June 2003
A friend of mine does about 3 I.C.E. systems a weekend and has been doing so for a number of years so he's quite experienced.
Before I approach him, do you have any advice on whether I should add a sub-woofer to my Panasonic tuner/CD player in my Mercedes W140 S280?
The panasonic will need an amp and a sub (in the boot I guess).
SHOULD I add anything at all? Is there a particular way of adding such electronics to an S-Class? Or should I just leave it well alone because it's far too great a risk to add anything to such a complex car and make do with the existing 14-speaker setup?
Any help or advice appreciated. Read more
Hi!
Has anyone had any experience with rejecting a new vehicle from a dealer? I\'d like to know how you got on
I\'m having terrible trouble with a Renault dealer, dealers name deleted
4 Weeks ago, on 17th May I took delivery of a new Renault Clio 1.2 16V 5 door Expression with Air Conditioning (total paid £8200)
On collection I immediately noticed it had the incorrect colour trim strip on the dash (silver when the rest of the interior is blue!)
Also, the interior of the car had not been well cleaned, and the intermittent wipe did not seem to pause between wipes.
Dealer said they would order a replacement strip that week. 2 weeks later I had not heard from them so got in touch, to be told they had the strip but I would have to have it fitted on a weekday and they were not prepared to offer me a courtesy vehicle whilst I was without the car. I eventually got them to have it in on the Saturday before last, but the service said that to replace the strip would involve a complete removal of the dashboard and could not be done that day. Also, the wiper problem required a replacement part that would have to be ordered.
The car then developed a squeek and rattle in the front passenger seat. On the Sunday the car broke down - we had a strong sulphur smell followed by a lot of engine juddering and an engine warning light started flashing indicating that the de-toxifying system was not working. I called out the AA who could get not diagnostic codes from the car but suspected a coil had gone and he towed me back to the dealer. As the service dept. is closed on Sundays we were \'greeted\' by a member of the Sales team who told us to take the car back outside and leave it on the street. I said I was not happy to leave my 3 week old car in an Industrial Estate but his response was \"Well It Ain\'t Staying There\" - as you can see things were getting no better.
The AA provided a rental car for 24hours, but dealer continued to refuse to cover this for any longer or offer a courtesy vehicle - legally they are not obliged to.
I spoke with Trading Standards last Monday who advised me to reject the vehicle due to the break down after 3 weeks (435 miles) and the fact that it had the wrong trim on collection.
I did this by fax, and dealer refuse to accept my rejection. I have followed up with a fax and a letter from a solicitor.
Renault UK are fairly sympathetic, but say as my contract is with the dealer they cannot help.
The biggest problem is that the reason we bought the car is we needed a 5 door as we have a baby on the way. My wife is due in 6 weeks - so I don\'t like the fact that she does not have a reliable car to drive around in, and no car for when the baby arrives.
How long do such legal procedings normally take? Anyone any experience?
Thanks in advance,
AndyG
All reference to dealers name removed. No naming and shaming please. Please refer to \"The Small Print\" you agreed to upon sign up in the red menu to the left. DD.
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Thanks all for the replies so far - all good supportive stuff. Current situation is that we have left the car with the dealers since it was towed there - they now have all sets of keys for the car.
Trading Standards have indeed been a great help and I am keeping them posted. On their advice I have informed the dealer in writing that any car hire costs I incur from the date of the letter we shall be adding to our expenses claimed in court.
The unreasonable dealer continues with the line that they sell the vehicle with a warranty for such problems - this is in clear contravention of the Sale of Goods Act etc.
I did pay a £500 deposit on my credit card, and so also have a course of action against the card company which may speed the process up.
I shall be pushing for a court hearing as soon as possible, and shall keep you all posted
I'm about to change my car (Currently a 306 XRDt). The choice is between a Citroen C3 1.4 HDi and a Toyota Yaris 4-D4. As I'm currently doing about 25K miles per year I intend to keep it for as long as possible (at least four years) rather than sell it in a couple of years with a lot of miles and high depreciation.
I like the C3, and I've found a good deal on one, but am concered about its long term reliability etc.
I'd appreciate any comments you may have on the choice
Thanks Read more
If you do go for the Yaris,make sure that it has its full compliment of sound deadening pads on the doors.I looked at one in our local showroom and could not believe how tinny the door sounded when closed.The salesman already knew about it and agreed about the flimsy sound.
Also as has been stated,if you want a decent spec,the price gets quite steep for a small car.
Having tried the C3 HDI 16v,I must say I prefered driving the Citroen,amazingly nippy and economical, although I was a bit dissapointed with the quality of the interior plastics.
