October 2001
I test drove the Jaguar X type 2.5 Auto this weekend, and it was the worst autobox /engine match I have ever come across! It flat spotted continuously and obviously required several seconds thinking time to pick a ratio - dangerous trying to make a quick exit on a roundabout!
It also held low ratios far longer than needed on long uphill pulls. Is anyone else disappointed with this car? I know it has 'sport 'mode and a manual selection option, but that isn't the point of an automatic.
I was completely put off. Read more
How far can one trust the prices given in car price guides such as Parkers Guide? My wife is looking for a small car to get her to and from work. We have just been to the local Ford Main Dealer and saw a couple of Escorts. When I checked what the price should be in Parkers guide (November 2001 edition) there was a huge difference. A 1997 P-registered 1.8 Ghia X with 37,000 miles on the clock was offered at £5,800. Parkers suggests a price for an A1 condition car of 3£870 (having corrected for the mileage) - a whopping £1930 difference. The other car we saw was a 1998 S Escort Ghia with 20,000 at £6,500. This one ain't in the guidebook (it stops at 1997 P) but I cannot believe the price. We have also seen a VW Polo at a VW dealer where the difference between the garage and Parkers prices is only £400
Is the Ford dealer vastly over-pricing these cars or are the guide books not to be trusted?. I am confused Read more
HJ,
Can you recommend any good auctions to go to for cars? I think it'd be a great idea for the FAQ page - Like car dealers etc there must be good and bad ones and good places maybe for certain types of car. What do you reckon? Even just a few recommendations from yourself would probably be useful to many people.
Cheers,
Dan
Does anybody know the URL address where the Police publish the locations of their mobile speed cameras each week?
By the way, what happens if you are "caught" by one which is not, for whatever reason, in its advertised place? I assume that you still collect the points and pay the fine, so will the Police draw us into a false sense of security by advertising certain locations and then change them without warning? I would not put it past them as, presumably, there is no legal comeback. This leads me to wonder why they publish the locations at all, as it would be wrong to deter people from speeding only when there is a possibility of being caught and to allow people to speed if they know in advance, by checking the URL address, that they are likely to get away with it. As far as I am aware, this is not the purpose of speed cameras.
Andy Read more
Over the weekend someone torched our local speed camera.
The camera box is now more black than grey.
Police and fire engines in all directions, road closed whilst a car was driven over the limit to check the sensors.
Tragic ! :-)
One of my friends father has just taken delivery of a 'Toyota Will VI', a Japanese import. Having seen a photo of it it appears to be of supermini size with an odd truncated rear. It looks like a concept car gone horribly wrong.My question is, can any one give me some more details on it? Read more
At least you can get the bits for a Multipla!!;->
Does anyone have any recommendations for winter (snow) tyres. It can get pretty bad up here in the frozen north (Aberdeenshire). Read more
I'm sure if they did they would be constructed to the highest standards, last for years, a 1960s design, available in blue/grey/white and no-one would buy them.
;-)
David
I have just acquired a 1997 VW Passat that has very poor radio reception. I have tried a replacement roof mounted aeriel from VW but this did not help. I have also substituted the lead from the radio to the aeriel, but still no good. If I connect another aeriel to the radio I get perfect reception. I could fit another aeriel somewhere on the vehicle but there must be something else I can do. Any suggestions? Local VW dealer was no help at all.
Thanks in advance
Andy Read more
Further to what Brian was said, Radio 5 (or was it radio 4..) was saying similar things.
I've been driving a new golf cabrio on & off lately, and the reception is terrible, can't get anything on MW, and the FM reception is a bit ropey.
We're almost at the point of just replacing the whole radio (just out of warranty), but will that solve the problem? Oh, the current one is VW badged, says Beta on it, it's RDS, etc
I really miss the football coverage on R5!
i think everyone should know how cheap cars are up north, in the paper you can buy a 1989 renault 5, with FSH, 54000 miles, tax and test, all for £200. what about the 1986 bmw 525i, that went at the local auction, FSH, 85000 miles, tax and test, it went for only £80. a 55000 mile pug 205, from 1987, with FSH, went for £70. Read more
ChrisR wrote:
>
> 1. Dog only comes in bottles, not on draught.
>
You can get it on draught - if you go abroad.
