March 2002
My postal addresss is:3,Torr Rise,Tarporley,Cheshire CW6 OUD.
Dear Honest John,
I would like to buy a TD4 Freelander through either Virgin or perhaps Trade Sales in Slough.
1.Would I get the lowest price using this route?
2.What would be the disadvantages?
3.Would my local Landrover garage carry out any warranty work if required?
Having heard of problems in dealling with buying direct from outside the UK,I was a little wary of using this route.
Regards,
Paul Irving. Read more
Is there an inherent fault with the thermostat sticking open on these engines?
I have owned a 2.0i Mondeo from new in 1996. Just over a year ago the temp gauge began behaving erratically, registering zero most of the time. I changed thermostat and the problem seemed to go away.
The temp gauge is now again back on zero most of the time. It may register on normal for a while, but can then sink back to zero again.
Anybody else have any experience of these sympoms? Read more
Heater appears to work OK. Its the gauge reading that is irritating. Might try a new sensor - something to do over Easter!
When does Top Gear with the Rt Hon JC return to BBC2.
And when does 5th Gear on Channel 5, featuring the ex-Top Gear'ers start?
Ffanciw! Read more
5th Gear kicks off in April.
HJ
Been looking at my friend's new Rover 45 handbook again, and was amazed to find that there seems to be no 1000 mile free service, nor even a recommendation to change to oil and filter then. Is this usual these days? I said if I were him I'd change it anyway - am I a) dreadfully behind the times or b) abnormally prissy? Any opinions (preferably supporting me!) out there? Read more
When I change my oil at 3000miles (4-5) months . It always looks dirty. I always use Magnatec. When you consider the cost of the oil and filter together only amount to about £25 . What do you hope to achieve by stretching the mileage.
I'm in full rant today.
What is it about modern design that means you must have an enormous blind spot caused by the driver's side A pillar? Just about everything I have driven recently has been awful, the Beetle takes the biscuit but the BMW 3 series is pretty bad too. The Golf is terrible too now I come to think about it.
I'm 5 foot 10 so I'm about the 50th percentile, guess there must be lots suffering worse than me.
Makes that Volvo concept with see-thru pillars seem like a good idea. Read more
I found this to be unacceptable when I test drove the new Honda Jazz.
It had a very wide A-Pillar and I found myself leaning to the left and right
in order to see properly when negotiating roundabouts. A cyclist could so
easily become invisible to the driver. I've noticed that the Picasso A-Pillars
go forward a long way, and I wonder what the view is like in those too.
I don't think I would like to be able to see the pillars in my line of vision
all the time.
Walking to my car this evening I saw three cars in the space of about 50 yards wearing what I must describe as hideous alloy wheels. They weren't bangers either - a BMW, a VW, and a Peugeot all less than 3 years old.
So, apart from some dubious points about taste and some strange aesthetics, what is the point of these things? I would gladly save a few hundred for some plain covers to steel wheels. Read more
Tells you all you need to know about (some) BMW owners!
Any companies that will supply and fit three point belt to estate cars?
I'm considerring buying a Legacy but older models only have a centre lap belt, and I need a third belt for the children. Read more
Well done, Ian. You got there before me. We're going to compile a directory of useful URLs like this one for the revamped site. I've done about five pages so far. Contributions from Backroomers will be welcome once it's up on site. It should be a very useful resource.
HJ
Most people seem to denigrate Ford;They may not be the most refined of cars or the highest performing but they will still be going when your Peugeots have gone to the breakers yard in the sky.How many of your fabulous diesel Peugeots have had to have head-gaskets replaced at around 50K?Now,be honest. Read more
One main diff between VW and skoda is that the tactile surfaces are paint in that nice touchy/feely stuff in the VDub, the Skodas make do with the same plastic grades but no rubber feel.
Since I live in the middle of town, I presently run a small Suzuki Alto (used by SWMBO on kindergarten run - difficult to find amongst SUV's) and a Honda Civic. The Honda is 4 years approaching 40 k miles and used for commuting, it is great for parking and town use but nothing is wrong it except that there is not much space for long journeys with a 3 year old daughter or visiting in laws. Am in a dilemma of either
1: Selling the honda and buying an Octavia
2: Keeping the Honda and buying a good, well maintained Merc 124 (love the build quality and no complicated electronics) - hace seen a doctor owned 300E with 58000 miles. My plan is to use this car during weekends (need something to accomodate two golf sets) and long journeys. (around 7500 miles per annum). Have covered secure parking space for it
The attraction is that I could pay cash down for the Merc whereas I need to finance the Skoda ( have already splashed out on an upmarket house so no additional drips would be welcome).
Could the impartial HJ forum, please tell me
1: Which makes economic sense over next 4 years
2: Will the Merc be a liability with massive maintenance bills considering that it would be used for long drives and weekend use ?
3: Am I being rational or thinking too laterally Read more
From your original posting it sounds as if you've talked yourself into the Merc anyway. To hell with it..........take the Merc, did you see the 'Right Car, Wrong Car' one with the second hand Merc ?
Here's what I have to put up with on the roads...
What should have been a normal drive back from school for a group of Kimberley pupils in the Northern Cape turned into a nightmare when traffic officials stopped their taxi - into which all 33 of them had been squashed.
The children, aged between 6 and 13, were crammed into their private 16-seater taxi along with the driver and his helper on Monday.
About eight of the children were found sitting next to the driver, who was counted as the 34th occupant of the taxi, not including his helper, which makes a total of 35.
The driver of the taxi, who already has two other warrants of arrest against his name, was arrested and given a R1 500 fine.
Describing the overloaded vehicle as one of the worst cases he had ever seen, local traffic monitor Christopher Langford said that what had made the situation worse was the fact that the passengers "were just children".
"The whole thing was bad in that these were children in there, and children are difficult to handle.
"The taxi itself was also in a shocking condition. Three wheel nuts were missing from one of the wheels and another two were missing on another wheel.
"Two of the back tyres were worn out, while one of the windows was broken and only had a plastic sheet over it," said Langford. Read more
Makes a change from the Indonesian family notorcycle. That's right: Dad, Mum and three kids all on the same Honda 90.
HJ
Browse
.jpg)
Well, having read all this, I can count myself as very lucky I guess -
We run 3 Freelanders (a TDI (old L-series engine), a TD4 and a 1.8i) - the older two (not TD4) have both covered in excess of 85k miles with NO problems, bits dropping off, warranty claims or anything and these wagons are abused big time by my colleges!
The only complaints we have are the lack of storage in the front of the cabin (at least compared to our discovery) and a lack of power in the 1.8 (obvious really) which is compensated for by short gearing so it gets a bit noisy at high speed. The petrol averages about 32mpg whilst the two diesels always return over 42mpg. Usage is mostly on-road all over the country with occasional off-road work when filming for clients.
To summarise: They are not all bad and the newest ones (w-reg on) definitely feel better built.