April 2003
Hi all
Just heard on the local (northwest) news that there has been a spate of people breaking down because of dirty petrol (cloudy is the best description).
The report stated that the petrol had been purchased from a supermarket, not from a franchised forecourt.
Regards
Jonathan Read more
How does VW intend to sell it's new flagship cars? Surely it's not going to sell them through it's current dealership?
Oh man! pity the poor buyer! Read more
Toyota's sucess with the Lexus brand came about because of their need to sell 'upscale'models in the USA,with higher prices and of course better margins.As this worked so well in the USA they introduced the system to Europe including the UK.How many cars would Toyota have sold to us badge snob Brits if they had called the Lexus LS400 a Toyota Celsior/Crown,not so many i think.
In the USA posh Hondas are branded Accura,and posh Nissans branded Infinti.Looks like a posh VW is going to be called a,er,VW,well that will set it apart then.
Someone want to settle this? Expert 'backseat driver' and I had a little errr yes...
Situation: Car parked on hill on the up way. Car driving up and one down same distance away from parked car. Inevitable problem, stopping in the middle. You get the picture.
So, should the person coming down the hill give way to the car coming up the hill (as should give way to the car climbing the hill,as a rule), or the car coming up the hill give way as car parked on its side (as person who has car parked on their side should give way, as a rule).
Not telling you which I was out of scientific methodology... Read more
I posed a similar query a while back and didn't really get a response. I was told when I was learning that unless told otherwise, left hand lane was for exits 1 and 2, right hand lane for exit 3. Someone commented that if exit 2 is past 'straight ahead' then this should be the right hand lane as well, but I'm not so sure about this.
As has been commented on elsewhere, here in Stockport some drivers tend to take a 'who dares wins' approach which has led to several very near misses.
It's a long shot I know! But does anyone have any knowledge, experience of getting an MOT (control Technique) in France? I am about to ask for one for my 1995 VW Passat, which is imported into France. Any ideas as to strictness, EU laws concerning general MOT standards pan Europe etc etc....
many thanks (i know this is an awkward one)
MG Read more
Yep
Only needed every 2 years. But if you sell the car after 6 months of a fresh MOT you must have if re-MOT'd.
Safeway in Swindon are selling 5Ltrs of GTX for £9.99. Not alot left.
It is classified as 15/40 SJ A2B2.
It does not state whether it is a mineral oil or semi synthetic on the container.
What do the backroomers think?
Thanks Read more
Two mower family here, one of each, for the time being anyway
:-Þ
Has anyone any idea how to adjust the volume at which you receive RDS traffic reports on a Scenic? The manual doesn't advise you.
I remember one of my previous cars, poss ZX, could adjust the volume of the Traffic Announcement.
Thanks Read more
Cheers to DTD for that advice - I held down the TA button on the Mondeo's RDS4000 and it worked!! TA Volume was set at 13 which explains like Mike why I had been leaping about everytime there was a traffic report.
Thanks again :o)
Hi everybody,
We moved to France last summer, and have re-registered my wife's Skoda Favorit 1.3 lxie - because it is an amazing car with the endearing habit of passing its MOT every year without costing us any money.
In time, she would like a LHD, and it seems a shame to scrap it, as it has less than 60,000 miles on the clock, and as I said, is very reliable.
What I would really like to do is use the engine and any other bits to make a kit car - 3 or 4 wheeler (soft-top) - has anybody got any ideas of what I could buy to fit?
Thanks!
Michael Read more
I bought a new fiesta flight "Y" reg in March 01. Within twelve months I had problems with it cutting out intermittently. I took it to the garage and they replaced the air flow control valve (approx April 02). this year the problem has recurred, mostly recently on Monday this week when it cut out as I was approaching the motorway slip road. Ford state that they cannot find anything wrong with it this time round. Has anyone else had the same problem? When the car is re-started, there is no problem with it. It just occurs every now and then.
Read more
I'm not sure if the Fiesta Flight has the 1.3 HCS engine. If it has then this happened a couple of times on mine after a long motorway run, change down for a roundabout and it cuts out!
