[Closed] Wheeler Dealers

Its was ok until they do a car you know something able, then you realise that they do some strange things.
Plus Ed works for free.

Ed China and Mike Brewer are a good partnership. Seem to genuinely get on and have a good time making them. Edd's hourly rate is a bargain.

To paraphrase Count Arthur Strong; Wheeler Dealers, they buy a car, do it up and sell it for a small loss.

I only watch the Ed China bits, Mike "I'm a geezer" Brewer does my nut in

The price they buy/sell at and any hourly rate is irrelevant, the low production costs and what channels/countries you can syndicate to are far more important than the validity of the content.

I wish he would use a wire brush and clean stuff up when removing/refitting though 🙂

I know hardly anything about cars and the closest I've been to engines is taking apart various lambrettas and vespas when I was younger but I seem to always watch this if its one I haven't seen,quite like watching him fix up cars,maybe it helps if you don't know if he's doing a crap job or not.

I like wheeler dealers but have really got hooked on Fast & Loud. American muscle all the way.

I like it, is there a new series coming to freeview soon?

Like ed but Mike is a tosser

Hopk1ns - Member
I like wheeler dealers but have really got hooked on Fast & Loud.

[mockney t**t] Go ahn then, stick yer ahnd aht, you just bought you self a motah! [/mockney t**t]*

*Typed during the ad break whilst watching the latest episode. I probably should've posted in the Guilty Pleasures thread instead...

I love it!

The elephant in the room of course is Edd's labour rate, they argue that when they started the show the concept was showing how a home mechanic could do a few simple tasks to make a few quid trading cars, but that was 12 years ago and the programme has evolved, watching Edd respray a wing on a £1000 worth of banger to make a few quid wouldn't have lasted this long. The money element is still there of course, but it's stretched to the limit 'home mechanics' don't usually change the Chassis on a TVR or own £5k specialist tools, but sod it, I choose to just enjoy a bit of 'man TV'.

They've dropped a few clangers - I remember when they put the stripes on a MK1 golf GTi on upside down and the purists went mental and when Mike swapped some "tatty aftermarket wheels" they got with an old Porsche with some original ones which he leapt about saying how much of a bargain it was - only they were super rare, super valuable BBS 3 piece wheels worth more than the car - but hey ho.

Making a profit at the end isn't the point of the program really. It's there to show you that you can buy a car and fix it up yourself. They tend to tell you how much the labour would be if you took it to a shop.

A lot of people don't like MB but he is what he is, a cheeky used car dealer. He probably knows more about how to buy and sell cars than everyone on here put together - yes he doesn't know the slight minute details of every marque but he's the sort of chap I'd love to have around when I'm buying a car.

People tend to pick on this sort of program a lot, saying it misses out stuff, this isn't right etc etc. without realising it's an entertainment show that has to cover a few bases. I like seeing people fix stuff up, learning about cars a bit and getting some inspiration along the way to do it myself and I think it does all that very well.

I used to like Fast and Loud but it's just a soap opera now, just ridiculous.

Watched lasts night episode while searching for an Alfsud Ti on ebay/pistonheads/autotrader.....I need one.

I used to like Fast and Loud but it's just a soap opera now, just ridiculous.

Like all US series after a few seasons, you could probably count in one hand how many minutes American Chopper was dedicating to choppers in the later seasons. Utter toss.

Like it.
and Fast and Loud.
The only shows of the type I enjoy.

Watched it a few months back but not recently.

The more recent format where it's all done and dusted in one episode is much better than the original where it was split over two.

And it's actually quite instructional (well Ed's pieces are).

I like Fast n Loud as I love American muscle cars. Haven't seen it for ages though.

Good to see how many they export to Sweden and Finland, the amount of cars cruising around Stockholm on a Friday night is ridiculous. Raggare 😕

I only watch the Ed China bits, Mike "I'm a geezer" Brewer does my nut in

+1

I have a bit of a Wheeler Dealer habit - I do genuinely like the idea that they're 'saving' older cars and they do have some quite interesting models from time to time. And yeah, the whole thing with Edd's time being free on the balance sheet is ridiculous, but that's not really the point. It's not as if they really have a tiny kitty they rely on to buy new cars is it...

