September 2001
I heard yesterday that my brother had an accident on an empty-ish motorway after a tyre blew on his Cinquecento. The car spun, hit the central barrier and rolled over. He is fine, luckily. He is not exactly careful about checking his cars over on a regular basis, but it was a new tyre that blew, apparently. Knowing him, though, I doubt he'd checked the pressure recently, or taken much care with kerbs. I also doubt he'll be using a car that size on a motorway again.
Drive carefully.
Chris Read more
could someone tell me the name of this part????? a little square electrical box that plugs in to the distributer and connects to the coil.it sits on top of the coil.i have a 1985 toyota celeca.car wont crank,gets gas,just wont crank..someone told me this part might be the cause of it not cranking. anyone have any suggestions????? i understand this part is pretty expensive(400.00) is this true..thanks for your help Read more
Arleen, Davids quite right, it will not be the amplifier. Try: Battery connections, starter motor, starter solenoid or wire, ignition switch. I think Toyotas have a main fusable link in the starter circuit aswell. If it's automatic, the inhibitor switch. I've also spent ages trouble shooting a car with an immobiliser which someone had switched on.........oops!
regards
Mike
A couple of weeks ago I saw an article in DT regarding a person who had gone to court regarding the submission of his details for the electoral roll which is compulsory. His argument was that he had no objection to providing information to the council but objected to the council selling electoral roll details to third parties ie mailing lists etc. The website www.192.com has been mentioned before. You can search for persons with limited details and find their personal details and I believe also an aerial photograph of their house. All this information is gleaned from the electoral role.
His argument was that it was a breach of his right to privacy for the council to sell information on.
I wondered if any of 'my learned friends' out there had seen any update on the case as I have not and am interested regarding the outcome.
Andrew.
PS sorry but I will stick to motoring topics in future. Read more
connected with your query but a different news story...
www.gorjuss.com/medicalprivacy/archives/00000048.h...l
How reliable are Citroen XM estates? I've heard all sorts of horror stories - are any of them justified? Read more
Greg,
The replies above sum it up really. Get a good one and you'll have fantastic value luxury motoring. If you're unlucky (and don't value the superb ride, self levelling etc above all else) you'll be very fed up after six months.
Regulars know I write for the Citroen Car Club ( www.citroencarclub.org.uk ). The monthly XM column is full of good technical tips and stories of challenges, if not out and out disasters.
If you are brave enough to try one a post '95 TD estate is the best, no early cars and no petrols!
David
I've just had to chose between two houses on the same estate, pretty much the same except one had slightly bigger rooms. However one house required two very large sleeping policemen to be negotiated to get to it. My Caterham wouldn't get over without touching the sump so couldn't buy that one. Even a normal car had problems due to the ramp angle. The top of the hump was covered in scratches. When speaking to the estate agent about it they said it puts off no end of buyers. It must have such a detrimental effect on house prices I wonder why no one has got rid of them - no where else in the estate has them on a no-through road. I know of two sets of traffic calming (both over a long stretch of road) that were removed because of the residents objections - they were the ones wanting them in the first place.
If I pay for road tax surely I should be able to use the roads?
Piers Read more
I should have added to the previous post that the road now in question is Pastures Hill at Littleover.
I was driving home last night and there was a red arrow on the road. It was facing in the direction of travel.
Can anyone tell me what this means, please. Read more
David
Whilst an obvious use as a reference points for Vascaring Plods (Police Love Old Drivers Speeding) I also understand that these squares and eyes are also used by Local Authorites when carrying out electronic mobile road surveys, which was the original reason.
Saves men walking with the wheel on a stick when measuring sections.
Recently bought a Golf (per recommendations here) and the tax runs out at the end of the month. The DVLA have already sent the new reg document so I took that, the MOT, old tax disc & insurance to my local PO to get a new tax disc to cover from 1st October (not usually willing to donate money to the government early, but will be out of the country most of the time well into October).
The PO clerk told me that I could not tax the car until the day before the old one expired as I didn't have a renewal notice from the DVLA. Apparently you can't take the old tax disc in within 14 days of expiry to ensure continuous cover any more. Knowing my luck, plod will have me when I drive out of the airport car park on the 10th October with an out of date disc?
Is this true or was the old lady behind the counter losing it?
Colin Read more
My understanding is that you can tax a vehicle up to 14 days before expiry, but you must not DISPLAY the new disc until it comes into force.
You do not have to produce the old tax disc on renewal now.
Has anyone any comments(positive or otherwise) on the 'Econoflow' petrol treatment kit? It is reputed to magnetise the petrol, resulting in improved economy and reduced emmissions. Sounds good, but I wonder why, if it's aseffective as claimed, it's not fitted as standard on all cars. Read more
Alvin,
Your car DOES perform better after a wash, Smoother surface = less wind resistance.
I read somewhere (18 or so years ago in a Lucas guide of some kind) that a polished car versus a truly filthy car at speed is 3% more efficient in MPG terms.
Vin
How do you guys react to perfectionist Paul, who writes a column in the DT Motoring supp every week?
I maintain that it is humanly impossible to concentrate absolutely 100% on driving for more than a few miles, even if there are no passengers to distract one.
When I was a high mileage man I occasionally found that I had reached a certain point on a long journey without the slightest recollection of how I'd got there. Reprehensible, I suppose? Read more
Oh dear, oh, dear. How very sententious we've all become these days. Led of course, by po-faced Paul. As someone asked last week, where has all the fun gone?
But reverting to my original point, I remain convinced that, even if car radios are outlawed and passengers are ordered to keep silent and still (or banned altogether), no driver will be able to drive more than say ten miles without mental distraction, thinking perhaps about where he/she is going to park, did he/she turn the gas off, will Phil Mitchell get his leg over again tonight, etc.
One of my customers is considering trading a Renault Espace petrol for a '96 Synergie TD. I have read the Car by Car guide on these and have my own views as a Citroen supporter.
However any views from users (Darcy?) as to these as a long term family vehicle.
David Read more
David
My two-pennorth would be to check the comfort of the ride in the back (see my earlier posting about the dreadfully uncomfortable Renault Scenic).
I guess a lot of folks with people carriers just shove their kids in the back and let them get on with it. It's worth checking by getting the dealer to drive it while the prospective buyer sits in the back - and get him to drive over all sorts of roads.
Ian
Yes, Colin, HGV's most certainly do have MOT's, and from what I recall they are pretty strict too, I seem to recall that they even have to be steam cleaned.
As for rubber flying off the back of one I've witnessed it once in 25 years on the road. The complete tread stripped off a rear tyre on an artic just as I was overtaking, the tread went about 4 feet in the air, right where my windscreen was a few seconds before. A close one, and pretty damn frightening.
Cockle