual problem being the clutch centre plate not sliding on the first motion shaft splines..... This being sorted by the synchro on the forward gears. Just a thought from an old ex-maniac, I mean, mechanic lol.

If no synchro on rev gear usually selecting a forward gear first to slow or stop gear train revolving, followed by selection of reverse gear usually gives a clean engagement.

"Honest James car sales" 👍 love how upfront you are no wonder you have boomerang customers! That Punto with a new clutch is a bargain and ideal first car😃

Top job, your level of preparation is incredible!

Love your honesty James Keep the videos coming..😉 Understand current car price situations which is hard to keep stock up but always look for your videos 👍

I am flabbergasted by your etiquette. Most garages would never be so transparent. Great stuff! I'm really enjoying it :)

Love the videos James keep em coming. Wish we were near you as my mum is looking for a new car and given your honesty and the prep you put the cars through I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you. All the best !

Looks amazing that little Punto. You're obviously an honest guy amongst a lot of less trustworthy car dealers out there. Enjoyed this video. Cheers.

You must be one of the most honest car dealers out there. For anyone like me who likes cars but not an expert I would value your opinion. Keep up the the good work and videos.

Another brilliant video again and really enjoy your longer videos and then news on a new workshop yet then

Great video James...the Punto looked well smart at the end. I love your honesty. You are a good man.

James it is so refreshing to see someone who runs a business the way you do. Came across your channel a while back and your videos are brill. Upfront with all customers and a genuine guy. I work in the trade too (as an auto locksmith) but currently off work with Covid until next week. Keep the videos coming! All the best.

Wish everyone was as honest as you when selling cars love watching your videos keeps me entertained cheers

I have just subscribed to your channel, and have watched two of your videos so far, and I have to say I am impressed.I have worked in the auto industry myself, and I have to say I have never come across a car salesmen as honest as you seem to be.Good on you.

I do like your honesty James and you made the punto look really nice for the new owner.

Great repair info, glad the new clutch sorted out reverse gear problem.

Great content James. You are right, Honesty is the best policy. Always! Have a blessed one.

Lovely little motor...nice work James.

Great content as always James, as for the VTR repair it as that would make more great content and it would be different to just a rattle can job!!

The gearbox looked slick enough a bit of a crunch into reverse isn't unusual getting the gears to mesh as there's no synchro. Some gearboxes are just more prone to showing it than others. Don't know if I'd have done the clutch either, all the other gears looked to engage easily enough, just wonder if it's one of those 'if it isn't broke don't fix it' things. Probably been owned by someone who rode the clutch or sat with their foot on the pedal putting a bit of constant pressure on the plate springs. Maybe the Fiat Punto 'reputation' swayed you, cheap Punto so there must be something wrong. As usual though James, exceptionally fair and great respect.

As someone who has bought dozens of cars over the years i have to say you seem to not only be the most honest dealer i have seen but you are more than reasonable how you deal with people or faults. Love the channel. 10/10 from what i have seen. Keep it up

If you were in the USA I would buy a car from you in a heartbeat with how honest you are about the cars you sell!

Another nice honest car James you go over and above what some dealers would do to make a sale,

I've driven a lot of old cars most of them need to be double clutched to get reverse. You just live with it. A 10+ year old car should have it's gear oil changed. Sometimes that helps.

You really do go the extra mile with all your cars and fantastic that you are probably the most honest car dealer out there. They have a cracking car with the Punto, excellent long video more of the same please.

‘Sometimes I’m too honest, as I’m learning as I go’ - everyday is a school day as far as I’m concerned, if you don’t learn a new thing each day your not progressing. You’ll be a rose amongst thorns with your openness and honesty, it’s a credit to you and your business.

James, you really go that extra mile, well done!

James you have got to be one of the most honest motor traders ever, I've been it the trade doing various different things for over 20 years. Some good traders about but a lot of proper shady ones about. Keep on it 👍

Amazing how much work you've done on that Punto. How many 2k cars can you buy with that peace of mind. That's better than most 5k cars from main dealers. Loving your channel, massive inspiration ❤️ keep up the good work.