Apparently they've done a Corrado VR6 for the new series, currently listed on Autotrader and, I think, Pistonheads if you fancy haggling with Mike on an endless tv loop for all eternity. I'll be interested to see which common Corrado problems they fix on that - I'm hoping for Edd's sanity that the sunroof was okay and the heater matrix hadn't blown.

I do wonder how many mechanics are really working on those cars though...

I like it, it's obviously going to annoy marque fanbois/restorers/experts/aficionados "oh you don't want to do it like that" and "actually the MkII had a silver gear stick knob not a black one" and "I'll think you'll find....". They've done some really lovely cars, fiat 500 and vw panel van come to mind and had some real left field motors that you might not normally consider as classics. I don't mind Mr Brewer, for the most part he know his stuff and yes he can be a bit fast show dodgey geezerish.

Here's the Autotrader link for the [url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/volkswagen/corrado/used-volkswagen-corrado-2-9-vr6-3dr-rotherhithe-fpa-201508126003312?utm_source=Email_a_Friend&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email_a_friend_car ]Corrado[/url]

It's good entertainment.

I love it.

Seeing someone put a car in the air and pointing out how simple it is to fix stuff on it made be want to fix stuff on my own cars.

Yes Edd working for free is daft but its still a good show

Those adverts on Autotrader aren't free and Mike seems to do plenty of fuel in his 4 wheel drive aswell.

I love it. I like cars but I'm not a car nut. I think both MB and big Edd are great. Both big characters and entertaining to watch

as already mentioned, in no particular order:

- primarily it's an entertainment show
- it's grown over the years from cars for 500 quid to buying and selling 15k to 40k so som of the original meaning has been lost as it's become more and more about the entertainment
- it shows you what you could do yourself and often quotes the costs if you were to get it done in a garage
- Mike is a proper businessman. He has decades of real experience buying and selling cars and knows what he is doing. Yes, some people hate him but he's a self made man with real life experience. He's a south London car dealer. What do you expect?
- But the best bit for me is that you see the whole lifecycle from buying to fixing up to painting to selling in an one hour show. I have watched other shows and they have a whole series focused on just one car. It gets boring.
- Plus other shows spend tens of thousands on a V-Dub that at the end of the day is worth say 10k. At least wheelr Dealers tries to inject some realism into the show and stick to a budget even if there are bits that are brushed over

Highlights for me were the Porsche Boxster S that Mike bought for a 'bag of sand' cos the tiptronic gearbox was up the swannee. Edd solved it with an oil change. Or how about the Audi TT that was 'missing' two gears. edd opens up the gearbox and finds a selector that has fallen off. He retrieves it and fixes it with a 50 bolt and nylon thread nut.

Quality.

leeph - Member
Watched lasts night episode while searching for an Alfsud Ti on ebay/pistonheads/autotrader.....I need one.

This ^

Also I think the worse vehicle they did was the VW camper with a full wrap that had bubbles on it, eyesore.

Cash? Today?

Best bit for me is when Mike comes in halfway through and says something like "Ed, what have you been doing? It looks exactly the same!".

Ed has probably fixed the gearbox, changed the exhaust and refurbed the turbo 8)

I watch it occasionally, when I get in from work it seems to be on before real telly starts and thats fine by me.

Would be interested in seeing the Alfasud Ti one since I had one of those BITD.

As is, it's just "on".

allthepies - Member

Watched it a few months back but not recently.

The more recent format where it's all done and dusted in one episode is much better than the original where it was split over two.

And it's actually quite instructional (well Ed's pieces are).

It was an odd one that - yes they showed it over 2 episodes instead of 1, but they were half-hour not an hour like that are now, and were always shown as double-features, so really it was a one-hour programme with a bit of extra credits in the middle.

I love F n' L too - but it's a bit jarring, it's been a HUGE success in the US and here and they're milking it for all it's worth, at least they now list the clips shows they do as such and not try to pass them off as the real thing, nothing worse than sitting down for my 1 hour of Dad TV time at home, expecting FnL and getting You've been framed instead.

