February 2003
I've got a dilema! - I have an imported Focus, but the reg doc shows "new at first registration". The only give away is my Service Book which shows where the car originally came from (Belgium) The car is 100% UK spec
I've been offered a reasonable trade in figure against a new car at my local dealer, who gave the price without asking if it was an import or even going out to check the car over. I bought the new car and signed the order etc.
Am I right to say nothing to the dealer or will he have some come back if he checks the service manual? Read more
Can anyone explain why a new 2.5l rear Vectra box costs 235 pounds whilst the 1.8l box is only 97 pounds (Vauxhall main dealer part only - incl VAT). I believe they both fit (One company website I visited was offering a rear box saying it fitted all Vectra Engine sizes). Can I get away with a 1.8l or a 2.0l box as a replacement on my 2.5l 1997 Vectra? Is it just a more effective sound deadener because of the internals? Would it be an MOT issue if it were a little more noisy? Read more
Vauxhall sell two types of exhausts for their cars over the parts counter. The OE exhaust is very high quality and will last for a long time. My old Omega clocked up 100k and 6.5 years on the one system. Again though the replacement cost of that system was £700.
They also sell aftermarket style exhuasts at a greatly reduced price, but its bog standard kwik fit style offerings without any chrome tail pipes or such like.
You get what you pay for I guess.
I often glance through 'Technical' but don't study each post in depth, however what continues to strike me is the relative absence of Japanese car problems. The same makes keep cropping up with all sorts of problems, yet the Japs just don't feature. Everyone knows that they have an excellent reliability record, that they were renowned for copying other peoples designs and principles and making bland but efficient clones and were criticised for lacking that special quality that made the Italians and French special. (Apparently).
So why don't the owners of Pug, Citroen and Vauxhall all drive Toyotas, Mazdas and Nissans? (Note I said owners rather than drivers - if your company is paying the bill I can quite see that you'll choose the one *you* want to drive rather than worry about the bills).
We have a Yaris AND a Maestro so have a foot in each camp. I've had Renaults, Fords, Peugeots, Rovers.....so don't have an axe to grind but given that you can now get a Jap. to suit all tastes ie. Lexus instead of BMW or Merc. Micra/Yaris instead of Corsa/Pug 206. Landcruiser/Nissan X.Trail instead of Disco/Freelander. MX5 instead of MG. .....why not go for the one that you know won't give you hassle in going back to the dealer's sevice dept.?
Please....no personal attacks. I know full well that there's a certain appeal in BMW or Merc. ownership and we all drive what we want or can afford - no arguments there. I'm just observing that the 'Technical' list seems a bit lopsided and owners of Japanese vehicles might be feeling left out :-)
Is it that we are still trying to support the British car industry? That's a tricky one as Ford is American owned, Vauxhall - GM, Rovers are, well, what are Rover? Is it that we want something thats got character that the Japs can't provide?
Or do we all like getting our hands dirty at the weekend?
OR - is it all a myth and they're all the same and no one particular make or country of origin is any different from any other? The statistics don't show that - but you can do anything you want with statistics!
Answers on a postcard.
KB. Read more
By way of an observation regarding the absence of Japanese cars appearing in 'Technical'- I've continued to look in since to see whether I was overstating the case and have just found one. A Corolla with noisy brakes. The correspondent lives abroad and it's his daughters car - can't help myself, maybe someone else can?
However his post was substantially outnumbered by the more usual collection of European vehicle problems.
KB.
In May 2002 I bought a new Audi A4. For the last 10 weeks, it has been sat in my local Audi dealer's compound awaiting a new ignition coil. This is the second time the fault has happened (on the first occasion a new coil was fitted at the road side).
In fairness to Audi, I have been lent an Omega during the time my car has been off the road, but I want my A4 back!! I am getting fed up.
My questions are:
1. bearing in mind the vehicle was clearly not of 'merchantable quality' (I think that is the correct phrase) when new, do I have a legal right to ask for my money back?
2. if not, do I have any other recourse, or do I have to simply wait for a new coil to be fitted. Am I being unreasonable for beginning to think that as I have paid for an Audi, I should be driving an Audi?
