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Wheeler Dealers 2014
nickwilcock
Posts: 559 Forum Member
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I watched the Audi TT episode tonight - and it seemed to have been subjected to some arty-farty post-production gimmickry. That awful 'make video look like film' effect and far more incidental background music than hitherto.
Why must editors mess with a successful formula in this way?
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It doesn't need the introductory pre-titles bit either: it gives too much away about the car.
I'll probably be getting a divorce shortly afterwards mind.
Yesterday, the bought a BMW M(3?) with a bust gearbox and ripped leather interior. Any mug punter would have walked away, but the 'Cockney Wide Boy' foolishly bought it. They 'made' about £250 and that was only because they got the supplier of the upholstery to knock about £200 off.
More illusory TV nonsense.
It suggests the research and labour would completely erode all profit, but it's perfectly ok to ignore these for the purposes of entertainment,
Ed China makes the show for me. He explains things on a level that even a thicko like me can understand, and doesn't patronise the viewer.
It's just an easy hour's viewing for me, and I always learn something.
I very much doubt it. I think if they took some of the classic cars into a modern dealership they would struggle to work out where the engine was.:D
There are forums out there dedicated to all makes and models of cars, both past and present, that's probably their primary source of information and the way of locating rare parts etc.
And you don't think they do the work and film it over a few days do you, they are no doubt working on a number of cars at a time and film little snippets as they receive parts and fit them.
Err no, My point was they have everything ready for the shoot, which I do believe is done one car at a time, however long the work takes.
I just love seeing them put sometimes near scrap cars back in good order. OK, so the costs don't factor in Edd's (and his team's) labour but in his defence he does occasionally say "that would cost xxx hundred in labour" with some jobs. The cockney wide boy shtick is nowhere near as bad as it could be... Edd's genius is making it look easy.
I honestly don't think they are trying to say "and you can do this at home too"!
I think they are, see summary in the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler_Dealers
The whole point of the show is to restore cars in the way a well equipped enthusiast restorer would do. Edd is always recommending which jobs can be done yourself and which are best left to specialist garages. Of course the profit is notional, but if you restore a car do you cost your own time into the equation if you sell it on?
This is primarily an entertainment show. So a lot of set up and pre-planning is bound to be involved. Adding a budget to the restoration to allow Mike a "profit" makes the level of restoration more realistic and practical.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edd_China
He has been doing the programme for more than 10 years, so he is quite experienced. You only to have a look at some of the early programmes (the two half hour programmes) to see how his presenting skills have improved.
If you take a look at his Wikipedia page you will see he is not your average grease monkey mechanic.
BIB what's the 'scam' and illusory nonsense?
There's nothing hidden it's all on-screen and perfectly obvious, it's an odd premise, granted.
I used to buy the odd car with busted head gaskets and the like, simply because I felt like adding another car/toy to my collection/something to do.
I used to be able to 'knock out' a lot of 4 cylinder head gasket changes in an afternoon on the road side, working out of the boot of my car.
I considered the costs as the purchase price and parts.
I really wasn't too bothered about re-selling, they were usually so cheap, if I stuffed them or something really big went wrong and I only got scrap value, I wouldn't have been bothered.
I usually got bored once I'd fixed them anyway.
I didn't see the M3 episode 'but any mug punter' depends on if you're an enthusiast with knowledge and skill.
For some enthusiasts pulling out engines and gearboxes is a bit of a PITA put perfectly doable, I've done a few engine gearbox swaps with mates.
If the M3 suffers from a known gearbox problem, no doubt there's the odd enthusiast out there scouring the adverts looking for them to buy on the cheap and fix, drive about for a bit then sell on at a similar 'profit' as the Wheeler Dealers.
I know some of the Marque specialist Forums buy the specialist tools required for some cars and share them around, so a job that's uneconomical to the normal owner becomes economical if you don't factor in the labour.
A chap I know runs a 'backstreet' garage, he and the other local garages do similar things when it comes to specialist tools and engine management code scanners.
They also have contacts at main dealers or marque specialists they talk to.
I take it you don't twirl the spanners.
You don't need to go to a main dealer to work out mechanical problems, that includes engine management and sensor problems.
A lot of marques/models have common problems that are well known to mechanics and can be checked by back probing the sensor with a multimeter.
Have a look at http://www.carmechanicsmag.co.uk/ next time you're in the local browsing library (WH Smiths).
I watched the BMW 840 episode the other day, for some odd reason he assumed it was low gas or seized pump clutch but without doing and checks for low gas, well any that we saw and got the aircon man straight in to vac and re-gas it.
Low gas is the most common reason why they don't work generally though.
He didn't mention that the to keep the seals in good condition and help prevent the gas leaking you need to use aircon regularly all year round keep the seals oiled.
The main radiator didn't look in tip top condition either, lots of fins rotting out, no mention of it's condition and what to look for while he had it out.