October 2001
Any recommendations as to where you can get reasonably priced Kia parts outwith the dealers? Read more
How can you tell if your car has actually had the service you have paid for?
My Passat has just started to tell me it is time for a service - there is an indicator on the tripometer. Thing is, I had it serviced 1,000 miles ago. Looks like the garage (VW main dealer) forgot to reset the service indicator. This makes me wonder what else they 'forgot' to do. My wife had a similar experience at a Nissan garage: car came back from the Main Dealer service with the windscreen washer bottle empty. Refilling this was part of the service. Stupid bloke at the garage tried to convince us that he could 'guarantee' that everything else had been done. He could not see our point that if something obvious like the washer bottle had been skimped than how could we be sure that the rest had been done.
So, short of watching the service being done, how can you be sure? Read more
Andrew Tarr wrote:
>
> I think the answer to worries about proper 'servicing' is to
> do what one can oneself, and specify the other tasks in
> detail. This makes it clear that you know what is required
> and can tell whether it has been done. Most jobs on a
> standard service can be done at home - change oil, filter,
> lubricate hinges etc..........
Andrew, In essence I agree with this strategy, though personally I might add on change of brake fluid/coolant as potential DIY jobs.
What grieves me, and I suspect the others, is that in order to maintain a FSH, either in terms of stamps in the book and/or receipts you have to pay for all the other jobs, regardless of whether they are done or not. Then having paid out all that cash for work done (or not) and something goes wrong it can be a battle to get help when something goes wrong 1 month after the guarantee expiry.
SMMT in its campaign to keep the current franchise system bangs on about the money that manufacturers have put in to ensure that their concessionaires have the ability and know how to keep these incredibly complicated machines properly maintained.
They say no better system has emerged. I would say no better system has been allowed to emerge. Yet clearly in many cases that system is abused.
Judging by some of the posts on the site there is a considerable segment of the market who would actively opt for less complication in car systems.
All my negative comments are aimed at the bad boys in the system, not anyone who posts on this site I think.
Just had 30K service on my Puma and the Ford agent advised me to have engine flush.Have I wasted my £16? Read more
peter great wrote:
>
> Phoned my Ford dealer with over 50 garages across country and
> they do 100s of engine flushes on Zetec engines.
No, they charge for them. I doubt they do them. ;-)
Why has petrol gone down to 69.9 per litre in my town? With all the tension in the oil producing areas I would have thought it was going to go up. I am not complaining just confused. Read more
Brent crude is down to around $21 a barrel, as opposed to $30 a few months ago, as a result of the oncoming recession in world trade, reinforced by less travel as a result of the WTC attack.
Market forces have pushed that through to the pump.
This means that the proportion of the pump price represented by tax (which is a fixed sum, not a percentage) is now higher than ever.
Has a new law been passed whereby if you are a man aged under 25 you must wear a baseball cap whilst driving and drive like a complete a***hole (usually in a Vauxhall Nova or Corsa with ridiculously oversive alloys and rear spoiler).
I know when we were young and first got on the road we all liked to drive as fast as possible but soon learned to calm down if we wanted to stay in one piece, but it seems that driving standards of the young seem to be getting worse not better! Read more
Maybe because they cannot dress themselves. And wont havew the embarrassment of getting their mum to
Ditto about buying clothes.
Kev
Had occasion to be with a large group of women (age 35 - 50), talking about mens cars. Thought you?d be interested to hear what they said. First the negative - they didn?t like GTI?s - aggressive and threatening. In fact all fast cars got the thumbs down! ?they take stupid risks, driving fast just because they can, it?s scary?. Status cars were also rejected as ?vain and arrogant?.
It seems these women liked men with very ordinary cars, provided that (and they applied the same criteria to mens clothes) they were not to be too old, nice colours, scrupulously clean inside and out, and looked well cared for. They particularly liked men who had the confidence to drive a simple supermini, as they considered a relaxed confidence the most attractive feature in a man!
It seems that just like women like to look thin to impress other women. Men must be choosing their cars to impress other men. Read more
"Or something which may not be the latest colour, latest trim, all bells and whistles, but which starts every time, never leaks, is comfortable on long journeys, takes all our shopping and children in comfort etc?"
If they were honest with themselves, isn't this also a description of what men want in women ? (j/k)
Having a '97 Astra towed here to look at tomorrow following cambelt failure at motorway speed. Covered 57,800 miles.
What will I find??
David Read more
It might sound perverse - BUT this shortcoming has resulted in a lot of work for mechanics in maindealers and small garages alike!
I have never seen this topic raised on this site before, so forgive me if it has already been discussed.
I recently heard that camers to detect road tax dodgers are in use in London, (soon to be everywhere else as well no doubt), why for god's sake don't they just scrap this outdated nonsense and put 2-3p a litre on fuel instead - those who run bigger engines/do more miles pay more road tax.
Think of the benefits:
1)The Government would probably cover the revenue gained from tax discs.
2)Because the treasury could sack a whole workforce of pen-pushers and bureaucrats, they would save money not having to administer the current scheme (they could also shut down the ridiculous 'road tax cheats hotline').
3)Less queueing/time wasted in post offices.
4)Cash flow of any road haulage company would be enourmously improved (by not having to shell out thousands up front to tax the trucks).
Such an obvious solution, why not implement it? Read more
Yes I don't see the connx between the need for a VED disk and ensuring insurance. If the insurance papers annually simply included a small sticker you would tag on to the rear license plate, surely that would cover the issue? You could then be identified as having current insurance, expired insurance, or no insurance.
Then, and here is the master-stroke, the speedcameras could do the policing job!
Would you like motoring to be :
-Depreiciation free.(May actually go up in value)
-No road tax.
-Insurance for about £ 100 per year.
-Cheap parts and servicing.
Then you need a post 1972( no road tax) classic car.
Buy a nice MGBGT(or similar) for £ 2500 - 4000 and your beating the system !
Your thought's .....
Steve G Read more
Since I am old enough to remember all the so-called classics mentioned here when they were new,and since it was my frequently difficult lot to have to sell the damn things,can I just tell you all that in 1970,with a basement full of everything,only two cars were ever in demand.
Mini Cooper S
Jaguar XJS
with a small side order for a nice MGB roadster or ,for the slightly eccentric an Austin 1300GT.
But they were not well made,not well built,and not all that well designed.
Leave them to rust in peace!
Anyone have any suggestiong for removing scuff marks of the interior plastic trim?
Andy Read more
Son of a Gun
Yellow bottle, squirty type, gets rid of small cosmetic scuffs, wont work on bigger deeper ones though. Smells ok too.
Jonathan
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This is *so* the site that you want..........
www.millenniummotorspares.co.uk/kia.htm