Loved the video, James. You are a true gent. I’d buy a car from you anytime. Unfortunately, I reside in the south of France! Would love to see you repair the sill and the rest of the bodywork. Here’s hoping your business and Chanel goes from strength to strength.

Hi honest James just to let you know the reason the fingers wear down on the clutch pressure plate is the user sitting with their foot down on the clutch at traffic lights / roundabouts which in turn gives the clearance issues Love your honest approach to your business 👍

Well done James, the Punto looks great 👍

Great video and excellent service/offer.

This video could have really helped me out we have a relatively low milage hyundai i20 which usually takes a couple of goes to get into reverse also sometimes grinds only into 3rd gear on the upchange the clutch bite is low. Ive tried bleeding the clutch and changing the gearbox oil but its still the same, now its got me thinking that the problem is very similar to your punto and will require clutch replacing. Thanks for the great videos James keep them coming

Well done mate, the customer will be over the moon with those repairs and even I won't think twice about buying the Punto if it was on offer. I'll be looking for a second car myself soon, so you never know I might be asking.

New clutch in the punto. Thats a cracking deal. If there is an old cam belt receipt in the folder, that is an absolute steal. Especially when it comes with the complete warranty on every part lol

You are a very honest person. I just wish all garages could be the same. Don't think I've ever bought a car without having to take back several times because of problems with it. I have always bought from well known dealer's wish there was someone like you near where I live.

In my humble opinion the most important thing is that you are honest and very up front. Secondly, which is almost as important: you are willing a solution in the given situation. Bravo 👍

Very fair! Honesty is an excellent business practice! Most customers will manage problems well, as long as they feel they are being treated with respect. And everyone makes mistakes. An honest mistake (clutch/reverse gear) is not a tragedy. It is your willingness and effort to resolve the issue that counts. Love the channel! Love the voice! Wishing you all the best! God bless!!

It is very refreshing to see a there are still fair and honest car dealers around all the best

I owned 4 panda's. Loved them all. Reliable and cheap to maintain. Only weak spots are the thermostat house leaking and the connector left below the desk making bad connection.

Straight up honest fella. You don’t hide anything

Given the dealings I've had with some car dealers, I'd say your offer was fair. You took the time to explain it all and gave them options without pressuring them to make any particular choice. I don't see how you could have been any fairer than that.

After watching a few of your vids i take back anything bad i have said you are a top guy who does a great job and takes pride in your work big thumbs up from me

Congratualtions on the 10k subscribers, James! Slightly disappointed about the Loeb C4, but probably for the best, hey? Never knew about the Schumacher Stilo, either. That looked a cool car. Saw your little clip of my Panda 4x4, if you ever want to show anything more of it, I'm happy for you to do so.

Hi James, enjoyed the longer format video 👍 Totally fair on the Punto, and always up front about everything, no point in hiding faults as they come out eventually, and that does your reputation no good. What a clean thing it was all finished!! The C1... Get it back to the shop and do your checks first, if it needs anything else you can always leave the sill and door, if alls ok that sill will repair all day long, try a big sliding hammer hooked onto a clamp onto welded tabs 👍 Dodged a bullet with the C4, most will imagine they are Loeb while driving it!! Doubt it had an easy life mate 🚗💨

Top class customer service 👏

Honest and very rare good on you nice one enjoyed very much thanks 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Always enjoy your vids, great content.

Great content. Nice long video with my dinner. I don’t think I personally would if purchased a grade 5 from the auction no matter what price but you gave the skill yourself to sort it out

Great job wish the dealers around my way were as good as you.

Respect your honesty!!👌👌👌👌

Your a rare gem in the motor trade. Good man 👍

Watched all your videos. I think you are doing really well. I personally would keep things simple especially when dealing with customers. I'd fix the problems first. I think people don't know that much about cars and want to feel the car is perfect at the time they hand over the cash. Gives them confidence. You could have fixed the clutch before sale and sold it when you were happy with it. There's no way I could live with that reverse! Hopefully Cinch don't cream off all the good cars from BCA and leave you with just the ones with problems like this one.

