September 2002
I recently decided it was a good idea to put the nose end of my Z3 into a barrier. This has caused the right-hand side of the bumper to get a bit out of shape (only really noticable when you look at the gaps around the panels, the main shape hasnt changed) and grazed a nice amount of the paint off.
I imagine the repair will involve having to sort out the mounting brackets behind the bumper and respraying the bumper.
Does anyone have any ideas on whether they think I should take it to BMW to get it done (how much would this cost??) or get it done independently (would they be able to do a neat job??)
Your views would be much appreciated! Read more
My car was severely rear ended and pushed into another car so it suffered damage at both ends. The driver of the car that hit us admitted liability and I have already had my excess refunded by her insurers.
The car is nearly finished being repaired - I expect to get it back this week - but I am concerned about what the effect that the accident will have on the car's value when I wish to sell it.
I understand all about betterment but is there such a thing as compensation for loss of value going the other way.
The car is a 4 year old diesel Mercedes 46k miles that we bought with the intention of keeping for a number of years and I have no reason to suspect that the repair will not return it to its pre-accident condition, but their might be psychological reaction that means we would be happier getting rid of it rather earlier than we intended.
Any advice/comment would be appreciated,please.
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Yes, if asked directly I would tell the truth, m'lud!
Hi all.
I have had a Zafira 2.2i for over two years now.
I must say here that we use it for two things: daily school runs & shopping, and long haul trips to the south of France.
As a result the clock show 28K Miles.
I must say that I am very happy with it (handling, etc...).
But...
As I started hearing a whining noise I took it immediatly to the dealer for checking (that is, after coming back from Paris, with a detour in Brittany, a mere 0.5K Miles..).
Anyway, the surprise is that the dealer tells me the disk needs changing !
What is worst is the the pads are not finished, although I am getting them changed.
1. is this normal ? (disks used faster than pads...)
2. is there something I can do ? (link to driving pattern ? write to Vauxhall as vehicle under warranty ? Opt for better disks than the one supplied by Vauxhall ?)
On top of that, I need now change the front tyres.
I do not wish to start the back to front argument, just asking to other Zafira owners if they have tried brands / types of tyre with Zafira that they were happy with.
Thanks
NoComment Read more
I shall be writing to Vauxhall to complain as the vehicle
is under warranty.
I'll be surprised if you get anywhere. Unless the component has actually failed, ie, exploded, broken, cracked, ect, Vauxhall will just class the worn brake discs as fair wear and tear and they won't be warranted.
Hi
Saw some info about a facelifted Celica on the whatcar.com web site. When will this be in the local Toyota showroom and is this just a freshening-up or is it a substantial change?
thanks Read more
Hi i have a small problem with my 89 ford escort! I was hoping someone would have the answer to my problem. Ok here's the story. my car was running fine and doing good when it all the suddon shut off and when i tried to start it again i noticed it wasn't getting gas i also noticed smoke was coming from the injector wiring plug and still no gas going into the throttle bodie but i observed there was plenty of gas going to the injector just not coming out. can anyone help me?
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I had this problem with my 87 escort, I was going down the road when all of a sudden I lost all power and then it just died on me.
It took me hours to find the problem.
Check to make sure there is a spark coming through the spark plugs, if there is no spark, you will most probably find it is the amplifier that sits on the distributer.
This goes about every 25.000 miles, they cost around £25 quid from your local shop. it is not very difficult to change.
Hi,
I recently bought a three year old car from a reputable dealer that specialises in ex-fleet vehicles. At the time of the purchase the dealer wasn't in possesion of the V5 (Vehicle Registration Document) but has claimed that one has been applied for on my behalf.
Firstly, can he apply for a V5 on my behalf?
Secondly, if he can, how long would I expect to wait before the V5 arrived from the DVLA? A little over three weeks have now passed.
Kind regards,
Cyrill666 Read more
The problem with this is, as I NOW know, is that the garage becomes another owner of the car, even if only for 24 hours. This tends to foul up the 'owner history' when selling on although I suppose a reasonable person would see what had happened and understand.
Hello all,
Has anyone got any hints for spotting clocked speedos? I looked at a car today which read 43333 - with the 3's all perfectly lined up but slightly below the 4. In taking it for a 12 mile test drive the resultant number had the 3345 all slightly below the leading 4!
I checked the service history and the car had been serviced @ 39204 miles - so the displayed milage was probably genuine. It is less than 3 years old, so no MOT's to veryify it. Is this anything to worry about?
Its a Vauxhall Omega BTW.
Any hints comments?
Regards ........ Robert Read more
Oh i forgot,July,02 2.5 V6 water mixing with oil on a ,98 with 56,000 miles and dealer service records,result 1 new head and too many hours of labour.I know what Elvis would have done if he had owned an Omega!
I like Hot Hatches, although my current Mk 4 Golf 1.8t with 150 bhp is(like me) overweight and is now probably best described as a Warm Hatch.
However even with the modest power of my car, the only time I am normally overtaken is when somebody is prepared to risk exceeding the speed limit by a greater margin than myself. I also frequently find myself behind a hard driven car with half the power of mine, and am unable to overtake. Indeed there is no need to as he is going as fast as I would.
I regularly have the same 160 mile trip usually in the Golf, but occasionally in a 1.4 Almera - the journey times do not vary.
The Hot Hatch thing started with the 100bhp Mk1 Golf GTI. The power gradually increased but for a long while 150bhp was the standard. Suddenly every manufacturer seems to be producing a small car with 170 to 200+ bhp Focus, Clio, 206, Civic, Seat etc.
With increasing congestion and more strictly enforced speed limits why do people buy them?
Me. I'm going to have another look at the Civic R cos I like the thought of 200bhp.
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I recently purchased a used 1999 Cordoba Estate from my local main Seat dealer. The car is an official Seat used car and comes with their warranty. It's been very good other than I have noticed a few rust patches underneath the car.
I did my own HPI check (result = 100% clean)in addition to the garage checks and the car looks to be 100% genuine (no body panel mismatch, good paintwork, & all plastic parts have similar date codes etc), so I am confident it's not a cut & shut and hasn't suffered any major damage.
I have booked it into the dealer so that they can sort it out and I am confident that they will (it's still under the origional manufactuers body work warranty).
The protective coating underneath the car looks poor and has come off in a few places. The rust is nothing serious, but cars just don't rust these days so I am worried that there might be something wrong.
Does anybody else have a rusty Cordoba? Should I request that the garage totally recoats the underside of the car?
Thanks in advance
hca
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I cannot believe what I have just watched!
Penny, Jason and Brewpot...
Sorry.... Drivel utter utter Drivel Read more
Thank you Mark. The following bit might come back to haunt him: "..if you don?t like anything on the show then tell me"!
The BMW approved bodyshop where I live is an independent specialist shop. If you took your car in to the local BMW garage they would just ship it round the corner. If that's the case in your area I can't help thinking the BMW garage will put a mark-up on top of the body shop charges.