September 2001
I hope someone can give me some sound advice.
The differential in an Audi 80 I recently purchased has needed rebuilding - apparently this is not an uncommon problem. I removed the gearbox/differential unit myself and gave it to a local rebuilder who assured me he would replace the diff bearings, crownwheel and pinion with genuine new Audi parts. We agreed a price which included overhauling the auto transmission (which was relatively cheap compared to the differential parts).
The rebuilder seemed to have considerable trouble acquiring the necessary parts. After considerable delay, the unit was ready for collection. I took it home, and looked inside with a torch. It was immediately apparent from the wear marks on the crownwheel that the parts inside were not brand new.
Livid, I returned to the rebuilder's premises. His mechanic agreed that they were not new, and refunded my money, but insisted I leave the box with him, which I did.
Later on the phone, the rebuilder spun me some story about how the parts were 'as good as new', because they came from a car a friend in the trade had repaired but the cheque had bounced, so they had only had 4 days use. As he's lied before, I simply don't believe him.
I have spoken to a specialist HJ recommends on this site, and would glady put it in his hands to ensure a proper job. But the rebuilder will not release the gearbox without substantial payment for the work he says he has done.
What rights do I have against the rebuilder?
Regards
Albert Reynolds Read more
i have found that the volvo 900 series has a problem, the throttle can jam, which is quite dangerous. also the brake servo can fail, which is even worse, the problem also effects some of the 700 series, i am not quite sure of the dates, so its best to contact a main dealer. Read more
no its the volvo 900 series, i have rang them up and volvo reluctantly said the volvo 900 DID have a recall for the throttle jamming, and the rear brake servo.
Hi all
I have undertaken some DIY work in an attempt to stop the misfiring on my MX6.
This morning I changed the HT Leads.
i think I have done it correclty, but when I took the dissy ends off I forgot to check which end for 5 and 3 go in which socket on the dissy. I have swapped them but the engine doesnt sound rough on either. The leads are all numbered so I know the are correct in the plugs (and they are all different lengths, so can only fit one way).
The leads are 1,3 and 5 on the front block, 2, 4 and 6 on the back. However, on the dissy, the leads go in a different order. something like 2, 3 and 5 on the top and 1, 4 and 6 on the bottom.
Does anyone know which way round the should be?
My friendly mickannenick is away today, so I cant ask him.
Many Thanks
Jonathan Read more
does anybody know a good rally/race day, the problem i have is that i am 6'6", and all the race days i have rang say you must be a maximum of 6'5". Read more
Autocar does the best listings of track days, etc., but a story in The Telegraph on Saturday gave Association of track Day Organisers at www.atdo.co.uk and for a full listing of events: www.track-days.co.uk Quite a few guys club together and buy cheap fast-ish cars, such as ex-police Vectra SRI 150s (if you can stand the ludicrous understeer) for a gripper or two and use them. The lack of a sunroof should give Chris a bit more room up top. Or, if you have a bit more money, buy a car from a defunct one make one model race series which will at least have a proper roll cage and safety equipment. Ads for these in Motoring News.
HJ
My Citroen Xantia HDi 110 bhp estate was bought in November 1999. At the first service I was told that the front brake pads would need replacing in 4000 miles - I had done 8300. I had the pads replaced at the service to save taking the car back later. At 14000 miles this week, the brake pad replacement light has come on, so it would appear I need another set of pads! At the first service, the dealer saw nothing strange in having to replace the pads so soon - despite a 12500 mile service interval on the car (my previous Xantia 2L petrol estate went for 3 years 3 months on the original brake pads). Has any other owner had a similar problem? Read more
Two issues here Steve.
First Xantias are known to eat front brake pads, sometimes shortly followed by their discs.
The "problem" is that the weight and grip bias on modern FWD cars is such that the front brakes do most of the work. This factor is increased on the Xantia because they have a crafty way of providing rear brake effort based on the loading (and therefore hydraulic pressure) of the rear suspension. This gives more accurate control than some of the load-proportion or anti-lock valves on conventional systems.
What it does mean is that in a "driver only" car the front pads are doing all the stopping. Add to this the fact that the Xantia system is fully powered, not just servo assisted, and you have a capable system that will go through front pads quickly.
The second issue is these daft extended service intervals. We have talked many times here (HJ Forum) about the need to bring the oil changes back to 6000 miles if you want a long life from the engine. But there is also the point about all the other items such as brake pads that are checked at a service.
