February 2001
I bought a new VW Beetle 12 months ago - one of the first RH drive models and
have since covered 10000 miles. In most respects I have been very happy
with the car but there is one problem area; the car is using around 1.5 litres of oil every 200 miles. The dealer who sold us the car says that it is "perfoming within spec" and the handbook does say that the car could use up to 1 litre of oil per 1000 km. (this statement also appears in the handbook for my son's Polo and for the Golf)
I have driven new or almost new cars for years and have never had to put oil in the cars between services. Have anyone else had this problem and am I being unreasonable in telling VW that the level of oil comsumption is unacceptable. It is not the cost of the oil that concerns me but the damage that is being caused by the oil being burnt. Read more
i read with astonishment that Ford /Landrover were to lay people of because of the shortage of BMW engines .You would think that Ford could source an appropriate engine from its vast worldwide factories ,or even produce its own.
The mind boggles.
Regards
Andy Bairsto
Ps did anyone see the new EU directive on driving licences it is proposed and will get passed that anyone over 45 must sit a new wriiten exam every ten years plus medical.
licences will only be valid for ten years . Read more
I REALISE IT IS AN OLD SUBJECT, BUT THE FREELANDER WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED TO TAKE THE ROVER L SERIES DEISEL ENGINE. WICH WAS A FINE & RELIABLE UNIT
I have a Volvo 940 "Celebration" with the 2.4 low pressure turbocharged engine. on enquiring about converting to run on gas I have had various opinions from; "No problem" to don't attempt it" Has anyone converted to gas? how successful is it? any problems? and how much should it be costing me!! Read more
Try Crawley Auto Gas 07976 366726
What happens in the event of a total loss claim when the car you are claiming for was bought at a knock-down price. I have just ordered a new honda civic aerodeck in a deal that was too good to refuse!,does the price i paid affect the settlement or is it always based on market value?.it realy was agood deal £14750 slashed to £10500 and yes i know it is now an old model Read more
Malcolm,
If the worst happens, stand your ground. I paid £2300 for a Alfa GT Jnr in Italy that I valued (and believed was worth) £6000. I had it written off by a white Mercedes sprinter in the UK and claimed for £6k and (after a fight) got it. The insurance company will ask for a value of the car when they insure it, but will use the price paid (e.g. from a receipt) to help them calculate the value when it is a total loss (they also take into account factors such as market value, mileage and condition).
If there is a dispute they will use an assessor and if necessary a claims adjuster who are (supposedly) experts to come to a 'fair' price!
You should not be penalised for being a canny consumer - insure it for what you think it is worth.
I have a 1994 RT 2.0 Espace, owned since new, and now with 82k miles. It has air con, and is generally comfortable and goes OK. But I am wondering whether its reliability will begin to suffer on University runs for the children and other longer trips. I do about 10k miles per year, mostly local.
I have viewed the Kangoo with interest, and wonder whether to part exchange the Espace for a new Kangoo. Or am I better off paying for the odd bills, and running the Espace for several more years.
Will I notice a drop in comfort levels on long journeys, and soon regret the move to a "cheaper" car?
Any comments or experiences welcome. Read more
I have a Seat with a 90 BHP VW Tdi. If started after a period on over one hours rest the oil pressure light flashes once or twice. This does not occur after a warm start up. Any suggestions as to the cause?
David McKee Read more
John's right yet again. VAG engines must be fitted with VAG oil filters (or oil filters made by the same people who make them for VAG to the same spec). All too often owners save a quid by going for a cheap Far Eastern oil filter only to find it has no non retrn valve at all and the top end of their engines run oil free whenever they start up.
HJ
Can anybody tell me what the intials ENV stood for?
The successors, Eaton Yale and Towne don't seem to know. Read more
I regularly drive about 30 ? 40,000 miles per year and have done for the last 25 years. I currently have a Volkswagen Passat TD Estate, first registered in March 2000 and would willingly recommend the car to anyone ? well built, economical, good performance etc.
I want to check to see if I have been unlucky or is there a fault with these cars?
