Modding AMR's 300

[A M R]

i understand where youre coming from, and yes sometimes i feel like i cant handle the bigger, more powerful cars well enough due to lack of driving experience. i mean, when i drove that carrera, just foot down in 1st gear for what seemed like 2 seconds was quick enough. it makes you realise how little control you have over the car when you dont have much experience and so i decided to take it a bit slower than my usual pace.

as for the dole, do you know how hard it is to find a job these days?? especially if youre at a young age. down here its pretty hard as there are so many people that apply for one position, theres bound to be someone better than you. recently ive given up looking for a job after i stood in line for 3.5 hours just to get an interview and then not getting a call back to tell me whether i got the job or not...
so this is why ive made the decision to go on the dole until i can secure a job. if i had any sense, i would have done it earlier tbh.

[pettaw]

Hello mate, I know exactly how hard it is to find a job, any decent ones are usually applied for by 50 candidates and frankly they might as well stick a pin in the list as they're all good. My brother stuggled for over a year before he found his first job and he graduated University with a MEng

The single most important thing you can do is to keep up your studies. This will get you prepared for what you want to do and also if you're good you might get noticed by the industry insiders that work closely with your college.

I'm not saying anything more about the driving thing

[redline]

I suppose my view is a bit biased ,

like Pete ,I have never claimed dole and always worked since leaving school , in 31 years I have had 5 jobs and working at the benefits agency was the worst by far ,quite often paying people more in benefit than I was earning just because they or there partner could churn out kids quicker than aston martin can make 1 car .

there are some very needy people on benefit dont get me wrong and yes you can work 16 hours a week and still claim but any earnings for those 16 hours are deducted from your benefit which is about £45.00 a week.
( and that would include any money you may or may not receive for going to college)

But wheres your pride ? i would rather sweep the streets or work in mucky d's than claim benefit ,

I don't think its any easier or harder getting a job now than it was when I left school , I have changed jobs twice in the last three years and had no trouble getting work even at my age ( alright , what I do now is a bit specialized ) but I left school with 3 'o' levels and three cse's and the only other thing I have to offer, that you don't , is life experience.

I suppose when you have worked and realize that your income tax (about 22% of what you have earned) is partly being used to pay people who do nothing to earn it , your view may change.

but then again there is hope.

My son is now 21 , he went to sixth form and college he was supported by US HIS PARENTS until he got a job at 18, Nowt he owns his own house and runs and insures a golf GTi .we still help him out now and again with his food ,that is what being a good parent is all about.

but he has never claimed benefit and I know he never will.

I think you should put your car plans on the back burner until you can afford it ,even if you get £45.00 week that isn't enough to tax ,insure (especially at your age )and put petrol in a car so when your money runs out you will be tempted to either not tax it or insure it ( coz you always need fuel ) and then you could end up in a whole new world of pain ,
you get caught and your fubar !!

Anyway ,I thought you got paid for working two days a week in your uncles garage ? surely that + your college time would get you excluded from benefits straight away.

please don't be naieve enough to think they won't find out.

part of my job on the benefits fraud team was to sit outside new claiments houses and observe there day to day routine

[Carl]

I've been in you situation AMR, but you've just gotta knuckle down and accept whatever job you can get. Whilst in sixth form then uni I was working as much as I could to pay for my lifestyle (running a car and lots of drinking/socialising/holidays). It involved starting very early (between midnight and 3am) and working all year round in the elemtns, but I'm proud to say I got through it all myself with very little help from my folks (who couldnt really afford to help me anyway). The only outside help was a student loan, but I'm paying that back now.

Then I went through the whole 'can't find a job routine' when I finished uni. I did a course that didn't really give you a stepping stone into a specific job as that's what was recommended by the Careers Advice people at school (idiots). I thought I was going to walk into an £18k+ job and have an easy life, but that was certainly not the case. After numerous rejections I accepted a temping job to tide me over. After a few months this became permanent, but with a crappy wage. Three years later I've worked my way to the top of that office and am finally earning decent money.

But not once have I been tempted to go on the dole as in my view it's only there for people who really need it. Things get tough, but there's always things you can cut down on. And strangely enough that's partly how I got into 300s, because I wanted a cheap car and so paid £200 for a 340 DL!

Anyway, that's my 2p on the matter.

[A M R]

hmm well i dont really get paid much for working with my uncle, only reason im there is because i like doing it and i get to drive nice cars.

i dont get EMA, so it takes a while to build up money, and the money i get paid at the moment would only be enough for petrol.

only other way to fund my car is to sell phones and other bits and bobs which can take time and effort. a lot needs to be sold to make a decent bit of profit.

im hoping to only get the dole until i can land a job, which shouldnt be too far away. hopefully i can have one within 6 months. Easter is coming up so there should be places looking for staff. oh and id rather not work in a place such as mickey d's. i have told myself that i'd rather go on te dole than work in mickey d's since i was old enough to look for a job. i wouldnt mind working in a supermarket, but as i said, there arent any jobs anywhere atm.

please bear with me, its not like im a mega sponger that has no intention of working.

[classicswede]

I left school at 14 because it was not my thing. I knew what I wanted to do so went to colege rather than waist time at school. As soon as I hit 16 I had a job through a freind as I fabricator. From there I have been through a number of jobs and spent time working for myslef. I have at one ponit claimed benifits but personaly do not like to. If you are genuinly unable to earn enough cash then go for it that is what it is there for.

What training have you done?

[germ]

I left school at 14 because it was not my thing. I knew what I wanted to do so went to colege rather than waist time at school. As soon as I hit 16 I had a job through a freind as I fabricator. From there I have been through a number of jobs and spent time working for myslef. I have at one ponit claimed benifits but personaly do not like to. If you are genuinly unable to earn enough cash then go for it that is what it is there for.