Oh and GM Bar and Grill, GM Tequila and GM Live Music Venue call all suck my exhaust too, don't care, don't want my precious TV time filled with RRR business empire promo time.

The elephant in the room of course is Edd's labour rate

No one noticed he's listed as an Executive Producer, which makes me think he was the one who came up with the idea for the show in the first place, and that makes him much more money than fixing up bangers.

I do enjoy it, despite some horrendous mods they do, the AMC Pacer and RX7 spring to mind

Ed is great, especially watching some of his inventive solutions

Are the end result cars still `bought' by a member of the production team, who on suggesting "its a little more than I wanted to pay, Mike" has Brewer instantly folding under the pressure and offering half what he is asking for as the punter is "driving a hard bargain". All done with everyone trying not to laugh.

I'm surprised Roger Mellie hasn't done his own version.

Edd's other job.

http://www.cummfybanana.co.uk/

He's also built some of the more odd-ball stuff for Top Gear IIRC.

[img] [/img]

railofdestruction

No one noticed he's listed as an Executive Producer, which makes me think he was the one who came up with the idea for the show in the first place, and that makes him much more money than fixing up bangers.

Pretty sure he won't have been for the first X number of series. It's standard practice though in long running shows to give the stars a producers credit. It justifies paying them more, keeps them sweet and makes them feel important.

I bloody love it.

Although the idea is flawed, as they actually make a decent profit (factoring in labour costs) about one car in ten, I enjoy watching old cars being brought back to life.

Ed is an amazing mechanic and although Mike can be slightly annoying, they make a good team.

I also like all the other shows that fix things/buy and sell/bring things back to life. Le salvager, Salvage hunters, etc.

Quest is pretty much the only channel I watch on TV.

I'll admit to being teary watching Car SOS when they've done up a car for a guy with a terminal illnes who was too ill to finish his project and he was able to drive it litterally at the end

Dont get why you need to factor in labour costs? the point of the show is you would do it yourself. Where additional labour is required (professional spray job or engine refurb) that is included, but not for the home mechanic stuff like replacing exhausts etc.

How did you guys know that they were selling one? I always said that I'd love to buy one of their cars - the corrado is awesome, I love the VR6, they were rapid

Problem is I have a family and a dog, I'd be keen if it was a car that actually fitted with my lifestyle

I can't understand why people are worried about them selling at a small loss. They have a ****ing budget to produce a tv show.

Highlights for me were the Porsche Boxster S that Mike bought for a 'bag of sand' cos the tiptronic gearbox was up the swannee. Edd solved it with an oil change. Or how about the Audi TT that was 'missing' two gears. edd opens up the gearbox and finds a selector that has fallen off. He retrieves it and fixes it with a 50 bolt and nylon thread nut.

I've been looking out on freeview for a repeat showing of the Porsche as I only caught part of it before. Was the TT on freeview too?

They're on YouTube

Good call ta!

I like Wheeler Dealers, but record it on the Tivo box so you can fast forward through the 'I've just bought meself a motah!' crap at the beginning.

I've also got a like for Extreme Car Hoarders, not for the scripted nonsense throughout, but for the cars they produce at the end. Really, really amazing looking cars. Especially when compared to Fast 'n Loud's 'cut two coils out the springs and rattle can the grill' approach.

I really like it - it's on at 8pm every night here in Spain. I suppose if I were a MB hater I could leave it in dubbed Spanish so he's not a cheeky chappy.

It's Fast n Loud after WD, sad thing is its on a loop so I've seen some episodes (like the TVR one) 3 times.

Looking fwd to the corrado renovation, lovely cars.

