January 2003

Forum Peugeot spares in France

duggie on 23 January 2003

Hi,
l'm off to France this weekend, l need a clutch kit for my 405 and other service parts, am l likely to buy these parts cheaper from a french peugeot dealer/garage than in the UK?? if anyone has any useful contacts in the Calais area for cheap parts please reply. Many thanks.
Duggie Read more

terryb on 23 January 2003

Duggie

Enjoy. I'll be a couple of weeks behind you! Meanwhile, have a look at
www.day-tripper.net/shoppingcarservicetyres.html

Terry

Forum insurance claim

andy n on 23 January 2003

hi all my wifes car was recently involved in accident,(no third party involved)i have two questions arising from this 1/am i obliged to use my insurers "approved" repairer as ive had poor work performed by them in the past and i would prefer to use a local bmw approved body shop whom have a excellant local reputation , and secondly at what percentage of a vehicles value is it likely to be written off... 100% 80%?, any replies gratefully received. Read more

stevieg on 23 January 2003

See my thread re write of values
I was quoted 60% of value by ESURE but my repairs are 88% and they still want to repair as I would rather have the car written off. The approved garage stated that some insurance companies repair at 90/95%.

SteveiG

Question MGF cambelt

Johnw on 23 January 2003

On booking in my MGF for service at a main dealer the receptionist stated that the cambelt would need replacing.The car,a 1996 model has done 34000 miles, and according to the service schedule the cambelt needs replacing at 96000 miles.Am I being ripped off? Read more

Doc on 23 January 2003

1. Phone manufacturer-ask them when belt should be changed (and

tensioner pulley). Get this in writing.

2. Change belt according to what they say - at a

franchised dealer.

3. If belt fails before it is changed then at least

you have a case against the manufacturer/dealer. They will have no

excuses.

I tried getting this recommendation in writing from Rover some time ago, but was unable to get any response.
As has been said, there is a tremendous amount about this subject on the forum; have a search.

Forum BMW 525d SE (2001)

Mikek on 22 January 2003

BMW 525d SE (Y reg)
Manual
Cloth

Have been offered a v.good deal on the above car.
Has anyone got any experience or advice on this model ?
I have driven and was very impressed with the 530d and 330d autos,(loved the drive,power and economy).But the damned things are still pricey for me. Are 5 and 3 series residuals about to nose dive with the new 5 due out soon and the 3.0 diesel pumped up to 200bhp plus (205/215 bhp ??)

Read more

Mikek on 25 January 2003

Did my research on the web - primarily this site.
Polled workplace car buffs for their knowledge.
Finally made up my mind on Friday lunchtime after a test drive at a local BM garage to go for the car.
It had just been sold - Gutted !!

My search for a BM diesel (530d/525d/330d) continues....

A they say, He who hesitates.....

Question PLEASE HELP Second hand gearbox problem

TypeR on 22 January 2003

I have had a new gearbox fitted to my Vauxhall Corsa 1.7D. This gearbox was second hand but cheaper than a new reconditioned one. Total price was £420 what do you people think of this ? good value? Basically the problem is since having this second hand gearbox fitted I have noticed that the rev counter goes much higher than it used to. I have to change gears more quickly and it gear five the car will only now hit about 80/85 max and the cars rev counter will almost be on red. Before I could hit 90/95 and it would even go up in this area.

I have been back to the garage concerned and he has told me that there is noting wrong and to ?forget about it? as you would expect. I asked him whether he had fitted the wrong gearbox to the car. He told me that this was not possible, as it would not fit anyway. I had a suspicion that perhaps a gearbox was fitted for a 1.5 diesel say instead of the 1.7 and this might explain why the car was revving so highly.

