November 2002
Apologies for my ignorance on this issue but can anyone describe what is meant by alloy wheels pitting and what does it look like? I have an 18 month old car and on the surface of one of the front wheel rims there is a discoloured mark about the size of a 10p piece (I had assumed that this was perhaps due to a stone being deflected into the wheel when in motion.
If this is pitting - does the dealer cover? If it is not, can I get some sort of spray to cover up with?
Thanks for your help Read more
Need a reliable Astra-sized, hatchback, auto only, max £5,000. Prefer private sale, but not necessarily - any sensible advice on which makes/models to go for is appreciated.
Andrew Wills (Epsom, Surrey) Read more
Yep, Japanese is the best way to go for peace of mind. Of course, if you don't mind a bigger car, you could go for a slightly older (1994 - 96) Merc or BMW - if the insurance isn't too unfriendly, one of those would be a nicer drive. My wife's been quoted an increase of £113 on her recently renewed premium to change to a 1996 Merc C250 D. Happy hunting!
I’m sure that everyone who’s been driving for a few years will have experienced a frightening experience on the road- usually just pure chance- being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I can recall a few, and will kick off with one.
Some years ago on the M4 heading north, fairly busy road, daytime. Whilst I was overtaking at about 65mph. in the middle lane, the vehicle in front, loaded with aluminium airline catering ‘hot boxes’ started shedding them left, right and centre, when a restraining strap broke.
The boxes, about the size of a 20” TV, scattered all over the three carriageways, and the next few seconds were ‘interesting’..! Cars slaloming to avoid the boxes, but amazingly no car appeared to hit any other. One car that had jammed a box under its front skidded along issuing a fountain of sparks until it stopped.
The traffic slowed to a crawl and made its way through the obstacles, and the occurrence was left behind – nobody seemed to want to stop and clear the road.
Any other scary stories?
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Traveling along a duel carrigeway very late one night i was doing about 50mph all the road lights were out, then into the view of my head lights came this metal bin that someone had delibrately left in the middle of the road, i hit it dead centre with my rangerover it went under the car and lifted both front wheels of the ground,the car started to veer of the road and i was heading for a lamp post, managed to stop with inches to spare, i can still remember the noise as if it was yesterday.
My Passat TDi exits VW's warranty in February 2003 so I'm wondering if I should shell out for another 2 or 3 years for an independent warranty. 3 years is £700 which goes a long way towards a holiday or covers quite a few repairs. The car's done 53K and runs like a dream (albeit a slightly PD noisy one!). I've had the oil changed every 5K. Am I likely to get some heavy-ish bills in the next 50K and if so can anyone recommend a decent warranty firm? Or should I chance it, keep it properly serviced and trust in VW's outstanding reliability and book my place in the sun? Read more
Thanks everyone, holiday it is!
The largest bill for fictious work carried out on a woman's car by garage mechanics was on of £6322.88 by ********** of Stevenage. Calling in for a routine service on her 1 year old Peugeout 305 Mrs June ***** agreed to pay for amongst other things: new trumpets (£752), cracked Gangle Pin (£1785), realignemnet of main glib shaft (£2268), new gromets (£112), set of hexagonal Tag nuts and dangleberry adapter (£35) and new valves (£120). No work was actually carried out on the car during its 6 weeks it spent at the garage but 4000 miles were put on the clock and she later received a speeding summons from Italian police. Read more
Strange name ********** though...
That's just their password :o)
I'm having some serious probs with FM radio reception - to the extent that the radio is effectievely useless. It works fine on MW, LW and the CD works too. The sat nav is fine also (so not an aerial problem). I think that there is a separate signal booster with the roof mounted aerial on the estate - so I suspect this may be malfunctioning.
Any one help?
(This is a 2000 Omega with the combined sat nav / Bose audio system.)
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Clear Spot
Don't have a solution but I am having the same problem with a 2001 Omega (NDC 2013) Siemens/Bose system. Can get some FM reception but it's very weak and constantly jumps to other stations which presumably have a stronger signal.
In my case this has only happened within the last couple of weeks and I put it down to bad weather affecting the signals.
Coincidentally, this also started to occur when the whole system 'froze' recently. It was on the radio at moderate volume and I could do nothing to alter the volume or turn it off. CD/Sat Nav and TrafficMaster were all inoperative. It was still going when the key was out of the ignition and the car locked. Had to pull the fuse in the end.
PST
i think i've decided on my next car after a loy of research.
my goals were relibility
looks good (sporty)
good performance
probably german or japanese
not to pricey insurance or to run
for about £10,000
hence toyota celica (new model)
maybe 2 years old with about 30k on clock
so i've read all the reviews, but has anyone owned one, if so what are your views? Read more
I quite like them. Did consider one but rejected it for two reasons.
1. Engine is not really very powerful unless you rev the nuts off it. I don't so that type of power delivery doesn't work for me. Bear in mind that although the 190 has more power it's developed at even higher revs.
2. I'm six foot tall and I have to open the sunroof to fit my head in.
That said we have two of them in my office, one 140 and one 190. Both owners seem to be very happy with them. More interestingly the 140 is the only company car left these days and has been used like a pool car for 30k miles. This doesn't seem to have caused any problems.
Does the new Mondeo still require the suspension to be dismantled in order to replace the clutch?
Keeping an eye on this car, you seem to get a lot for for (used) money, and I fit in it , usually a problem for me - hence the name Big John!
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Toad
Yes, you have to remove the subframe having supported the engine first. Looks a bit of a pig to do.
HTH
Charles
A Pug 206 GTi, 2000W with 83k or 99V with 73k, both in black, with alloys and leather? One owner, ex fleet cars, but the 206 isn't known for being a good high mileage car, so what do you reckon?
£6500 too much from a dealer? I'm not that interested because the thought of a used, leggy 206 due for a cambelt change frightens me, but they are very stylish. Read more
Tried to change the cambelt on my mk2 1.8gti 8v this weekend. Went to remove the crankshaft pully & the 4 allen key bolts are well rusted in.
Haven't yet rounded off the bolts. Tried to get a pair of grips round the outside, but they didn't budge. I've sprayed WD40 on them to see if this helps.
Any other ideas on getting them out? Can only think of using a punch\chisel to see if they'll turn. Read more
I think you are fairly spot on there Richard. There is enough room on the golf to remove the pulley, it is on the polo after 1991 (mk3) that you have to loosen off the engine mount and then lever the engine over slighty. If you do go for removing the crank bolt then release the tension in the belt first before trying to remove the crank sprocket, oh and it is probably advisable to replace the main crank bolt if you remove it(very tight fit), some manuals recommend using locking fluid as well.
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Just to add to Mike H's post, if you do use an alloy wheel cleaner, remember to apply some kind of protectant to the wheels afterwards. eg, car polish, laquer, etc. Also be careful the cleaner doesn't wash out any grease on the wheel bolts and they end up rusting in.