November 2001
has anybody heard about the pensioners which are being recruited by the police to use speed cameras, i know this sounds like a joke, but its not. it just shows you that you should always be nice to old people. Read more
Can somebody help me, please
My 1999 V70 eats dip beam headlight bulbs (10 in 18 months). I use the daylight running mode (my previous S40 ran 3 years with them on without a single failure)
Also, quite often the ABS cuts in, on light pedal pressures, at about 30 MPH. I've read somewhere that this is a self-test routine. Can anyone confirm? Read more
Years ago a friend mentioned a similar problem with another make of car and I discovered that his main beam was not switching off i.e. he had all that heat, effectively 'cooking' the elements. Possibility??
cheers
I've just collected my new Zafira (2.0DTi) and the handbook states that a mobile phone can't be used in the vehicle without an external antenna. What planet are they on? While I'm one of the few people who doesn't carry one about as a matter of course, I might have a passenger in my car and it wouldn't even occur to me to ask him/her "are you carrying a mobile phone ?". Surely it's the responsibility of a maker to harden their systems to comply with current norms? It's possibly not so critical in a diesel, certainly if their commercial vehicles are built to the same standard there would be an epidemic of white van men looking at their immobilised vans.
Gordon Webb Read more
I loved that old Vauxhall Carlton... See you at Christmas.
DB.
3 yr old car, 30 k from new. Full Ford Service history, purchased from Ford main dealer at exactly 1yr from first registartion.
At annual service, attention requested to investigate 'slight pulling to the left'.
Outcome,
"needs new steering rack Sir, 'the threads on one track rod end' have stripped". £270 + labor +VAT. (I guess that is actually the threads on the rack that have stripped, it is not possible to replace the part). It is not now possible to drive it safely.
Sound like some hamfisted 'mechanic' was at best over enthusiastic. Ford will not in the first instance entertain a claim since current purchaser did not take delivery in the first 12 months after registration.
Any comments or advice? Garage was only asked to investigate what was a minor inconvenience, and ends up generating significant income from someone who can ill afford it. Read more
John,
As I am in the maintenance business, I hear a lot of flannel about why equipment fails (both from the user and the maintainer), but the "turning the same way into the driveway" is a classic! Perhaps HJ ought to compile a book on the excuses used by the trade!
JB
A passer-by stopped me today and said he is having a row with the local BMW dealership over the leather seats in his 325. When you lower the rear armrest, one side of the gap in the rear seats is leather, the other side appears to be suede (or leather put on back to front?) So I checked mine (318) and it's the same. Passer-by maintains it's been put together wrong, I can't say I'm all that bothered, but I am intrigued.
I know there are other backroomers who confess to owning BMW's - does anyone have leather seats? Couldn't check yours for me could you?
What about other cars with leather seats? Are they the same? Read more
Our MD has a '98 523 in doom blue with blue-grey leather and this car's rear armrest opening is correctly upholstered; I checked this afternoon. Didn't tell him why I wanted his keys, but saw him peering out of upstairs window. He wouldn't understand even if I did explain ...
if you have a lada, you can run it on cheap russian vodka, i know this because i went touring, and went through russia, they seem to use it all the time, it works out at 21 pence per litre. Read more
Acetone, or cellulose thinners, is quite cheap. The chemists price for it in a nail polish remover bottle with a dollop of oil and scent added is a rip-off.
Acetone is sold in litre cans in the French hypermarkets for about £1 (haven't been over for some time so can't be specific).
They also sell neat alcohol which has various uses like burning, cleaning things and so on at about the same price. Not, however recommended for drinking!
i am sick of the government telling us to 'get out of our cars, and use public transport' but the problem is that i love to drive, also i had to go out tonight and pick someone up from the cinema, if the person had to use public transport, think of this - it was too late for the buses, the trains dont go passed the cinema, and that just leaves getting a taxi, but you have to wait upto 30 minutes for the taxi, while standing freezing, and then pay over the top prices. but with a car you can just get in and go, marvellous. Read more
Honest John wrote:
> But if they
> stop to pick anyone up in the Leicester Square - Piccadilly
> area they get threatened by gangs of mini cab touts.
Illegal cabs are the best and cheapest way to get from Leicster Square to my home. 25 quid on average.... Wouldn't recomend it for a single girl but 50 quid saved is 50 quid earned...
Browse
I wasn't done but after today's trip I am not sure.