August 2002
Someone mentioned in the old backroom that Protyre was a subsidiary of Mitcheldever Tyres, the company that seems to offer amongst the most competitive tyre prices in the UK. I've just bought 4 new tyres there today and am delighted with the service. They ARE a subsidiary of Mitcheldever Tyres and the deal seems to be the Mitcheldever price plus whatever they charge for delivery to the Protyre branch (about £4 per tyre in my case). This still worked out as excellent value for me and sure beat the 45+ minute wait you can expect at Mitcheldever. I was particularly impressed with:
* Polite and courteous manager and staff
* Very quick turnaround (about 20 minutes for all four tyres)
* They use proper 4 point cushioned ramp lifts positioned under
the correct jacking points for your vehicle - NO TROLLEY JACKS
AND BENT SILLS!
* Their air guns are set to the correct torque for wheel nuts
* Clean and tidy premises
* Competitive prices
Obviously I may have just got lucky with my branch, but their philosophy certainly seems good. Branches throughout Southern England (www.protyre.co.uk)
Rich - not connected with Protyre in any way other than being
a satisfied customer Read more
I wonder if anyone knows the orginal factory fit tyres for a '96 P plate S Class 320?
Or any recommendations for tyres to put on this beast?
Hope somebody can help
Thanks Read more
Mercedes do not specify a particular tyre for a modern model.
They use several Premium manufacturers tyres such that(for Example) a run of S class could come off the line each with different makes of tyre,dependant on on the available batch(es)
being utilised.
I asked MB this question, believing that one particular tyre would be particularly suited to each model.Of course it may well be a commercial decision.
Simon T.
I own a 1995N 2.0GLS estate with 80k on the clock. Despite light use & regular servicing, it's had its fair share of problems in the 6 years I've had it (two complete breakdowns, failed alternator, heavy tyre wear, steering pulls to left, leaking auto box plus the usual Omega electrical gremlins). I had sworn never to buy another Omega.
However, on looking around for a replacement, it struck me that Omegas are cheap relative to the "prestige" competition (Volvo V70, Audi A6 Avant, BWW 5 series Touring). I was very surprised to see in the latest the latest "Which" magazine reliability report that Omegas up to 2 years old came out near the top, ahead of all the "prestige" marques above.
Is this just a statistical glitch, or has the Omega really turned over a new leaf?? Read more
Rick,
I think you bought the Friday afternoon car.
Could anyone recommend a small reliable automatic for my wife? Our maximum budget is £2,000 which is somewhat limiting. Have spotted a few 1990-92 Renault Clio autos within price band, but the guides warn against old Renault autos for poor reliability.
Most important factor is reliability. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who runs a Micra or Punto CVT auto.
Thanks in anticipation. Read more
Hyundai Accent, as I've mentioneb before, I've bought for customers, have been ex Mobility scheme.
Low miles,small, but not supermini size.Your budget increased to £2500 will buy 99T/V 10-25000 miler.
Mark
I asked a body shop to quote me for repairs to my Audi Coupe, which was scraped down one side by a hit and run driver. It has a deep scrape on the upper side of the rear wing and door, and scuff marks to the corner of the rear bumper and spoiler. No panels to replace - the bodyshop intends to beat out the damage, skim with filler and then blend in the repaired areas (which will be pretty close to respraying the RH side of the car). Anyway, they quoted me £800 plus VAT (based on around 24 hours work), and although I know how much mechanical repairs cost, I haven't a clue about bodywork. So is this reasonable, or should I shop around? This place has a good reputation locally, and was full of newish BMWs and Mercedes being straightened out when I visited.
I reckon the difference between my car's value now and its value with the damage repaired would be around £1,000, so it's (just) worth doing. Also I like the car, and it wouldn't be easy to find another one in such good mechanical condition.
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com Read more
I haven't gotta clue about body repair prices either but - earlier this year I had both front and rear bumpers and several "shopping trolley" dents on the passenger side, their locations meaning that basically the whole side of the car from window level down, was repainted for just over £600 - very good job can't tell where the new paint blends in.
