January 2002
Anyone had any luck with 'online' quotes?
We pick our new car up tomorrow (some hope!) and for the last few days we've been trawling the net for quotes.
Out of about a dozen companies, we've had just two offers, one sensible and one astronomical. All the other sites either didn't work, had 'page errors' (impossible to enter all our details) or had never heard of our model (the new Corolla T-sport).
Most of the major companies have out-of-date cars listed, and some even object to the new style of reg no!
What's up with these guys? Read more
I'm thinking of buying a late pre-owned Volvo V70 2.4 T SE and saw one advertised at a good price by a Volvo dealership. When I went to see it I found out it had been imported by a member of the armed services under the TDS (Tourist and Diplomatic Scheme). The registration document stated 'Imported Vehicle'
Apparently, this TDS scheme is suported by Volvo, but I'm concerned about the re-sale value of the car when I come to sell it which I expect to do in about 3 years time.
Does anyone have any experience of buying / selling Volovos that have been imported in this way, especially with regard to the re-sale value? Read more
Clare
I found a good selection of Volvo Dealers in the Motoring Section of the Saturday Telegraph, many of who had late V70s. The dealer I visited was Hapsteads who are in Horsham Sussex. The Volvo website is also a good source of information, it gives you the oportunity to call up individual dealers and search for a late model car of your choice on-line with a description and photo of each car.
Good Luck
Brian.
In case anyone was discouraged from getting one of the devices by my tale(s) of woe:-
Kenlowe has kindly replaced the heater/pump unit again, but after some discussion with them & my garage, it was suggested that the continuing failures were probably due to the switchback routing of the connecting pipes' resulting in airlocks developing, at the top of each hump. This eventually led to the 3kw heater heating air, rather than water!
(Thanks very much to my 'small independent' garage for a thoroughly bodged job.)
SO, I have just spent about another £100 to get the piping straightened out, and am HOPING this is the end of this sad & expensive story. (I've now paid at least double the original price.)
After all that outlay, it's slightly comforting, on these cold mornings, to get into a nice warm car, knowing that I've undoubtedly reduced the wear & tear by a significant factor.
REAL thanks to Kenlowe, for continuing to replace the heater/ pump (3 times)& for their general helpfulness! (It's still not a DIY job, though, in modern engine bays, whatever their bumf says.) Read more
Thanks, David, it will be a while before I can afford to retire, but I am a East Anglian by birth, so would like to see my time out there.
Derek, mine is a V-reg, WITH visible silencer box, & down-curved tailpipe.
P'raps, if I take it off I'll find the missing mpg !!
Having just read the 'Bond car' thread I am reminded of a film I saw on telly just before Xmas called 'Rhonin' (I think thats the right spelling).
Set in France, it was basically just a series of good car chases, however I noticed that just about every make of French and German car appeared at some point, Citroen XM, ZX, Xantia, Peugeot 205, 306, 405, 605, Renault Clio, Laguna along with BMW's, Audi's and VW, all vehicles getting close up shots of their noses and grills complete with manufacturers badges. I wonder how much the makers of the film were paid off the car companies for this advertising. Read more
Are you some sort of ex-CIA armed robber then?
HI
Can anyone explain what is different between thses two terms. I owned a tubo Diesel some years ago and the turbo useto cut in and out . Is a supercharger the same or does it run at all revs..ie a small engien working hard!
thanks
alan Read more
Hmnnnn......sorry to bring you all back to the question but there are a few small points.....
Whether you call it a turbo or a supercharger it takes power to drive and that power is thus unavailable for anything else,like a jet thrust tailpipe.This is,in fact perfectly feasible.
But none of this matters since the task they both need to perform,and both woefully fail to perform,is maintaining constant manifold pressure throughout the operating range of the engine.
If they were the pressure generators for a spray gun we would solve the problem with a simple pressure tank.Since the manifold pressures in question are derisory,and there to do little more than avoid pumping losses in the cylinders,and friction losses in the downright tortuous induction systems,then some sort of underwing plastic reservoir ought to suffice.If you couple this to a supercharger with a simple variable drive ratio then adequate pressure is easy to maintain.With turbos I see no option to a double arrangement,although if someone wanted to do some work on the variable geometry,otherwise known as variable inlet guide vanes,they might surprise me.After all,the things have only been around for half a century,but perhaps its a bit soon yet.
Someone mentioned auxiliary drives,and I have to say that the arrangement on both my XUD and HDI engines leaves me speechless,but they are all as awful.
As you say,they can be driven off the turbine,or off a jackshaft driven like a camshaft.The main thing is,no exposed drive belts and instant removeability.
It just needs someone to sit down for a few days and design it.I realise that this means that the new door trims may be delayed for perhaps as long as 10 days,we could live with that.
Roy Malt e-mailed "At the old Sandtoft Airfield on the south side of the M180 between Scunthorpe and Doncaster there are thousands of vehicles - cars, vans, campers, all various makes and I am always curious when I pass this location. Are they awaiting sale, scrapping or what????"
