" Lets Help Residuals Thread "

[MAT1800]

A random idea, however....

How about a club recommendation,  If the car is known to club members,  a decent spec and at a good price, the seller could advertise that it comes with a WSCC recommendation, based on spec and price etc.

And include a WSCC recomended 'sticker' on any adverts they post etc, helping to promote the club as well as ensure good quality cars are sold at decent prices. Also a WSCC recomended section in the for sale area, and perhaps free listing in Westfield world to encourage sellers to go for it.

There will probably be legal issues to consider, but it might help ensure the cars are sold for a decent price?

It would take a few voluteers though with the knowhow and spare time..

[Blatman]

I think if anyone has any wits about them and does even the smallest amount of research it'll be evident that it's a bargain.

From the amount of PM's and emails I get from people asking for help with their research, I know I'm doing my bit. It's also evident that plenty of folk aren't doing that much research, they are simply trawling the web and looking at prices. This can be a positive thing 'cos if all the prices come up, then we're in.

I do also think that a *detailed* break down of what the car is, similar to Al Yuprights ad recently for his car, goes a long way to showing the what/why of the spec, and it helps to *sell* the car, rather than being one of the more "inert" adverts around...

[Blatman]

QUOTE

There will probably be legal issues to consider, but it might help ensure the cars are sold for a decent price?

Minefield, IMHO... I think (in a devils advocate way) that unless the Club intends to honour some sort of warranty (which then puts the Committee in a product liability minefield as well), then any "WSCC Reccommended" option would have to include a "No warranty offered or infrered" type disclaimer, thererby rendering the reccommendation almost useless, IMHO. Besides, when a good known car comes up, we jump in on the thread and say so, usually.

[chairmangeezer]

QUOTE

Similarly, people who don't know much about seven type cars call them Caterhams.  Only one person of the loads that have stopped me to talk about my car recognised it immediately as a Westy.  A couple actually called it a Lotus, one asked if it was a Robin Hood, but the remainder thought it was a Caterham.  I like to think that is because of my build quality (even the SVA inspectors were impressed), so I don't get    y, I just say actually it is a Westfield, and most then said 'Oh, Right.  I've heard of them.', so we are not completely anonymous.

if we want to raise awareness and you are proud of what you drive then advertise it, don’t wait for people to

ask show them!!!

[Knightmare]

Ok, two approaches I think could help with minimal effort required:

1. Westfield need to get involved and increase support for current owners at shows (any car shows - not just the big names). If I see a local show advertised it is fully my intention to take the westy along. If Westfield turned around and said, "as your going anyway here's some leaflets and a poster" I'd gladly take them along and do my bit. They have the material anyway so it's just the cost in posting it out.

2. The club 'could' produce a general guide for newbies on what to look for when buying and have that available as a PDF download from the site. This would billed as a 'guide' containing no pricing info, but general stuff on what to look for when buying your Westie without going into specifics. Add in an intro covering the pros and cons as we see them to each base model, and we will be providing a purchaser with enough information to make an 'informed' decision about what car they want and how much they are willing to pay for it.

As stated before it's just raising awareness and promoting the marque. People are lazy (no one really wants to wade through search results), if we make the information easily and readily available people will use it .

[Blatman]

1. How can Westfield actually find out which of our 2000 members might be attending a show? Are they supposed to call all of us? Better that owners call them, surely? But then would the factory want to be associated as an "official" supporter when they have no idea of the quality of the exhibit on display? For all they know, your car could be a narrow bodied car with a Lada engine. Image Image Image. It's a non starter...

2. Browse to the FAQ section. Find the "What to look for..," thread, Press print...

[Knightmare]

1. How can Westfield actually find out which of our 2000 members might be attending a show? Are they supposed to call all of us? Better that owners call them, surely? But then would the factory want to be associated as an "official" supporter when they have no idea of the quality of the exhibit on display? For all they know, your car could be a narrow bodied car with a Lada engine. Image Image Image. It's a non starter...

2. Browse to the FAQ section. Find the "What to look for" thread, Press print...

All I'm trying to say is owners are generally very passionate about their cars and will gladly shout about them and raise awareness, but we have very limited resources in order to do this.