Good prices on the C3 so yer pays yer money and takes yer choice.
My Seat Cordoba TDI Vario (same as VW Polo, mostly) has an annoying rattle from somewhere within the scuttle/enginebay
more to the nearside.
To my untrained ear sounds more of a mechanical rattle than a trim issue.
At 1500-2200 rpm under light to moderate acceleration it is most prominent. Seems OK on the overrun roadspeed and selected gear do not make a difference.
Just had it serviced by SEAT and they tightened the brake disk backplate which although it may have been loose made no difference.
Anyone ideas ? Read more
Glad you sorted your rattle - I for one cannot tolerate rattles/squeaks/creaks in cars!
My old non-power-steering Volvo 440 ('G' reg) pulls to the left, it's not violent and it seems to be the same whether under braking or not. If you take your hands off the wheel it'll run into kerb within 3-4 seconds. Have checked tyre pressures and they're OK, it passed its MOT so I presume steering geometry and suspension bits are OK, anyone got any ideas?
Cheers Read more
I used to work in a Volvo dealership when the 440 was launched....
I recall we had to change the front subframes quite regularly after a fairly light kerbing, so unfortunately, this could be the problem.
HTH
Charles
1999 'T' Laguna 1.8 RTE
Problem being is that when the engine is running there seems to be a squeel similar to a chirping bird coming from the engine. When the car revs faster, the louder and quicker the squeel which leads me to that it is either a belt problem or a bearing that has run dry.
It had a new alternator belt and cam belt last year. So what can the problem be?? Does it sound expensive? Read more
Agree with the above. Dribble a bit of water onto the alternator belt to see if it goes away - might eliminate one possibility.
Hi,
I changed the battery in my car and now the stereo doesnt work.
Not much more to say really just quit working, wondering if anybody else has had a similar problem and what would be the most likely cause ?
All the connections are firmly and cleanly on the battery, just cant seem to figure it out!
Ford fiesta 1.8LX.
thanks. Read more
Good work Railroad!
The fuse on the back of the stereo had blown, i would have never known to look there.
good stuff.
My 306 dturbo has developed a horrendous squeak that only appears for the first 5 miles or so every day from cold. Having had new brakes recently I blamed those but they have been refitted and copper greased etc, the noise still remains.
When accelerating the squeak dissappears and come back when declutching or free-wheeling, increasing or decreasing frequency in relation to the road speed not engine speed, pressing the brakes hs no effect it sounds the same.
Anyone got any ideas?, Im dreading yet another huge bill for my slightly unreliable 306.
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom. Read more
Thanks for your responses everyone, just got it back from the pug dealers, it was the nearside driveshaft, not sure which joint, they oiled/packed with grease and say it should be ok from now on, may need new driveshaft in the future.
Pretty happy with that only cost an hours labour much to my relief, and have to say that this particular main dealer is probably the most helpful and efficient garage I have ever encountered. Am now considering new car purchase and they will be the first port of call.
Girls like cars and money, as the Good Charlotte song goes.
To read this promo Nissan are doing for the Micra via the Guardian, you'd think that women had only just received the right to have a driving licence.
www.guardian.co.uk/nissanmicra
It's patronising in a way not seen since the 1970s at least. Read more
Well let's hope that nice change happens sooner rather than later then Blue, eh?
HF
My 2000W Bora has only one rear fog light fitted on the right hand side, but on looking at the light cluster on the left hand side I see its all set up for a fog light apart from the bulb! Does anybody know if its just a matter of fitting a bulb, (and VW being tight) or whether or not the wiring loom is set up for twin rear fogs? I appreciate the safety aspect in that it is sometimes easier to see stop lights when you have only one rear fog light but with more cars having high level brake lights that seems to be less of a problem. Any help would be appreciated.
Claybuster
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This is a requirement under EU construction and use regs and is to differentiate rear lamps from a fog lamp.
The Bora will almost certainly be the same as my Golf.
You can remove the back part of the rear lamp assembly, with wires and fit the missing bulb, which then works OK.
The assembly then won't go back into the rest of the lamp unit, as there's a blank to drill out.
If you do this, you'll get 2 rear foglamps working, and when you go for an MoT, the car should fail as the new, computerised system, will say your car should only have 1 working.
Browse
I'd do it, put it that way. I hate inadequate bass response in a motor vehicle* - a subwoofer makes all the difference.
If he knows what he's doing, then carry on.....otherwise buyer beware!
*The Rover 75/MGZT being a prime example of this