April 2002
Mark
Does this sound plausible?
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002...l Read more
Hi folks,
To follow on from a subject several months ago, the inlaws are looking to buy a new car. They are both in their 70s and not in the best of health, in fact the father in law has stopped driving. My mother in law is well up to the job apart from some athritis. They have a Golf (Jan 99 1.6 auto ) loaded with toys to trade in and we will take the old 20,000 mile B reg Polo of their hands to replace the Panda.
Based on HJs recommendations I have pointed them in the direction of the Yaris Verso GLS (air con), and this weekend whilst in Newcastle I took them to look at one. The main problem is that they don?t do YELLOW, MIL has always had yellow cars so she can find them easily in the car parks, try the Metro centre car parks and you will see why. She has also had Polos that have then been passed to us, I just don?t think that the new Polo is the right car for them even though you can get it in YELLOW for £150 extra. The price is similar for the spec as far as I can see, BUT! I also mentioned the Honda Jazz but the choice of another car is confusing the situation somewhat and the last thing I want to do is that.
So with two people in their 70s somewhat infirm and going to get worse, doing less than 4K per year, what is going to be the most reliable and economical and most sense for them to have, if the Honda is better than the Verso then I would go back upto Newcastle to take them to see it, if the Polo is better then fine we can have a harder look at that.
What should we ask for in the way of trade in for the Golf against all three cars and how much should we try to beat the dealers down on the list price of the cars?
Could we get a better deal by selling the Golf in a private sale and then buying one of the others from a Supermarket?
Would the main agents then service the car from new even though its not been bought from them? Or should I just keep my head down and not try to help?!!!!!
Regards
Bill. Read more
My step-grandmother-in-law (I think!!) bought a Micra, which she hates.
I've got a fiesta 1.3 finesse, 98 s - reg. it's a really good car, but....
it loses power. not all the power, about 15% of it at various times and only for about 10-15 seconds or so.
e.g crusing along the motorway, keeping up with traffic (you know the speed), then the "power loss" kicks in and the engine can be heard slowing down, and the speed drops thro 70 down to about 65, then after 15 seconds it all picks back up and normality returns. it used to do it once in a while (once a month (?)) and only on motorways (although it's easier to spot it then due to constant speeds). now it's started doing it loads and at all speeds, you can actually feel it losing power and then surging back.
it happened before, and the garage checked it and found all the exhaust readings were out, replaced the lambda probe and it was fine for about a year.
this time it's been to a ford garage who've checked all the readings, checked the engine management system and can't find anything wrong.
anyone got any ideas before i ask them to start replacing parts one at a time? Read more
I would go with Fuel Filter (quick job!), and then check if there was some sort of 'Air Flow Sensor' / 'Air Mass Meter'. No experience of this engine (apart from helping to service a friend's last week!), but almost identical symptoms struck my Cavalier (1995) last year. Appreciate very different beast, but from 'monthly' hiccups on Motorway, it became a daily occurence. I was spraying carb cleaner towards the throttle body every trip!
Eventually changed the Air Flow Sensor (£50 from breakers) and appears to have sorted problem once and for all.
Jon
has anyone trialled this over a long period? I have tried it for the last 2 months in the hope of getting back the mpg of my old 1.9 nonturbo Peugeot to that prior to low sulphur diesel. I have noted no improvement at all, in fact a slight reduction (which could be within "experimental error").
I did ask the makers for data or trial results, but without success.
Any ideas before I go to my local diesel specialist for injection recalibration? Read more
Sadly I recently recycled a load of old diesel car mags (all of them, in fact!) when moving house - I would guess it was 2 or 3 years ago...
Millers used to be very forthcoming with info about their products, even allowing you to send a sample of their synthetic XFE diesel oil range into them for testing to determin if you could safely extend service intervalvs.
I wonder if the company has changed hands, or has new management?
Mind you, I remember reading a letter in a very recent Diesel Car (within the last couple of months) from someone at Millers in relation to using their oils in the latest 'PD' VW Tdi engines...
Looking for your help, advice & suggestions on what I should treat myself to now I'm at THAT age!!
Right my Jaguar Sovereign has now gone, so what to replace it with then?
I would like:-
£10-12000 budget
Sporty n sexy
Some power under bonnet
Who's that girl (sorry,woman) driving one of those?, type rear mirror images
Lots of toys,thank you Jaguar,for expecting a lot!
Not new,obviosly,but not worn out & old, old!!
OK for longish journeys, sometimes, & to make me look HOT for my business in promotions field
Like individality as much as possible
Oh yes, he will be given the chance to drive it sometimes & as he's not a hairdresser....MG's, baby Mazdas, Tigras, no thanks!!
