January 2002
I want to use the faxback service that Manheim car auctions operate to receive a list of lots the day before a sale, can any computer experts out there advise me how I can use my PC to dial out and receive the fax back. I have done a program search and can't find anything obvious, where can I get the software? How do I get it setup? thanks in advance
Ian Read more
Hi
Does anybody have experience of buying a vehicle from either Trade Sales of Slough or Motorpoint or similar. The savings look pretty good but I notice that you need to add about £250 on the road costs to their quoted prices - road tax, number plates, indemnity fees, etc. Am I correct in thinking all the cars they sell are pre-registered so although unused they are officially 'used'?
thanks in advance Read more
I was offered a derisory trade in on my current car, owned by me from new FSH 40K miles,( as it is now 6 years old the dealer just phones for a price to take it off his hands regardless of condition etc), appro £1000 less than whatcar/parkers private sale good candition value. This was against a VW Golf costing £17500 or FOR CASH £245 discount.
Is this the good deal referred to at UK suppliers ?
No wonder car importing is growing. The sooner block exemption ends and Tesco/Asda/M&S start selling cars the better.
Perhaps the idiot who represents the manufacturers on TV, when UK car prices are discussed, defending them with the strength of the Pound/Servicing/warranties/customer service etc can then be sacked.
From E-mails you published most of the aftersales service is crap apart from Mercedes and customer focus is zero.
Last week our office cleaner laid up her decrepit Pug 205 and bought privately a '94 Mk3 Golf diesel with 91K miles. This week the Golf's symptoms (as near as I can determine through the tears) are poor gear selection from standstill or moving ie depress clutch and crunch the gears into first or third (will rarely find second from rest), clutch takes up normally, then finding gears on the move is a lottery. Sometimes she thinks the car is in gear and lets the clutch up only to have it pop out of gear.
The garage that looked after her 205 for years has not inspired her with confidence by greasing the linkage and ordering some bushes for the gear linkage, but the mechanics are apparently doing a lot of head-shaking and sucking their teeth.
She said the symptoms appeared suddenly; when she test drove it, she thought the gears were stiff, but put it down to being a different car. Incidentally, the MoT says it is petrol; despite this the log book says heavy oil and it runs happily on diesel.
I can't see the car as it's parked up the dale somewhere and she got a lift to work.
It sounds like the clutch is dragging but that doesn't explain inability to find a gear, or does it? Read more
Thank you all for your advice and comments; I'll keep you posted.
'm sure I read in HJ's column somewhere that I should leave my diesel engine running after a long run before switching off. Why is this necessary and why don't manufacturers warn buyers about it?
My engine is a 2.5 TDI (102 bhp). Congratulations by the way on this site. I had a very quick and helpful responce to my previous queries....Bob Read more
Do you know of any modern cars whose turbos are water cooled and therefore will not overheat if switched off without simmering. The oil variety may put off some non aware car owners who do no want to be bothered to be careful
Thanks
There's a very articulate and well-written letter in January's Cycling Plus magazine about the dangers or otherwise of cars having permanently on running lights. The writer concludes that, based on the evidence of other countries, cyclists, pedestrians and so on will not be "drowned" in a sea of lights. Interesting.
More interesting is the writer, one Christopher Watson of Newcastle upon Tyne. The letter is not written in the style of the bumbling fool we know and love. If this letter writer is you, Chris, what's your game?
Chris Read more
Guy wrote: "Obviously got too much time on his hands and is not yet old enough for my favourite time-filler."
I don't think making your girlfriend dress up in your brother's overalls and softly whisper quotes from the VW golf owners manual in your ear[1] is really something LAS would be interested in at any age...
[1] Probably in the original German you rascal.
This from Junk Science, January 17, 2002
"Does CAFE Kill?: Leading Traffic Safety Researcher to Discuss Federal Fuel Economy Standards Program at CEI" - "Washington, D.C., January 15, 2002-As the debate over fuel economy standards heats up, one of the world's leading traffic safety researchers addresses the question-Does CAFE Kill? Dr. Leonard Evans will discuss the corporate average fuel economy program (CAFE) this Thursday, January 17 at 10 a.m. at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Last summer the National Academy of Sciences reported that CAFE may contribute to as many as 2,600 deaths each year because the program has forced the downsizing of cars, making them less crashworthy. Despite those findings, there is a widespread push for more stringent CAFE standards. Advocates of higher standards dispute the existence of any trade-off between fuel economy and safety, and argue that new technologies make it possible to have higher standards without any safety trade-off.
