ilogikal1

Have a read of this.

I quite like that actually, looks good.

Looks alright that, even in resale silver... could do with a wash though. I'm not at all jealous of that V8. Nope, not at all. Not me...

No problem mate. Don't get too used to this "useful ilogikal1" though, that's my quota filled for the year now.

Glad you got it sorted, Graham. Even more glad that I didn't just waste your beer money.

A mere 8 months ago, back in post #99 made in early July, I started a second glass sealant test on the house windows. Well, I've not quite forgotten about that (yet ) and as I've got nothing better to do right now, have an update on that; The windows get cleaned (read; wet with soapy water & squeegeed) once a month. G5, Urban and Glass Seal v2 are still going strong with no signs of fading yet. PIAA has long since given up and looks/acts no different to untreated glass. They currently look like the following, taken today; Disclaimer; obviously this has very little, if any, relation to how each would behave on a car given the very different conditions. I have reviewed each for use on a car previously though so if you're looking for that, reviews are on this thread... er... somewhere.

Unless you're the main driver & owner of the car, that's (potentially) called "fronting" and is very illegal. Tread carefully going this route.

Less paperwork for the DVLA to process, less cost incurred. Those "thieves" at the DVLA are merely passing on the savings created by using Direct Debit payments... the scumbags!! Not on this side of the pond they haven't.

Curses, I thought I was done with this thread... I don't and have never worked for the DVLA. That link is outdated, it states; But; From the .gov website, here. So the Findlaw site is currently incorrect. Irritatingly I can't seem to find the .gov page that explained the refund calculations sufficiently. Regarding the postage date, I couldn't tell you for for sure one way or the other to be honest. I've never heard of anyone (successfully or not) argue that point with the DVLA, so proof of postage may well alter things - moreso with disputes, I would imagine, but that's just an assumption on my part. It doesn't matter when the cheque was dated any more than it matters when the sold date on the log book was dated. It's irrelevant. The only date that matters is when the DVLA deem the change of ownership as processed. It may well then take them another 3 weeks to issue a cheque - I can't think of many businesses that are overly eager to pay out money for anything in a rush, much less refunds! As the new owner is on here, maybe you could contact him and find out when he received his V5 for the car, Will, as that will give you a clearer idea of when they actually processed the paperwork. If it actually was in January then I can't explain why you got a 2 month refund, however I suspect that the paperwork was processed in December but the payment wasn't processed until January. ETA: On that note, having worked in a post room before myself (not at the DVLA though), it's likely that the envelopes will be separated from the contents and binned long before the contents get anywhere near the system to be processed.

And that just refers to trying to explain it to others...

You're just doing this on purpose now, aren't you? I'm out.

When you sent it off, yes there was. When they received it, no there wasn't. Again, one is irrelevant, and again, it's not the latter. I absolutely agree that, that should be the case, but it's not. It never has been. It's highly unlikely that it ever will be either. I wouldn't call it a con as such but I do certainly agree that the DVLA are taking advantage of the system they themselves have imposed. Which is unusual for a Government agency after all...

As stated numerous times already, it's the date that they deem the paperwork "processed" - i.e. the date that the V5C is fed through their system. It doesn't matter what date is stated on the V5C, it never has. Theoretically, it can spend 3 weeks lost in a Royal Mail sorting office, a further 2 weeks sat in a massive pile of post in the DVLA office then being lost down the back of a cupboard for three months before being found by the cleaner who puts it back on the pile of post for it to be opened the next day when it's fed through the system. Or, it could be delivered by Royal Mail the day after it's been posted, opened first thing in the morning and processed less than 24 hours after it left you. That has always been the case. The general guideline made readily available by the DVLA is the same "14 day turnaround" that it's always been with the same "it could be more if we're busy, it could be less if we're not" caveat that there has always been. The refund is based on the date that the DVLA deem it processed. Nothing else. As it always has been. This is already the case, regardless of the previous owners actions. That's not true. Well, it's not legal at least. Or the seller declares the car SORN on 28th/30th/31st of the month (assuming it's not parked on the road or driven afterwards, of course) & the buyer collects the car at any time the following day and pays the tax before s/he drives off. It doesn't have to be done at midnight or within minutes of each other. This isn't any more legal than driving it home after it's been declared SORN, it merely reduced the risk of being caught by ANPR cameras. I thought so too, but apparently not.

I couldn't tell you to be honest. The new system is a mild improvement over the old system in some respects, in others like this it's no different. However by changing the system it's just highlighted some previously unnoticed fault in the process. There's no doubt it can be improved, I'd question whether it was deliberately devised with the express purpose of ripping off motorists... I doubt the DVLA as a whole is that clever!

You would have done under the old system too; whether you applied for a refund or not under the old system, you would always have paid for December. You are no worse off for the new system, you are only potentially better off because you got 2 months refund that you might not have requested under the old system. The lesson here is to SORN the car online the day that it's sold, as the above would suggest that it's much quicker to register with the DVLA.

True, the DVLA have been paid twice for December in this case. As would they have been under the old system if Will had claimed a refund anyway. If he hadn't claimed that refund, he would still be £83.33 out of pocket, the DVLA would be no better off but the new owner would get three months free tax. Under the new system, the DVLA benefit from overlapping payments, the previous owner benefits from the forced refund, the new owner loses out by not being able to transfer existing tax. Either way someone loses out, is it any surprise that those making the rules have ensured it isn't them? Under the old system, Will loses out if transfers the tax. Under either system, the new owner loses out to the refund. Personally I agree that any refund should be issued upon receipt of further payment and calculated to the day rather than the month. But it's not. It never has been that. Hence Will was never due a refund for December regardless.