May be worthhwile shopping around - although if you "trust" the bodyshop maybe you'll have some peace of mind having it done by them.
Chad.R
Firstly we had Volvo driving lights ~ another good safety feature from this safety-concious company.
Then we had motorcyclists using dipped headlights. Presumably the riders were trying to tell us that their machine was as safe as a Volvo.
Then we had cars drivers using dipped headlights. Presumably they were trying to tell us that their car had as many safety features as a Volvo.
Now we have most motorcyclists (and a few car drivers) using headlights on main beam.
What next, for goodness sake ~ retrofit searchlights ? !! Read more
Sidelights........what on earth is the point of having them on when you are driving? If visibility is bad enough either in blinding sunlight or in rain and spray to warrant you havinng your lights on then why not click one step further on the light stalk and do the job properly. Sidelights are not going to stop you from the risk of a head-on by some guy approaching you overtaking a lorry in spray conditions because he 'aint gonna see you. Dipped beam at all times as a minimum is the way ahead and its FREE!
As so many Europeans have problems with miles per hour, and the Brits and Yanks have problems with km/h, I was wondering how difficult it would be - especially with modern electronic speedometers, to produce one that changes from kmh to mph readout at the flick of a switch?(and maybe have an indicator saying "mph" or "kph".)
Maybe some technical boffin could consider this... Read more
>>Yanks have problems with km<<
Also a problem with gallons. My US built Merc ML430 has an MPG readout that I discovered uses US gallons. I switched it to l/100km to work out what it was. lo and behold it really does 20% better mpg.
Can anyone suggest what might be wrong when the digital display for mileage and trip-ometer suddenly vanishes! The fuse is OK as it also runs the hazard lights etc and they are fine.
Is it a major job? Read more
This sounds too simple to be true but, have you turned the instrument dimmer down accidentally. I found this out after my 2001 astra had been in at the local dealers for some (totally unrelated) warranty jobs doing, they had dimmed the instrument lighting (for some strange reason or accidentally) and the odometer reading virtually disappeared.
Hi all.
I was wondering if anyone could help me? I recently bought a new punto it's one of the more basic spec models and as it is a lower spec the seats offer very little support.
I am interested in buying some seats from a sporting or the HGT version of the car. So, does anyone know where i'd be able to find these seats. ie, specialised fiat breakers etc. I assume that crash damaged cars end up somewhere for dismantling.... All the scrap yards I have found so far deal with cars which are around 6 years old.
Any advice where I could get seats like this would be much appreciated!
Cheers
Ross Read more
Hi Mark.
Thanks for the advice. I was wondering, does anyone Know exactly what pre tensioners are? are they located in the seat or in the seat belt assembley? are they electronically operated? Are they set off by the same sensors as the airbags?
Cheers
Ross
Hi,
I got my Peugeot 306 lx 1.4 in Feb 2002, it has been back to the garage at least 10 times since for the same problem. When i am driving the car it will cut out with no warning, all of the power goes, the radio turns off and i am then stranded until the car rolls to a stop. The car will then turn over and start up with no problems. It seems worse when i am running the air con, a little extra load on the engine seems to cause this fault.
I took in back to the garage yesterday 29/08/02 for 20000 miles service and still the cutting off problem. What a suprise they could not find any problems, they now want the car for a week to try and find out what is causing this fault.
I left the garage drove 400 yards and the car cut out, how angry i was, by this time the garage had closed and i was unable to return. It is back with the garage on sept 16th for a week, but has anybody else come across this problem????
Any help please
Andy Read more
Thanks Andy,
Our client has had the map and speed sensors replaced, and according to Peugeot this should fix the problem. I'll let you know if it does or doesn't.
Regards,
Jim
Browse
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think you'll find some JustTyres branches survived thanks to Management Buyout - like the one local to me, in Epsom, Surrey, which is clean, efficient, reliable and good value, in the recent experience of my family and friends.
Andrew