January 2003
hi
just a bit of follow-up information for those persons "disenchanted" by the wonderfulness of french car manufacturer's courtesy and respect :
peugeot / citroen xud9te
peugeot 306td / xsara td engine blowing up : the french association "securite-autos" (which was called "scenic-renault") has started proceedings against peugeot and citroen. there was a first hearing 23.01.03 in paris. The association "securite-autos" is being backed by the magazine "que choisir" (a french
"which?" magazine). note that peugeot france had issued a technical bulletin extending the guarantee upto 120 000 kms on the engine. the association notes an increase in the amount paid to new claimants since the association has become involved. the next hearing's in march.
"securite-autos" has taken under its wing an association grouping peugeot 406 car owners who've had boot break-ins.
renault
following the official recall of 158 000 cars with the 1.9dci and the "technical upgrade" of a similar number of 1.5 dci cars, "securite-autos" wants renault to submit to an external independant audit of their internal procedures.
there seems to have been a recall of the new megane in switzerland but the letter on their web site is in german so if anyone can read german, please let us know what it says.
so for those of you who have intimate knowledge of the above problems - it looks like the french consumer association could help your case so stick to your guns. Go to www.securite-autos.com (it?s in french).
as a general comment, virtually all the french cars are given a 1 or 2 star rating for overall reliability (5 being the highest) by "auto plus" magazine (like auto express only much better). this is interesting because they usually rate french cars higher other make?s during tests/comparisons (that?s national pride getting in the way of objectivity).
however the involvement of "auto plus" was a major factor in getting renault to recall 500 000 1.9 dti vehicles.
cheers
mike1 (peugeot 205 grd @278 000 kms)
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Couldn't find the correct thread to post this on, sorry.
Have just been driving down the main road, where I notice they've started digging up all the pavements, as has become the custom in many areas.
I saw many (barely visible) pedestrians forced to walk down the cycle lanes, as there was simply no other way past. Now, seeing how so many cars seem to drive on cycle lanes, and coupled with the fact that cyclists will also be forced off the pavements and onto the cycle lanes, this seems to me an accident waiting to happen.
HF Read more
They're all trying to use up their budget before the end of March (end of Local Authorities' financial year).
In neither situation can you possibly respond is you come across something unexpected. However, you are less likely to do so on a racetrack and more likely to harm yourself and others on a public road no matter how quiet.
Maybe they should have occasional times where motorways are closed to normal traffic and the usual rules are waived so people can have their fun without causing too much havoc? Read more
I thought 70mpg was REALLY the top safe limit
for any car on the motorway.
Or even 70mph ;o) Want me to edit it?
Hi all could you please help i have a problem with my internal lighting i have narrowed it down to a fuse but after looking in the fuse box all vauxall give you is a number. unlucky for me i do not currently have a drivers hand book so am un able to spot which one could be the problem. i have a 02 corsa comfort 1.0 12v
many thanks for you help
dandare2020 Read more
Or as DD said:
"On the lid of the fuse box should be pictures to
also aid you."
If the hazards don't work (they're normally on the same fuse as the interior light) then the picture to look out for is that of a triangle.
This is a good one, Im expecting delivery on friday (finally!) of my 156 GTA. I phoned Alfa Romeo insurance services for insurance quote....guess what, they won`t insure me! So they`ll sell me a car but not insure me on it! I know they are only tied in with an insurance company but this is ridiculous! (for the record I got it from Tesco for £1060, Im 28) Read more
EEEeeeeep!
Makes the £380 I pay on 156JTD Veloce seem like chicken feed.
Still, insurance is all about acceptable risk. Ferrari would happily accept a banker's draft from a 17 year old but wouldn't exactly condone the way it was then driven....
No Dosh ** Quick, talk motoring, Mark's coming! **
My 1995 Mondeo has the central locking working. But, the alarm doesn't set and the deadlock doesn't engage. I have checked the fuse and ok, I have changed the drivers door switch which also ok. Anybody any ideas or do I have to take it to the local agent? Read more
Joshua, Many thanks for your reply - will help me a great deal. Knowledge of a site is all thats needed. Once again many thanks
I started out enjoying this, now I have a looming sense of impending anno domini. It's all Mark's fault.
