August 2001
Some things wot I noticed.....
There aren't many police on the roads. It seems like if a camera doesn't get you, then you won't be got.
In fact, even in central London there didn't seem to be many police.
What on earth is the logic of a bus lane on the M4 ? I was sat in a jam for 45 minutes and two buses and four taxis passed me, hardly good use of road space. Especially with the quite amazing merging system at the end of it.
Motorways haven't slowed down much, if at all, as far as I could see. The fast lane still sems to be stomping along around 90mph in rush hour (bus lanes and cameras notwithstanding).
Two houses within half a mile of each other is reasonable justification for a 30mph limit.
Endless country roads with 40 limits and I have no idea why.
Sunday drivers have got worse - probably a million times worse - and drive at 30mph everywhere.
There was a survey published saying 50% of all drivers want more speeding cameras.
Beer is still good
Pubs are still good
Kebabs are great
M. Read more
Just bought a 'J' plate Volvo 480 Turbo, anyone got any good / bad story's to keep me amused/horrified!!!
Bye the way great web site, keep it up!!!! Read more
Andy,
I would guess that the 480's (esp Turb's) are rarely owned, being a strange offering from volvo in the first place. (Just do a search on the net and you get a deafening silence, apart from the Netherlands and a few ropey homesites)
I happen to have just bought a J reg' turbo this month as well!
Needed a bit of work :
Brakes frnt
All tyres
Rear shocks
Rear brake pipe
Various bulbs
Massive gearbox leak
(reason for sale was new family additions but more likely the imminent MOT!!)
Non-essential work included:
New cam-belt
Rocker gasket
Apart from that its perfect!
(except a strange little whine - see my other post)
I really like this car. What condition is yours in/any problems and may l ask what ball-park figure you got it for?
Also how do you find the turbo, l heard a lot people say the boost pressure doesn't get beyond the 12 o'clock mark on the guage.
'Nuff questions, happy driving.
Dan
The wife is getting a company car, everything paid bar the petrol. The car has 20k service intervals which means in the four years she will have it, it will be serviced TWICE, excluding the follow up at 1k or thereabouts. As it's a co. car none of this 5k oil changes etc. etc.
How good a buy will it really be for a punter when the lease co. gets rid of it? Will there be thousands of knackered low mileage ex fleet cars out there in the not too distant future, which will surely devalue everybody else's pride and joy that has had a little TLC. False economy? Read more
Dai
Yes, must be difficult, even when you can point to the relevant paragraph in the service or instruction book. I came across the other situation a while a while back - well qualified chap I used to work with insisted that his Mitsubishi required only an annual service 'no matter how many miles it does' I suggested he should RTFM. Ho hum.
I wouldn't mind, but how cheap do these people think running a car is?
regards
John
My next Audi is ready for collection in Germany, but unlike just six months ago, my insurers (Eagle Star) have said that they cannot cover me on the VIN number until the car reaches the UK. As soon as it's registered, it can obviously go straight back through the tunnel and be covered, same car, same driver etc.
I rang round a few insurers and was told it was a "new" DVLA ruling. How has this happened? Despite all the efforts of various parties to bring down the barriers against importing, the DVLA throw another up.
Putting the car on a trailer means the car will be liable for German VAT (although reclaimed later) and will cost me around three times the price of a self collect.
Anyone have any references, stories etc?
Colin Read more
Do you know a tame trader who fancies a weekend in Germany ? Might be a solution - (DW THINKS:- might be cutting my own throat here.)
Hello all,
I see HJ has a reference to some auction buyers on the site. Does anyone have any experience with them? Is there a minimum spend? Would 3500- 4000 get me anything worth having? What specifications can you choose?
Any help gratefully recieved
Cheers
Gareth Read more
Gareth,
Do a search on "Julian Trim" on this message board and you'll get my comments on his performance buying a car for me. He's now bought three or four for friends by recommendation, and I don't praise higher than that.
I suggest you give him a call - he'll be as specific or as general on a model as you require.
Vin
I've just bought a 2000 Honda Accord 2.0i VTEC SE. With the amount of motorway driving I do, I'm a bit concerned about the expensive-looking headlamp units. Anyone know where I can get some clear plastic protectors for them?
AP Read more
I would expect headlamp protectors for this model to be only available via the dealer network. We sell a suprising amount of these headlamp protectors - even to those customers with plastic headlamps.
Rgds
David
I have a Renault Laguna registered Aug 2000,Which i purchased new
in Feb 2000 with 8 miles on the clock.Do i have it serviced now when it is 12 months old or next Feb when it has been used for 12 months.The present milage is 5000 miles. Read more
Well done, David. The voice of common sense once again.
HJ
I have a Jaguar XJS 1994. It is in need of a respray. Not for any particular damage, more just a little tatty and needs tidying up.
Am I better to get an "official" Jaguar respray, or will it be ok to take it to any good quality paint shop. Is there more advantage to one rather than the other ? Read more
In which case, I wonder if anybody has any recommendations or references for the Newbury, Basingstoke, Reading area.
Mark.
p.s. Daniel is my Father. See, I'm bringing new readers !
Hello,
My son has just bought himself a car ( for a very modest sum ) which resembles a Fiat Tipo but is called a Yugo Sana, I vaguely remember reading about these in CAR magazine ages ago but didn't think they'd actually been any sold here. As far as I can recall Yugo used to sell a car based on the Fiat 128 and a small car based on the fiat 127, but I have no Idea how we are going to get any spares for this car as I can't imagine that there are many around. Is it the same as a Fiat Tipo? or should we forget it and scrap it ?
its in good nick with a few months MOT left, maybe it's a classic ? ? ?
HELP ! Read more
Yes, NATO bombed the factory. It wasn't building tanks (I don't think) but putting 2000 people out of work must have been good for something even if we can't find out just what!
Hi
Has anybody got experience of using the new insurance service 'esure' from Peter Wood (originally of Diret Line) and the Halifax? I see they do even greater NCDs -up to 75% (according to www.esure.co.uk) - just wondering if anybody has any experience of them?
thanks
Martin Read more
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> I didn't think that BA was too bad
You must be joking. Did you ever wonder why they bother painting lines in the road to mark lanes ? I'm damn sure that no drivers there actually know. Mind you, no complaints about the scenery.