January 2002
My new car insurance policy has a loss or damage exclusion clause which i have'nt heard of before.
Along with the usual exclusions , War,nuclear, terrorism there is a clause
"Electronic computer or computer software breakdowns,faults or failures"
So presumably if your airbag unexpectantly deploys due to electronic malfunction and you crash the car you cant claim. Must include electronic steering assistance,fly by wire throttle,abs,semi-auto gearbox ...... Read more
35,000 now to be without jobs plus numerous plants to close.
Scenario One: All the consultants and business analyst talking heads and other purveyors of the 20-20 Hindsight Told You So wisdom are now preaching the obvious: Ford got indigestion, choked on all those other brands, lost its way -- who was it trying to appeal to, etc etc. It'll be another $10 share. Don't touch it for a while till the bleeding stops and so on and so forth.
Scenario Two: Ford say this is a reflection of hard times in the market, the new brands will pull us out, just as the Model A did in the thirties, the '49 Sedan did after the War, the Taurus did in the eighties after the oil crunch etc etc
Scenario Three (less talked about, seems to me) from the Little Bird brigade says, well, er, ahem, er, excuse me, can we talk for a minute about the $3 billion, yes, billion with a "b", the Ford family pulled out of the business last year.........don't suppose that has anything to do with it....
Over to the scions, the pundits and the prophets..... Read more
Growler
When you think about it, Bill Ford would say that. Sure the Model A helped when it came in in 1927, but it only lifted sales for a year or so. After the Depression hit, Uncle Henry refused to move with the times. GM overtook them in terms of sales in, I think, 1931, under CEO Alfred P. Sloan. In that year GM sold 43 percent of American cars, and Ford 28 percent. Chrysler overtook Ford a couple of years later. As far as I remember, Ford didn't take the lead again until the 1950s. Incidentally, Sloan invented the system we have today of mass-produced models aimed at different markets, depending on income/status, and revised within the lifetime of the average finance deal to tie consumers in.
Cheers
Chris
< >
Glad to see they've ditched the BMW's, and gone back to British (?) cars!
Now, we just have to get Bond into a nice Freelander... Read more
A BOND Bug would be an excellent British choice ?
Looked at one (SWMBO likes the look) but it is SHODDY with a cheap and nasty interior and the worst panel fit I have seen on a European car in years. Sure it looks nice but the build looks to be rubbish and there is simply too much to go wrong.
Salesman was trying to claim conquest sales from SLK...... meanwhile back on earth. Read more
My experience with peugeot dealers has been nothing but a Nightmare, just taken mine in this morning for a service - nowhere to park, cars dumped all over the place had to leave it on Double yellow lines, along with over a dozen others !
I like my Car but hate having to go to this horrible dealer.
Just been asked by a customer to advise on values for a private sale of her car, she's been given a lease one from this year. I know I can look in the guides and ask a friend for the Glasses price but......
What do you think is a real world swiftish sale price for a......
1996 P-reg Mondeo LX TD. Taxed and MOT. Two owner, lease company and now present female owner. Full history and up to date on servicing. Dark blue (oh dear) but washes up to a presentable car with only the usual small door dings for the age.
She's going to try private ads in the local freeads and Sainsbury's for sale cards etc. Might send it to auction if it fails to shift in a couple of weeks but I've advised against. It could end up there on a day with few private punters and the trade in a sad mood!
Thanks.
David Read more
David L is *always* right - just ask his other half, Hayley.
What is the life expectance of car batteries these days?, used to be 3 - 4 years but have battery manufacturers made advances.
The reason I ask is that I am spending some weeks driving around Europe in the spring, my car is 4 years old (diesel), and the local tyre depot is having a battery sale on now. Read more
Aaaarghh! Just remembered, replaced passat''s last year.
Hi all
I know that a lot of the contributors to the forum recommend leaving the aircon running all year round so as to keep the system healthy.
In my mondeo's manual it says that its only ok to use the system when the outside air temperature is +4 deg C or above.
But VW have been marketing the Polo on the radio saying that the cars aircon system can be used to heat the car up-I know you can turn the dial round to hot and have hot air coming out but would it not damage the system running it at say 0 deg C ie against the advice in the manual?