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Well, I don't think I was a million miles away and
certainly better than altavista :-)
Yeah, but Babelfish translations can be truly amusing in their lack of accuracy. Always worth a look.
BTW, if anyone has problems with their employer's firewall blocking their surfing, you can often read "blocked" sites by entering the URL on the babelfish URL:
babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
and then asking it to translate from any other language to english. Great for getting sports results. Despite my employer's sponsoring the county cricket, they block the cricket scores on the firewall!
Mark, how NOT nostalgia was that?
No Dosh ** Quick, talk motoring, Mark's coming! **
I would like to share a recent lesson learned regarding directional and non directional tyres, apologies if you all now this.
I recently had a puncture in the front near side tyre, swapped with the spare which was a non directional, however the off side front was a directional. When I was braking from 70 - 60, pulling off the motorway, I experienced quite a bad wheel judder, which wasnt there before. By chance I wondered if it was anything to do with the non directional tyre, so off came the non directional and on with a directional (correct direction) problem solved. Just to confirm my thoughts, off came both directional and on went non directional, again no judder. All tyres were uniroyals 225/60? r15 (think it was 60)
Question1. When did directional tyres become available?
Question2. Anyone else experienced this?
Question3. Can anyone offer an explanation as to why at only 60mph braking, this problem exhibited itself.
Thanks in advance. Read more
BMDUBYA
This is just from memory so corrections anticipated!
The first road tyre which was sensitive to the way it operated and the way it was mounted on the wheel was, I believe, the assymetric Michelin XAS (1960's ?), but this wasn't strictly directional. The first true directional tyre was probably the Pirelli P Zero (1980's?)
Judder? I can only think it's some effect of tread distortion under braking due to the strongly directional tread pattern or maybe something to do with the way the carcass of the tyre is made to impart the 'directional' properties. However, I thought the key issue with the directionality was water dispersion charcteristics of the tread. Otherwise, one would expect hard accelleration to cause a similar problem.
Regards
John S
Hi,
Current car heading for the scrapheap so I'm looking for a replacement.
Locally, there's a p reg rover 414i low mileage (allegedly) and in what looks to be good condition. (That's all teh details I have so far).
I know nothing about this make so would be grateful for any advice you guys can give.
Thanks
Alan Read more
The K series has a very small coolant capacity, even a minor leak which most other engines could tolerate is enough to cause the K series to blow. See HJ's car by car breakdown for full details, endorsed by a Rover mechanic I know. At his garage they used to do no end of head gaskets, although the good news is he says the problem has now been sorted, something to do with using metal rather than plastic cylinder head alignment dowels.
I'm thinking about selling my 1996 (N reg) Xantia 1.9TD Estate, it's the "base" model and I mean base - no electric windows, sunroof, aircon, ABS etc. though it has got remote central locking and an immobiliser.
Now the important bits; 1 previous owner (ex-fleet), "doom" blue, 136K with full service history (MD till 109K then Citroen specialist, serviced every 6K). All the bits and pieces are working fine, MOT till Nov'03, Tax till May'03. Items such as clutch/cambelt/spheres/discs/radiator have all been replaced/renewed within the last couple of years/12K.
Parker's say £1795 fair and £1700 trade - now I appreciate that the market is fairly volatile and £1700 may be pie in the sky.
Any opinions would be welcome, thanks in advance.
Chad.R Read more
Chad - sounds as if you are in a similar position to SWMBO and me. Two of us and three cars - the oldest is a 93K 205 in nice nick and fun to drive, but only kept as an aged retainer for nostalgic reasons. Everyone knows its value is probably now in three figures, but it's still worth more to me than it will fetch. One day it will go, but I hope it will be to a good home!
Browse
thanks for that davidhm.
it look's like some some car builders never learn from their mistakes.