September 2001
Does anyone know the status of Saab's new variable compression engine? Is it in production? Is it any good? Read more
Is protected NCD what it promises to be?
I had a claim in the past year due to an accident while the car was being driven by a named driver on my policy.
Luckily I have protected NCD.
Renewal time has now arrived. Price quoted is treble last year's premium.
Explanation given - you still have your protected NCD, but we have increased the gross premium (by a factor of 3?) because you were on a special premium tarrif that we no longer offer. Read more
No need to see them in court, it is up to you which garage is chosen to repair your vehicle and you only need to obtain one estimate!.
All new Mini's are being recalled to BMW's Oxford factory because of a design fault that could cause an explosion when the cars are being filled with fuel.
Static electricity could cause a small spark when a petrol pump nozzle is inserted which could in turn ignite fuel vapour in a flash fire.
The problem was discovered when testers found special paint used to earth the fuel filler neck was wearing off too quickly.
Mini engineers at the plant in Cowley will fix the 500 models already delivered to customers and modify the others which are yet to be sent out to dealers.
BMW officials are reassuring customers saying there have been no fires, explosions or injuries at any time during the launch process and that the risk is very small. Read more
Mark,
My Uncle was a senior manager with a major industry a few years ago. He said such pranks in your early years showed some spirit, then when combined with a little more maturity the result was a worthwhile employee.
Now even more maturity sees me wandering about ready to shout "put that potato/flamethrower down you little horror".
David
Expert opinion please, on the current market value and prospects of selling:
1992(K) BMW 735i SE, Met. dark red, black leather, 112k FBMWSH.
Many thanks
Paul R Read more
Thanks for the information guys, I was enquiring on behalf of a client - fortunately I don?t have the ?challenge? of disposing of the BM myself!
I am have seen a '98R BMW 523SE, grey with 97K miles advertised for £9450. It has a full BMW service history (ex-lease vehicle from Devon). It is being sold by a home trader. Am I potentially buying trouble? How many miles can these cars do? If bore wear was to be a problem, surely it would have surfaced by now? (I did a search for threads on this topic last night, but couldn't find what I was looking for). If the engine were to pop, what recourse would I have to the trader? Read more
Andy Bairsto is right about Euro Car Parts I kept my Passat going for a long time on "Factory spares" at sometimes less than 1/3rd VW price. There was an article in one of the Sunday papers about the owner, a Sikh I think, whose reason to live was "the best for less". What ever a main man.
Bill
This Web site has a link to a real audo of each weeks 1 hour show frrom Click Ad Clack the Tappet Brothers... A US weekly standby about 25 years for those who drive older cars.. I think that many who read this site might enjoy it...
cartalk.cars.com/
oh BTW reference the cheap USA Fuel every one talks about... it depends where you live... keep in mind the large distances that one sometimes covers in the the US.... driving 70 or 80 miles for dinner is not considerd strange in parts of the west... where I live on this Island Super Unleaded is 55 cents a liter but distances one travels are low... and right now there are places in the US where it can be as cheap as 30 cents/liter but these tend to be places where the next farm is 20 miles away and the town is 50... Read more
Hi All,
My Omega V6 has just started to cause problems starting when hot i.e when stopping for petrol, a paper or the like. It always starts, but sometimes only after 2 or 3 attempts with the key.
Its midway between (10,000) mile services and I had the oil/filter & plugs changed a week or so.
Any ideas/comments?
Regards ........... Robert Read more
Robert,
Mine had the same sort of thing, but after longer stops - e.g. 30 mins to 2hrs. In my case, it was the rev sensor for the ECU slowly failing. It eventually gave up completely and cost me £170 (gulp).
This really is a case where it's worth dropping it into a Vauxhall Main Dealer; they plug it into their diagnostic thing and give you an instant diagnosis. My non-franchised dealer even told me to do it, as they have to solve such problems by trial and error.
Vin
Can anyone recommend any non franchised garages in the Worcester/S Midlands area who either specialise in Volvos or air conditioning?
I have a Volvo 850 that needs a complete a/c system - £1100 at the Volvo dealer for an evaporator, condensor and a/c radiator. Surely I can get this done cheaper.
Volvo 850/V70 buyers beware - take heed of honest john's assessment on the a/c - it will fail if not serviced by someone who knows what they're doing and that doesn't always mean the Volvo main dealer.
thanks Read more
Touting for business on the back room? Do you have no shame? Where's that moderator person? Tell us what we want to know - how much?
How hard is it to replace a cam belt in a 1998 Primera with the CD20 diesel engine?, The reason I ask is that I have been quoted £220 at a Nissan Main Dealer, which also includes the alternator/water pump/AC compressor belts as well.
I have usually found Halfords to cheaper in labour costs than main dealers, but found them only truely familar with mass market cars i.e. Vectras/Mondeos/Rovers, and don't want to take it to them if they don't know what their looking at. Read more
Carl,
I have no information as to the mileage expected from this Nissan tensioner. You may have seen here previously there are some engines where the tensioner should be changed as well.
I mentioned it from the cost as well as safety point of view. I recently had to fit a Fiat tensioner and it was about £70. Whether or not a tensioner was included in you dealer quote is important for quoting like for like.
David
A friend of mine just called me out to help him recover a 120000 mile Audi A6 2.6 V6 avant estate that had just suffered a cam belt breakage with the inevitable engine contacts. Now obviously HJ's sound advice about cam belt replacement probably would have prevented this but now the damage is done does anyone have any first hand expreience of likely repair costs, I have said 2K at an Audi dealer but would appreciate any first hand expereience....Oh by the way the car has a FSH but probably not with anyone that knew what they were doing!!...
Ian Read more
This engine has two catalytic converters. If they got spiked as a result of the valves hitting the pistons, reckon on an extra £1,200. At 120k miles they were probably near the ends of their lives anyway.
HJ
Andrew
That's it exactly. As you say sounds like overcomplication for the sheer hell of it. I could be wrong, but doesn't restricting the amount of air drawn in to the cylinder have a similar effect - in as much as it varies the maximum compression pressure?
Regards
John