Your other commenters are correct, there is no synchro on reverse (usually - I remember an old Carlton once with a ZF gearbox which actually did have a reverse synchro. It was great fun being able to select reverse whilst still travelling forward at 5 mph :-) ). It is very likely to be the clutch (dragging) as the synchro on the forward gears will allow it to push through whereas it won't be so happy to do the same in reverse. So, not an expensive fix and it will make a good car great when it's done

Better to be up straight with customers, good content james

More great work, going above and beyond, you'll be gaining such a good reputation that you won't have to worry about your prices. You won't be competing on price with other dealers as people will just come to you for your service and reputation 👌👍

Sorry to comment again, i had an old c4 for about 3 years, no major breakdowns, they are like marmite (love em or hate em) i now have a c4 selection special edition 1.6 diesel. 13 plate, absolutely love it, better than any ford i have had etc the spec is so good considering the age, very reliable cars if looked after. And very popular cars now

I do know folks who have had Pandas and rated them, I had a mare with a Stilo few years back and have been off Fiat ever since. Would consider a 500 Cab for a summer run around though, partner had one of the first models and I loved it.

Just bought a car from auctions to find the noise I could hear was the timing chain...sold as seen I been told and an extra £600 to have it repaired...love your videos keep them coming 😁😁

Can't believe I just found and dropped onto this site....What can I say but bloody "WOW"....amazing content for cheap cars.

I must a admit that if lived in your area that I would buy from you a very honest person 👍

New sub here! Wish id have known about you before! I bought a car off a dealer about four years ago now, two weeks after i had it i had an accident,, the steering went! I nearly lost my life, i had just dropped my daughter at school, i knew it wasn't my fault, turns out after much persistance, it was proven i was sold a dangerous car! Trading standards got involved and got the car inspected, shouldn't have been on the road, i was awarded my money back from court plus 100 quid, (years later) only just got half the money back, a dealer like you is hard to find, i would happily travel to you in the future and buy my eldest daughters first car from you, very trustworthy! Gold dust! :)

What I’ve found with smaller cars is that the gearbox will normally crunch in reverse after a few thousand miles and to be honest I don’t mind a bit of a crunch in these smaller cars I’ve found some drives only getting half way into reverse so the little crunch let’s them know it’s definitely in reverse

Punto turned out lovely James 👍

I remember Fiat had a spell in the eighties with gearbox troubles in the Uno. We had a 45 Fire from new that we eventually swapped for something else as the box was a constant niggle. One of the local taxi firms were experimenting with Uno 60's and having similar problems. I've been told that it took Fiat a few years before the boxes they used improved much, but that is speculative.

That Punto will make the lad a brilliant first car to run around in for a few years, my first one had 36k on when I got it and I sold it at 67k when the power steering completely packed up (but it was an 03 with the early dualdrive module, anything post 2008 is sorted on that front) looks like that one is one of the early ones with the tech in like bluetooth and USB

I hope the young man appreciates all the work that you put into it. Well done excellent job..

I owned a 1.4 Sporting for 10 years and it would crunch in reverse for a good 3 of them, never an issue and if I leaned on another gear before engaging reverse it wouldn't happen. Very reliable car, sold it for a Scirocco which was a nice step up but the young guy that bought it put it into a telephone pole. Now it crunches in any gear.

Another great vid your reputation is growing all the time we’ll done.👍😎👍😎👍😎

Petrol fume is the hose coming from the carter vent. Very common and easy to replace.

Having spent time around the trade as a teenager and buying and selling a lot of cars in my time...I wish i was buying a car from you! Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy for yourself. If the buyer(s) doesnt like honesty then thats their issue. Good on ya mate. Good Karma will come back to you. My mum also has a 1600 C4 Loeb... Its a BLODDY BRILLIANT car. she has had mini coopers, 500, range rovers etc and she loves the C4 above all of them.

