March 2003
Setting off 6am tomorrow. (Ashford in Kent, Cockermouth West Cumbria)
My first guess at the best route is the very boring M25, M1, M6.
Multimap agrees, but the AA reckons M25, M11, A1, A66. I don't know the A1 A66 route very well.
Any thought on the pros and cons of the different routes. Or amy other suggestions? We want to get there with all reasonable speed to get an afternoon in Cockermouth.
Thanks
andy Read more
I am interested in opinions on the accident on Car Wars lat night, where the police car travelling at 127mph trying to catch up a speeding BMW collided with a truck which pulled out into lane 3 of a motorway.
Did anyone else watch in disbelief as the plod kept speeding along as the truck pulled across in front of him? I thought the result was totally predictable and I was shocked that a Class1(? I'm no expert here!) police driver failed to anticipate and defend himself against the inevitable crash.
I know the truck driver should not have moved into lane 3, but it was obvious that there was a good chance he was going to and plod had plenty of time to brake before he actually did.
Thoughts?
Andy Read more
I would not go that fast as I doubt I could handle a front tyre blow out in lane 3. It is just too dangerous and I really don't like to be among a lot of the people who do that speed. I find them arrogant and aggressive.
However in my opinion doing 100mph is not dangerous per se. The skilled driver of a performance car can do it with little risk. What is very dangerous is people who drive bumper to bumper or who don't use their eyes. I was nearly hit when overtaking a car in lane 1 by a cretin in lane 3 doing a near a ton who decided to undertake without signalling or seeing me. Quite frightening.
Mind you, from what I have seen most drivers cannot drive fast safely. (That includes me so I don't.)
Can anyone help me? I need a big car for a family of 5 and able to carry lots of stuff from the garden to the dump. Do I go for the MPV or a 4x4. I can\'t decide between the Honda CRV and the Honda Shuttle. Read more
Cheers Dave, nice to know I'm still sane.
Does anybody know why my a rear Fiesta wiper would stop working. (1999 1.25 Zetec.)The fuses appear OK and the washer works. Neither does there appear to be any loose wires arond the motor and the connections are clean.
Absolutely baffled!!!!! Read more
Wife's fiesta had this elusive fault - turned out to be the steering column switch. Cured by operating it lots of times!! I always make a point of ensuring it's switched on and off a good few times when I look the car over once in a while (month!) but I lift the blade off the glass beforehand to prevent scratching.
I visited Tewksbury BCA Auctions on wednesday, doing a recce with a view to buying a replacement car for SWMBO. It was surprising to see just how big the savings were over dealer prices. 51 reg Rover 25 and 45 were fetching around £5500. An 02 plate Laguna dci Dynamic fetched £9600. P and R reg Escorts were around £1500 -1800. Interestingly, I saw some of the cars on a local independents forecourt today. Most had been marked up by £1500, with no apparent preperation.
I'm looking for a small 5 door. Y reg Fiestas, selling for around £5500 on Ford forecourts were going for £3-3500. I think I've summoned up the courage to raise my hand on my return tomorrow.
A side issue of this. I was preparing the wifes 3dr Fiesta for sale today. The Rear wiper has suddenley stopped so I was checking fuses. Saw a gap where a fuse was missing, replaced it and found that the car is fitted with central locking. DOH! The last two years have been spent reaching over to lock/unlock the car. Still, it will make it easier to sell. Read more
Well I took the plunge today and bought a car at Tewksbury. It's a 'W' reg (mar 2001) Renault Clio 1.2 Liberte. 32000 warranted miles and full Renault service history. Metallic red, for £3200. I reckon I've saved about £1500-1700. The wife's very pleased and I'm skint. Anyone want a Fiesta.
MLC
The alarm on my S reg astra sometimes does 4 quick beeps after I have turned the car off and opened the door. Dealer says "problem with ECU" but my previous experience is that this is code for "we have no idea". Any help out there ? Read more
Ha, I just *knew* you were going to ask that. To be honest I haven't the foggiest where tha alarm battery lives. I don't even know where it is on my Vectra. Hopefully your dealer should know; or someone else on here maybe? Anyone?
