May 2003
Every so often I realise I have no clue what people are talking about. I've never seen this Matrix thing, I can't tell you what a J-Lo is, but more importantly, I've become dimly aware that there is talk about a driving licence with a photo on it. Mine doesn't have a photo on it. It's a bit of green paper. Have I missed some dreadful edict that means my licence is no longer valid or something?
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www.fordeurope.net
This link shows the revised Mondeo with new front bumper, fogs and mirrors. If you click on the pic you'll get a rear view showing the revised rear light clusters and chrome detailing.
If anyone can find a site in english with pics i'd be grateful!
PP Read more
That's a facelift?
Looking to buy a new workhorse. Spotted this in the Autotrader.
Looks good but should I be worried about the starship mileage? About the same as my current Toyota which is about to die, admittedly of neglect. Can BMW diesels hold this sort of mileage? Think the price is a little high also.
'1996 N Reg BMW 3 Series 2.5TD 325 tds SE WSS Diesel, Silver Metallic, Saloon, 139,000 miles' £5,000. Read more
Or buy a Vectra, with the same mileage, for less than half the price....!(said he mischievously. What I'm saying its a lottery.
'Re J Clarkson not every one can affort to waste 40 - 60k on a car , unless it can be written off for tax.
The avarage punter needs a good cheap to run reliable car for A to B running.
And ALL manufactures build lemons at one time or another, if you took HJ car reviews to heart you would not buy any car.
What would be useful would be HJ total car type sales per month vis compliants/known faults as a percentage.
Any comments?'
I was interested in the above posted by Old Oiler in the Vectra thread, but thought it was best to follow it in a new topic.
I do agree that if you look at the 'What's Bad' and 'What to Watch for' sections, you won't find any car that seems good! For example if you look up Mondeo (1993 to 2000) a frightening amount of faults are listed, yet HJ shouts that he's 'had four years 100% reliability' from his 98R 2.0LX. Also 98 Mondeos didn't do well in J D Power and similar consumer satisfaction surveys.
You can quite understand people being totally confused by such apparently conflicting information. So I agree that some extra detail would be useful, that puts all this information into perspective, to help ordinary average motorists with their decision making.
Any bright ideas?
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It's an interesting idea but it would mean a fair bit of unpaid effort for HJ.
The problem with any statistics, and especially these, is they could be very misleading due to bias. A somewhat stereotyped example (and not necessarily true) is that Honda attracts many elderly buyers, who may be less likely to write in the BR or to HJ about any faults, or have faults rectified quickly by the dealer meaning no need to kick up a fuss. The reliability stats would be artificially improved.
The following thread and others discussed the Warranty Direct index, which is similar to what you would like:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=12...0
The general view was that it is difficult to draw many genuine conclusions from the results.
The 'What’s Bad' and 'What to watch for' gives, in my opinion, a useful guide to actual issues. A warning to check that a cambelt has been renewed means a lot more than such car having a score of 68.
Each model of car will have good and bad points. These will vary between individual cars down to luck and use. I don't think there is any alternative to weighing up the good and bad points and making a final decision on how those points are important to you.
Does anyone know the function of this filter please? Read more
Many thanks,
In Africa, 15-seat minibusses are the major form of transport for many...
The Daily News reported that a taxi carrying 24 passengers was stopped in Durban and traffic officials watched as passenger after passenger climbed out of the vehicle on its way to Chatsworth. They asked the driver why he had so many people in his vehicle, but the passengers were angry that they had been stopped.
"Our driver has done nothing wrong. This was the last taxi home. What must we do now?" said one of the passengers. "This is a waste of time. Why can't they pull over real traffic offenders? Stop the speedsters and the drunken drivers.?
In Harrismith some ambulances are being used as taxis.
It was discovered after a schoolboy was injured during a rugby match and there were no ambulances to take him to hospital. A member of the school?s governing body spotted the ambulances outside a hospital where about eight people with luggage, one carrying firewood, got out of one of the vehicles. The passengers did not respond when asked if they were all patients.
