February 2003
I was approaching a well known notorious junction which is on the outside of a sharp left hand bend. I was indicating to turn right and cautious due to the weather conditions although my section of road was in bright sunshine, when I spotted a car coming down the hill on the shaded and frosty road.. I stopped but to my amazement the other party did not appear to react until quite late when the front of the car dipped and the noise of locked up wheels. Unfortunately he failed to stop by a few cm’s and collided with the corner of my front N/S wing. Now the rub is that when I reversed my car to take it to a safe place is was clear that the impact was in the middle of his Nissan Primera Bumper/Grill/Number plate and the point on contact, not forgetting I was stationary was only 30 odd cm’s from the white line, thus he had both O/S wheels on my side of the road.
Now I thought this was clear cut as I was stationary. So We exchanged details and I rang my insurance company to be informed that in most cases the vehicle turning from a major to a minor road is deemed to be responsible. After explaining that I was Stationary, of which there was no doubt and clearly evident from the photos of the damage i.e. no scrapping and a clean line in my upper wing from the lip of his bonnet and that he had two wheels on my side of the road they have referred it to the dispute department. I do not know what the other party have stated and the only concern the guy had at the scene was that he was going to trade the car in later that day.
A photo of the debris including a corner of his number plate clearly shows that the middle of the bumper would have been only 30 cm on his side of the road.. who do you think will be held responsible for this accident surely not a dumb K4K after, all I was stationary. There were passengers in both cars, no independent witnesses and the police were not involved, I though it was obvious Dooh
I have supplied the insurance company with a full statement and a CD with all the post accident Photos.
Regards Peter
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98R Megane Scenic 25800 miles from new. Advised that the Cat has failed (rattling internally). £00's to replace. Is this normal or a known problem? Read more
Happened to my Renault after 5 years, passed its emissions OK though. Shop around - I think I paid around £130 at local garage.
having just spent the last 2 days reading all the comments about omegas and vectra's i wonder if i have done the right thing.I just sold my '94 2L 16v omega after spending a few quid on an engine that refused to idle properly,took ages to warm up,and had more moisture inside than out!! so cos I basicaly like GM I am about to take del of the above car,done all the usual checks, fleet first then private owner all seems ok 97,000 on clock but ok as i only use it w/ends. 1/What should I look out for 2/is there anything i should do when i collect it 3/what do i need to check on a reg basis 4/ would an oil flush be a good idea ? Read more
Well a 2 year warranty on a 98 car can't be sniffed at providing it covers all the important bits.
One thing I forgot to mention, aircon can be a nuisance on these cars and is prone to releasing all its gas if not used *very* regularly or permanently. If aircon is an important feature to you make sure you test it as the car is delivered and also take HJ's advice and use very regularly to keep it working.
One other thing - does your warranty cover the clutch? It's a mammoth task replacing this on any Vectra and this is one of the worst. Check yours is okay...
Can't think of anything else at the moment but if I do will post back - had also better get on with some work!
My observation:
I work on the fifth floor of an office on Euston Road NW1, on the border of the congestion charge zone. From my office I have a clear view of the Euston underpass.
I have never ever observed such clear traffic movement during the working week as I did yesterday and indeed so far this morning.
Yes, I know its half term, and yes, I heard that there were sneaky moves with roadworks and traffic light phasing to make traffic as grid loccked as possibble last week. (If this was true it worked very well as Euston Road was to all practical purposes totally grid-loccked most of last last week)
I am interested to see if the situation changes in the following weeks - I'll keep you posted if anyone interested?
CS Read more
Can't see much difference from last week, but as Toad points out its still half term in some parts. Need to wait a bit longer I feel.
CS
My 1.8 Astra Sport tends to stall upon deceleration especially, though not exclusively, when the engine is warming up, usually a mile or 2 after starting up. This also happens when I restart the engine from warm/ hot. This problem does not appear everytime. Can you please provide an answer and cure for this problem. The Haynes owners manual offers no clue to this problem.
Thanks.
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That sounds like the old favourite problem of the ISCV (Idle speed control valve) that is partially gummed up. Not sure where it is though, but hopefully the Haynes manual will show you. Remove and flush out with either carb cleaner, or some petrol and refit.
Times, although not exact, are reasonably accurate in the following sad, short, but seemingly all too typical, story of an accident which occurred some 300 yards from my house in the early hours of Friday morning:
1.45 am Party of four, two men and two women, leave local nightclub by car after a major argument, subject unknown .....
1.50 am Car, a Vauxhall Callibra, is stopped by police patrol car after being see driven erratically in town. Driver, a 29 year old man, is breath tested and, the test having proved negative, is allowed to proceed after being warned about the standard of his driving.