Thanks Read more
PS. I am also now contemplating leaving the aircon off except when I am moving regularly. About 20 mins of my 1 hour morning journey is spent in traffic jams and the car seems to drink like a rugby team who've just won at home during this time. So far aircon on = 29mpg, aircon off when in town and in jams = 34mpg. A worthwhile difference I think...
I know the old MGF wasn't much of a looker but why is the new MG TF styled to look like an 80's Opel Manta which itself was derived from the 70's Vauxhall Cavalier. I don't understand all this retro styling, if I want a car to look old I'll buy an old car ! Read more
In my various tirades about the idiocy of motor manufacturers I have often used the original MGtf as an example.
For as long as its existed I have always thought it the best looking of the Ulster bodied sports cars,or perhaps the prettiest.
It was knocked up during one weekend by Syd Enever and a tinbasher called Billy Wilkins.
I have also been told,althogh I find it impossible to beleive,that not only did they not have access to banks of Kray computers,but that it is possible that no computer of any sort was used.
How very different to the life of our own dear lumpy,slow,heavy,expensive,MGF,which cant have cost a penny less than ten million and took years.
I havent seen the new one yet,but if its any heavier than a Lotus Elise I dont want to see it.
And,no,apart from the looks the original MGTF was as mechanically depressing as every other cheap sports car,but at least it was cheap.
My great uncle owned one of these in the late thirties it was an early 30s model possible registered in 1933 with an unusual 4 door body. He bought it in preference to the newer six cylinder model and we still have the correspondence with the garage over which model he should have. It cost £1100 !!! a lot then.
He drove a lot in it and we have pictures of him in the alps with it in the '30s!
After the war it was sold. Where is it now.
Its registration was DAK 880.
It would be great if it is still alive some where any ideas? Read more
The v12 Lagonda engine,like the v12 RR engine,which I think it inspired,were engines ahead of lubrication oil technology.
With current oils they would run like birds!
If only most had survived to do so.
It has to be said,and I am sure that I am only repeating the great Leonard Setright,that the more cylinders an engine has,the better that engine will be.
We all get stupidly obsessed by fuel consumption.
My mother,who is 81, is considering the purchase of a new Volvo,she is concerned because the model she wants may do 2mpg less than the one she currently owns.
She does less than 5000 miles a year,although mostly at about Mach 5 on Cornish back roads,and has an income over expenditure ratio exceeding twice the average national earnings ,ignoring capital gains.
You see what I mean?
You think she is unusual?
Pretty well every member of every Cornish Golf club is the same.
In my unwanted capacity of proxy motoring adviser to about 2000 of them this red herring comes up almost weekly.
Lets get real,if you drive less than abot 8000 miles a year you dont need a car you need a taxi,and fuel consumption is much less important than depreciation.
Strangely the Cornish sagagolfers never ask my mummy to ask me about depreciation,just mpg.
Both the front and rear fog lights on my girlfriend's Renault Megane Coupe have stopped working. I have changed the fuse but to no avail. Is the most likely cause for this failure to be the switch in the combined indicator/lights/foglights/dip-mainbeam stalk?
I wouldn't have thought that all 4 bulbs would have failed at the same time. Additionally the fog light warning lamps on the dashboard do not illuminate.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks Read more
Sadly,legislation passed by fools and written by semi-literates has cost an innocent man,or woman, £72.
Not to mention crackpot vehicle design,if the real renault switch was worth £100 it would not only be really good,like a RR switch,but it wouldnt have gone wrong.
Bearing this in mind,I ask....
How old is the vehicle?
Is an item that costs that much and fails so soon really fit for the purpose intended?
If its not you should get a free one,if it is,then ditto,since it has clearly failed before it reasonably should have,establishing that the particular item was not actually fit for the purpose intended.
The only defence is abuse,this is weak since abuse of an item such as this will be plainly visible.
Worth at least a letter to Renault telling them what a diamond motor it is but sadly you wont be buying another and neither will your three close friends who were on the brink of placing orders.......
Browse
Yes they have acknowledged my brother was on a green light.