March 2002
Greetings John
I should like your advice on which of 2 cars is likely to be a better buy.
Volvo S40 2.0 SE Turbo Saloon 99(T) 13,000m £12,000 mettalic leather all mod cons 1 private owner being sold by Risegreen of Kingwood Surrey or a Rover 75 Club Connesseur 2.5 with all mod cons leather auto 27,000m £11,000 reg Jan 2000 with 3 year manufacturers warranty. Which will be less trouble free mechanically, which will hold its value better and which would you buy ?Your advice much appreciated. Thanks Read more
does anyone any very helpful hints on how to gain access and successfully tighten this thing up ?? !! Talk about difficult to get at !! Read more
Weekend thinking cap time again, chaps (and ladies).
This is not an entirely new subject, but how about airing it again? What will make the next generation of classic or collected cars?
Think 10 or 15 years ahead and ask yourself "What will still be around from the post 90s that's worth hanging on to?" There's obviously the styling issue, and all that - marketing gurus have become quite cute at telling us what we want, and making sure that yesterday's cars are seen to be passé. However, what about some of the other things to do with keeping the car running? Just consider:
1. All petrol cars made since 1993 have cats and ECUs. So do common rail diesels.
2. Most cars will have ABS brakes (ABS pumps and ECUs, again).
3. Most cars will have quite sophisticated immobilisers.
4. Over the last year or so we've seen the introduction of multiplex wiring.
Add to this the prospect of most of out scrap yards being closed by EU legislation issues and it doesn't look too rosy for keeping a "nice old motor" going, does it?
Or is it going to be Moggies, MGBs et al, for ever more?
Ian Read more
How did the government manage to restrict the announcement last week to a tiny item in the Times? Did no other publications/broadcasters pick it up?
Reason given was NOT safety, but fuel conservation and pollution control. Read more
I admire your optimism. I doubt that I'll live long enough to see it fulfilled or otherwise. It's my kids and their descendants I care about. Being 'swamped' with oil, or any other finite resource, doesn't absolve us from good stewardship whilst on this planet.
I've got a friend, early twenties, who has had his right knee replaced with a prosthesis because of bone cancer. He wants to drive again. He's about six feet tall and can't bend his right leg more than about 90 degrees at the moment although this may get better. Any advice on what car might be suitable. He found a three door Focus quite comfortable to sit in and get in and out of. Read more
I had a customer mid 80's with a similar problem but right knee would not bend at all. He ended up with a new LHD auto, (Astra/Kadett) which was perfect for him. He could only get in a car by putting his right leg in first, so it had to be LHD. It could be the answer for your friend, and so so much cheaper from abroad!!
Regards
Mike
Not normally a fan of Driven.
Tonight however best by a country mile IMHO.
Informative, no stupid gimmicks and a mixture of exotica and practical tests. Read more
Not according to the toyota uk website...
Im looking at 5drs mind
The Gas struts on my Scorpio estate have suddenly become almost ineffective. They wont hold the tail gate up. Can they be repaired or is it a throw away and visit the scrappy at the weekend to find some newer ones?. Read more
Dave,
Yes. Since my MOT chap told me they were included in the test (can't think why) I used to warm the struts on my wifes Volvo 340 with a hair drier before she drove to the MOT station,
They can be dangerous to someone leaning in the boot if they let go and the tailgate falls. The catch can damage a spine. I provided her with a plastic tube to use as a prop to make sure it did not fall in cold weather.
Is that why they are in the MOT? Nowt to do with roadworthiness. Is it?
Has anyone out there encountered an intermittent fault concerning Rover 800 electric windows. A friend of mine has bought a very clean N reg 827 SLi with FSH that suffers from a fault where the windows and sunroof refuse to work, then after an interval (it varies) they function normally.
Any ideas? Read more
If you do not have an intermittant fault, there must be a fault- Eleanor is spot on! I think Andrew has the answer, and the fault is likely to be in the loom that runs from the drivers A pillar to the door, as that is the most used and subjects the loom to the most bending, and as a consequence fatigue fractures. If sunroof and windows are on the same fuse, check the fusebox carefully behind. I recall that its not too easy though.
Mike
Can anyone clear up the following please ?
My sister has recently shown interest in a new Vaux Agila or Suzuki Wagon R.
Vaux dealer says Suzuki have ceased or are about to cease, production of the Wagon R. Suzuki dealer says Vaux are about to cease production of the Agila.
Is it one, the other or are both about to stop production ?
Thank you. Read more
Same bodyshell, different mechanicals. Agila is in 1000 and 1200, not available as an auto. Suzuki did do 1000 and 1200 but now do only 1300 and is available with auto box.
We find that Suzuki is better trim level and the Agila costs a full £500 more to match the same level of spec.
Rgds.
In the unlikely event you've all forgotten, tonight is a motorfeast of telly. First, at 8.00 (20.00) on BPC2 we get Sangita Myska going "undercover" again. Then, at 8.30 (20.30), we have a choice between Jason B and Dominic sorting someone out with a FIAT Panda replacement, or we can flip channels to ITV4 to watch Mike, Jason P and Penny either tell us that the Honda Jazz is brilliant, or not, in comparison to the new Fiesta and new Polo. See the Jazz thread started by Spud down below.
HJ Read more
James and Claire are spot on between them. John Mortimer, author of the splendid Rumpole books, will have been well aware of the character introduced by Sir Henry Rider Haggard (a good Norfolk lad from Bradenham, DW) into his novel "She".
"She" was Ayesha, white queen of an African tribe, and known to her people as "She Who must Be Obeyed", hence Mrs Rumpole, aka SWMBO in modern parlance.
On a more prosaic level, and derived from my Navy days, I've always found it useful to refer to "my current next of kin" - it doesn't half keep them on their toes!
Jason - You will find a fairly recent thread on abbreviations/acronyms etc under the Subject of "BPC" started by Alex on 5 February, but *please* don't let there be any confusion between the two - an acronym is an abbreviation, but an abbreviation, such as SWMBO, *cannot* be an acronym unless it forms a recognisable word, such as ERNIE, AUDI or SAAB. Phew! Just got the motoring theme in in time!
HTH (Abbreviation ....)
Jack
Browse
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Spot on, David. The Japanese manufacturers are not in the business of supplying spares for their cars beyond, I seem to recall, seven years. So unless a car also enjoys cult status in Japan or the USA, and UK buyers are prepared to pay for importing spares, there is not going to be sufficient supply of new spares for UK Lexus and other Japanese motors.
On Guy's list in the following post, I think you need to apply the same criteria and ask if there will be/is a support industry for all of those models. Given the VAG bias, probably yes, but I wouldn't bank on a ready cheap source of spares for the RS2. The Clio might be OK if it uses mostly bits from the Renault parts bin but I can't see it gaining even the modest backup that exists now for the Alpine GTA.
Somebody mentioned the MR2 and I was toying with the idea of investing in one of those or a Honda S2000 for long-term use over 15-20 years. Frankly, I think the MG TF is much more likely to be the car regarded as a classic in 20 years time, simply because there will be more around and a better spares supply. What do I base that on? I have a hand-built 1930s sports car which was more expensive than either an MG or a Morgan at the time, arguably looked and performed better, and much more exclusive, but today is worth maybe half the price of the MG/Morgan because hardly anybody has ever heard of it, and spares are very difficult to find.
David