For those of you who think Mike Brewer is an annoying cockney (I don't actually. I stopped him when I saw him crossing the road in Canary Wharf and he seemed one of the few celebrities pleased to be recognised and we had a nice little chat for a few minutes) you clearly haven't seen Bruce Crompton on [url=

Dealers[/url]

once you've seen a few episodes you've seen them all, same with storage wars/gold hunters/pawn shop/ice road truckers whatever

almost becomes achingly desperate, good for half a series (season), 2/3 series (seasons) nah i'll pass

Note in the corrado ad they did the sunroof seals and replaced the heater matrix... knew just what to do! Drove a golf vr6 but not the corrado, did drive a g60 version though which was great.mmmm (goes to check postonheads)

It's a great show, but like TG, purely for entertainment value rather than some form of show to demonstrate to people how to make a killing in the used car market. The other issue aside from the labour rate issue is the garage full of tens of thousands of pounds worth of tools and specialist gear that the average home mechanic is extremely unlikely to have and would make the majority of the jobs Ed does a real challenge and a nightmare in your garage or out on your drive. But I enjoy the show alot too. I just enjoy seeing the cars. Love the Alfa Sud one from last night.

one thing that annoys me is that he'll get a brand new shiny part and bolt it on with the old rusty bolts. I know you can't see a lot of it as it's under the car, but if it would annoy me just knowing it was there.

I'd love to know where Ed gets his magic WD40 from that magically unsiezes seized nuts. It's never worked that well for me.

I accept it for it's flaws and enjoy watching it every now and again.

The free labour and effectively making no money was the first thing I noticed. Can't see the same big time Charlie amateurs going into car dealing as you get in the housing market, the booms are just not big enough to get away with incompetence and playing at it.

😆 how did you drag housing in to it

" Owd aht yer aaand! " 😀

love it!

they should do a "find the cars we sold" episode and see if Ed China's work is still holding up.

trillion times better than any other UK car show currently on, including the dire one with Tiff and the stick-model ........... thats cringe worthy

Tiff "you can pick up a spotless example for 5 grand"
reality "hunt for years through all the car mags and websites and find one for 11 grand"

they should do a "find the cars we sold" episode and see if Ed China's work is still holding up.

some of his early low budget work was a tad "cosmetic" 😀

Chasing Cars is one I don't get, a moustachioed midget putting cars into auctions and them not reaching their reserve. How does he stay in business 😆

Its television though so its not real. If you look closely you can often see other work that's been done to the cars that isn't mentioned in the actual show or accounted for in the figures (one car was sporting four new disks and calipers for example). Also certainty in the earlier series the "buyers" at the end were members of the production crew.
Having said all that its one of my favourite shows.

they should do a "find the cars we sold" episode and see if Ed China's work is still holding up.

I think they did do one where they tracked down a couple of ex WD cars a year or so later. There was an Alpha Spider I think, which from memory was starting to go the way of most Italian cars when exposed to UK weather, can't remember the other one.

stevemuzzy - Member
Note in the corrado ad they did the sunroof seals and replaced the heater matrix...

The seals aren't the big issue, what generally happens is that the mechanism that the roof slides on breaks leaving it stuck open or only able to tilt and not slide. Fixing it is an absolute git of a job and as with a lot of Corrado parts, the bits are often expensive/obsolete/hard to find.

It's a bit like running a stealth Porsche. Mostly people don't know what they are, but they're surprisingly - almost 150mph - quick and one of the few things I like about Jeremy Clarkson is that he once described the Corrado VR6 on Top Gear as 'the closest thing you'll find to a £20,000 Ferrari...' It's slightly boggling that you can find them going for £1500 or so now, but then any 'rado at that price is likely to be a sort of steath wallet bomb just waiting to go off...

Anyway,

BadlyWiredDog

It's slightly boggling that you can find them going for £1500 or so now, but then any 'rado at that price is likely to be a sort of steath wallet bomb just waiting to go off...

Not for long. They are now getting snapped up by the VAG scene. All the cool kids want them. Prices will rocket.

for the love of cars anyone??

2 years ago we did the Classic Car Show at the NEC (brilliant day out btw). My daughter ended up on the live stage with Edd and Mike doing a car based challenge, which she won a huuuuge teddy bear. Edd is one of the nicest blokes I have met, took time to speak to us and it mademy daughters day.

[i]Chasing Cars is one I don't get, a moustachioed midget putting cars into auctions and them not reaching their reserve. How does he stay in business [/i]

He's paid a commission by the Seller plus he'll have an up-front retainer is my guess - win-win.