Since I have had the car, I have had to have two new windscreens fitted and have just noticed another new crack. That makes four screens in 11 months. All four have been cracks that start at the bottom or side of the screen and none have penetrated the ?line of sight? area. The screens have been replaced by Autoglass who advise me that they have been caused by stone chips. These chips, whilst just visible, do, to my untrained eyes, appear to be very small. They in no way resemble large stone chips I have received, that have resulted in the need for new screens on previous cars.
In an estimated 750,000 miles of driving a variety of other makes ? Ford, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, I have had about three or four windscreens replaced. In 25,000 miles of Volkswagen driving, I have needed four. Statistically, I have not been unlucky. Read more
My Mercedes C class is on its third screen the last time I took it to a one man band Garage as it was half the price
of Autoglass (Germany) He told me that there are different grades of screen ,whether this is true I do not know.I also have a Chevrolet Blazer and according to the blurb this is fitted with a coated screen that prevents stone chips and has a life time warranty.
Regards Andy Bairsto
Germania
My L reg Primera 1800 makes me feel as if I am driving on solid tyres, and seems to have poor road holding qualities. The obvious answer would normally be connected with the tracking or suspension, but no fault has been found with either of these. The suspension is unusually hard though, and gives the impression of driving over cobbles, even when on a smooth road surface. There is no abnormal tyre wear. Any ideas? Read more
Hi there Peter,
I drive a 98'S Primera and the ride is in fact the other way ... tending to be on the soft side (really noticable going over speed bump and undulating roads). I am told this is normal. The Primera is set up for a more sporty handling bias and is well known for it's good ability.
It could be your choice of tyres ... check out what the originals were and think about changing or seek advice from a good, impartial dealer.
From: Eur Ing Irvine Bell BSc CEng MIMechE CDipAF PGCE
irvine_bell@msn.com
A member of the Electric Bus Group[ www.tbus.org.uk/ ].
I refer to the Daily Telegraph, Saturday 10th February 2001, Motoring Supplement pages 1 and 5, article entitled "The Balance of Power" by Charles Clover and Andrew English, concerning the possibilities of running cars [and other vehicles] on hydrogen.
The main theme of the article seems to be that the future of cars will be to run on hydrogen obtained from renewable energy resources such as wind or hydroelectricity or from hydrogen 'grown' in places like the current oil producing states in the Middle East.
Unfortunately this scenario ignores a fundamental energy efficiency problem. It takes about four units of energy e.g. from hydroelectric or wind power, to produce about one unit of deliverable e.g. compressed hydrogen. A vehicle fuel cell is around 50% efficient which means it takes around eight units of energy to produce one useful unit of energy to propel a vehicle, if hydrogen is used as the means of 'transmitting' the energy to the vehicle. Compare this with a ratio of more like one to one if the energy is transmitted directly to the vehicle, as with for example a tram or a trolleybus.
The article mentioned the possibility of [liquid] hydrogen 'eventually' being produced for as little as 60p a litre - which is around ten times the price before tax of petrol or derv. Either Chancellors of the Exchequer are going to have to give up most of their current massive tax take on vehicle fuel, or each of us will have to take out a mortgage each time we fill up our cars with hydrogen!
Since clearly we are going to have to grow fuels in the future, instead of 'growing' hydrogen in the Middle East or wherever, the question really should be what fuels should we grow and how and where, and how should we then burn them? My money would be more on growing vegetable oils [or alcohol fuels] to run compression ignition engined / electric hybrids as these seem to be more efficient i.e. burn less fuel than vehicles with conventional transmissions.
Ideally perhaps, the energy would be transmitted with minimum losses directly to the vehicles by some sort of conductor system. Currently, this is only practicable for electric trolleybuses but maybe something could be devised of more general applicability?
Irvine Bell Read more
Predictions that fuel reserves will run out, not enough food to feed the world, etc regularly get promoted. However even if the pumpable oil in the middle east runs out there is 10 times the oil in oil shales uneconomic to extract at present.
I like the idea of farmers growing the sunflower oil to power the new diesels. The farmers need a lifeline to keep them going. The balance of payments will improve so the government will be happy!
Browse
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Phew! I suppose 1.5 L every 200 miles is a little ridiculous!