3. when a supply of ignition coils arrive, can I insist on all 4 being replaced on the basis that the other three will fail at some point (this is a recognised fault with these components) and not return the Omega until this is done, or again is this unreasonable.
4. Finally, how long can a vehicle stand for in the open air without any deterioration?
All comments gratefully received.
DaveH
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Thanks Phil
I now realise I am not alone!!
Cheers
Dave
Does anybody know which ( what model number) CD autochanger fits this radio? Have phoned Rover etc and they don't seem to know. Thank you.
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The DC 072 fits the above head unit.
Regards
Steve
Dr Dave - you're on everything, when do you sleep?
I am interested in buying a Merc C Class and have found a dealer offering a 1997 1.8 Sport and a 1996 2.5TD Estate, both at the same price (£8995). The Sport has the advantage of lower mileage (35K against 84K) but I am tempted by the extra economy of the Diesel.
Can anyone give me any information on Mercedes cars of that age please and also the relative merits/drawbacks of the two variants? Also one or two people have said that Mercs built in the last few years are not as well built as they used to be.
I would be grateful for any comments Read more
There is a small point to consider. The C-class isn't actually that good a car, certainly not as well screwed together as urban myths would suggest and it isn't that nice to drive either.
I would have thought that your money could be spent better.
Anyone out there with a 2001 or newer Astra or Astra coupe 2.0turbo or 2.2 ? I'm having strange clunks and jolt like the car tries to move forward when I put it into 1st or reverse. Vauxhall tried to fix and can't (new clutch, gearbox etc) - now tell me that is operating to within manufacturing standards. I'm not impressed, has anyone experienced similar or has anyone had any joy getting the car taken back/compensated for problem ?
Problem worse when car is warm, 1.8 not affected. Read more
Problem occurs when you actually try to select the gear. Clutch fully depressed (no probs) it's when you actually move the gear lever to select and it clunks and tries to move forward before it actually goes into gear. When they were testing it they had the car on the ramp and were moving the gear lever towards 1st and reverse without using the clutch which made the car rock backwards and forwards dramatically.
It's really annoying particularly as I spend about 2 hours a day crawling through traffic and not really of the standard you expect from a so-called top of the range car.
Prior to this I had a calibra, great car, this isn't a patch on it.
Nice bit of satire (at least, I hope it was - you can never tell with Americans) although I couldn't find the original article on your link. Mind you, there was loads of stuff that Mark would definitely not want discussed here... :-) Read more
Satire? Americans?
Is that not on a level with self-deprecating humour?
I'm considering buying a new Focus, but was wondering whether the problem (complete loss of power for no good reason) reported by Watchdog ( www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/reports/transport/index.sht...d )is true or a (as usual) lie. Have any of you Focus owners out there suffered this problem? Read more
I saw this programme and just managed to read part of a Ford technical document describing a problem with crankshaft end float. On checking through Honest John's Car-by-Car Breakdowns for the Focus I notice that there was a recall for this which applied to automatics, i.e.
"30/5/2000: all Focus automatics recalled because excessive crankshaft end float may allow torque convertor to contact crankshaft position sensor leading engine to cut out. Revised crankshaft thrust bearing and new crankshaft position sensor to be fitted."
So if you intend to buy a manual Focus there may not be any problem.
Hi, my car is already part of another thread to do ith an idle problem, this one concerns an intermitten electrical problem. Apart from these two things the car is fine!
This is the problem and it seems to be totally random: sometimes when i try to use the rear windscreen wiper it does not work (the washers do though), instead the fog light & rear screen heater lights come on, at the same time the boot release in the central console stops working too. Anyone got any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
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Boot release should only work with ignition OFF.
Browse
Wow - thanks for your honesty!
To be honest I've got to say that in a way I'm now quite pleased that the dealer knows, and that eventually whatever happens I'll be able to walk in there and hold my head up.
On the subject of dealer honesty, after all thats been said in this thread, he talked to me tonight about Glass's guide listing my car price as substantially lower than a "UK" car - Honesty should work both ways shouldn't it? Reading the other postings (but never having seen inside Glass's guide), they all reckon the 100% UK spec import is supposed to be worth the same!
I'll keep you posted on the outcome of our forthcoming discussions