What training have you done?

i am basically doing the same as you did, just before i hit 16 i had a job at sap and had to leave plus got saked becouse my dad had a heart attack:( (i was distracted from my "fun" work.
so there you go my life was made but fate didnt want it like this.
i got a letter saying they want me back but i am in france

and there is NO work here at all

but i dont claim benifits i have 2 sources of income 1 savings(i get intrest paid monthly) 2 i am being paid to help my dad build a house



and if any ones intersted i put my car back together and seams to work very well!! exept for dodgey engine mounts.

Cheers
will

[340GLT]

@ AMR, sorry mate but i cant keep quiet any longer!! How old are you, 17 18 right? I am 19 and have been working since i passed my test and got a car, you know how modified my car is and i have paid for taht 100% of my own money, all in all i have spent around 5k on my car including my latest mods on here and that whilst i am now at uni still working around 17hours a week.
I know its nice to have a powerful car but you will be suprised for instance what a 1400 340 will do, it would piss all over my mates cars when i was at college and at teh end of the day it never broke down, was safer and was cheaper to insure!!
And as for Driving customers cars i would be very careful what you say as i can almost guarantee if your not getting a wage by your uncle you wont be classed as his employee and thus means you arent insured to drive those cars as you wont be on the garages insurance policy!!! I have grown up around the trade ever since i could walk and am suprised you are open as you are. As all this 'public' site could be used against you if read by the wrong person!!!

Anyway Rant over as others have said get your car and any decent insurance company will accept a set of alloys and a drop of up to 40mm free of charge!!!
Adam

[IvanS.]

Oh my.....i thought i was the youngest here .....

Since everyone have better experience with cars, and many of You have a job ( OK i have my own but i work on black....or how could i work and go on university.. As a computer repairman ( and anything about them ), doing stuff for university students....bla bla ).

Since my dad lost his job, and only my mother works it is a bit difficult to repair two cars ( my got Renault Laguna II, and Volvo 340 is every day car - but still not my - ) at the same time. Luckily we have some extra cash from renting.
Getting any job is difficult here, 'cose everything is being sold to outsiders companies.

As for my payment...i got paid form my parents 25 euros/month, the rest i make ( nowadays, very hard.. ) and that's it. With that money i cannot even fill the gas tank, not to mention something else.
340GLT is right about your job and redline make it straight.

Every job is welcome if you're in the red or running out of it. Try some, you have nothing to lose.

Dam.....I'm 20....and i already feel old

[A M R]

hmm sorry it seems like im a bit of a cnut, but this is out of sheer desperation. oh yeh i'd better keep my mouth shut about all this stuff from now as adam said i could get done.

i have been trying to get a job for quite a while now but its so hard over here, and i do have enough money saved for the car and tax and insurance, etc

i'll only be claiming for a short while, so please stop the flaming

[germ]

Dont worrie i think you have understood what there saying they dont want you to make silly mistakes menether , i think its wierd though i am younger than every 1 here i dont do this sort of stuff

Maybe i am missing all the fun in life by being too carful i dont know.

But I Have Never Clamed On My Insurence So Far (Touch Wood)

For gods sake i drive 15km/h in a 30 zone but i have had no accidents so it must work, on the bigger roads i did 130km/h in a renault 5 and believe me that was scary

[redline]

And as for Driving customers cars i would be very careful what you say as i can almost guarantee if your not getting a wage by your uncle you wont be classed as his employee and thus means you arent insured to drive those cars as you wont be on the garages insurance policy!!!

do you know Adam I was thinking exactly the same thing last night

[340GLT]

Great minds think alike Mick mate!!
Adam

[A M R]

lol hmmm

[petefarrell360]

For gods sake i drive 15km/h in a 30 zone but i have had no accidents so it must work

Well, if it works then fair enough, however driving at half the speed limit isn't always going to be safer. In the UK, it would annoy most people behind you, resulting in them attempting stupid overtaking moves, possibly endangering you, and other road users. Being alert and focused and aware of potential dangers and reading the road ahead is what needs to be focused on, not just your speed. That's one argument against speed cameras and varying speed limits, as people are concentrating so hard on keeping to the speed limit and checking what speed they are doing as the zones change, that they fail to concentrate on the actual road and what's going on.

And yeah, agreed with Adam and Mick, it had crossed my mind too. It's also normal for insurance policies for businesses etc which cater for extra drivers, that they are for anyone over 25 if they are an unnamed driver, unless they are a specially added by name, or the price is hiked up a million percent or so to allow anyone with a licence to drive on it!

As Germ says, it's not been intended as a flaming! If I were in your situation, using my savings to buy and try and run a car, then claim benefits doesn't make sense. Benfits are intended to be used to survive. If you've got by without a car, and don't specifically need it to get to a job that isn't accessible via public transport, then it's a luxury. So claiming benefits as you've used your savings on a luxury seems a bit odd. I'd hang on until you're able to run it and survive, it will keep! Plus, a GLT is super thirsty, more so on round town driving and short runs. I've lost touch a little on how much it is to fill from empty, and I try to never let cars run low on fuel anyway, so keep them topped up, but I think it was over the £50 mark for a full tank in the GLT. That won't get you a lot of miles, especially if you've a heavy right foot.

One thing to also be careful of, I can't remember if anyone has mentioned it, but when you're getting insurance quotes, the cheapest isn't always best. They often load young drivers excess to a silly amount, meaning that if you do need to claim......... you're in for a hefty excess and finding that in a hurry could be difficult, as I know has happened to a couple of people I know! And as a tip if it's insured in your own name, try adding a parent to the policy, as if they ever need to drive it they can, and it can bring the premium down a bit!

Pete