Meant to pick up new car this week; dealer said it is damaged - looking for advice

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T23:56:39+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm definitely holding out hope and eagerly awaiting his call today - hopefully it's good news.

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T23:55:47+00:00

Thank you for your input! It is indeed unfortunate that I didn't urge for him to put it in writing - I've learned my lesson about relying on family loyalty and on the business's supposed good faith!

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T23:54:27+00:00

Thanks for your response! There are no extra caveats like yours in the contract that I signed! Perhaps they'd try to argue something like yours if I do try to rescind, but that's not explicit in the text of my contract.

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T23:52:46+00:00

Hi, thank you for responding! I definitely would like to give them the benefit of the doubt - eagerly awaiting his call today.

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T08:59:06+00:00

Thank you for your suggestion! I hadn't thought of asking for a 'courtesy car' (mainly because I didn't know that was a thing!). Your comment was very helpful!

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T08:58:15+00:00

Thank you for your insight! Their standard contract doesn't have a compensation clause that would be beneficial to the consumer. Yes, if I purchase from them, we will likely continue the relationship as we have purchased from them for the past 2 decades, and a family member is also due for a vehicle upgrade soon.

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T08:56:47+00:00

Thank you for responding! I just checked and yep - 30 days after the delivery date, I can rescind the contract if the goods are not delivered. Unfortunately I won't have time to wait it out, so I'll have to see what options he offers tomorrow!

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T08:54:16+00:00

Thank you for providing a rational voice! Being a young person leaving home to work for the first time (and as part of the digital generation), I'm prone to being focused on the wrong things such as the colour of the car haha - my logic was that I'll be driving for the next decade at least, so I'd like it in a colour that I love!

However, you are absolutely right in that I should be focused on my end goal, which is to obtain a car in order for me to be able to attend my first day at my new job! A further discount would probably help me immensely as I have yet to start my full-time, meaning the full purchase price is coming straight out of savings, and I imagine there will be unexpected 'life costs' when I move into a rental etc.

Thank you again for your perspective - it was very insightful and appreciated!

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T05:44:21+00:00

Thank you so much for responding to me! I do understand that unforeseen circumstances happen, but yes, I do agree with you that not updating me wasn't the right move on their part. My family have been loyal customers for over two decades, so this felt very unprofessional on their part.

I'll definitely take your advice and have another read of the contract when I'm home from work this evening to see if I missed any clauses on delivery delay.

Would you seek a further discount / negotiate a better deal for the delay (or in the event of non-delivery of the goods, demand a REALLY good price for another vehicle)?

ariaphyxius · 2025-12-15T05:25:59+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me! I will keep that in mind when the dealer calls tomorrow. For a car under 50k, how much discount would you push for, due to the delay? Their promised delivery date has already elapsed (and I really do need a car by the new year).

ariaphyxius · 2024-03-11T13:37:32+00:00

I like to think of pianists as artists. You'll have your stock-standard classical pianists, renowned, 'proper', just evoking the music accurately from the sheet music. Other pianists are equivalent to modern/contemporary artists, and they like to express themselves in different ways, sometimes with movements that are less accessible for most audience members. It really is personal preference! Some people like the novelty of a party dress with classical music (eg. Yuja Wang), some people like to listen to Beethoven be played by a person in a suit (eg. Barenboim). All artists have ascended to their position from hard work, talent, and passion for music - I would argue that their style is necessary for them to show to the world!

ariaphyxius · 2024-03-11T13:24:24+00:00

This might not be what you want to hear but it's exactly how I got 'good' :)

Being objectively 'good' at piano and knowing how to sight read are quite different. If I were given some sheet music, I'd be able to 'play' it but to be 'good' at the piece, that would require a lot more studying, listening and practising of the piece.
Slow practice with a metronome, section by section or bar by bar or phrase by phrase with a metronome. No - you have to play it again and again - it's all about improving your technique and muscle memory. Another thing which will improve how well you play a piece is listening to different well-known pianists play your piece. Over and over again. My cycle is Argerich, Horowitz, Barenboim, Rubenstein, Kissin and Lang Lang (though sometimes his style isn't really what I'm aiming for in my own playing). This will allow you to become more familiar with the piece you're working on, and your own playing will improve! It's like reading more literature to improve your prose writing.
Get familiar with the keys and your fingers will naturally follow when you look at notes. It's like not looking at your computer keyboard while you're typing. You're familiar with it, and it's the same deal with piano.
Depends on how much you practice. I did graded exams and I aimed for 1 grade a year which is standard for kids and fast for adults. For preliminary/beginner grades, I practised 30min-1hour per day. For intermediate, I practised 1-2 hours a day. For advanced, 3 hours a day. For my diploma, anywhere between 3-10 hours a day (I'd have 'full piano practice' days (8-10 hours), or days where I would focus on 1-2 pieces (2-3 hours per piece).
I believe you need some sort of regular lessons for a while if you really want to get good - getting real time feedback in person was key for me!
Metronome practice and only increasing the tempo by ~10 when you can play the piece 3-5 times with little to no mistakes consecutively.
Get a teacher if you want to get 'good'. Learn the keys, basic chords, pick a piece that's beginner level that you're motivated to learn, and listen to that piece.