My favourite programme that I loved but also knew it was complete tosh at the same time was 'Shed and Buried' with Henry Cole. It was awful but strangely addictive

trillion times better than any other UK car show currently on, including the dire one with Tiff and the stick-model ........... thats cringe worthy

Tiff "you can pick up a spotless example for 5 grand"
reality "hunt for years through all the car mags and websites and find one for 11 grand"

Do you mean Quentin and the stick-model. Or Tiff and VBH?

VBH, she's the most annoying bint in the world and not even that good looking but I am strangely aroused by her.

"Stick-model" is Jodie Kidd.

they should do a "find the cars we sold" episode and see if Ed China's work is still holding up.

From time to time, I find myself tapping the details into the government vehicle check to see if they are still "alive"

@revs1972 - what site would this be.... i have a few of my old cars i'd like to look up 🙂

sorry everyone, i mixed up 2 shows , but both are annoying, tiff and vbh and quentin and jodie - vbh used to be alright in small doses........ a bit like suzi perry.......

now who remembers Angela Rippon - woof woof
🙂

back2basics

This should take you there

https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk

Just need the Reg and manufacturer to see if it's taxed and mot'd

@ BadlyWiredDog & jimjam - Corrados have been sort after for donkeys years and have always commanded higher prices than equivalent Golfs, even going ten years back you could easily get decent Mk3 VR6 Golfs for a grand less than the same reg VR6 Corrado.

VR6 and G60's (having owned a G powered car) are the only ones worth having, the autos and shagged out Mk2 Golf engined 8 and 16 valvers could always be picked up for peanuts! I looked years back and gave up in the end, having looked at so many crash damaged and bodged shi$$ers, with good ones offered for sale at silly money close to the price of 2 year old 1.8T new age VAG motors that provide similar performance.

You also forgot the other VW classic the Golf Rallye!

be interesting to see what of todays cars would be considered "old bangers" to do up in 15/20 years - there are so many models released each year by the big manufacturers all with electronic gizmos that will / have / can go badly wrong that stop the car stone dead.....

chestercopperpot - Member
@ BadlyWiredDog & jimjam - Corrados have been sort after for donkeys years and have always commanded higher prices than equivalent Golfs, even going ten years back you could easily get decent Mk3 VR6 Golfs for a grand less than the same reg VR6 Corrado.

Corrado prices have sort of polarised - good condition, mint VR6s in near standard trim fetch decent money, but there are a lot of neglected sheds about too. Increasingly these are getting broken for spares as they're worth more that way.

In case anyone reading this is thinking of buying a Corrado, my advice would be to steer well clear of the cheap stuff as by the time you've fixed the niggling faults, you might as well have spent more on a better condition one in the first place.

Bear in mind that there were never many Corrados about in the first place - they were expensive things in their day at £22,000 odd in 1995 for a VW coupe - but they're fast enough, handle nicely and are kind of handsome in an understated, wedge-like way. Love mine.

There's also an excellent Corrado owners forum [url= http://the-corrado.net/forum.php ]http://the-corrado.net/forum.php[/url].

Back to the programme for a moment, last nights was a mini moke refurb. £7500 MB wanted for it and I have to say it looked shite, he got £7250 in the end just £150 more than what it cost to refurb and build up/initial cost.

Why would anyone buy one of those things?

Ed made some decent mods, elec fan (didn't know you could do that) and springs as replacement rubber thingies (could that be done to a mini I wonder) but other than that the car itself was just plain odd.

Three pages in and no-one has mentioned Mike Brewers wig? It's beyond ridicule.

Especially the US episodes were he's sweating buckets beneath a small black dog that's balanced on his head.

Buy a car from a man in a wig? What else is he hiding under the bonnet?

I went to have a look at Mike's wig and this popped up on google images -

[img] [/img]

Just caught up with the TR6 from last weeks show, really like that car.
I must be very middle aged now then. 🙂

Mini Moke refurb

Why would anyone buy one of those things?

Drove one last year in Jersey (brothers Neighbours car)ridiculous good fun as your so exposed, 30mph feels like 60mph and very chuckable probably even more so than a regular Mini as you can see every extremity.

Wouldn't want to own one as a only car but for summer/fair weather use there ideal, and values on them are strong so a decent investment too.