April 2001
I recently received a telephone call for advice from an anxious relative. You will have to excuse the lack of detail as I was asleep at the time but the general story was this.
He had a letter from a company I believe called Security International somewhere on the South coast stating that his car ( the make and reg. no. were on the letter ) had been illegally parked on December 29th 2000 somewhere else down South and as a result had been clamped. The clamp had been removed without authorisation and as a consequence he as to pay a £30 fine. If he did not comply proceedings would be commenced. Replys were to be sent to a PO box number.
We live in the North. He had been nowhere near the South of England at that time. I advised him to place the letter in file 13 ( the bin ) but on second thoughts to visit his local Police Station to either validate the company or pass on intelligence to the relevent Constabulary, if this was indeed a scam.
What did cross my mind was that the company may be bona fide, disagreeable as we may find the practice of extortion ( I mean clamping ). In which case there is a cloned car running round in the South. More sinister if this infact a scam where did they get the registered keeper details from? Surely not DVLA!! Read more
I recently received a telephone call for advice from an anxious relative. You will have to excuse the lack of detail as I was asleep at the time but the general story was this.
He had a letter from a company I believe called Security International somewhere on the South coast stating that his car ( the make and reg. no. were on the letter ) had been illegally parked on December 29th 2000 somewhere else down South and as a result had been clamped. The clamp had been removed without authorisation and as a consequence he as to pay a £30 fine. If he did not comply proceedings would be commenced. Replys were to be sent to a PO box number.
We live in the North. He had been nowhere near the South of England at that time. I advised him to place the letter in file 13 ( the bin ) but on second thoughts to visit his local Police Station to either validate the company or pass on intelligence to the relevent Constabulary, if this was indeed a scam.
What did cross my mind was that the company may be bona fide, disagreeable as we may find the practice of extortion ( I mean clamping ). In which case there is a cloned car running round in the South. More sinister if this infact a scam where did they get the registered keeper details from? Surely not DVLA!! Read more
In January, I purchased a nearly new Ford fiesta at Hartwell Cowley. Whilst there I spoted details of a process to protect vehicle paintwork call Diamondbright.
After talking to the salesman, I expressed my interest, but was wondering if the other parts of the car more vonerable were protected as well. By that I meant the underside of the chassis and under the wheel arches.
Does this process protect from scratches(deliberate or not) and stone chipping? Read more
One of my cars had Diamondbright applied two years ago. It certainly is much more effective than all the polishes and processes than I have been able to purchase and buy so far. The car still cleans well and comes up with an excellent shine. Be warned that if you live with hard water the beading that you get will leave rings unless you leather the car after washing. Perhaps that is why they offered me a wash-leather as part of the deal. Yes I would have it done again.
Hi all,
I went to pick up my 'new' car today. Whilst on the M4 i passed the scene of an accident, it was on the opposite carriageway and the police had closed the motorway completely. The scene was not a pleasant one. The emergency services were literally picking up the pieces. From what i could see an articulated truck had smashed into the back of a VW van (it may have been a camper but it was so smashed it was hard to tell ). There was debris everywhere and they were clearing the road as i passed.
Two people died on that road today. May they rest in peace.
The reminder ? Life is precious, lets stay safe out there.
Ash. Read more
The critical criteria is:- If a lane to the left of you is vacant then move over into it.
There are no fast, overtaking, lorry, granny, truck, suicide, or whatever you want to call them, lanes.
If the inside lane is empty then use it, even if you are doing 70 mph. In this way if someone comes up behind at 120 mph, which may or may not be safe according to the road conditions, you do not impede them, do not frustrate them, don't get them running into your back end and don't hold up the police car on their tail either.
On the original topic, if someone runs into the back of a broken down vehicle then they are culpable for either driving too fast for the distance that they can see to be clear or were guilty of careless driving due to inadequate observation. Unfortunately it is often the innocent, in this case the camper van couple, who pay the ultimate penalty.
Tyre safety warning ahead of Easter
The state of tyres on New Zealand cars is the target of a new road safety campaign for Easter.
Copied off the website.
The Land Transport Safety Authority says 19 people died last year in crashes where bad tyres were a factor. Another 195 were injured.
But a simple lifesaving remedy exists - air.
If tyres are underinflated the car does not handle as well as it should and will understeer. Correct tyre pressure keeps the sidewalls rigid and stops the shoulders wearing.
Officials are calling on New Zealanders to pump some life into the rubber that keeps them connected to the road as well as checking the oil and water this Easter. Read more
Have just bought a second hand 418 SLDtourer Rover. You have several times given a source of information on vehicle past history, but I have not recorded this. Grateful for repeat of the information. Read more
HPI and AA Experian.
HJ
My dad has just recently bought a 1994 Mondeo Estate 2.0 ghia. It ran perfectly for the last month or so, but it has developed a problem.
Intermittently the engine dies, then comes back, it does not seem to be at a set time, speed or rev. It started as soon as he changed from tesco unleaded to a promotion on safeway unleaded, is this just coincidence or has this happened to other people? Has anyone got any other ideas what it could be. We are thinking that it may be the engine management or the fuel supply. Can anyone shed a light on this?
Thanks, Kev Read more
Dave,
Sorry for delay, haven't been checking the older threads properly !!
Can't say for sure which product he uses, but try my Tune-Up colleague Cyril Barnes on 01594-516624.
Good Luck, Adam.
I have just imported a new VW Golf GTI turbo. I am wondering if I should have it serviced at a VW dealer, or at an Independent VW specialist. Would the value of the car be adversely affected. My only worry about the independents is that they do not have much knowledge of later models, although I suspect serving is pretty straightforward.
Thanks
Andrew Barnes Read more
I've had the car two weeks and it's already been back to the dealers. An airvent in the passenger footwell kept falling out, i'd read about this somewhere before, months ago, obviously VW have done nothing about it! Also there's a very annoying dash rattle which disappeared the moment I arrived at the dealer and reappeared when I left!
Andrew
Hi all,
My cars started making a strange whirring or throbbing noise, from the left hand front during hard right hand turns, it gets faster the harder I turn and not so much with speed.
I've read that this could be due to a failing CV joint, am I right? If so, how hard a job is it to replace? Or are there any other options as to what causes the noise?
BTW, Audi 80, 1988 1.8.
Thanks,
Mark. Read more
Just to let you know
I discovered why the throbbing noise was occuring, the track rod (or control, whatever it's called!) from the steering gear to the top of the wheel (sorry, not too au fait with the proper terms) was coming loose where it attached to the steering gear. A swift turn of the spanner later (and a new locking nut) solved the throbbing noise and now I'm just left with the increased noise from the left wheen on right hand turns. A noise I know as a worn wheel bearing.
If Euro Car Parts get their arse into gear and deliver my order soon I'll be changing them this weekend (hopefully).
So thanks for the advice.
Mark
I recieved this morning in the mail an unsolicited leaflet for a "fuel catalyst" device. It's headline was that LRP is to be withdrawn "across the UK by 31st November 2001 if not much sooner" News to me, has anybody else heard this news? Read more
I found these messages by searching the site with this very question! - because around Southampton LRP has disappeared from Shell forecourts. So ... no plans in April 2001 but it started to disappear from this area at least during the autumn. What is going on?
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With the proliferation of speed cameras I think that we are going to see quite an increase in the number of cloned cars. I have already got mine lined up, P 585 HMH.
We might also see some of the new speed cameras receiving an extra coat of paint, courtesy of the public!.