What are CAFE's safety risks? Can higher fuel economy standards avoid these risks, or will it make them worse?
Dr. Leonard Evans is president of the International Traffic Medicine Association, former president of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, the recipient of numerous traffic safety awards, and author of the widely acclaimed book, Traffic Safety and the Driver. Read more
on a "MILK RUN" Flight with several stops:
each langing was worse tha the last...
at the final destination the landing was perfict...
as the pasangers deplaned one of them complimented the capt.
he got this growl back.... *)()* Dam copilot did this one...
Very old joke in the flying trade sorry if you have heard it before
~R
Ok, so I know nothing about cars (am I allowed to say that without getting lynched?) but Mazda central have refused to accept any liability for a £2,200 bill which I'm landed with, due to the oil pump failing. They say that because the second service was 3 months late, the oil will have degraded & put pressure on the pump and that I therefore can't claim that the pump was not 'fit for purpose' even though the car's only 3 & 1/2 years old & done a mere 12,500 miles. Does this sound right to you?
On top of that, 2 months ago, the car was cutting out when I put the clutch down & making a knocking/ticking noise. The mazda garage put this down to the clutch plate (another £350 bill). They replaced it but when I left, the car was still cutting out (albeit less so) & still making the noise. I was told it would 'probably settle down when it bedded in'. The noise got worse & I booked it back into the Mazda garage - it was on my way there that the oil pump failed & bu**ered the engine. The rest (as they say) is history...... Could the original problem have been the oil pump all along & the garage had just failed to diagnose it correctly?
Last question (honest), what other possible causes are there for an oil pump to fail on a Mazda? I've no idea how it's driven for example. Any likely causes that could have caused the initial 'knocking sound' symptons?
I really can't afford the £2k & I want to argue this, so any advice? Read more
Ok, I confess I know nothing about the Suzuki jeep. It was the first thing that came into my head as the antithisis of the honest landie. I assumed it was the domain of the girlie hair dresser.
Can they practically be used off road?
My brother has a Daihatsu 4 track to tow his horse it seems like a genuine off roader to me. Chassis and everything. (he's looking to sell it incidently, if anyone here is interested). So I guess the japs *can* make proper off road vehicles.
Incidently I saw what can best be described as a Land Rover school bus on thursday. Do they make a long, long, long wheelbase LR for that purpose or did I see a one off?
"Assume this sentence includes a strong rebuff and at least seven of the words that Martyn won't let us use."
Well it did Mark, but after I saw what the site software did to it I *just had* to use the edit button so it made sense.
Steve,
well done that man, bet you need a lie down in a darkened room after that.
Private sellers, huh, colleague just gone off to view a "6(six) cylinder Porker 944"
Only made em with 4 didn't they? Unless you start to include brake cylinders in which case it would be a ..........
I'm off tea beckons.
I've purchased the relevant Panasonic changer to connect to the VW Gamma unit in my '97 Passat, and ordered the connection lead via Halfords ;
Does the Passat come pre wired from head unit to boot, and if so, where's the multi connector located in the boot?
As an update on the BX I've discovered the reason it doesn't go quickly is the accelarator mounting bracket is bent (common problem apparently) after it's fixed tomorrow I'll see if I can reach a speed camera triggering velocity.
Brake pads being changed too, so should stop as well. Read more
They are mounted behind the cover between the nearside rear lights and rear wheel...
I used to buy (from Lucas in Slough) 3, 5, 7 and 9 way male/female connector blocks with separate bags of solderable/crimpable tags that could be wired up then pushed into the blocks.
(I know this sounds like gobbledygook, but I can't think of any other way of describing them - just think about a standard multi-way plug socket arrangement that you can buy disassembled).
Where can I get them from now?
Martin. Read more
Try Vehicle Wiring Products, 9 Buxton Court, Manners Industrial Estate, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 8EF
Phone 0115 9305454 Fax 0115 9440101 E-mail sales@vehicleproducts.co.uk
They do mail order or over the counter. I bought some weather-proof connectors recently. They do 2 types but say the flat ones are better.
Phone for an illustrated catalogue.
Browse
Ladslow is right, but this wouldn't make anything like as much money for the auction house as the Faxback service. But BCA account holders can get the information via Auctionview and all you need to becaome an account holder is at elast £10,000 permanently in a bank account.
HJ