Yes, I know I don\'t really NEED them, but I just hate the plastic wheel trims on my S reg Renault Scenic. I wish I could just either order-up a brand new set of alloys / tyres from the local Renault dealer or pop into Halfords, etc to get a new set, but I just havn\'t got that sort of money.
I\'ve now opened up a can of worms by looking into getting a used set - on Ebay or searching for breakers that may have a Scenic with good wheels (undamaged) that might fit.
However, it ain\'t that easy. I\'m amazed at the numbers game. To get it right, you need to get the PCD correct, the offset correct, the width of tread on the tyre correct, the wheel size correct, the tyre wall height correct and loads of other technical stuff correct! None of this I realised would be significant - but it is!!
Apart from all that, the only missing piece of the \"choosing-your-alloys/tyres\" game is one - obvious to me but never seems to appear to be important to anyone else - is the DIAMETER of the tyre!!
Surely, this dimension is so critical to get right as it must affect speedo reading, transmission and car handling.
Why can\'t I (just a non-techy bloke) get this sort of simple information?
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Speaking to a mate today. He mentioned something or other about when changing cambelts on Ford Diesel engines, you have to let the engine cool down for a minumum of 5 hrs before starting the work. Something to do with allowing the hydraulic belt tensioner to fully retract. If the tensioner hasn't fully retracted when the new belt is fitted it will be at the wrong tension. ie, too slack on a cold start up.

Apparantely Ford main dealers are aware of this, but a lot of independants and back street garages are not.

Anyone care to confirm/deny/expand on this? Read more

Looked at a E300TD Estate Elegance today. May 99, 21,500 miles, been largely undriven the past year as owner had died and the family are only now selling. Pristine in and out, drove fresh, a lot of extras. It's pretty top end price wise at £19k. Would you? Read more

Any recommendations? I am travelling early May for 11 nights and I have been qouted £46 by Airparks 5mins from Airport! Can anyone beat that?
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Last February, I purchased a second hand car (Nissan Micra) for my good lady from the garage I have been a customer since 1995. On the day we took delivery there was no spare key, and when we enquired as to its whereabouts the salesman advised that he would contact the previous owner to get it.

Nothing was forthcoming therefore I contacted the salesman again a couple of months later and he advised that he had had no joy but would try again. Again nothing was received therefore I phoned in October to ask if they would be agreeable to me obtaining the key myself (job was quoted from a Nissan dealer at around £30) and if I sent them the paid invoice would they refund me the full cost. An agreement was reached with the salesman that this would be the case.

Earlier this month I eventually found time to contact the nearest Nissan dealer to get the key cut/programmed in, etc and they advised that the cost would actually be in the region of £45.00. I contacted the salesman out of courtesy to let him know the cost would be slightly more than was first quoted and would they still be happy for me to arrange it and submit the paid invoice to them, or would they wish to deal with it themselves.

Response –

Will not refund the cost at all as we had (apparently) received the car at a considerable discount. My response to that comment was…………… not our problem, there was no hard pushing on our part on the deal, and there was no way that the garage would have lost any money on the deal that was agreed.

I again requested the garage covered the full cost –

Response –

With a 4/5 year old second hand car you must expect some things may be missing. My response was…………… absolute nonsense - scratches, dents, squeaks, wear and tear yes, a missing spare key…………no way.

The salesman then contacted me to advise the garage would meet 50/50 the cost of the spare key. Sounds like an improvement, but based on the fact that we were looking for the spare key from the day we took the car (but the garage has not been able to deliver), and the garage originally offered £30, (50/50 is less than this figure), I feel I cannot accept this and would like to take it further. The garage does not seem to want to budge but I feel that they should ‘cough up’ the full cost of the new key.

I was wondering if members of the forum could advise me on how they see this situation, and how they believe I could take this forward to get the result I am looking for. I know it is only 45 quid but it is the principle I am working to. We are not talking a small garage here it is a Peugeot Dealership from which I have bought 4 cars in the last 7 years, and this dealership carried out most services/repairs during this time!!!!

Can anyone help/advise?
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