Subscribed to watch tomorrow well in the morning can tell its good content from the setup so happy to find this chanell not even into cars but i am if that makes sense LOL

I had a Pugeot 208 and when it got written off i purchased Punto 1.2, the clutch took a lot of getting used to, unlike the 208 which had a lite cluch pedal and it only required a very short travel to release the Fiat needed the full travel to release otherwise it could baulk at changing,on the Fiat forum some owners had a made cut in the carpet to allow the pedal a bit more travel!!With reverse they all graunch unless you dip the clutch pedal for a second before shifting into reverse,again they all do it. not a nice clutch to operate!!

Yes you are more than fair. I was in the motor trade 40 years ago and retired from it 20 years ago. I have to say you are very honest and I think these days you have to be as many people comment about people on social media platforms. I always tried to be fair but it never seemed to be enough for some customers.

With these Fiat's we have to hold the clutch for 3 seconds, the owner manual says that. I have tested and when I do as the owner manual says, the reverse doesnt crunch.

Great couple of flips

Great content as usual, I'd just like to caution the approach of putting best tyres on the front rather than the rear. Poor grip at the rear leads to oversteer which can catch you out in the blink of an eye and spin you off the road. Poor grip at the front leads to understeer which is much more progressive and easier to deal with out spinning out. It's not just my opinion, it's well researched if you do a bit of looking and is regardless of front wheel drive. All the best James, keep up the good work, I wish I lived near you!

Fair offer and you treated them very well 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

You deserve to get a free membership of the Trusted Garage Scheme for great service 🚗🚗👏👏👏👏👏

Sounds like a decent agreement, better than a lot of garages, who aren’t as honest.

Gawd...! Honest to a Fault. Great offer re Gearbox issue. Kid can Learn to Drive, with a promise of Replacing gearbox at Cost, what's not to like..! Kid may have passed his test, but We all Learn to Drive for the First 6 mths to a Year out on the Road on your own..! Well I did anyway. About 10mths after buying my first Car. My Dad Was showing me how to Change a Clutch. Big Learning Curve...!! Great Deal and offer with a Bucket load of Honesty thrown in..!👍👍👍👍👍 Cheers kim in Oz. 😎

You know a lot about cars, when you sell a car its good keep the good work up

I’ve had similar clutches. Friction plate fine, pressure plate shot. Too much town driving with people sat on clutch.

James nothing wrong in being honest as you see it then find its not as you thought . More car sales need to be like you.i have been looking around at cars down in Dorset and cant believe the crap people are trying to sell. Full marks to you.

I wish I had a chops garage near me. 😂. An honest man in the used car game. RARE.

Congratulations on reaching 10,700 subscribers

Hi James how are and the family doing and hope you are all staying safe and well

I thought it was clutch drag. Usually a sign of worn splines on the pressure plate or release bearing. Plate and diaphragm plus thrust bearing fixes this usually. Check slave cylinder throw.

The problem is the Release bearing and the clutch cover , there is no Sincro on reverse on these 👍 Excellent Job common problem the vent pipe on the engine 👍

Your offer is the absolute best can not fault 👍

Repair and 2195 it! Customers like "ready-to-go". Sure, they could "repair it later", but it is most satisfying to know that all is in good order. Future repairs are inevitable. It is good to get customers in the habit of repairing and maintaining their cars, be it Roll Royce vintage classic or daily runabout. It's all in the attitude. If you begin by treating the car as a bit of junk to be used and abused, then this boomerangs back onto the owner -- who then feels used and abused by the car he did not take the trouble to maintain. Your videos show that often mysterious problems are solvable within reasonable cost with a good mechanic. That you are! My motto: "There's nothing in life that a good mechanic, a cup of tea and a piece of cake cannot resolve!"

Perfect KZfaqr for me - wife has a C1 and daughter has a Punto. Wish you were nearer!

no synchro on reverse....that will be the clutch dragging a bit...try slave cylinder, could be pressure plate ot friction plate got a bit of warp.

If the car is still moving forward when you select reverse, the gear-change will certainly crunch. It is, after all is said, NOT a synchro gear.

Just wish all dealers were like you. Main dealers don't seem to offer anything unless it still has warranty remaining.

That’s brilliant you have sold two cars recently well done to you