Just back from a few weeks in the Czech Republic, with loads of snow, many a day near that minus 20 degree Centigrade mark, and some times even colder than that. Thoughts that come to mind are:

1) Took a few journeys in an ancient (more than 20 years old) rear engined Skoda. A total, clapped our, rickety heap, except that the motor started first time, every time, with none of the Whir, whir, whir, flat battery, and then silence, that most British bangers would exhibit.

2) Very reluctantly, drove one of the first Favorits, also run by it's normal owner on a total shoe string. A certain UK MOT failure, it also started on the button every time, and the unassisted (read bl**dy heavy normally) steering gave plenty of feedback on packed snow. Incidentally, the first and second times I started the car, I locked myself out whilst clearing snow from the glass (a broken door latch was to blame), and on both occasions, the auto choke worked perfectly during the five minutes it took to get back in to the car, which by then was ticking over at normal speed.

3) Nearly every dashboard switch in the Favorit had been replaced with one showing the Heated Rear Window symbol, which made simple tasks like turning the lights on (Daytime law in winter months in the Czech Republic), interesting!

4) In total contrast, a friend's newly acquired W12 (6 litre I think?) engined Audi A8 was awesome. With the stability and traction control software enabled, it appeared to accelarate in snow far harder than my Vectra GSi does on dry tarmac, with hardly any wheelspin, and in a dead straight line. In an empty car park, it was also hard to make the car spin with all the control software enabled. Actually, as a display of technology, awesome is not the word for it. As one example, the roof has an (LCD?)panel to allow air conditioning to run when the car if left unattended, and infact, the air conditioning and heater can be controlled from up to 1500 metres away by radio handset. I have never really been one to admire anything Tutonic, but this car, especially with W12 engine, impressed me deeply. Can't wait for a drive later in the year on dry tarmac, if I'm allowed!

5) Was stopped by a Czech policeman manning a roadside checkpoint at 02:00am. What marked the occasion? He stood to attention and saluted as I wound the window down. When all was seen to be in order, he wished me well, and saluted again as I drove off! Apparently, all quite normal behaviour.


BFN,
Steve

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I have an elderly Peugeot 505 GTi Family Estate which has served the family well for many years. However, though mechanically it's still pretty good, various bits are starting to drop off/not work! Replacement time! I still need 6-7 seats, big enough for teenagers (not small!), but I also need the flexibility to take loads of luggage to university. I have a budget of around £7000 - £9000. I'd also like something that won't cost me a fortune in repair bills and be as economical as possible to run. (I know not many people want a car like this...!) Any suggestions, based on all the collective wisdom and experience out there? And if you know anyone who wants a 505 that still has some life in it....Thank you!
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I was wondering if anyone knows the what the difference is between the Clio DCi 65bhp and 80bhp versions. Ive looked on Renaults website and all the engine tech. specs. seem to be the same .... is the difference purely the ecu?

Chris Read more

My wifes 1989 1043cc Polo(60k)suffers from idle stalling in the warm up period,usually after about 5 min after starting or a couple of miles running.This is annoying especially at jcns, roundabouts etc.
A few mins later the problem goes and the car runs perfectly.
This occurs in the months oct-apr and has done it since the car was bought in 1999.
The carb is a std Pierburg 1b3.
I have tried everything component wise to try and cure it,inc different carb(another 1b3)/manifold heater/warm air system etc etc.
Conversion to manual choke has not really made a difference,as the only way to overcome the problem is have the engine revving at about 3000+.
I suspect the problem is icing around the idle progression holes(power is unaffected).I've tried to get hold of the throttle body heater that fits in the carb body,but is proving as elusive as Lord Lucan!
I heard of additives that can help,anyone used them?
Any ideas/help would be appeciated,as my patience is running out! Read more

Honest Richards car empire got quite a bit of press attention at the end of November 2002, with free publicity on the Watchdog programme and promises from their CEO Ian Lancaster that things would get better. Whilst many of you may consider my ramblings "selfish" as I only talk about my experience, you may wish to consider my situation if a purchase from Virgin Cars is on your list of priorities.

I ordered a vehicle at the end of May 02, with delivery indicated at 18 weeks - early October 02. Initial order payment of £100 and deposit of over £3,000 (15%) were paid within 24 hours of receiving notification. The initial emails were promising, highlighting the stages involved, but it all got a little worrying when I didn't get any info for over eight weeks in June/July 02!

Then they dropped the big one - "production delays" - your car won't be delivered until late December 2002. Many enquiries, emails, letters to their CEO resulted in the lame excuse of their franchised dealer forgetting to take account of the summer factory shutdown. A well informed dealer I thought!

OK, no problems, until they sort of indicated the delivery would probably be after Christmas because they [Virgin] forgot to take account of the holidays. This would have been a reasonable excuse in their first year of trading, but not in 2002. Laughable!

Still got emails saying late December 02, until late November 02 when they requested the final balance (approx £19,000) in writing, saying the vehicle would be ready in FOUR weeks (i.e. around Christmas). Excellent I thought. Let's not delay it any further, so I paid £25 and got the bank to send the money right away using CHAPS. They duly acknowledged receipt and I thought yippee, at last I may see my new car.

Nearing the end of the four weeks, I sold my old car using Autotrader (found a buyer in 2 days, paid cash, excellent!), only to find out the next day that Virgin hadn't actually collected my car from the continent and wouldn't be doing so until early January 2003!

I hit the roof.

Time to try and get some assistance from young Sir Richard as well as trying yet again to get a personal response from Ian Lancaster, the CEO of Virgin Cars. I duly wrote to his Virgin Management address in London hoping for a swift reply.

Yet again, Mr Lancaster delegated his reply to a colleague. More apologies and promises that they would be monitoring the situation personally [rather than waiting for their Logica implemented customer management system to send out automated standard letters and responses].

A day after they were supposed to collect the car from Spain, I called Virgin to ensure this had happened. As expected, IT HADN'T, due to severe weather on the french-spanish border, and they wouldn't know until a week later.

Since I had only had a holding reply from Virgin Management, I called their offices and was told that the lady dealing with the situation was away... Strangely enough though, I got a voicemail from some senior exec in Virgin a day later saying that they'd call back later in the day - they didn't though.

So here I am, having to hire a car until Virgin can actually deliver a vehicle I was originally promised some THREE months ago.

No car.
No money.
And a garage full of special accessories ready for installation.

Oh yes, to top it all, they'd quite happily refund all the monies I've paid to date. Well that's just brilliant, considering that they'd sell it to someone else anyway, probably for a higher price due to the shorter lead time. I won't let them get away with it.

Any ideas on what I should do?

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