March 2003
Hi,
You may recall me being on this bored a few months ago asking what car to buy for my first car.
Well i eventually went for a new Mini One after much help from everyone here.
I felt the car was the best option after a test drive and went for a nice spec. Also, the One has the benefit of the lower insurance group (5).
I ordered the car about 3 weeks ago and its due in June.
Thanks again,
Chris Read more
hi there, got problems with the brakes on my ex girlfriends clio(1993 1.2). On roadtesting i performed an emergency stop on which i gave up waiting for it to stop and drove on! On futher inspection i found that there was a broken spring in the offside rear shoe assembly which i identified in haynes manual as the "adjuster strut bolt retaining spring". Before i go to Renault for a new one does anyone know if this is a common fault on clios? And has the spring possibly snapped due to a fault somewhere else in the brake shoe assembly. Im worried that i may fit the new spring and adjust the brakes up only for the same problem to reoccur later on. The vehicle is a danger in its current state as the stopping distance must have trebled easily. Any help appreciated. Thanks. Read more
Has to be the new Rolls-Royce. My God, what were they thinking of? When you look back to the beautifully sculpted lines of the Silver Shadow or even the slab-sided but still graceful Silver Spur and compare that with the new one... I think that it's apt that they have suicide doors! I mean £250k could buy you half of the Scottish Highlands and I know where I'd rather spend my time! Read more
"The entire current range from Renault?"
What a bunch of dogs. Woof woof. No offence Fergus.
I got a letter from HPI on saturday, they wanted to know the exact date of purchase and sale of my car, exact mileage and number of owners.
Has anybody else had one of these letters? Does it mean that somebody is looking at buying the car? Read more
That's probably right, but this talk about why we should be paid for offering infromation to HPI is ridiculous. After all, when you come to buy a car, it's nice to know that for £40 you can avoid buying a car with finance on it, previous write off etc. I wouldn;t even think about asking for payment.
Blue
I was parked in South West London yesterday afternoon. All perfectly legal, inside a parking bay, displaying a vistor\'s permit, etc. When I got back some moron had parked his Volvo S80 with the front number plate touching mine, and on double yellow lines, and on a speed hump, and facing the wrong way, and obstructing someone\'s drive, but displaying a resident\'s permit (which I guess made it OK).
While shuffling the car back and forward, aided and abetted by my passengers so that I avoided any contact with moron\'s car or the one behind, I was subjected to all manner of abuse from this pathetic individual. Apparantly I should go away and never visit that locality again. Interesting that I am a pink fluffy dice as my father was one of the observers.
Some people simply shouldn\'t be allowed out on their own. Read more
I sometimes have trouble when I get to work on the motorbike in London W1 because there are about 15 bike spaces in the bay by the office; 6 or 7 are permanently occupied by residents' bikes but what gets my goat is that residents cars in the next bay often overlap onto the bike bay, taking out another couple of spaces.
I've pointed out to the Parking Attendants (i.e. Revenue Protection Mafia) but they are not interested as no revenue is being lost and, as they are Camden Council lackeys rather than traffic wardens they are not interested that the offending car is partly in the wrong category of space.
People may well be aware than if you don't have the V5 for a car it can't be taxed.
However less well known is that if you wish to use the V5/2 tear of slip to do so following buying a used car it expires after 2 months.
I bought a car in Nov. The previous owner hasn't sent the doc off yet (silly boy - I'm immune to cameras!!!)
Fortunately the dates beem ommited and (for tax purposes) I will claim I only just bought the car.
Others should be careful.
You're a shower! You're an absolute shower! Read more
In his car by car breakdown HJ say of the above:
"1.8 8-valve XU petrol is the worst engine and many were fitted with the wrong ECU chip leading to failed emissions tests. Autobox not recommended."
Does anybody know why the autobox meets with his disfavour?
Academic interest only, I would never buy one as me feets too big. Read more
Seriously thinking of buying a CRV before the end of the month,(not prepared to wait for the Touran MPV) getting rid of my 31st Mar 2000 Bora, anybody got any realtime MPG figures for the 2.0 SE or any + or - on the CRV apart from the obvious about it's off road ability (lack of it). I know HJ likes the X Trail but I don't and the 5 door RAV is a touch too small. I wouldn't want to put private money down the Sorento route at the moment either. Any advice/help would be appreciated guys.
Thanks
Read more
Hello all,
This on behalf of a colleague who has a M-reg Vauxhall Omega 2.0 auto with about 74K on the clock.
He's just taken it into a main dealer as a last resort as it was sometimes cutting at low speed/idle, who diagnosed a blocked rocker breather and cleaned this out/fitted a new rocker gasket (at a cost of £360). When road-testing it after, the mechanic from the dealer said the car "hydrauliced(?) on them" and now they will need to take the head off to see what has gone wrong (cost and time off the road undefined). Their suggestion was that oil has got into the engine past the spark plugs.
Not being a mechanic, the question is: is this a spooky co-incidence or did they put it back together wrong and cause the problem? If it is any help, the car passed emissions for an MOT a couple of days ago, always started first time and was not using any oil. The only problem was this intermitent stalling, and nothing was showing on the diagnostics.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave Read more
Well, the car is still at the garage having the crank repaired and refitted.....
The car has had a yearly or 12,000 mile oil change (as part of service) for the last 4 years and had a full service history from its (only) previous owner. As it is not my car I don't know whether it has ever had an engine flush as part of this, but I think it is run mostly on supermarket petrol -- annual mileage is currently only about 8-9,000.
So, unless the garage had just engine-flushed/changed the oil while doing the rocker cover gaskets then I guess it will be co-incidence.....
I've just got back from collecting my daughter from her primary school (I've been on the school run since January) and have had just about enough of the stupid, selfish parking that abounds around the school.
The school itself is situated in a cul-de-sac, but a few yards away, there is a T-junction with double yellows on it. The vast majority of people just think that these are to make the road look pretty! The kind of people who park on these yellows (and consequently on a corner, blocking the view of the junction when trying to cross) are the type who would be the first to complain if their children got injured or worse because they couldn't see if there was any traffic coming due to people parking illegally and selfishly.
Today, I got to the school with half-an-hour to spare. There was plenty of space further away from this junction and I parked about a two minute walk from the playground. But even at this time, there was a very supercilious looking woman in a silver Audi estate parked on the double yellows, making it very hazardous for everyone else trying to turn left around her! She just couldn't be bothered to walk an extra 75 yards at the most.
Ooooh I could crush a grape! Read more
>>In this case, simply banning the offending parents from the car park may not be a bad idea.
Trouble is the parent will return to blocking the road and the child will be the one walking out to the road.
Browse
.jpg)
Chris,
Good choice of spec - most of the things you've gone for would have been my choices when we got our MINI - the cooper chrome pack and Sports Suspension weren't options when we specc'd ours.
Only thing I'd consider is ASC+T; for the £100 it's quite nice to have the extra safety (you can turn it off if you're having a 'track' day), but most of all, you'll not have a gap in the toggle switches. Petty, but worth considering.
Lee.