Unfortunately my friend this is the way of the world, it seems that in this day and age no one cares, no one has any integrity, and no one is honest where money is concerned.
When i got in to viva's, back in the '90's, they were the unloved classic, and prices reflected this, My first car, a 1159 SL, ( which i still own ),was £300 with mot ... I actually wanted a mkII escort but all i could afford was the viva... so glad i bought it though
Thus followed many a happy year with vauxhalls, ownership of at least 13 or 14 viva's plus other models, until family and work commitments made owning and using a viva as a daily driver unviable ( never had much money, dunno why, i work hard, it just seems to elude me ) so i waved goodbye to my last daily, a silver HC, in about 2006..... since then i've seen viva prices skyrocket, until we are at the point of people asking £500+ for a basket case and over £2k for something useable... no offence Fred, this HC was a fine motor but way way way out of my price range.
Ebay is to blame i believe, it's a minefield of dealers, snipers, and generally unsavoury people, the type who, in the past, would ring you up if you had an ad running and you would have had that 'alarm bell' ringing in your head clamoring 'this is not right, this person is a scammer', I think we all have had that happen.... but we all get stung at some point i guess.
This all points me towards giving up, all i have of my first viva, my first ever car, is a log book, quite a few boxes of bits, and a shell that is so rotten it's almost 6 inches lower as it sits in my Dad's garage ... i doubt i'll ever afford to get hold of a workable shell to rebuild her, it's a pipe dream these days. i simply cannot afford viva ownership anymore.... If i do decide to give up on her, i'll post the bits on this forum, to help others keep their viva's going. I will not advertise outside of here, because i refuse to let anyone profit out of the demise of my car.
sorry to witter on a bit and hijack the thread, i'm just in a despairing mood, I'm sorry you were stung Fred, It's a shitty world, i do believe we should keep the viva's within the club, no outside advertising, and only sell to paid up members ( which actually I am not . . . sorry, i've not got round to it these past few (10? 15?) years, i should maybe look to rectifying that considering what i've been saying huh?)
anyway, my point is, if someone really wants a viva, and is really genuine about keeping and maintaining one, then joining the club wouldn't be a problem for them, then the club has all the details of the buyer and someone out to make profit probably wouldn't want to join just to buy something he's going to 'ship on' at an inflated price...ok so it's not a foolproof method of vetting potential buyers, but it's a step forward
And Fred...i promise i'll rejoin when i next get paid.... if i'm going to keep my box of bits
can i have my old membership number back? (HB147) if it's not been re-allocated that is