I have a Mk. IV VW Golf Estate, bought new in April 2000. A personal import from Denmark, hence massive savings.

That's the good news. The bad news is that when my wife tried to open the driver's door on a frosty afternoon recently - and when I say "frosty", I should point out that we live in Cornwall, not Siberia - the door was frozen to the soft plastic/rubber roof gutter moulding: when she finally managed to get the door open, it ripped two great chunks out of the gutter moulding in the process. Prior to that we had found it impossible to open one of the rear doors for the same reason: frozen fast to the roof gutter strip.

I complained loudly to VW headquarters in Milton Keynes, and told them that I expected them to pay for a new gutter moulding to be fitted to my car. Although the car is technically out of warranty, I took the view that this was a blatant design fault in the vehicle. Do the generality of motorists arm themselves with buckets of warm water and de-icers every time they want to open the door of their car on a slightly frosty morning? I don't think so. Does the Golf handbook advise this procedure every time the temperature falls below zero? Again, I don't think so.

Predictably, VW are content to hide behind the warranty. "This is not a known problem", was the patronizing response handed down from their technical people. Well it bloody well is now (I informed them), because I've just told you about it. The material used for the moulding has a sort of velvety, almost furry surface to it - perfect for holding and trapping the maximum amount of water while it freezes. And freezes your door so tightly shut that you can't use your car without ripping the guttering off.

I think the fault itself is a bloody disgrace (and there was me, thinking that engineering was the Germans' forte). And I think the refusal of VW to own up to their design error and fix my car free of charge is also a bloody disgrace. So I would hugely appreciate it if you felt able to publicize this story - and warn other Golf owners that their cars may be unusable on ever-so-slightly-frosty mornings because the doors will be frozen shut. What the hell do they do in Canada, I wonder - or even the Bavarian Alps?

Allan Blunden Read more

Hi all,

I've took delivery of an imported Golf GT TDi about a month ago through Oneswoop but unfortunately the owners manual has yet to arrive (in the right language).

Everything else with the car is OK except that the car intermitently makes three beeping noises from the instrument panel. I can't figure out what it is, I'm not doing anything special to cause it to beep and without an owners manual can't tell whether it's warning or not. It's defintely not an ice warning as that makes a 'bong' noise and the ice symbol appears....

Is my car trying to tell me something serious?

Cheers

Chi Read more

I have a H reg Rover Metro, it's a very basic model and has NEVER had a stereo in it. Thus there are no wires or speakers to simply plug in a head unit. Could anyone point me in the right direction to being able to wire it up from scratch by myself (I can't afford to get it fitted) and what wires/connectors I need to do this. I am ready to buy a CD tuner head unit, two 4" cones, and two 6x9's (to be put in a box in the boot), I can understand the basic principals in doing all of this but I just want to find out if there is anything in particular I really need to watch for or do. I KNOW that this can be done, I just need a push in the right direction :)

Any help is appreciated...

Chris K. Read more

I started a thread on this last Sunday and received conflicting responses as to whether or not GATSO's can nab you as you approach from the front (albeit on the opposite side of the road). I have today received the following from Poole Highways Dept., which I thought readers may find interesting:

"I believe the static speed camera you are referring to is the one on Dunyeats Road in Broadstone outside Broadstone Middle School, which is in a 30mph limit. Whilst these cameras were purchased and installed by the Local Highway Authority, they are operated by Dorset Police, and as such it is down to them how they carry out speed enforcement in their area. I can tell you, however, that these cameras can detect vehicle speeds in
either direction and that these cameras are "Type Approved" by the Home Office. The camera calibration markings you refer to are on both sides of the road because the camera can cover both carriageway lanes and detect the speed of vehicles on whichever side of the road they are being driven."

I wonder whether this is a new breed of GATSO or whether they can all detect in either direction? It also brings up the question of (and perhaps the legality of?) a distracting flash in the face at night.

I suppose I can look forward to a brown envelope very soon. Read more

Hi all

I have just bought a 3 yr 75k old 1.8 16v Ecotec Vectra and intend to do an interim oil and filter change (Yes cam belt has just been done, yes I know about all the usuall gripes... some pepole like them, get over it!) On all my previous cars, Toyotas, Reanults, VW's.. I have added slick 50 to the engine at a similar mileage and have been very happy. However having I have heard there is a school of thought that advises against these sorts of PTFE additives (as far as I know there is at least one other brand called grease lighting or some such). Any thing that teflon coats the inside of an engine and fills up the microscopic imperefections has to be a good thing, dosn't it??????
Any comments gratefully recived.

Thanks Read more