Could anyone here suggest what the problem with the car might be then perhaps I can go back to the mechanic with a bit more knowledge and challenge him. At the moment I don?t really know what?s wrong

Thanks in advance for your help people
Read more

TypeR on 26 January 2003

Thanks David. I intend to give my local Vauxhall dealer a call in the morning and book the car in see if they say whether the gearbox is wrong or faulty. Then follow your advice and ask for an engineers report. Will put another post once I have any news.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

Forum MX5 sillyness

dohc on 22 January 2003

Anyone know of a sensibly priced MX5 in the Midlands area? There seem to be a lot about but all those I've seen are rubbish.

Read more

DavidHM on 24 January 2003

£10500 for a new (current plate at least), *repaired* MX5 sounds like a good deal, depending on who did the repair. At least, that's how I read it. I assume it was on VCar, but with a good spec, I'd say it's worth the £3-4k saving if you know what you're doing and are keeping it for a long time.

£2500 doesn't sound like enough damage to write off a car like that though, so it might actually *not* be a write off but could have fallen off a transporter. Mazda might then have decided it wasn't worth the risk of repairing it themselves and selling it as new. Of course, if it was unregistered when the accident occurred, we're getting back to not knowing the age of the car; it could be a year old or more after all.

Question Zetec 1800 DOHC idle fault

wrightyl on 22 January 2003

Have a 1996 Ford Escort with the Zetec 1800 DOHC engine, only recently bought it. I have noticed that when coming to a halt or dropping down into 1st gear the revs seem to "stick" at about 1,500rpm for a couple of seconds, they then drop to just below 1000rpm. It also does this if i say rev the engine to 4,000rpm, then watch the needle fall back down,it sticks at 1,500rpm for a couple of seconds b4 droppin to about 1000rpm. It just makes driving it not as smooth as it should be. Does anyone know if this is a problem with the chip that controls the engine management and if so what can be done to fix it? Read more

wrightyl on 23 January 2003

Thanks Andrew. I'll see how it goes!

Forum Today's auction cars

DavidHM on 22 January 2003

HJ - what is an 'unsaleable' interior on an A8? Poor condition, cloth, or something unspeakable like the purple velvet in a purple Silver Shadow I had the dubious pleasure of riding in when I was two?

Also, for a soon to be one year old Previa, in a crap colour, with no V5, £15900 sounds like a fantastic deal for the seller. If the finance company was selling it because it was a repo, then doubly so. Read more

Question VW Golf Timing Belt

herbie on 22 January 2003

I've had the lower crank timing belt pulley keyway shear and disintegrate off my VW Golf 1.9 diesel estate (1995). Does anyone know how common a problem this is with this model and whether most garages would pick it up? Do I need to replace the engine?
Read more

herbie on 23 January 2003

Peter,
Many thanks for your advice.
Is this a common problem with this model then?

Forum M6 madness

Thommo on 22 January 2003

Am considering a job offer in Wolverhampton. Good job, quite keen. Would mean a 60 mile each way commute from Northampton which is not so bad per se but a good portion is M6 elevated section.

Never tried this stretch of road in rush hour but by reputation it is madness.

Anyone any experience? Is it that bad? Are there reasonable alternative routes? Read more

FFX-DM on 23 January 2003

Quite, Matt!

Luckily, the Blair terror does not affect me directly as I have a nice country commute through the Chilterns, with red kits flapping overhead, weasels running across the road, floods to negotiate, roadkill to pick up and sling in the boot...

However, the barely controlled, incandescent rantings of my partner, who *has* to drive into the centre of London on a regular basis, are keeping my mind truy focussed on the subject. I have had to hide my Red Ken biography lest it gets spotted and shredded.

I gave up a public tranport (train) commute into London when I took my current job because in the 11 years I did it the price went up 'to pay for improvements' which not only never materialised, but in fact the service went down beyond the point of a joke. My 20 miles car commute is sheer nirvana in comparison. If the Blairy Bunch want to get me off the roads and onto public transport, I have seen no sign of the carrot yet and the stick has only been a minor irritant thus far!

Ho hum!