February 2003
School is considering a number of options for transporting kids on field trips, swimming lessons, away sports fixtures what have you.
Current options in no particular order are:-
1) School (probably Friends Assoc'n) owned and operated minibus driven by members of staff.
2) Coach hired from reputable company together with professional PCV licensed driver.
3) Parent and staff volunteers using their own vehicles. (only on odd occasions admittedly, only for small parties and shortish distances when hiring a coach is possibly uneconomic)
So I guess we are looking at either option 1, or option 2, or a combination of 2&3 as appropriate.
Take it that option 1 gives a cost saving over option 2 (but not that significant in my opinion) what does the team think?
Critical questions which should be asked are:- ?
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Browsing through autotrader online for a Focus, there is one which appears to be be cheaper than similar age etc. In the description it says Stolen recovered.
Apart from having suffered damage (not mentioned) why might this be a Bad Thing? Read more
The insurance would pay out again on the car, but would pay out at it's market value, which in this case, is less than other cars of it's age.
On the other hand it's possible that they paid out before the car was recovered, so obviously when it was recovered, the car became their's and they sell it on. But as this is a private sale I don't reckon it's likely.
Blue
If it helps anyone considering flushing out engine prior to or with oil change, i used a standard pre oil change flush from Halfords which whilst clearly getting a lot of gunk out of the engine (as was evident from the old oil), did seem to cause one of the Injectors to begin malfunctioning. (perhaps something got jammed in the injector). This was easy to change, but nevertheless am unexpected hassel.
Anyone know what exactly is the big advantage of engine cleaners anyway? Read more
I get your point but with the loads I used to carry maybe the sales rep thing isn't quite as punishing. 45 mpg?
Steve.
In Belfast today I saw just one new Vectra and I've noticed remarkably few of them generally. Read more
"Obviously a man with taste ;o)"
Not if he works for The Star...
The windows on my new-model (2001) mondeo have started behaving strangely. When I unlock the doors using the remote control, both front windows unwind fully. But, this doesn't happen all the time. Anyone else experience this strange behaviour or have any idea what is causing it??? Read more
But it is great in summer when you come back to
an oven-like car just to open all windows at the press
of a button.
Similar to VW then. Except that the car thieves discovered they could also use this to their advantage!!
My wifes 97 1.2 Punto S has had the heater matrix changed (one of the many punto common problems it appears).
It now makes lots of gurgling and sloshing noises which you can hear inside the car if stationary and rev.
The coolant level keeps rising and will explode from the top up if you take the cap off even after a short journey.
Its had the thermostat changed and the coolant system flushed but it is still happening.
As it has no temperature guage I cannot tell if the car is overheating or not.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance. Read more
There is a device called "Cooling System Pressure Tester" (made by Sykes Pickavant). This will test the pressure cap and,if fixed to the radiator, will pressurise the system to check for leaks.
If you attach to radiator and start engine,the pressure will rise rapidly(shown on gauge), if head gasket leaking.
Most garages have these devices, or perhaps you could hire one from tool-hire shop.
I have just purchased a 99 V Focus from a toyota car dealership. After giving the car a good clean it appears that there are bubble of rust under the drivers side wheel arch. there is evidence that it has been touched up,(not very well!) and i`m not sure if this is due to previous accident or not. I did ask if any panels had been replaced and garage said no.
What is the best thing to do about this. Should i get a garage to rub down and repaint or replace whole arch?
Also would i have any comeback on dealership for a car in this condition as i do have 6 months warranty although panels are not mentioned in cover.
Any advice? Read more
Good luck mate, shame that something like this can spoil your enjoyment of what is otherwise a very nice car. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Blue
Changed pads\discs all round on my golf mk2 at christmas. Also had to replace both rear brake calipers. After this, the brakes rocked!
Then about a week later, the brakes were spongy & alot of travel on the pedal. Re-bled the brakes & the rear ones had air in them. After this brakes back to good working order.
Now, a month on i've had the same trouble, spongy brakes & excess travel on pedal. Bled just the rear brakes at the weekend, got some air out & brakes are good again.
Can't work out where the air is getting in. If it's the master cylinder, then i would have thought the front bakes would have had air in as well(the brake system is one front\one rear off each line out of the master cylinder).
I thought it would be the rear brake compensator, but no obvious sign of leak behind the rubber seal (if air is getting in, then likely that fluid is getting out, right??).
Also, checked one of the new rear calipers & had a look for fluid behind the rubber seal - no sign!
Now waiting for a while to see if the brakes screw up again & i guess i'll have to start swappig out parts!
Any ideas?? Read more
Spoiler.
Trying to work through the fug of time but in the Polo again, the manual said that the most air will be extracted from the wheels furthest away from the cylinder. If you have time to do only one, do that one (one pipe only).
The rest is logical to me - front engine car. Rear wheels will always have the most air in the system.
HTH again.
'Reverse logic' not so fine
31/01/2003 08:15 - (SA)
Pretoria - A member of the metro police was probably thinking in reverse when he fined a driver because the pick-up's reverse lights worked only when the vehicle was going backwards.
Willem Smit of Pretoria was stunned when he was issued with this R200 fine. "I could not believe I was getting a fine, because my car was roadworthy."
Smit was on his way from Hammanskraal to Erasmia when the metro police pulled him over to test his vehicle's roadworthiness.
"I co-operated fully because I knew everything was in order. The man tested everything, from my hooter to my indicators. Then, to my shock, I was given a fine because the reverse lights worked only when the car was in reverse!"
Smit said he tried to explain to the officer that this was how reverse lights worked, but the policeman apparently did not want to listen and told Smit to file a complaint with the chief traffic official.
Smit described the fine as ridiculous: "What else can I do except laugh?"
He will probably also have the last laugh because the case is likely to be dismissed when it goes to court on March 5.
"I will definitely not pay R200 because my reverse lights are working and any magistrate should understand that."
Smit said the fine highlighted the lack of training of metro police. A lot of money and time was being wasted by, what he described as "incompetence".
"The courts already are too full and now we have to waste more time with this nonsense."
Mel Vosloo of metro police said the fine was vaguely worded and the officer probably wanted to write that the reverse lights were glowing continuously.
The reverse lights on Smit's pick-up were in perfect condition on Thursday and glowed only when the car was in reverse - as the fine states.
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We had new red bus lanes painted here about 2 years ago, accompanied by blue signs stating "buses only, 7am - 7pm"
You're ahead of me here, aren't you?
11.30pm the first night they were installed, me walking with copper back up the street to show him the blue sign...
Dave.
Help reqired.
How do you reset the service indicator (wee spanner that appears beside mileometer)after doing oil change etc?
All replies welcome.
Thanks!
Dennis.
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Thanks for the quick reply Edward!
I will try as soon as SWMBO returns with car.
Dennis.
Browse
The company I work for provides some school transport to the County Council. We drivers all have to be Form X cleared, ie no convictions or record of any problems or incidents in the past likely to make us a danger to our passengers, fit and proper person etc etc. This is in addition to the condition that we only use plated private hire vehicles (which are then subject to strict and frequent testing, as well as random spot checks) with full public liability insurance cover.
I would definitely say your best option would be to contract out your transport, hopefully you can locate a travel firm with both coaches and minibuses, which would give you more flexibility over passenger numbers. Also you would have (hopefully) professional, experienced drivers, as opposed to harassed, distracted, maybe not so experienced or competent teachers or parents.
Dave.