June 2002
I'm considering getting a car to do a 1000 mile a week commute until a new house is purchased.
Current ideas are Pegeot 405 diesel or Citroen ZX diesel - early 90s for under a grand. I don't want to spend more than £1000 but it would be an advantage if it had some resale value or could tow a 1000 kg trailer / car combo. I want it reasonably comfortable and the roads I'm covering don't need performance but an 80 to 85 cruise might be useful.
Any suggestions / things to watch out for please?
Thanks
Piers Read more
The MondeWOE has let me down yet again. Now the air conditioning has failed, only picked up when I had a new Lambda Sensor fitted (ANOTHER FAILURE IN ITS OWN RIGHT). The weather hasn't been good enough to run it recently. The green light on the vent knob comes on when you push it in but when the guy was reading the fault file on his ECU reading unit it showed that the air con wasn't actually coming on. Does anyone know of a good air con place in West Yorkshire or Manchester who will not do the sucking of teeth, shaking of head routine and say it needs a new one.
Bill Read more
Cyd,
Ill get our refer engineers at work to have a quick look at this, I must admit to total ignorance of these being fitted to car air con.
Bill
This is probably a long shot and I know little about these things but can any of you help? My wife has just bought a "new" Xantia HDi with a full Nokia 6310 (?) hands free set-up. Unfortunately we both have Nokia 3310 phones which don't fit the cradle. In my ignorance I thought that I would be able to go to Carphone Warehouse and get a different cradle and slot it in. Apparently not! I cannot find anywhere (even many firms on the Internet) who can supply/fit a separate cradle (Part no is MCC-4 I think.
Do any of you have a solution - or even a cradle which you want to swap/sell? The only answer I have had so far is to buy a complete new kit at over £100 which seems a bit much for the use we would get from it as private users not using car or phone for business.
Thanks in advance
PhilW Read more
All you need is an old 5110, 6110, (402 or 702 on Orange) or 6210, 7110 phone and swap the sim card when you are in the car, or upgrade your phone to a 6310. The phones listed are relatively cheap secondhand and you could keep it in the glove box.
Does using the air con/climate control make a lot of difference to the MPG in a modern car?
Also, should a brand new car be 'run-in' for say 1000 miles before trying to accurately assess the MPG?
Thanks.
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I know what you're saying about the temp setting. I also find that on a hot day, 22 seems warm, but on a cold day, 22 seems cold.
Don't all rush now but can someone tell me what
-it is
-it does
-it is called that for.
My classical education paid due deference to Latin but I'm afraid I missed out on Greek.
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Thanks, all. I used the term verbatim because that's what my local mechanic called it. I am now a bit the wiser and, as I can tell, shortly to be out of pocket.
Does anyone please have any reference to the "N" numbers used by Fiat to denote their models ? Any books, lists, partial lists or even if you happen to know the "N" number for a specific model, all input would be much appreciated.
EG, Fiat 126BIS is N1211, Fiat 127Sport is N1084, Fiat 131STD 1300 is N1037 etc etc.
Of course I have already asked Fiat, both in UK and in Italy, to no avail, so please folks, help me out here.
Thank you, Pete. Read more
Local Fiat dealer says N is in relation to the locks/security system. No more info than this.
Mark
The following is courtesy of www.FIA.com
LATEST TEST RESULTS FROM EURO NCAP
The latest generation Mercedes C-class has become only the second car to achieve
five stars in Europe?s leading independent crash tests confirmed Euro NCAP today.
Latest results:
Mercedes C-class 5 stars
Off roaders
Honda C-RV 4 stars
Range Rover 4 stars
Jeep Cherokee 3 stars
Opel Frontera 3 stars
More follows
Sports cars
Mazda MX5 4 stars
Mercedes SLK 4 stars
Honda S2000 4 stars
Super-minis
Audi A2 4 stars
BMW Mini 4 stars
Opel Corsa 4 stars
VW Polo 4 stars
Family cars
Ford Mondeo 4 stars
Jaguar X-type 4 stars
Opel Vectra 4 stars
Peugeot 607 4 stars
Proton Impian 3 stars
Full details of Euro NCAP?s latest crashworthiness tests and images for download
can be found at the official website www.euroncap.com
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I noted that the current C class got its 5th star for "seatbelt warning" thats a bit rich!Surely theres more to it than that?
Front & rear points were very good though.
Simon T.
Sorry if this is a daft question, but I have only ever owned petrol cars. However, with a change of job roles, it looks as if I'll be doing a lot more mileage (and not getting paid for it - but that's another story).
The current car is a Veccy 1.8 petrol which, unpopular as it is to say so, I actually like and it goes well.