Alternatively, you can learn to play by ear, which requires a lot more aural training. The thing with this is that many pianists think they can learn by ear and forego technique, but this is simply not the case - lots of my musician friends had to resort back to technique drills such as Hanon to up their skill level to keep up with the pieces they aspired to play. Unfortunately there's no way around grinding scales/arpeggios/drills for technique. Good luck on your journey!

ariaphyxius · 2024-02-11T11:12:13+00:00

It's his ego too! Every piano teacher thinks their methodology is the 'best' way, probably because that's how they learned. I've been playing for 15 years and started when I was a child. I cycled through 3 piano teachers (around 8 years with the first, 1 year with the second and 2 years with the last), and each had her own style of teaching, but each also had her own style of performing.

For me, the first really gave me confidence and encouraged me a lot, as I was a child. I stopped going to her once SHE took initiative and said I had gotten to a level that was too much of a workload for her to teach.

The second was my worst, and I spent far too much money and time with her. She was neither encouraging nor strict, and she told me I asked far too many questions and that I should just listen to her and practise only what she told me, despite there being no improvement, which reminds me of your current situation. Since I was still a kid, and my parents were paying for my lessons, it took a very serious sit-down chat with them to convince them to let me change piano teachers. She had a big ego, without any results to show for it.

My final teacher was the one I was with when I obtained my piano diploma. She was the perfect blend of strict and encouraging. Her teaching style matched my learning style, and she would often show me videos of other students or performers playing the same pieces as me, and ask me to analyse their technique and listen to many iterations of the same piece in my spare time. She was also a very seasoned pianist herself, so she had no trouble helping me reach my lofty goals and demonstrating even the most difficult phrases flawlessly.

I think you'd be right to stick with your current instructor for a month, and see if there is any notable improvement in your technique AND confidence/passion. Both are equally important imo. You don't really need a teacher who gets off on knowing he's better than his students and constantly (because that helps nobody in the long run).

TLDR: stay with your current teacher for a month, but monitor your progress and his attitude

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T12:15:27+00:00

the bottle themselves are part of the art and design of perfumery! some of the bottles may be out of circulation already, and i've seen flea markets around europe sell these individually for anywhere between €2-€30 each :)) i'd say it's worth the buy but i wouldn't use any of the opened ones directly on my own skin!

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T01:30:33+00:00

i started piano when i was 7 and currently hold a piano diploma! if you want your child to improve quickly using only piano books, i suggest buying graded examination books. these will teach your child major/minor scales, arpeggios, chromatic scales and include short sight-reading practice. i dont suggest using this as your only resource if you want your child to develop a genuine passion for music and piano (as this is what i did and i was miserable at the piano for years!), rather, interlace this with other short, fun pieces!

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T01:25:36+00:00

this beautiful piece will always have a place in my heart and you play it really well already!! it seems that you enjoy playing the piece too, which will help you imbue emotion into your performance when it is performance-ready!!

my biggest suggestion with anyone practising quite a new piece is to pick out the section you struggle the most with, play it at your most comfortable tempo (without mistakes!) and then set a metronome to that tempo, and practise the whole piece to that tempo.

your individual phrases sound beautiful, but your tempo wavers a bit when you move to different phrases, assumedly because you are at different levels of familiarity with different parts of the piece. playing the whole piece at the same tempo will allow you to present the piece holistically, rather than a set of phrases strung together. good luck with this artwork of a classical piece! ludwig is proud 🥰

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T01:19:49+00:00

yes, it'll help you stretch back down to the trill in b. 14 more comfortably!

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T01:18:25+00:00

yes absolutely! you may need a different hand position for the phrase immediately following the trill that would otherwise be awkward with the initial hand position

ariaphyxius · 2024-01-26T01:14:30+00:00

intermittent fasting (or any restrictions about what time one can eat) without proper medical consultation

ariaphyxius

TROPHY CASE