DGS49
Diamond Member
- Apr 12, 2012
- 16,418
- 14,377
I am addicted to "Wheeler Dealers."
If you are not familiar with it, it is a "reality" show based in England that features Mike, a former used car salesman and Edd, a super mechanic/cum/bodyman. For each episode, Mike selects a sports or sporty car from the past (at least ten years ago), and he tries to find one in reasonably-repairable condition that they can buy cheaply, fix up, and sell for a profit. They keep track of what they pay for the car, what they spend on the car, and what they eventually get for it, calculating the difference as "profit."
Many people find it irritating that they do not count Edd's time or the use of the shop and tools for any $$$, but the theory is that this is something that a reasonably good "garage mechanic" could do with a reasonably complete set of tools and a Chilton's manual for the car (now maybe a susbscription to their website).
The charm of the program is furnished by the interesting cars they choose, the negotiations to buy and sell the cars, their creativity in minimizing the costs of restoration, and just watching Edd work on the cars.
As with any "reality" show, the viewers have to wonder how much of its is scripted, how much is edited out, and whether the transactions are for real. Looking at the show, it seems pretty real, but certainly when someone shows up at your door with a camera crew to look at a car you are selling, you MIGHT think something's up. And there are no hidden cameras involved in the production of this program.
Still, I love it.
There is another similar show I'm starting to see now with a Canadian car dealer, Mario, and a cockney bastard named Bernie, who manages the restoration of the cars, but that one seems a lot more contrived. They impose artificial time deadlines, argue for no reason, and don't show major portions of the work. And they don't even sell the cars at the end - they just have it looked over by an appraiser, then gloat about how much "profit" they made on an imaginary transaction! Ridiculous.
Anyone else out there watch these shows? Any shows that I might be missing?
If you are not familiar with it, it is a "reality" show based in England that features Mike, a former used car salesman and Edd, a super mechanic/cum/bodyman. For each episode, Mike selects a sports or sporty car from the past (at least ten years ago), and he tries to find one in reasonably-repairable condition that they can buy cheaply, fix up, and sell for a profit. They keep track of what they pay for the car, what they spend on the car, and what they eventually get for it, calculating the difference as "profit."
Many people find it irritating that they do not count Edd's time or the use of the shop and tools for any $$$, but the theory is that this is something that a reasonably good "garage mechanic" could do with a reasonably complete set of tools and a Chilton's manual for the car (now maybe a susbscription to their website).
The charm of the program is furnished by the interesting cars they choose, the negotiations to buy and sell the cars, their creativity in minimizing the costs of restoration, and just watching Edd work on the cars.
As with any "reality" show, the viewers have to wonder how much of its is scripted, how much is edited out, and whether the transactions are for real. Looking at the show, it seems pretty real, but certainly when someone shows up at your door with a camera crew to look at a car you are selling, you MIGHT think something's up. And there are no hidden cameras involved in the production of this program.
Still, I love it.
There is another similar show I'm starting to see now with a Canadian car dealer, Mario, and a cockney bastard named Bernie, who manages the restoration of the cars, but that one seems a lot more contrived. They impose artificial time deadlines, argue for no reason, and don't show major portions of the work. And they don't even sell the cars at the end - they just have it looked over by an appraiser, then gloat about how much "profit" they made on an imaginary transaction! Ridiculous.
Anyone else out there watch these shows? Any shows that I might be missing?
