marzman

Thanks everyone for this valuable input. To clarify, there is no domestic violence here - their problems are financial and infidelity. He has 'allegedly' opened credit accounts in her name without her knowledge, as well as strongly suspected but no proof of cheating. Yes, i think this is accurate. Using the benefits that she is/will be entitled to, as well as her part time salary. I've worked out her budgets with her and she needs the benefits to live on her own. Thanks BBK. Whilst not a definitive answer int hat post, this is the kind of thing im looking for. Good shout. This is something we'll look in to. Abduction - jeez i guess you're right. Yep should have mentioned i'd talked her down to a 6-month lease initially - but 6 months rent up front? Ouch i've not encountered that before. Good shout Col. It's the kids i'm really keen to help though, and am prepared to make some sacrifices to make sure they're okay and stable.

This I didn't know, thanks. I'll find out a little more about this and use it in the conversation. I know what you're saying and my head's saying the same but it is family at the end of the day - you can't turn your back on them. We're the only family she's got. * On a lighter note I must point out that whilst this appears to be a proper Coronation Street style drama, it does not reflect in any way me or the rest of our family's affairs. This is an isolated issue.

Thanks Hugh. This is my preference but she's so far refusing as she wants her own space, she says its too much of an inconvenience for her (we live 15 mins away), and the kids don't like our dog. :-(

Hi guys, Genuine serious question which i need some input on please. My wife's sister is married and has 3 kids under 10. Their marriage has been broken for a long time, and she's planning to leave him imminently, although he doesnt know this yet. Her plan is to rent a house and move out one day whilst he is at work. The problem with this is that their financial situation is dire - they're in negative equity in their house, they almost declared bankruptcy a couple of years ago, they've got mountains of loans/credit cards which they're paying off at £1 per month due to some agreement they made, and both of their credit scores are the lowest of the low. My sister-in-law has now asked my wife and I to be the guarantor for her new lease - 12 months at £600 p/m. Being a guarantor means that should she fail to pay her rent, I will be financially liable to pay for it (£7200 for the year!) Now i'm 100% on her side that she needs to leave her husband, but at the moment we're close to falling out as so far i've said no to being a guarantor for the following reasons: Selfish reasons I dont want to be exposed to paying £600 per month, but can afford it Moreover, i absolutely don't want to be 'financially linked' to them and their appalling credit score. Will being a guarantor for her mean we are financially linked (you know, when you do a credit check and it shows the names of anyone you're linked with)? I protect my credit score vehemently as i don't want to get a poor interest rate or rejected for a loan or mortgage etc. [*]Unselfish reasons Moving out without telling him is wrong and irresponsible Signing up to a rental contract takes away a lot of avenues to sorting this out amicably, and fairly for the both of them If she moves out, we fully expect him to refuse to pay the mortgage and the house will be repossessed. The mortgage is in both their names so will have bad consequences long term for both of them Starting this process with such a negative/aggressive maneuver will likely set the tone for the remainder of the divorce - i'm sure he will want to play hard ball after this - i would! I've tried to talk to her to make her understand these points, but so far she is unwilling to listen - hence why we are beginning to fall out. I feel like i'm being guilt-tripped into doing this? Am I in the wrong here and need to lighten up? So far i've suggested the following alternatives: Her & 3 kids move in with us for a few months - we've got a 5 bed house and would barely notice them here tbh! This would invoke the separation and we can then see what his next move is before planning hers - leaving more options open for everyone She asks him to leave and she stays in the house, and they figure out how to pay the mortgage and his rent - but doing this she'll lose the housing benefit she would get by renting, which she needs Both move out and they rent their house out. Okay i'll still need to be a guarantor to achieve this, but I dont want their house to be repossessed affecting both their and potentially our credit. I've suggested that I could be a mediator for the both of them, but i don't expect them to take me up on this offer... it's going to be a very messy divorce i think. tl;dr Is it safe to be a guarantor for someone with terrible credit??

Finally...!!

Now that's what you call an engine bay.

Just liked you on FB having seen your page name.

Cheers Leon. Yeah, pretty gutting. I'm loathed to do the test, although those prices do look far more appealing.

Was gonna suggest it, but at £500 just to tax it every year, rather than a one-off £800... Unless you only tax / insure it for the months it will be used, SORN it for the rest? i still need to buy a trailer too, so costs are mounting sadly.

Or tax/mot/insure the track car.

Seems ridiculous doesn't it? I feel like i cant be reading it right because it doesnt make sense. I'd love to get a cops point of view with regards to how frequently they pull someone over for towing a car? And what the penalty is for braking this law. If insurance is invalidated its a no brainer, i wont do it... but there might be less sever repercussions. Strudel - i've not checked but my mate said the license upgrade is around £800. Sod that.

Help! Speaking to a friend today they made me aware of the following law: My RRS weighs 2400kg. A trailer weighs approx 500kg and the RX8 will be 1300kg - total - 4200kg. Does this mean i cant tow the car on a trailer with my current license?? Unless i downgrade my car to something smaller (and less safe i'd say) so that the combined weight is under 3500kg?

