July 2001
Would anyone have any 'real-time' results on the average mpg of the new 2.0 litre petrol mondeo?
tia David Kirkham Read more
Sold two cars today and nearly sold another.....
Customer no1. Regular customer changes his car every 12 to 18 months, Decent chap his part ex is always spotless and in fact I always move it oin within days and sometimes it is sold before the deal is done. Came to change his motor, no prob, gave him a good price for his and chipped a few quid off the new one. He'd decided to swap his wife's grey import for a new supermini. Now this was a dilema. I had no proper base for assesing its value and then would have to move it on, in the trade so to speak. Anyway a few calls later we agreed a price and I got two sales out of it. I am now lumbered with a k plate Subaru that was never sold in the UK. Anyway goodwill maintained.
Customer No2. Local but never dealt with him, came in witha low mileage N plate 1.7TD
Astra (not my particular franchise). Car was in good nick with a bundle of receipts. Problem was the paintwork. Its original Bannana yellow had faded horribly and was not a car easily shifted and worht next to nowt in an Auction. Offered him a price which reflected the condition minus a few quid (well quite a few quid in fact) which he refused. He phoned me at the end of the afternoon to say the local Vauxhall dealer had offered him £500,00 less against a new one ! Was my offer still open ?! Some people cannot take no for an answer can they ! Read more
Lotus (any Lotus including an Europa I once wrote off..) in Yellow = Cool
At least you never see a yellow Vectra, there must be a God.
Susan Stranks is (was?) her name, I believe chaps.
Well, one good turn deserves another. Read more
Carole,
I think you are back onto the sort of games Guy Lacy plays again........in his fishnets of course.
David
I was wondering if anyone had any tips about improving the smell of car interiors.
My car seems to be developing a musty stale smell, particularly on a hot day. I've tried airing it out and I've attacked the upholstery with a bottle of Febreze but it still gets this stale air smell back after a while.
I did have one of those pine-tree type air fresheners but I found that they were rather over-powering. Are there any "tricks of the trade" that second hand car dealers use to make their vehicles more fragrant?
Rod. Read more
Brian
Haven't a clue!. I had difficulty finding the inlet on my Ford Puma. The instuctions seem to suggest the air inlet is usually located in the footwell. On my car I eventually located it above and behind the glovebox. I did this by listening to the fan noise and sticking my hand up to feel the air going in but it is difficult to determine if its sucking or blowing. I managed to confirm by letting a small piece of tissue paper be sucked in!.
You get a long flexible tube with it so it should be possible to spray into awkward places but I must admit to being nervous discharging the entire contents of the can into somewhere I couldnt see! . It obviously worked though because the bubbles came out of the vents and the musty cheesy smell was relaced with a far more pleasant odour.
Good luck
Adrian
On my way to work this morning, I passed through a small village with a 30 mph limit. Vehicles coming the other way were obligingly flashing me to warn of a matching pair of plod with a speed gun.
Of course I didn't need to be told to slow down because I ALWAYS drive at 29.5 mph through a 30 limit; any faster would be dangerous and illegal, especially as I happened to be eating my breakfast, looking at a map, and talking on my mobile at the time (grins).
Out of the village, I flashed other motorists to warn them, and was rewarded with a wave or two of thanks (I think), and some odd looks.
My question; what are the conventions for warning others of hazards ahead? stroboscopic flashing, long flash, 2 or 3 short flashes?
And, how do you alert some bright spark that he's left his foglights on on a clear summer evening?
I am aware of what the highway code says about headlamp flashing.
Can we start a convention?
Any ideas? Read more
In view of the antagonism which exists between a sizeable section of the motoring public and the police force, I suggest that issues such as speeding fines, vehicle faults and suchlike where danger to other road users cannot be proved be taken out of the hands of the police and be handled by a body such as the Highways Agency as a civil offence and not as a criminal offence.
In that way if we see a police car in our mirror we could stop wondering if we are today's target and be happy that they were going after real criminals and not technical misdemeanors.
in the old days a policeman was someone to call on when in trouble. Today the sight of a police car is just as likely to induce fear as relief.