In my case it turned out to be the exhaust valve tappet clearances being set to small as per the handbook ie 0.3MM. These were reset to 0.5MM as stated on a decal on the rocker cover and this cured the problem. It also gave a smoother tick over.
Having thought I'd worked out all the possible permutations with my local Toyota dealer regarding buying off him or ukcarbroker. I was swinging towards the brokers for obvious price reasons, what my dealer is now saying is concerning me.
He is now telling me that if I buy from ukcarbroker.co.uk I won't be getting a car that is first registered in the UK. He's saying that whilst a lot of cars are built to uk spec outside of UK their cars are not first registered in the UK and this will show up on an HPI when I go to sell it later and effect it's value massively!!??
Is this true? Are there really ANY difference between this broker's vehicles and what I'll get from my dealer that should concern me?
Cheers,
Steve. Read more
When registering a new car, an insurance certificate or covernote seems
to be needed covering who the car will be registered to.
Somewhere like Trade Sales may want to make it easier for
people who turn up on the day to buy on the
same day, so have them pre-registered and ready to drive away.
This is a guess, so I can't be sure it's the
case for TS.
James
Based on my experience with TS 18 months ago, they do not pre-register cars. If they did, they would be left with hundreds of 'old reg' cars every 6 months when the reg no changes. But you're right about the insurance cover note. Because TS rely on quick and easy turnover, they don't want delays caused by people having to get a cover note and then having to post it to TS. So they register the cars in their name once they are sold.
During this period (about 2 days), the cars are taken to Maidenhead to be 'prepared' i.e. to be de-waxed and cleaned and the buyer collects the car from that site - several miles up the A4. After collection, the buyer fills in a V62 form to transfer ownership and obtain a V5. In the case of my son's Punto, this arrived showing the vehicle as a Toyota 2-Axle-Rigid-Body saloon!
Hi
due to financial reasons i've downgraded from a 170bhp 2.5 v6 vectra to a 90bhp focus tdi estate!
Although publish 'combined' economy stated at 58mpg, I'm finding - based on 4 days motoring so far - that i'm probably only getting about 38mpg!
I do about 90 - 130 miles per day round trip which consists of about 10 - 15 miles of a roads and the rest is motorway at about 85mph.
Does 38mpg sound reasonable to any other focus diesel owners out there?
FYI jan 2000 V reg focus ghia tdi estate, 107,000 miles - full lease company service and parts history.
also i've heard about a few devices to improve economy and or power / performance.
first is ProZone FuelSaver in-line fuel magnetiser/catalyst/fuel swirl device: www.fuelsaver.co.uk/faqs.htm
other is a much cheaper alternative homemade version which is simply a screwdriver magnetiser clipped around your fuel line near fuel pump to magnetise the fuel.
the performance boost ideas came from www.superchip.co.uk and similar companies. These either plug in-line to adjust the engine management (fuel quantity etc) to smooth power and add 30bhp, or plug into the incar diagnostics port and reprogram the ems. Later device can also revert the engine EMS to original settings and back again as often as required.
Any comments / experience?
with my limited knowledge of diesel mechanics i wonder if i might have an air leak which is causing extra fuel to be added to compensate, or a faulty sensor somewhere?
or is it just a (too) heavy right foot???
many thanks
Glen
p.s. don't know how often i can get on so email if you like:
countdown.it@bigfoot.com Read more
I'm not being funny FBM, but do you really think that refineries have two storage areas? One for cheap supermarket fuel and the other for 'high-class' petrol stations? I have no knowledge of the system at all, but my guess is that what I get out of the nozzle at Tesco is exactly the same (but four pence a litre cheaper) than at Shell half a mile down the road.
Browse
As someone who is very involved with supermarket fuel, I can assure you that it is no different from anyone else's. Up here in Scotland, all fuel comes out of Grangemouth, regardless of which company it goes to - Esso, Shell etc.
Yes you will get a dodgy batch occasionally as reported here, but in the main, you won't.
If someone had came to me to tell me that my fuel had caused the problem, I wouldn't wash my hands of it. Especially if the driver had the sense to quickly call in the Petroleum Officer from the local council who has the authority to take samples and close me down on the spot..........
Get the drift??