Under the old system I coluld have passed on the 3 months tax to the new owner so he wouldn't have to tax it for Dec so that way they wouldn't receive 2 lots of tax for the same month, under the new law its impossible NOT to have it taxed twice for the same month. :rant: In which case you wouldn't have received any refund at all and thus you would have been worse off! Under the old system, you had the option to cash in any remaining tax (at any time, to an extent) for the refund by sending the disc off to the DVLA (separate to the V5C), in which case the new owner would still have to buy a new disc - thus had you chosen to refund the remaining tax under the old system, there would still be the same overlap in December. The new system merely removes that option (and the paper disc) from the equation. Literally nothing else has changed on that front.

That's as may be, but the DVLA clearly state the terms of its refunds which is full months from when the paperwork is processed, therefore you weren't due anything from December unless they received and processed the paper work on the same day that you mailed it to them! You might feel hard done by, but that's the (clearly stated) process. It's also nothing to do with the new system because this part was exactly the same under the old paper disc system too.

You're lucky you got January too if it's only been paid today, Will. They make it clear that they will only refund full & complete months based on when the paperwork is processed. Unless the payment has taken 16 days (or more) to come through, you're lucky to have got anything for this month at all.

There's a little dot near the middle of the gauge (over on the right, by the needle) where it should rest when up to temperature. It should only take a few minutes for the water to get up to temperature, oil takes longer but there's no gauge (as standard) for that. Check if it's slipping; if it slips then it's on the way out, if it doesn't then don't worry about it.

I like to be different and stand out for the crowd.

The foam Megs applicators won't offer any more, or less, cut than the t-shirt, so I wouldn't bother with those for this purpose. I'd suggest one of these (no postage costs from PB ) - the Crimson one would do the job, the tangerine would probably be quicker but the finish might need refining afterwards (although with something as light cutting as Scratch X, that's unlikely... if you're not too ham-fisted with it ). It'll probably help to give the area a thorough going over with a clay bar/cloth first too, if you have one. Good luck with it.

Without a machine it's likely to be hard work. An abrasive compound (like Scratch X) around the area as a whole (rather than just on the blemish itself) would be your best bet in my opinion. What pads/applicators do you have & which have you used already? A pad with more cut might help, you see. Feel free to drop me a PM if you prefer to keep your thread tidy, I'm more than happy to help if I can.

I quite like it without too actually. Although that blemish would irritate me too. What have your tried on it to shift it (machine or hand polish, etc)? On the bright side if you can't get rid of that blemish, it's the perfect opportunity to get a proper colour on top of that primer...

The Z was treated to another wash the other day - basic foam & wash, the only variation this week was the use of Maxolen Repel, which is a rinse aid, from the Christmas Waxybox so I'll start with that. Instructions were quite simple; mix the 50ml sample with 500ml of (deionised) water in a spray bottle, mist over a wet car and rinse with an open-end hose with low pressure. There is a note to test for compatibility with glass sealants so I avoided using this on my windscreen - I've currently got G1 on my glass and this doesn't appear to have had any detrimental effect on the rear screen. I didn't apply it to the whole of car because I wanted to avoid anything interfering with the waxes on the bonnet or the on the wheels for example, but even so I probably used about 200ml of the solution. It works fairly well for the intended purpose provided you get the water pressure just right, otherwise you would still end up with water spots where the beading/splashes dries thus achieving nothing. However with certain products like H2Go or WetCoat which are spray on/rinse off sealants, it's hard for me to see the point in rinse aids in general - for no extra effort at all you could easily add/top up protection with a sealant that has as good (if not better) sheeting capabilities or you could use a rinse aid and still need to add/top up protection. On top of this, if you already have a decent LSP on the paint it's unlikely that you'll need an additional product to achieve adequate sheeting anyway. For me rinse aids are a waste of money, time and effort, however if you want a rinse aid then this does the job. Another nail in the coffin for this came when I used the remaining Repel solution on parts of the Leon today in order to compare Repel's ability to that of a coating... the coating won. Easily. Repel actually had an adverse effect on the sheeting ability of several-moths-old Gyeon Prime. Now, onto Wolf's Nano Clean & Coat. The wheels were left spotless once again with nothing more than a snow foam & rinse with the pressure washer. Absolutely no agitation or physical contact (other than the water, obviously) at all. The beading and sheeting is still quite strong so I'm more than happy that there's still plenty of protection there. The BSD-Wipe hybrid type stuff on the roof, the beading isn't as tight or tall as fresh BSD but then it is nearly a month old at this stage stage; there's still protection there but it's starting to show signs of weakening. The waxes then - Edition 19 is lagging behind all the others in terms of sheeting, it's noticeably slower. Although by no means inadequate at the moment, it is just that; adequate. The rest are still going well and fairly similar, although Vitreo and the little unlabelled pot are just edging it at the moment I'd say. Edition 20's looked like this (lower section first); Upper section; Edition 19; Edition 18; Little unlabelled pot; Vitreo; And just some randoms because they're pretty. That's your lot for now.