March 2003
Hi, I've just passed driving test at the third attempt( oh my god!) and thinking of buying my first car. The car I have in mind is new Nissan Micra S 1.2L 5dr automatic ( list price is £9395)
The standard options are: PAS, ABS, front e/w, immobiliser, remote locking, radio/cd player.
As I have no experience in bargaining with a dealer, I would like some advice as to how much discount I should be aiming at realistically; and what figure I should start off with as an opening offer?
I'd rather have more discount than thrown-in offers( excluding free insurance) as I'm ahppy with the basic options, and the budget is the most I can afford.
ps:I will be grateful for any tips or suggetions:D
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My 94 Audi 80 2.0E has started to go off a cylinder when started. More smoke is evident and the temperature guage refuses to move. Cylinder head gasket? Likely cost? car has 130k and is in excellent condition. Has been very reliable and economical. Any help appreciated!
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It sounds as though the car is operating in the 'limp home' mode due to the coolant temperature sender not working. You may be lucky by just cleaning this sensor if not a replacement is needed. Was the temperature guage working before the problem?
Declined the opportunity last night to fill up with diesel at 81.9p/litre; BP, Bradwell, Milton Keynes, unleaded 80.9. Shell over the way diesel 79.9, unleaded 77.9. Interesting to know what other backroomers are paying and what the current regional spread of prices is.
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Safeway diesel 59.9p w/20p off a litre. Unleaded 78.9 though its shifted 2-3p in a few weeks.
My ongoing enquiries into the crap ride on my Xantia have suggested
the height correctors may be iffy. Here's what I've found....
Both the front and back respond to the height control lever. The back
smoothly but slowly, the front rather jerkily.
The back auto levels if I sit in the boot, but it takes quite a while. It also takes a while to drop back down when I stand up.
The front also self levels ok, but is rather jerky,
I'm guessing this suggests that the front linkages could use some lube, but what's the verdict on the back... is this normal?
PS, I have no reason to believe the rear arm bearings are worn as the back does move quite freely. It's just crap when driving.
all ideas greatfully received
matt
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My struts stick a little, with an awful groaning noise as the front sinks when you switch off, but it doesn't seem to affect the ride. I seem to remember you could lubricate the BX struts, with a little WD40, but I've not heard of any way of doing this on the Xantia.
Anyone see last Sunday's programme? Covered a lot of ground - history of the UK car industry (one of the low points being the Austin Allegro); also motoring in general.
Programme No.2 of 3 is tomorrow at 8 - theme: our supposed obsession with speed. Can't afford it myself... ;0)
Oz (as was) Read more
I think you may have misunderstood the maths Roger - if the stats say that each 1mph reduction yields a 5% decrease in fatalities that means a 5% reduction in the new lower total, not the original total.
In other words for each reduction of 1mph the actual decrease in the number of fatalities will be smaller than the previous one. This is logical.
e.g. 1000 fatalities @ 40mph becomes 950 @ 39mph (i.e. a reduction of 50),
but a further 1mph reduction to 38mph leads only to a 5% reduction from 950 (i.e. a reduction of only 47.5) and so on. As the speeds get lower the effect of the 5% reduction on actual numbers of fatalities is therefore smaller.
I hope that makes sense
:-¬
My aircon expired in a cloud of smelly white gas coming through the vents. I thought of offloading the car because I have been told it's an expensive (£1000 +) repair (for an oldish car) but my low mileage (48,000) persuades me to hang on to it for now.
Should I trust an independent repair or is there any strong reason to pay Audi's top whack charges? Read more
The cloud of gas could be from a busted evaporator behind the dash, or a stone or something through the condensor (in front of the radiator) and sucked in through the ventilation system.
A4's are well known for busted evaporators, but they only usually leak slowly, not suddenly let go. However a stone through the condensor will suddenly let go.
If it's the evap, a main dealer could be your best bet as they will have done many and have the kit to reset airbag light and climate panel should any errors occur. I think it's about 5/6 hours as the whole dash comes out. Condensors are much easier and cheaper. Find a specialist with dry nitrogen to test it, and with a leak that big you should be able to hear it coming out easily. It is easy to remove the blower motor to get near the evap to have a look. Using this method you shouldn't have to recharge (and pay much) to find the problem.
Haveing read some feed back from other questions it looks like I have a problem with the air flow meter on my astra 1.7 dti can anyone be more specific about cleaning this part and does it need to be separated from intake pipes are those retaining clips re-usable as I cannot see how they come apart Thanks Tim
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I used carb cleaner with no brush, it just blasted the muck away.
I have had no ill effects from using this, but I was concerned that carb cleaner could leave deposits.
Someone on tis site suggested tat SAAB produce an approved solvent for cleaning maf's
Does this apply to both fixed cameras and mobile units? I ask because a mobile unit has a human witness, ie the policeman operating the unit, & I wonder if this makes a difference. Read more
All the best, I hope you win!
Cheers
VD5D.
Browse
impey - the only thing you can do buying a new car which you can't with a used, is choose the colour and the extras. In my view there are no other advantages, especially allowing for the earlier point of paying top prices just to maintain any dealer warranty. In any case new cars are not necessarily free of faults, but a used one should have had them sorted (if it's not too old). Good luck.