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This could be a thread and a half:
My sub-division fire engine was unable to respond to a fire because it was the fire chief's birthday and he had used it to take the crew to lunch.
The tollways are privately run: the manager closed off a 30 km portion so that the procession following his daughter and her groom to their wedding would not be overtaken or stuck in traffic.
Makati City has banned all left turns because of the obstruction caused when other vehicles turn across each other's path. This is actually very valis in the sense that most traffic slowdowns are caused by cars making left turns or u-turning and jamming up the flow, but try to find your destination by going endlessly clockwise with a good map.......
Some one-way streets are made two-way on Sundays, but not ALL. Go figure when you get hauled over....
The air filter on my Corolla 1.4 vvti needs replacing, according to Toyota, every 2 years or 20K miles on the full service (oil & filter @ 10K) - but I do 35K per annum, so have been getting through 2 minor & 2 main services every year for the last 2 years until the warranty ran out at 60K - expensive @ Toyota !
After one more Toyota full service (£180 thanks), I decided to get my local Kwik Fit to to the next oil & filter change - which they did very well (£26 with semi-synthetic) - in fact, the engine ran better than after the Toyota full service (?). But does the air filter need changing (if I do 35K per annum) twice a year ? I am planning on getting Toyota to do a full service once a year, then independents to do the rest... Read more
Airfilter life depends almost entirely on mileage and conditions. Not time. If Toyota recommend 20k change under average conditions, then leaving it till 35k is a bit long. If you don't drive in dusty conditions (e.g. up the backside of trucks on a dry road or on unmade roads) then you should get away with it.
I have a Citroen Saxo VTS that I recently took to a garage because there was a fault with the fuel gauge. It was covered under the 3 yr extended Citroen warranty and the dash/instruments was replaced. When it was replaced they did not re-program the dash with my old mileage which to me seems wrong. They have written in the service book that the mileage was reset but if the service history was lost then essentially I have a \"clocked car\". Is this right that they would not reprogram the dash ? Read more
Have a scan through the ads in any car mag - there are usually quite a few companies that advertise 'Mileage Correction' services - Citroen are just saying they can't plug THEIR diagnostic computer into it and do it, but that doesn't mean someone else hasn't worked out how to do it!
Richard
I have been looking for a 6 or 7 seat car for some time now, and have pretty much narrowed the choice down to a V70 or a 406 Estate.
My wife (it will be her car for the school run as well as family holidays) hates the V70 inside (I must say that I don't disagree), and the centre seat in the back is virtually unusable - so we have decided on the 406.
I have found a 2000 x reg 2.0 GTX with 51,000 miles going privately for just under £7k - full Peugeot service history.
What do people think - a reasonable deal?
Thanks for your help
Rick Read more
"Mind you, my wife is now eyeing the Fiat Multipla - that should make the Pug seem reliable in comparison!!"- I have to take issue with the above-I've had 6 Fiats, mostly some years ago but currently I have a Punto HGT and I have had no more trouble with any of them than any other car I've owned, in some cases a lot less. I've also had a number of Saabs which have had at least as many problems as the Fiats, so judge by experience, not reputation.
I have had varying quotes for my insurance, ranging from around £260 to nearly £500. The ‘obvious’ thing to do would be to go for the cheapest, but could this be a mistake?
What should I look for in a quality insurance service??
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Marcos,
If you've got a Merc and need any bodywork doing, you can't go past Steve Watson Coachworks in Boldon, Tyne & Wear.
Appears to do all of the local Mercedes garage repairs for them, and even gets more exotic stuff trailered up from as far afield as Manchester 'cos his is the only bodyshop that people will entrust their precious cars to.
Would highly recommend him, he was only £10 more than the Ford Main Dealers accident repair centre for my work, and this is on body repairs in the region of £850, so a very small percentage more really.
Blue
My life would seize up and die if it weren't for my photocard licence.
How else would I get into Beach when they ask for proof of age? I'm certainly not carrying my passport around the town.
Blue