With my first point common sense would state it would be down to the owner to contact Westfield and inform them of the event, and let them make the decision based on that discussion about wether they wish to support an owner in publicising the brand. After all this whole thread puts the emphasis on us as owners to do something and what we can do without the backing of Westfield is very limited.

As for point 2, you know that, I know that and so do the majority of users on the forum. My point is that many newbies (the people we are hopefully trying to educate) don't and won't do it.    However providing this information in a concise easily available download can't hurt and can only go a long way in making us a more 'friendly and approachable' club.  

[Blatman]

The whole point of the FAQ was to help newbies. Are you suggesting that it is in fact, pointless and that we need to address every question, every time? The FAQ is easily accesible, and easily downloadable, and *should* lead the person looking in to other interesting areas of Westfield ownership. It also shows that support isn't just limited to the factory, which should add confidence when buying the brand...

With my first point common sense would state it would be down to the owner to contact Westfield

But you said..

If Westfield turned around and said, "as your going anyway here's some leaflets and a poster"

If I can misundertand it, so can others...

[Rob Navin]

If Westfield turned around and said, "as your going anyway here's some leaflets and a poster"

If I can misundertand it, so can others...

Blatter

If you are planning on questioning people evey time someone is imprecise with a statement, you're going to be bl**** busy

Put the spoon down and step away from the pudding bowl...

[Knightmare]

Are you trying to play devils advocate or what?

Ok so perhaps I didn't explain it perfectly but the newbies section is an extremely valuable resource and one I use often use, obviously you can't address every question every time. What I'm proposing is a generic guide aimed at helping a newbie make a decision. Westfield provide information to cater for this, but many first time buyers don't want to hear it from them, they would rather hear it from people who have first hand experience.

The guide I'm proposing won't tell Joe Bloggs to buy Mark's fantastic V8 but it would show him the pros and cons of owning a V8 agains a BEC and help him make a decision.

None of the sugestions in this post so far will change anything on their own, and certainly not overnight but we have to start somewhere.

[Blatman]

Are you trying to play devils advocate or what?

Yes. It's important enough (apparently) to make sure that we get the right info to the right people for the right reasons, so I'm going to be picky...

[Morbius]

The whole point of the FAQ was to help newbies. Are you suggesting that it is in fact, pointless and that we need to address every question, every time? The FAQ is easily accesible, and easily downloadable, and *should* lead the person looking in to other interesting areas of Westfield ownership. It also shows that support isn't just limited to the factory, which should add confidence when buying the brand...

The problem with the FAQ is that it is not a FAQ.  It is merely a set of threads containing useful information that the reader must trawl through to find what they wish to know.

We are all busy people, and so we (myself included) tend to ask the same question in a slightly different way rather than trawl through other peoples witerings to find the gold nugget.

I have volunteered to produce a set of genuine FAQs and answers from the threads contained in the FAQ forum.  Then people can berate me for getting it wrong rather than keep posting the same questions  

Of course, if you would all rather keep going around the same bouy with a different set of newbies, who am I to stop you?  

[Blatman]

You can search the FAQ by simply using the search and selecting the FAQ forum. If the thread naming convention has been followed as per the FAQ instructions, searching the whole FAQ section should take about 10 secs per query and you shouldn't end up with loads of irrelevant threads. Yes there may be one or two irrelevancies, but not masses of them.

It isn't perfect, but what is?

[Mark Stanton]

*Thread Drift Alert*        

This is residuals not FAQ          

[scruffythefirst]

You can search the FAQ by simply using the search and selecting the FAQ forum. If the thread naming convention has been followed as per the FAQ instructions, searching the whole FAQ section should take about 10 secs per query and you shouldn't end up with loads of irrelevant threads.

True, but a newbie who's looking to buy a wesfield doesn't know what he wants to search the FAQ for, I think it should be pruned to 1 page of threads, or maybe a seperate one pertaining specifically to a newbie buying guide.  That way when a newbie has seen a wesfield about and want to buy one, he can see easily why price isn't everything.  A really good buying guide explaining why condition and spec are more important than price may well help residuals.  Especially if its really obvious at the first point of contact for newbies.