Saw a sign in a VX main dealer workshop yesterday, saying that mechanics, sorry, technicians, must ensure that all cars over 30K miles that are to be sold through Network Q scheme, must have cambelt and all tensioners and idler pulleys replaced, unless they have absolute proof that they have already been done. Read more
MGAs most certainly did not have 16 valve engines back in the 60s. There was a twin cam version of the MGA in the late 50s which had 8 valves but this was very much a special and was not altogether successful. The first production 4 valve per cylinder (16 valve) car was the Dolomite Sprint in 1973 closely followed a few weeks later by the Escort BDA. Although the Ecotecs were launched in the 90's the basic engine design was introduced in 1988 as the 150 bhp Astra GTE engine.
With the arrival of our new baby and the realisation that a 5 series saloon and a ti compact aren't particularly good family motors I'm looking at something spacious, japanese and cheap to run. The 98R 318ti se compact auto with leather to go privately...£6800 22k miles fsh???
The two options are a Legacy Estate 2.5 gx or an Avensis hatch/estate in 2.0 vvti form.
Does anyone have any experience of these cars particularly the subaru? Most of the subaru 2.5's are automatic does this go better with the 4 wheel drive system (less chance of the clutch being knackered)
My heart says subaru but my head says the avensis will be way ahead on fuel consumption and general reliability. Is there much difference in space between the avensis hatch and estate (swmbo likes the roof rails!) as the estate is not that common.
I've noticed that the subaru dealers seem to have them at high prices considering the trade rates them as big depreciators. is it the case they can command this kind of premium or are they just sat on them for months. Thanks for any advice.
p.s Accident update....the carina with stupidly no insurance hit outside my house. Insurance co. paid out £1300 for a 94L 110k miles carina, kept the wreck (bad rear quarter panel damage) sold it for £250. A result really I think.
Read more
Actually - if you want a good value Japanese estate what about the last of the Mazda 626s in estate form - not exactly exciting but likely to be very reliable. Fords of Winsford www.fow.co.uk had a few when I last looked on their web site...
inserting brackets around the URL link stops it becoming a clickable link. DD.
I own a peugeot 205 but when I turn the ignition it dose not stop running. I did have some success when changing the idle screw (I think thats its name) on the choke it did stop it but know its started doing it again. what could the problem be and will it cause engine damage Read more
You don't say whether it's a fuel injection or carburettor model. If it's injection then it can't be running on, there must be a fault with the ignition switch, or ignition coil/module and main and pump relay remaining live after you switch off, probably due to a chafed wire somewhere.
If it's a carb, the it's most likely that either the idle speed is too high, and the engine is 'running on', or that the cylinder head is in need of a de-coke.
Can anyone advise as to what the common causes of a very heavy clutch are?
The car in question is a Mk1 Fiat Punto 1.2 60s.
Thanks in advance. Read more
Rusty shaft on which it swivels? (remove and grease but try oil first)
At end of life? (mileage, lots of stop/start journeys/ slip clutch a lot)
Pressure plate broken..(Will not last long)
Worn clutch release bearing (noise when depressed?)
madf
Browse
.jpg)
Sorry, I did mean to post back sooner - been snowed under since returning to work!
Left home 0605, A20, M20, M25, M1, quick p-stop at Watford Gap, M6, 20 minutes for coffee at Stafford, p-stop at Tebay, A66, Cockermouth Trout Hotel to check in at 1215.
396 miles. 370 minutes.
The traffic was really quiet on the whole route. We must have been blessed with amazing luck because the weather was brilliant, they best I have known in Cumbria I think and even the journey back on Monday was reasonable, but FAR busier!
On the way back we pottered down through Keswick, Ambleside and Windermere before carrying on to the M6 and reversing the Northward journey, except for using the A50 around 1630 hrs to avoid the Birmingham gridlock.
I'll certainly be doing more early-weekend morning travelling in future.
thanks for all the thoughts and advice.
Andy