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Author Archive: Dave Woolf

Author Archives for Dave Woolf

A person you have never met dies and for different reasons, it has a real personal impact. I remember John Lennon being shot and feeling devastated – my mother couldn’t understand this. I tried to explain that I felt I had grown up with him and had the same views and hopes he did – nope she still didn’t get it. Today I am truly saddened to hear we have lost the “legend” that was Bobby Ball. I had the great privilege of seeing Cannon and Ball well over 40 years ago at the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe. This was around the time they were about to hit stardom. This is seared into my brain for one simple reason – I very nearly wet myself! Laughing that much I had to go outside and I never saw the end of the act. I have loved them ever since. To see “Bobby” take up both comedy and serious acting roles in recent years has been a delight. Now here’s something - my Daughter Abby attended the birthday party of Lee Mack about a year ago and who should be there – the great man himself (Bobby played the part of his Dad in Not Going Out). She asked for a photo with him (not normally the done thing at this sort of event!) because – as she told him – “You're my Dad’s hero”. Good night and God bless Bobby.

We are still coming to terms with the impact of this dreadful virus. Some business sectors are being hit harder than others and sadly some – through no fault of their own – will never come back.

I accept new jobs are being created but with respect, many of these are likely to be low paid and not particularly satisfying. Ok – half a loaf is better than none but is still going to be tough to take particularly for those in the older age groups who have experienced something more rewarding.

Having a “Service” based economy is all well and good for keeping unemployment low BUT delivering parcels – serving deep-fried chicken and flipping burgers is hardly going to create a sound long term and prosperous economy producing products the rest of the world wants to buy from us.

One side effect I did not see coming – holiday entitlements! We are now finding

Captain POM - Buyer Beware
I am constantly on the look-out for cars that have the potential to become a “Little-Belter”. Most of these I source from Franchised Main Dealerships via Trade Auctions. I recently spotted a 2007 Honda Jazz which met my criteria – or so I thought. Low miles – good history – only 2 owners – just the sort of car my customers would want AND it had an existing MOT until 31st October or did it? As ever I checked the MOT history before bidding – here’s what I discovered. The MOT expiry date was 31st October 2000 BUT on the 6th of October, it had gone in for an MOT and FAILED. There was a list of items requiring attention – some minor but some more serious – one was categorised as DANGEROUS. So what’s the Big Deal? Setting aside the technicalities of whether or not this car still has an MOT – the fact is it is clearly not roadworthy – had this car been involved in an accident would the Insurers have paid out? There is one other aspect to this story – You might have expected that for the sake of good practice the Main Dealer would have declared this in their description – sadly not. Dave Woolf
Important notice to all our customers, coronavirus

WITH EFFECT FROM MONDAY 23RD MARCH

COLLECTION AND DELIVERY FOR OUR OLDER CUSTOMERS A fair number of our customers are in the “HIGHER RISK” age group – 70+. In order to help keep their exposure to infection to a minimum we will wherever possible provide a “local” collection and delivery service.   All of our customers will appreciate that regardless of self-isolation this age group may need to have their vehicle available in the event of an emergency.   EMERGENCY SERVICE AND ESSENTIAL OCCUPATION STAFF We will also do our best to give priority to this group whilst their cars are with us. Should a delay be unavoidable we will do our utmost to provide a courtesy car or transport to and from their place of work. PRIORITISING WORK Our intention is to keep vehicles on the road. As such it may be necessary to priorities j [...]
Black Leather Interior Used but in very good condition Front and rear seats with headrests Matching door cards Gear lever knob and cover £120
A while back I was at a local Carvery – the lady in front of me expressed her disappointment that there were only 4 choices of vegetables on offer! Christ on a bike what did she expect for £7.95 – Gordon Ramsey to serve it!
No such thing as a free lunch
On my way into work the other morning I was, as usual, listening to Radio 4 news- they were interviewing an American farmer by the name of Zippy Duvall (I kid you not!) – the subject was a potential Trade Deal with the UK following Brexit. “Zippy” made two things abundantly clear – Firstly any deal must include Agriculture and secondly – it would require the UK to accept US farming practices – which currently we do not – such as Chlorinated Chicken – Genetically modified crops – Irradiated Food. None of this can come as a great shock to any of us – after all, who in their right mind would expect something for nothing? So when going through your second hand car “Wish List” – Low Miles + One Owner + Full Service History + Mint condition + Low price – just remember you can have all of these things but not all at the same time, if you get all of the rest don't EXPECT the last one! But we knew that anyway didn’t we – because WE all realise there is no such thing as a – FREE LUNCH – Don’t we? Anyone for a Chlorinated Chicken Burger? Dave Woolf

For me, one of the best measures the Government has taken to help protect car buyers is their “Check the MOT history of a vehicle” website…

 

All you need is the Registration number of the vehicle you are thinking of buying – go to the site – press Start Now – enter the number – press Continue – this page will give you basic details of the car – then press MOT history – and there you have it. Virtually a complete history of the results of all the tests carried out. Not only does it include whether it was a Pass or a Fail – it lists the Failure and Advisory items.

This is incredibly useful – here is an example.

Checking out one of the Closed Auction sites I came across a 2005 Chevrolet Matiz SE+ – surprisingly these are very popular as a very cheap run-around. This one had all the

Captain POM Character - Total Peace of Mind

I recently went to collect a car from Burton on  Trent a town famous for its beer making. As the Dealership was only a mile or so from the Station and it was a fine day I decided to walk – I wish I hadn’t. The aptly named Station street is what was once a thriving shopping area – Greengrocers – butchers – shoe shops – newsagents – sweetshops – hairdressers –haberdashers – ironmongers – Alas now all gone. Without exaggeration, I would guess something like 70-80% now unoccupied. It was a depressing sight – yet the truth is I am as responsible as everyone else. Their failure to survive is down to a number of factors – certainly the burden of council rates has not helped – but first and foremost is the fact too few of us supported them. Let me be clear – I understand you cannot stop progress. It is a fact that we are now the third cheapest country in the world for food – few could argue that on balance this is a good thing BUT it comes at a price.

For many reasons – some obvious –some not – as consumers we are now conditioned to expect the best quality at the lowest price.  Yet surprisingly many of us realise we cannot have it!

A coupl [...]

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