Having been a member of The AA for years, i've just had my annual renewal through and i'm fed up with their policy of ripping off loyal customers who renew. Every year they try to charge me over £200 for renewal of Roadside/Relay/Homestart which is just a rip off. Yes i always call up and get them to discount it (usually to around £125-140 i think), but it just annoys me that i have to do this. On MoneySupermarket you can compare breakdown recovery providers and i can get a similar service for around £50-60 - my concern is i've never heard of the providers. Does anyone on here have any experience with anyone other than The AA? E.g. RescueMyCar.com Breakdown Assist StartRescue.co.uk GEM Motoring Assist QDOS Green Flag (obviously i've heard of these... but these are up there with The AA prices). Cheers.

Do you really want to go down the trailer route? What are you planning on using to tow the trailer with the car on? It needs to be pretty big (heavy) so that it's not dangerous to tow with. I used to work for Indespension Trailers you see for a short while. As Leon says, ive got a V8 diesel Range Rover Sport so im fairly sure i wont even feel the trailer behind me to be honest At > £500 tax and probably similar for insurance, a trailer will pay for itself within the first year, so makes sense to me. Leon - great minds - this same seller is has a smaller one for £45 too which i found yesterday, so planning to use this for the first track day at least and see how i get on.

Hey... Yep the Z3 had been on the list as well for some time too. Plans for mods are to start with the brakes - uprated discs/pads/lines, and then look into bucket seats and a cage - although cage might be a long term thing as I following a brief search i didnt seem to find any 'off the shelf' RXX8 cages available. Also high on my list will be some form of head restraint/hans device. Cheers Leon. Not sure whether it'll be road going yet. On the hunt for a trailer already.

Yeah it was great fun. It's been a while since i've driven something entertaining. The gearbox is lovely.

b0ll0cks. Its got a TCS button and the owner said it can be turned off, but i'll have to do some reading to find out more.

Well it could just be a microfibre thats been painted on one side for all i know. The 'clay' side doesnt feel like clay. Its more like dry paint, but without a frame of reference I dont know if this is how its supposed to be or not?

Update So i went to see the RX8 this morning, and i've put a deposit on it and will be collecting it next week. It was one of the best car buying experiences i've had - the seller was a doctor who loves his cars. He had a new E-Class and an Evo as well. The car was really well presented, clearly looked after and had tyre shine and the engine bay was clean etc. Good start. Given the danger of buying an Rx8, I wanted to interview the owner just as much as looking at the car to see if he had the right answers. Pleased to say he did as far as oil and maintenance etc. It's also had recent work done - 3 months ago it was running rough so had a compression test expecting the worst - but this was clear and the problems tracked to plugs/leads and a blocked Cat, all of which he had replaced - happy days. Took it for a test drive and we were out for almost an hour - had a really good chat about our car histories etc and let me test the limits on some fun roads. Anyway - he's waiting for the V5 to be returned from the DVLA as he's removing the private plate currently but that means i've gotta wait until next week before i can collect. Not a bad thing really as it gives me time to make a space in my garage. Lastly - i'm on the lookout for a trailer now to take it to/from the track. Being a 2006 it's on the higher tax band at > £500, so with that and insurance a trailer will have paid for itself in the first year. Took a couple of pics but they're not amazing. Gotta love those suicide doors though.

Okay so my cloth arrived and i used it today. It's absolutely useless. I've not clayed the car since i've owned it so it needed some TLC. I had high hopes for the cloth but having used it today it seemed to do hardly anything. I had to resort to a traditional clay bar which was fantastic as always and did the job perfectly, but took forever (Range Rover's are frickin huge when washing them ) So do i need to buy another brand to before i rule them out for sure? This is what i bought... http://www.ebay.co.u...=STRK:MEBIDX:IT and i'd give it a 1/10 it was that bad. Could it be a fake?

i bought this one last night... seemed to be the cheapest coming form the UK at £3.79 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162267557394?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=461243819851&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Whether its going to be any good is another matter... i guess i'll find out soon enough.

So i've messaged the seller of this car as its only down the road from me. it looks pretty straight and sounds like it's had some work done and the seller knows what he's talking about: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX8-231bhp-2006-Black-leather-Lovely-example-/262943372267?hash=item3d38a573eb:g:RMMAAOSwpP9Y5ozs Gonna have a read up about how to best diagnose any engine problems... not sure i can be bothered with a compression test at this stage. Yes its a gamble but it's only a £1500 car at the end of the day.

Whats the alternative these days..? its been about 4 years since i last clayed anything. I need to do my RRS soon as its in a sorry state - should i get a clay mitt?

Probably unable to read Probably not even real Police. Well they did have 3 cop cars to block the road after i passed the hair dryer guy. Although they could well have just been locals who'd painted their cars.

The last time i was stopped was in 2013 in Malawi, Africa. It was Christmas day, i was driving a borrowed pick-up (no insurance etc). Some cops popped out from behind a tree with what im sure was just a hair dryer and did me for speeding. I tried to argue with them that it was bullsh*t etc and the cop said look mate, just give me 5000 kwatcha and be on your way. When i realised this was only £6 i was happy to pay it. Worth it for the cool story to tell. ...they didnt even check my license .