If you take in a car for service at 6000 intervals and see the pads are well worn it is possible to make a reasonable assumption on the chance of the linings lasting to the next interval. With a 12000 mile schedule, if you are to avoid the customer being troubled by an interim visit, it is really crystal ball stuff to look that far in the future. So, as you have just found, the best advice is to say change the pads early. In doing so you may have wasted 50% of their wear life and this is directly a result of over extended service intervals.
David
A few weeks ago I asked for help finding a car hire for the 5 weeks of my next visit...(thanks everyone) H.J. pointed me to EasyRentaCar.com and in fact they worked out to be the best deal 5 weeks for 7 quid a day and 75 miles a day... Since the car will be parked for about 2 weeks while I am on a narrow boat the 2600 miles I get with the rental should be fine... I just need to decide to accept the charge/fine for removing the door decals ... I realy don't fancy being a rolling advert like a taxi for 5 weeks...
My question is how many cig lighter sockets does an A class have? I need to charge my DV camcorder, my cellphone and my iPaq pocket PC and my GPS... So I need to know if I need to bring a 3 or 4 outlet extender to plug them all in. if it has an outlet for the back seat it is one less thing to pack... I looked at M-benz uk web site but I could not find the info
~Randolph Read more
That is a picture... No the Gps is for the back road navigating... When I was young and dumb I would glance at a map as I drove... Now in addition toi having gotten a bit of wisdom I do not have the eyes to do that even if I wanted to... the GPS makes it easy to find those out of the way pubs as Camra is kind enough tp provide OS grid ref for them in the Good Beer Guide... Thinking on it though It could also be used to find pubs within say a mile or so of the cut as you sail along!
~R
i own a1991 saab 9000 2.3i ,which has recently developed an annoying misfire at low revs .if you accelerate hard there is no noticeable misfire but drive normally and try to pull from low speed there is amisfire around 1500 to 2000 rpm.i have checked plugs and the throttle postion sensor and found nothing.
can anybody point me to the source and how to check. Read more
see townsendimports.com or saabnet.com for stuff on meding saabs
A bit of advice when declaring SORN.
If you have a V11 form - make sure you use it.
Fill it in and then take it down to your local post office.
Then the post office will give you a receipt stating that you paid £0.00
to declare SORN. The piece of paper also has your registration printed on it.
The only other alternative is to use a V890 which needs to be sent to Swansea.
If Swansea don't received it/lose it, you will receive a nice letter in the post
asking you to pay a fixed penalty.
Even if you present a certificate of posting, you are stuffed.
Even if you can prove that DVLA received it (by sending recorded delivery) you
are stuffed.
The only way you can ensure that you won't receive that fixed penalty is by
ensuring that it's typed into the computer - and how the hell are you supposed
to do that?
/John Read more
I had the same thing. Sent the SORN to local Post Office as requested. Only when I came to transfer cherished number did I find out it never got to Swansea. Got lost somewhere along the way.
Does anybody know of an reliable international shipping agent I need to fetch a vehicle from the states Read more
Do not use Geo Logistics - this is the worst shipping company in the world they lose or damage anything entrusted to them.
Best way would be to hire a 20 foot Container and put your vehicle inside. cost should be less than DM1500. what car is it ?
I own a 1994 Volvo 2-litre automatic which has done 65,000 miles and is serviced regularly by the local Volvo dealership. It has recently developed a loud whistle when first driven from cold. The noise comes whilst accelerating and continues until the engine warms up (5 to 10 mintes), it then stops and the car runs normally whilst the engine is warm. Any ideas? Read more
Sell it and buy a Ford Focus !
> new parts were not used in diff, therefore garage is in
> breach of contract...
Possibly so.
> one party being in breach of contract gives the other part
> wide ranging ability to disregard all other terms of
> contract, such as paying
Not true.
> if you carnt get the gearbox back, sue for its value
This you can do.
However, only a court can take the gearbox away from the repairer and return it to you against the will of the repairer.
Even the police cannot do this. If you try, then you will break the law and will be treated quite harshly.
Of course you can go to the small claims court, with a reasonable chance of winning. However it will take time. You could also threaten him into returning it, but I doubt your chances.
On the other hand, as someone, maybe Andy, said - you could get a written guarantee for a period of time/number of miles. However, if something did go wrong, he doesn't sound like the sort of person who would deliver on the guarantee.
I'd go with visiting the repairer with your solicitor first. Get sat down with him and get him to go through the whole story with you while your solicitor takes notes.
Let your solicitor negotiate. Even if this fails your solicitor will be able to set out exactly what you could do with the differing chances of success.