Anyone know the answer? Is it a Eurofleet marshalling yard for cars on their way from fleets to dealers and auctions?
HJ Read more
Thanks Mark, my Spanish isn't the best :)
Just looked it up - I'd got it from the Spanish version of Ricky Martin's record, but got it wrong from that even - the lyric they list for the CD is 'vive la vida loca'; of course yours is the accurate translation for the English version of the song. I've learned something today!
Bad enough when I get the lyrics wrong in English records, at least text message boards spare everyone hearing me singing badly too...
Lee.
Further to a thread in the past my 99 Mondeo 1.8 is still pinking on normal unleaded (fine on optimax)
I have replaced the plugs and HT leads, ran three doses of VAG fuel additive through the system and reset the ecu by disconnecting the battery for half a day.
Incidentally, since disconnecting the battery and resetting the ECU the pinking seems to be worse (I might be imagining it though.)
The pinking occurs mainly at 30mph in fourth gear when I floor the throttle.
Any ideas what to try next? Any help gratefully received. Read more
Thanks Andrew, but I am a little confused.
Should it be 95 ron for normal unleaded?
A couple of e-mailers complained today of lousy economy from this, the 2.0 litre stopgap 115bhp DI engine (not the new 128bhp TDci). They are only getting around 35mpg. Anyone else prepared to comment on their experience? Please keep it to the 2.0 DI diesel, not the petrol engines and not other engines in other cars.
HJ Read more
30k, Mobil 1, Michelin Energies = no significant improvement :-(
On chastising a local farmer for buying a Saxo (the French burned our lamb, don't you know) he sent me the following e-mail relating his experiences with Land Rovers. I had thought they were reliable, tough as nails and ran for ever.
Seems he does not agree. Any thoughts?
Part e-mail reads..............
Yes I agree that we committed a dreadful crime in buying a French car. But must say that those bl--dy Froggies turn out some good vehicles. Barry, you may of seen him on the road, always prefers damn Renault tractors. It's such a crime that the U.K lost deservedly, a lot of trade, From the days in 1950 when we supplied 90% of the world's motorbikes. 30 different makes, to the rubbish cars they were making, until the Japanese made 'em buck their ideas up. We have had over the years about 5 different Land Rovers. Basically all rubbish, as they had the monopoly in that market for to long. The worst was a 12 seater, 6 cylinder 2,600cc, and although we had free wheeling hubs, it still only did about 18 miles mpg, yet it was so weak. It would be struggling up a hill with a trailer and a couple of cows in 1st or 2nd gear, whilst the 2 litre Peugeot would fly up the same hill with same load in 3rd gear, and the L.R.breaking down constantly.
So it was another irate letter to the manager of Land Rover's. One of the kindest things that I told him was "Land Rover Safari?. I wouldn't go on safari to the bottom of our drive. The usual smarmy drivel back, The ONLY redeeming feature about the Land Rover was it's non rusting, aluminium body.
Then when the Japs came in with their Toyota and Nissan Land Cruisers, Land Rover improved. BUT when M and myself went to Melbourne to visit Lindsay & Jane. We were over there for a month and one day we went to an Agricultural Show, entertained like Royalty, and I asked a farmer why was there no Land Rovers anywhere to be seen. He told me that when you are hundreds of miles out in the bush, and those bl--dy Land Rovers from the U.K. were so unreliable, we all stopped buying them when the Japanese dual purpose vehicles became available to us. Read more
We used to have the 3.5l V8 which was terrible and if you had a heavy right foot returned aboput 9 mpg. It also collected water in the engine/petrol tank so whenever it rained the performance used to suffer.
When it was new it could see of wide boys in their modified Nova's/Escorts
Still receiving cr*p service from freeserve. It's marginally better in early a.m. than during the evening. I've had 3 different views advanced:
(i) the yanks come on line when it's evening our time,
(ii) all the pimply teenagers are playing games, but aren't yet out of their pits in the morning,
(iii) freeserve are grossly oversubscribed and at peak times the first thing they do is knock out those who (like me) only pay for calls, not £12.99pm.
The b*gg*r of it is that I also use beeb but have found it impossible to uninstall freeserve totally.
Any thoughts? Read more
Andrew is right. I never use the CDs, manual config every time.
Well every time except the first time years ago and Netscape fired itself into every corner of the PC. The uninstall still left debris. It was a coincidental hard drive reformat a few months later that cleared it out.
David
Browse
But the Tesco (Direct Line) cover is inferior to Eagle Star e.g. Legal Cover costs extra, Breakdown Cover costs extra, £21 per week after change of car to retain cover on old car while selling it - Eagle Star give a month's parallel cover free, no courtesy car. I suspect you're not comparing like with like. Tesco were more expensive for me than my existing Eagle Star policy on my 330d but for my 2nd car (Saxo) Tesco were very cheap for a policy with a named teenage driver.