I've looked at, so far, (thanks for patience you dealers whose time I've taken up)
Audi-All models seem a bit bland
Ford-Puma, loads too many around Cougar-nothing to say for itself
Alfa-mostly for blokes
Hyundai-old model coupe' has lots of curves,bit like me,but why is everone who drives them 55+?? No offence!! I did say I was 40!!
Nissan 200 SX-Liked this,but they forgot to fit sunroofs, instead put in too much VROOM! All the ones I've seen have been bumped ! No girlies driving them either! It's a bit wide on the body too, a bit like me, not I hope!
Saab-Do they only have that one giant tin of black paint? Sorry, did see an Electric Blue soft top with a tan interior, still somebody liked this combination!
OVER TO YOU GUYS!!
Thanks
DL x Read more
And it was half an Audi TT?
OK - I need some help.
Diesel seems to have a half life of 25 years. I drove a diesel car 4 weeks ago and made the mistake of filling it up without using the plastic gloves. Seems I then used my PC keyboard and mouse. Bloody stuff still stinks even after all this time and every time I access the backroom I'm left with the horrible reminder of oil buring engines!
Any ideas how I can finally get rid of the smell (household cleaners don't seem to work). Read more
put a can of unleaded in the room with the top off.
Further to my last post for some reason a large plea for help will not come up on this page and I dont know why. I wrote it in email box for the forum and also saved it in Word, as I have done before, but it will not come up in the forum.
Help!
Bill Read more
Do you have a swear/rude words with * in them ?
Its caught me out before !
Keep trying....
If motorcyclists were a race, this would be classed as discrimination and we'd be reporting Mr Meacher to the Race Relations Board! Read more
Thanks Dave, you can have a virtual pass to the the Fen straight then.
And of course you live another day to enjoy the real pleasure of the Rover ;-)
Best weekend for us is that of the BMF rally. It's just up the road and we are on the non-motorway alternative route. Some brilliant machines pass the drive and 99.9% demonstrating excellent riding discipline.
David
Morrison Renfrew explains why he thinks there is an Alice in Wonderland approach to transport Read more
The M25 is not an oval, I quote from Good Omens by Terry Pratchett:
"Many phenomena - wars, plagues, sudden audits - have been advanced as evidence for the hidden hand of Satan in the affairs of man, but whenever students of demonology get together the M25 London orbital motorway is generally agreed to be amoung the top contenders for Exhibit A.
Where they go wrong, of course, is assuming that the wrteched road is evil simply because of the incredible carnage and frustration it engenders every day. In fact, very few people on the face of the planet know that the very shape of the M25 forms the signal 'odegra' in the language of the Black Priesthood of Ancient Mu, and means "Hail the Great Beast, Devourer of Worlds". The thousands of motorists who daily fume their way around its serpentine lengths have the same effect as water on a prayer wheel, grinding out an endless fog of low-grade evel to pollute the metaphysical atmosphere for scores of miles around." It was one of Crowley's better achievements.
It had taken years to achieve, and had involved three computer hacks, two break-ins, one minor bribery and, on one wet night when all else had failed, two hours in a squelchy field shifting the marker pegs a few but occultly incredible significant metres. When Crowley had dwatched the first thirty-mile long tailback he's dexperienced the lovely warm feeling of a bad job well done."
Shortlist - 309/205 (very impressed on test drive)
- Astra (ditto but reliability...?)
- ZX (again I like it but reliability and poor fuel economy?)
At the moment I am keen to find a 1.4/1.6 309 but where the hell can I find one? Also are there any real issues to consider with the above, esp. the 309?
Thanks Read more
David - the 205 1.4 is in Runcorn. All original bodywork, 50K genuine, GTx 5-door model with ffsr and sports seats. Service history is all stamped up and March MoT. I am asking £1400 with the mileage, as it has had recent coolant, brake fluid and oil changes, and it is worth that to me as a nice drive. E-mail me if you want to see it.
Browse
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Not even that, its a chance of publicity and importance.
It is akin to the New Year celebrations this year - rather than the normal 3 million people on Copocabana Beach it is estimated that slightly less than 2 million actually turned out. The missing million is attributed to a weather forecast saying that it was going to rain.
The same people were in the newspaper stating their intention to sue the weather forecaster. Of course, nothing ever happened.
Every BRazilian that I have spoken to has read the comments about the show; how it showed kidnappings, robberies by children, kidnappings, muggings, offensive taxi drivers, crokked adoptions, gangs, drugs, poor and deprived people, and attacks by monkeys on Copocabana beach.
They are all pretty much unanimous - Its stupid, everybody knows you don't get monkeys on Copocabana beach.