2.00 am Driver, proceeding uphill on long straight A-road through built-up area, at a post-accident estimate of some 80 mph, loses control, mounts barrier-free narrow median strip between carriageways, crosses other carriageway, and mounts pavement at an acute angle. On impact, right rear side collides with high wall on far side of road, left front side brought up all standing by 30 foot high metal street lamp. Male front seat passenger of 23 and female of 24, a mother of one, seated behind driver killed outright, female left rear passenger of 23 seriously injured. Driver, miraculously uninjured, does a runner ....
2.10 am Police helicopter hovering over my house, with thermal imaging equipment presumably in use, in hot, but unsuccessful, pursuit of driver.
2.40 am Driver arrested at home, having called police, not to report the accident (albeit somewhat belatedly), but to report the theft of the Callibra .....
Tonight's local paper names victims, and announces that driver has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, six other motoring offences, and, not surprisingly, attempting to pervert the course of justice. Bailed by local magistrates, prior to Crown Court appearance later this week, on condition that he remains out of town - which is, in the circumstances, probably wise if he is to remain uninjured.
Jack Read more
Since PU is the expert, I'm takng his advice. This thread is locked and may disappear in the morning when I have thought about it.
Mark.
Got up early this morning to head to Sheffield to meet a client.
On getting to my front door, I found my door keys on the mat. Turned to look to where they should go (key hooks about 8 feet from front door), and realised my car keys were gone.
Sure enough, my 2001(51) Volvo S80 2.4 SE had been half-inched.
Crim must have used a fishing rod to hook the keys from their resting place. Cheeky b***** must also have deiced the windscreen before departing, as my Wife's car was well frosted over this morning.
I am now looking at a serious cost impact - steep 1st year depreciation on the S80 (which I was going to ride to year 4) means I will probably be in a finance deficit when the claim is settled. And that's before interim car hire costs, excess, time and effort replacing missing items etc.
What are opinions on replacement - looking at maybe 12 grand when aforementioned fiannce hole has been dealt with. Another S80 (though it would have to be older, I guess), or maybe an Omega? I'd like to move to an auto, if possible.
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I thought you couldn't access threads past about the 50 post mark, V?!
HF
Dont you just hate it when that happens !
I was late getting back to my car as I had to wait in the Opticians to pick up my new specs.....
No its funny this !
When I got back to my car There was a ticket on it £ 25.00 OUCH, but when I looked closely, with my new glasses, I noticed that the traffic warden needs to pay a visit to the optician too, as he had got one of the letters wrong, and nowhere on the ticket does it mention the make, colour of vehicle etc.
So what are my chances of avoiding paying the fine ?
Surely if the warden couldn't read the letters on my numberplate - 3 inches or so high - how could we be sure he could read the time on the ticket or the time on his watch ?
Also if they interrogate the police computer it will come back with nothing to link this registration number to me.
What do you think ?
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Reading something today which confirmed my thought when this thread was live. The County Court would be unlikely to be concerned with the facts of the offence once the Adjudicator has had his say. The only way to contest the adjudicators decision is Judicial Review; a high risk strategy for a £60 parking ticket.
The proceedings brought in the Cty Ct would be the issue of an order for recovery of an unpaid charge. This is not a further avenue of appeal, it simply facilitates use of the bailiff to enforce what is already regarded as a court judgement. The recipient can object by making a statutory declaration but only on the grounds that:
a) He did not receive the original notice to owner
b) Representations made to the LA did not receive a rejection notice
c) He has appealed to the Parking Adjudicator against the LA rejection but has had no response.
False declarations are an offence under the perjury act carrying the risk if two years in the slammer, and all that follows.
Anybody got any experience of towing a caravan with the new 2.0 and 1.8 petrol models, please? Can\'t afford a TDCi, and anyway I\'ve been a bit put off by all the starting problems etc highlighted in this forum, so I may look for a used petrol model.
HJ mentioned some time back that early LX models had front seat problems - not kind to the coccyx, and plastic pins sticking through the seat padding. Any advice on what registrations/ production runs to avoid here?
Thanks - GrahamM
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kurnal
That's disappointing mpg for a diesel, i tow a similar weight with a 1.8T and return 23/25mpg, from a diesel i would expect low 30s
I have heard that Renault supplied the engines to the early Volvo V40s. Is that true? Are there any other french engines quietly appearing in apparently non-french cars? In view of the recent problem owners of Peugeot and Renault owner have had due to poor quality I want to steer clear of anything remotely french. Read more
I understood that the S40 / V40 shares a lot with the Mitsubishi Carisma, including being built at the same factory
Browse
Excellent advice about disposable cameras - I have had 2 accidents (not my fault) where the photos have really helped. If you have an accident (not your fault), leap out the car, ignore the other driver (unless of course they are injured) and photograph the scene. This may seen unnatural but it means the other driver is more likely to be honest and less likely to start fabricating what happened when they are sat at home two days later with the claim form. As i have said, helped me twice...