Good morning Ladies & Gentlemen, please excuse me while I have a good rant, it will save me taking it out on some other poor sod.
This morning I have followed a bus for what seemed like miles but it was not a happy experience as the bus was stopping frequently and overtaking opportunities were distinctly sparse due to road layout and opposing traffic even at bus tops. This in itself was not a problem but the other factors were.
The bus was one of those ancient Leylands that kick out a tone of particulates every time they pull away.
It was R reg, ie 23/24 years old. eg ABC 123R
It was puking oil all over the road.
Brake light out.
The driver did not know what his LH indicators were for, AT ALL EVER but they were working because he briefly used them once, literally one flash. However he knew what his right hand indicators were for, which was, and I translate ?I have not looked in my mirrors but I am just issuing the change to the last customer and have shut the doors so look out I have already pulled out - oops!?
Finally just to rub it all in the bus had a wonderful new advertising paint job which prevented you from looking through the back window to see if any passengers were getting up to get off or the bus stopping light was lit after someone had rung the bell. So you could not even get an observation link there.
Grizzle grizzle grizzle, there that?s better. Read more
Someone in "the business" on another forum reckoned that "buses" (ie council/town bus route/bus stop type, as opposed to long distance coaches)
were
a) exempt from fuel duty (they could reclaim it).
b) exempt from the emissions regs.
:-(
I have an "N" reg Laguna Automatic. For a few months I've had a problem with it "holding" low gear when cold, but today it went to "3" on the Motorway and stayed there for 40 miles all the way home. Running it later when cold, it's doing the same thing. I've obviously a serious problem. Honest John's Car-by-Car breakdown gave me no comfort with it's diagnosis of problems with these autos. Before I shell out several hundred for a rebuild, has anyone suffered the same fault? Was it electrical or the valve block seal as Honest John suggests? Read more
I have a Scenic RT DTi with gearbox problems. The seal was replaced about ten weeks ago because of a leak. Now the whole thing has gone again and the warranty company are refusing to pay for the second lot of repairs because they say there wasn't enough lubricate in the gearbox. The garage say they did the necessary repairs in line with the warranty company's instructions and believe it is a part fault. All I know is it isn't my fault and I don't want a £1,000 bill to get my car back on the road. Has anyone had simular problems or got any advice as to what I should do next. Read more
I'd say that Renault is the most complained about marque in my e-mails and snail mail. Especially Renault automatics. A mate bought a Safrane at auction about 5 months back (against my advice) and after the inevitable bath he now uses 'Safrane' as a swear word.
HJ
My father in law is planning to get rid of his old, high mileage Orion Diesel - I suspect in the end for around £700; I can sell it in London, Southampton or Sheffield. Well, what gives me pause for thought is whether anyone has ever studied regional differences in car pricing.
As an example, years ago a work colleague of mine bought a new XR2 in Glasgow, ran it for five months, then sold it for more than he had paid for it in Manchester. Equally, ten years ago when I was peripherally involved in the trade, I dealt with a dealer in NI who shipped their trade ins to the mainland for sale as the prices in NI were so low in comparison. Finally, six years ago, when I needed a van (I WAS white van man) I saw people buying vans at auction in Bedford and putting them in the next day in Enfield and getting more for them.
So, as my examples are all pretty old, does anyone have a more up-to-date view on the regional market? Partly for the sale of the old buffer's car, but mainly because I'm interested. Read more
Hi all
I am thinking of recovering my wifes Golf3 seats as they are getting a bit frayed.
Perhaps leather this time as trimmers in mags such as "Golf" mag offer re-trimming in leather cheaper than getting original VW new covers.
However I notice many up-market models offer the above suede lookalike stuff.
Anyone any comments/contacts ?
TIA
Martin Read more
Browse
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I get roughly the same as Mike out of an old shape 2.0LX with the a/c on permanently (though not necessarily switched to full fridge). I got 33.35 out of a new 1.8iLX 125bhp last November (see the road test on this site) and reckoned I'd have got 40mpg cruising at 80 - 85, which I wasn't. And before some twat starts jumping up and down about exceeding the speed limit, it wasn't in this country.
HJ