I am tempted by Seats - Toledo/Leon with the 1.9 TDi 110 engine. I've not had a chance to try one yet, but I'm just wondering whether these (or any turbo-diesel)can offer the same sort of performance when, say, overtaking, that a petrol engine does.
The only time I've really experienced a diesel was as a passenger in a friend's Audi A4 2.6 TDi Quattro which, perhaps obviously, did perform well!
Thanks.
Richard
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I am a Diesel convert having acquired in March a new Mondeo TDCi
The car is generally great but the engine is a revelation and over the last 10,000 miles has averaged, according to the trip 54 MPG but with very good performance.The car is not driven sedately (The front tyres are coming up for renewal!)
I cannot praise the car highly enough and certainly very different from any diesel I have ever driven.
I have a 2001 Y plate Corsa SXI (new shape) with 20000 miles on the clock, bought new because it came with free insurance, I'm only 23! However, now i've got max no claims I want to upgrade into a larger car, but I also want better economy than what I'm getting with the Corsa - about 40 - 43mpg usually.I've just graduated and my job will involve commuting up to 50miles a day on motorway so figure in 20000 miles per year total.
I dont want to spend any money other than that from the sale/trade in of the car. I believe it books at 5000 - 5500 trade/ private sale upto 6500. Preferably, in order to pay off some student debt, i would like to retain some cash out of the car - thus paying 4000 to 4500 for something else.
I've been looking at Vectras and Astra diesels, ex fleet T/V/W plate with 100000 miles plus at this money, but feel loathed to spend money on a car with that mileage on the clock. Opinions please?? I've also have looked at Rover 200/400 diesels with less mileage. Also considered an ex fleet dual fuel(LPG) Vauxhall but dont know enough about oncosts of servicing/problems etc. No where seems to talk about them. Again opinions please.
So there you have it - I need recommendations for a 23 year old with full no claims to spend 4-6k on a highly economical larger motorway crusier to keep for 2-3 years 60000 miles.
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Have you considered a 306 diesel? Could easily get a decent one well within your budget. Try and go for the D turbo model as it looks good but still is only gr5 insurence and will give a good mpg, as will any 306 DT.
Let us know how you get on.
Had a lovely drive in the BX from Lauder to Catterick down the A68 yesterday, the Geodesy politely reminding me that accident blackspots seem to occur wherever there's a speed camera - what a coincidence, eh?
Anyway, every few miles the battery light came on, very faintly and the headlamps seemed to get brighter. Then the light would go out and the headlamps would settle back to normal. Inspection showed that the alternator belt was tight.
This morning the battery was full of life although the battery light kept coming on and going off on the 50 mile trip to work.
The car is a 1992 Citroen BX GTi with 82K miles on it; any clues, anyone?
Darcy.
Sudden prayers make God jump. Read more
Had similar problem on an Escort.Fixed by remaking the connections on the back of the Alternator.
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Mike, a few notes which might be of interest ...
Perkins were quite capable of developing the engine further but they could only go as far as the customer (BL/Rover) wanted. The Prima engine wouldn't fit in the body of the Honda/Rover joint-venture cars that replaced the Montego and Maestro so Rover dropped the Prima and turned to Peugeot for their diesel engines and production of the passenger vehicle version of the Prima engine came to an end. Perkins decided not to design and build any new passenger vehicle engines because the major car manufacturers were now producing their own direct injection diesel engines so the market was no longer there.
As you said, the Prima was 'first generation', being the world's first direct injection passenger car engine. You may remember the Prima-powered Montego being advertised as the first passenger car to achieve 100 mpg and 100 mph (not at the same time though!).
The exceptional power and economy came about largely by virtue of direct injection because this reduced the pumping losses and thermal losses of indirect injection. With indirect injection, the initial combustion takes place in a separate chamber and the burning gases then expand and push along a passage into the main combustion chamber above the piston where combustion is completed. However the downside is that direct injection leads to a more rapid combustion (more noise) and faster gas temperature rise (more NOx emissions) and this is where the modern two-phase injection comes to the fore.
Alex Stephenson was Perkins' manager of the Prima project and he then moved to Rover as their Powertrain Director. He later became the government man with responsibility for brokering the Rover takeover. John Towers, who became the head of the current Rover group, was also a Perkins man (Manufacturing director).
We used to get lots of reports of Prima engines reaching 250,000 miles or more without problems, especially from owners of Maestro vans used for commercial duties. The excellent marine versions of the engine are, I believe, still made and sold by Perkins under the Prima name and are also marketed by others under their own names, such as Volvo Penta.