The hugely inconvenient directive to restrict the buying and selling of car parts to the months of January and July/August has led to widespread chaos across the country once again. As the window shut at midnight last night, several owners whose machines had not been firing on all cylinders were forced into panic-buying any old spares they could get hold of. While those with well-oiled machines made just one or two significant purchases, others who have a mountain to climb amassed such a huge surplus of component parts that it can only be a matter of time before the wheels come off.
The deadline saw the culmination of a month of tense negotiation. Dealers had been falling over each other to distance themselves from reported interest in some potential replacements while openly embracing the possibility of buying or selling others. Good engines have been particularly in demand this year.
However, the shortage of genuine, top quality, key components for sale has led to some of them fetching ridiculously over-inflated prices, and has driven some owners to despair. Dodgy car dealer Barry Redknapp of West London was forced to buy in a whole series of sub-standard, second-hand imported spare parts for his business, although he also managed to sell a few bits and pieces that were clearly not up to the job in the first place.
“I didn’t get everything I wanted but yeah, I done a couple of good deals,” he said from the Old Duck and Dive pub in Shepherds Bush this morning. “And although I was working right up to midnight, I didn’t find it too taxing.”
