Former Ariel factory "instruction" Atom for sale

[Peter255]

Lovely colour on a completely different and tidy car!

That "thing" in the advert is a dog. Should be circa £10k cheaper.

[autobackup]

I wonder where the problem with this Ebay posting lies? - is it :

1. The original seller telling porkies to the dealer who is currently advertising it?
2. An ignorant and irresponsible dealer who hasn't bothered to do any research on this Atom's dubious current build quality or history and is 'puffing it up' just to sell it?

Would it be ethical to draw the dealer's/Ebay's attention to the anomalies in the advert?

TBH - in my opinion - it is rather pointless members of this forum fulminating here in the board - we have to ask ourselves whether we have a duty to protect some sucker from spending his life savings on a potentially lethal dog?

Should a senior member of this forum call up the dealer (contact number is in the Ebay posting) and suggest that he does some 'in depth' research.

The tyres currently fitted are just about the cheapest on the market, totally unsuitable for an Atom, and might well maim or even kill whoever buys it!

I am seriously wondering whether we as an owner's group have any responsibility in this matter if we simply standby and do nothing should the worst happen?

Bit of a moral dilemma!!

[phil4]

I am seriously wondering whether we as an owner's group would ave any responsibility in this matter if we simply standby and do nothing should the worst happen?

No legal responsibility for sure. Also, you need to bear in mind that this is an 11 year old car, and while the standards of the members certainly wouldn't let an Atom get to this state, it's not illegal, or "falling apart".

I strongly suspect if you called the seller and started telling them these things, you'd be very rudely told to "do one", and they'd hang up. Caveat emptor prevails, and it's down to the buyer to decide if it's suitably priced and spec'd for them.

If a prospective buyer drops in here, of course we try and help out. But as I say above, that's just our view on what we feel is a well looked after car should look like and is priced. It's not "fact" nor "the law", just opinions.

[autobackup]

Phil

I am well aware that we have no 'legal' basis to intervene in any way but I am not sure how I would feel about it if I saw 'fatal accident' on the news or elsewhere!

Maybe an 'informal exploratory' approach to the vendor asking whether he/she might like more info about the car may be the way to pursue this - if the reply is 'F off' then at least at an attempt in good conscience had been made?

[phil4]

I personally disagree, I feel it's none of our business, so I'm not prepared to make that call.

I appreciate all this is opinions, as such if you feel you can, give the vendor a call, their number is in the ebay advert.

[Fastlane]

Autobackup - I posted this up here as a warning. The dealer has obviously no interest in the quality of this Atom as he hasn't even bothered to check the mileage or its so-called factory provenance - both of which are clearly incorrect, so I agree with Phil about it being a waste of time contacting the dealer.

Perhaps an on-going thread with a link to any cars for sale inviting people to comment - especially if they are obviously ex "experience day" cars, or have been crashed on track? I would have thought Atom's must have the highest % of experience day cars of any manufacturer.

[Anon]

If I were in the market for a Atom 2 around the 30k mark, something like this would be much better than the car posted, cheaper too and does not appear to be held together with cable ties, so a bonus! https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... ed/9141584

I quite like a couple things on this car, the passenger foot rest is awesome, the carbon fibre wrap looks very cool and there appears to be some protective flooring like rubber or foam or something that looks quite nice.

[Fastlane]

If I were in the market for a Atom 2 around the 30k mark, something like this would be much better than the car posted, cheaper too and does not appear to be held together with cable ties, so a bonus! https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds ... ed/9141584

I quite like a couple things on this car, the passenger foot rest is awesome, the carbon fibre wrap looks very cool and there appears to be some protective flooring like rubber or foam or something that looks quite nice.

That car is indeed very nice indeed and belongs to Smokin on here I believe. Steve at the factory mentioned to me how well it had been rebuilt. Not even in the same universe as the blue Atom...

[smokin]

That car is indeed very nice indeed and belongs to Smokin on here I believe. Steve at the factory mentioned to me how well it had been rebuilt. Not even in the same universe as the blue Atom...

Oh shucks, I'm blushing and humbly honoured that Steve has been following my work

[Peter255]

[mention]smokin[/mention]

That car is under-valued! Put the price up smokin!

We have all seen the great work you have done to it.

After the refurb work that is worth £35k of anyones money! Its mint! Its is NOT normal condition for a 13year old car!!!

Makes my car (which has FFSH and is very tidy!) look bad!

[reg]

Phil

I am well aware that we have no 'legal' basis to intervene in any way but I am not sure how I would feel about it if I saw 'fatal accident' on the news or elsewhere!

Maybe an 'informal exploratory' approach to the vendor asking whether he/she might like more info about the car may be the way to pursue this - if the reply is 'F off' then at least at an attempt in good conscience had been made?

I'm with Phil, this car is a dog with fleas. At the end of the day the dealer is just chancing his/her arm with it and any prospective buyer would have to be mad to hand over that sort of money. As for the moral side of it, plenty more things on eBay to get excited about; ringing kits, exploding Chinese products, counterfeit goods etc. At least this is obvious.

[smokin]

@smokin

That car is under-valued! Put the price up smokin!

We have all seen the great work you have done to it.

After the refurb work that is worth £35k of anyones money! Its mint! Its is NOT normal condition for a 13year old car!!!

Makes my car (which has FFSH and is very tidy!) look bad!

Thanks Peter.

I agree it is probably a bit under-valued but the car didn't have a FFSH when I got it and I've only had it in to the factory a couple of times myself. If the factory had done the work I've done then sure, I'd be asking much more. It's also high mileage for an Atom (but only 2,500 / yr) so you guys need to get out there and clock up the miles.

As with all hobbies, I never expected to get much (if any) return on my time / money and it's not the best time traditionally to be selling. That said, I expect a few more cars will come to market when the Atom 4 starts shipping so thought now might be good as for-sale car numbers are low.

[bodnet]

Re. the blue car, ‘madonnas’ held on by cable tie is pretty much standard for Atom 2, of course...

Bod


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alex Brandon-Smith]

@smokin

That car is under-valued! Put the price up smokin!

We have all seen the great work you have done to it.

After the refurb work that is worth £35k of anyones money! Its mint! Its is NOT normal condition for a 13year old car!!!

Makes my car (which has FFSH and is very tidy!) look bad!

Have to agree with Pete here @smokin, I'd certainly put another 2k on there at least so if nothing else you got the 30 grand. It's a great car, amazing condition. How much are you selling the Dymags for BTW?

Alex

[smokin]

Have to agree with Pete here, I'd certainly put another 2k on there at least so if nothing else you got the 30 grand. It's a great car, amazing condition. How much are you selling the Dymags for BTW?

It's heading down to the factory next week for an inspection after which I'll be relisting and adding 2k to the price. Dymags are either going with the car or I'll be getting them refurbed