Last time I spotted it, I was in Genoa.
In accordance with HJs recommendations I am tarting up my Civic for sale.
It had a couple of carpark scratches in the Frost White (NH538) paintwork. Went to see Mr Halford for a spraycan.
"Not in stock, but we can make it up for you whilst you wait ... Ah! there's one component colour missing but there's so little of it used that it won't make any difference".
Being a trusting fool I believed that, and sprayed a small area, only to find that it DID, and area now looks far worse than it did before. It transpires that the reason the ingredient wasn't in stock was that it's lead based. Shop is now trying to get colour made up elsewhere but so far without success.
In this colour Honda dealers only sell those tiny touchup 'mascara brushes'. Short of having a proper spray job done (£££) how, please, can I get myself out of this hole I've dug for myself? Any sources? Read more
Try Paint Technic. Part of Autosmart I believe. Franchised operation going round used car sales touching in paintwork and minor scrapes on panels and bumpers. Local one to me actually reprayed the side of an MGB where it had been "keyed" and made a brilliant job.
I am looking to change my 10 year old very reliable Volvo 740 for a similar sized car but am really put off by the cost of even simple repairs to the electrics on modern cars.
For example, my wife recently bought a Mondeo privately and, as we were only given one key, she was told she had to have the whole thing re-coded at at a cost of £75 including two new keys.
Having re-coded chips in a former life at the Electricity Board meter test station, I wondered why the main dealer told me it would take between 1 1/2 and 4 hours!!!!!!!!!
I used to do it in minutes. Excuse to justify the £75 perhaps?
Which car would the experts recommend that could be fixed by my wizard mechanic friend and not have to resort to main dealers because it needed special diagnostic equipment.
I'm thinking 95/96 BMW 520, Volvo 850 ( not sure about the front wheel drive and the alleged leaky oil seal problem.
Vauxhall Omega unreliable? Scorpio?
Any thoughts folks? Read more
Paul,
I can't exactly frame it in those terms. I only mentioned Fiat and Renault because both those give me some trouble on the electrical/electronic side.
But take cars like Toyota, Honda, Mercedes etc that have a good reputation for build and less problems than normal.
They may not go wrong much but when they do the parts prices can make the wallet bleed. Also it is often harder for the smaller guys (who may be able to shave the labour a bit) to get all the latest info on such cars.
David
Hi,
Has anyone any idea why there does not seem to be any warning given to the constant closure of some lanes or tunnels in the evenings at Blackwall? Twice this week I was caught in jams heading south through the tunnel because they had a contraflow in operation. Why don't they warn of this work? As I could always use the Rotherhithe tunnel as an alternative if I knew in advance, like probably a lot of other motorists as well.
Rodney Read more
The Tucking Funnel, as it is often known, is a constant source of misery to people who live or work in east London. It can cause long traffic jams at 3am. This is often because the people who operate it see fit to clean its walls - a time consuming process that must cost a fortune. I've never understood why they bother - nobody is ever going to touch the walls and an awful lot of money could be saved if they were hosed down perhaps once a year.
There is also awful congestion every couple of weeks when the Limehouse Link is shut at night, for three nights on end. Does anybody know what the tunnel keepers do when the tunnel is closed? A tunnel doesn't really do much other than exist - it shouldn't need to be shut very often. I wonder whether the tunnel keepers rent it out for drag racing, or hold huge disco raves down there
Browse
.jpg)
The KV6 engine in the 75 is basically the same as they unit in the old 825, which did have a head gasket problem. BUT, the unit in the 75 has improved block construction [probably down to the casting procedures as above] Rover tell us the engine is completely different with many new components (we didn't believe them back then, but something must be different, given the reliability)
We currently have several 75's with the two litre and 2.5 litre KV6 engines out there with 80K plus on them with no problems, whatsoever. So, from experience, Rover seem to have 'fixed' the inherent head gasket problem with this engine.
MGR would have to have complete faith in this engine to offer a 3yr/60K warranty, surely?
Customers report to us as not having to add one drop of oil in between services (15000 miles!)
Micheal wrote :-
>John Tower's he's a smart cookie. Anyone writing off MGR is in for a shock.
I have to agree with you, Micheal. I know that I am biased, but I have every confidence in him and his team.
Rgds
David