Wheeler Dealers

Has anyone watched this series?

I recently purchased series 8, 9 & 10 on DVD after seeing some earlier episodes on YouTube.

The premiss is that uber cockney, Mike Brewer, goes out and buys old classic cars for a bargain, and mechanic Ed China (yes, that's his name) uses his "spanners" (to quote Brewer) and repairs them. The repaired motor is then sold off for a profit.

The show is somewhat formulaic. Brewer sometimes goes into overdrive with his wide-boy cockneyness which can become grating to the ear. 'Me old China' (Ed China) is really impressive with his mechanical expertise. I recall him appearing in some old episodes of Top Gear about 11-12 years ago. What I have noticed is that China has an annoying habit of saying "awesome" and "cool". In some episodes I lost count of how many times he said this.

Despite all the negative aspects I do actually enjoy the overall tenure of this series and I'll probably buy the older box-sets in due course.

Been watching it and it's off shoots years.

What I like about it is the actual filming of the fixing of the cars, that use to be very educational; I'd be happy with the program just on that and drop Brewer.

Problem is, lately they have been more and more getting cars that are out of your average persons wallet and the fixing clearly need expert mechanics and all the equipment.

I have to say i have been watching since it started 11 years ago and although i enjoy it i will agree that some of the cars are out of reach of the normal buyer,also some of the tools and equipment are not really representitive of most home mechanics facilities,as someone with over 20 years of motor trade experience,some of the repairs are depicted as being easier than they actually are,i mean in the early series every nut,bolt or screw undid without hassle,which would be fair enough on newer cars but some of them had been stood before being sold,also although Mike's manner can be a bit annoying i think having the two of them is better and im looking forward to seeing what their 100th car is going to be,personally my favourite they did was the 1984 Bentley from the 2008 series.

Only bit that annoys me is when they talk about 'profit'. The guy is a pro mechanic and it would take forever to do some of their repairs as an enthusiastic amateur... so as a pro, labour costs would come into it. Basically turning every car into a loss.

(28-09-2014 20:41 )Whynot Wrote:  Only bit that annoys me is when they talk about 'profit'. The guy is a pro mechanic and it would take forever to do some of their repairs as an enthusiastic amateur... so as a pro, labour costs would come into it. Basically turning every car into a loss.

That it what is wrong with the concept,amateur mechanics will almost always take longer to carry out a repair,and some of the cars they have done would not be worth doing if you factored in the labour charges,basically its a motor repair tv tip show but would not work as a business.

I just ignore the "profit" angle and treat it as a decent nuts & bolts car show. Let's be honest, very few of us who arse around with cars have access to a fully equipped workshop so the idea that a home mechanic could do most of the jobs easily is a bit far fetched.

Mr. China is a very talented mechanic and owns his own motor engineering restoration garage. Not sure whether it's the one featured in the show? I read that they are going to restore more American cars in future series. In fact they are going to dedicate an entire series to this.

Been watching the 24/7 Wheeler Dealers marathon on Discovery Turbo and although im enjoying it im feeling a bit jaded now,but im going to stick it out and watch as many as possible.

(02-10-2014 13:52 )Billy_Nomates Wrote:  I read that they are going to restore more American cars in future series.

I hope not.

(03-10-2014 01:54 )lazydayz Wrote:  

(02-10-2014 13:52 )Billy_Nomates Wrote:  I read that they are going to restore more American cars in future series.

I hope not.

I think part of the reason for featuring American cars is their more valuable over here, due to the cost involved in shipping them and of course their rarity giving more chance of a profit,i also think they have already done most of the best iconic cars available here or in Europe already