June 2003
If Darling gets his way we could all be in for a shock. According to today\'s Observer report the gov is planning a radical surveillance program of pretty much all traffic in the UK. Don\'t know if this is really plausible, if the tech exists or not, or if it is even logistically possible. However, as the road systems starts to really suffer under the strain as predicted (around the year 2010 with 38 million cars) Darling sees the only way round this is to charge by use, that is, you will pay for using key routes at peak times of the day. The current road tax system may be scrapped as a sweetener.
Civil liberties will of course be a culled in order to service Darling\'s vision for a better Britain.
So, what do Back Roomers think?
www.observer.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,973035,00...l Read more
Does anyone know anything about this model ? How many produced , any websites to visit etc.
THANKS PP Read more
thanks still looking for twr info
PP
...Philippines monsoon style.
tinyurl.com/dr39
The writer is correct in that people do remove manhole covers in the flooding season. He kindly says this is to help the waters drain faster. But what he doesn't say is the covers don't get put back, they get sold to scrap dealers. Wading through flooded streets is thus inadvisable for obvious reasons.
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hi to everyone,
Have just recently purchased (tues just gone) a
VW Passat 1.9 TD S TDI 115 bhp Automatic Tiptronic (W reg) can anyone shed some light on these cars as to its good or bad points that I should be on the lookout for....
You maybe aware from one of my previous posts that we had a Omega 2.5 TD auto and a petrol laguna auto, but the Missus just could not get on with the omega, so we sold both cars, as I wanted an Auto/Diesel and my wish has come true. Its also got a tiptronic box, Im well chuffed! Read more
Thanks for the info lads. Will be looking at the TDI forum tomorrow.
Cheers
A friend of mine is selling his car and giving up driving for good personal reasons after only 2 months insurance with AXA but can not find out until monday how much he can expect to be refunded, hopefully this would be on a pro-rata basis less admin. costs.
Does anybody know what percentage of his premium he can expect to be refunded, he was insured fully comp at a cost of £500.
Regards,Mal. Read more
Just to confirm that he collected a full refund down to the penny worked out by dividing the premium by 365 and multiplying it by the number of days left on his policy.
That to me is a good example of not being ripped off!.
Pleased I have all my insurance with them.
Hi,
I have a 1998 Golf 4, 5 door TDI. The problems I have had are with the door locks.
1. The rear passenger lock broke, leaving me unable to open it from either the outside or inside. This lead to a costly strip-down of the rear door to remove the lock.
2. Now the drivers door seems to be playing up. The lock has various micro-switches it that tell the car wether the door is open or shut. When I open the door the inside warning light fails to come on(sometimes), it is this light which also activates the lights-on buzzer. And now the red flashing lights that shows that the alarm/immobilser has been activated only comes on when you turn the key twice in the lock, which is the opposite of what\'s supposed to happen!
3. The pasenger door sometimes doesn\'t let me open the central locking, the key just turns and nothing happens.
Has anyone else had problems with their locks?
I am sure that I read somewhere that the locks were redesigned from 1999/2000 unwards can anyone confirm this?
Am I looking at an expensive job in replacing them?
Thanks Read more
Not Golf, but a couple of colleagues who have recent Passats have both had lock problem. One guy couldn't get his driver's door to properly latch shut. And yes, its expensive to fix. I think with parts and labour it cost over £250 just to fix the one lock.
The other guy has had loads of problems with the central locking and associated alarm circuit. Despite many trips to the dealer it is not fixed (when I spoke to him last week he was thinking of selling the car). I think the lock problems are well known, on the Passat at least.
CO2 emissions - measured in g/km - are higher from an automatic car than the manual version of the same car/engine. I assume therefore that the emissions are measured under load conditions. The automatic having to work harder to maintain a set speed because of the losses in the auto box and different gearing.
Does anyone know the conditions under which they are measured?
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Many new automatic cars are in a higher VED bracket(than the manual version) and under the new regulations cost more if it is a company car.
jc has answered the original query I had.
1993 escort ghia . The alarm wont arm itself , what your supposed to do is , key in door turn to left as if your unlocking then turn to the right and hold , this is supposed to set the deadlocks and the alarm , but it doesnt .
The red "LED" display lights for 5 seconds when starting , as it says it should do in the manual , but for some odd reason it wont arm itself . Any ideas please , dont want to take it to an auto electrician as they sometimes charge silly money . HELP !>!> please ???? Read more
Hi all again , I have tried the switch under the bonnet and nothing happens . Like I say all the doors boot will lock under the central locking , but the alarm ( deadlocks) will not work . Checked all fuses and all OK , what on earth is the problem here ?
Just seen high quality pics of the new VW Passat in July's Car magazine.
Looks more muscular and aggressive than its predecessor, mild echoes of Mazda 6 (esp. on estate version) but very tight and taut.
Story says they're ditching longitudinally mounted engines in favour of transverse only, which means yet more internal space within the same 'footprint' but curtains for engines like the V6 petrol and TD motors and the walloping W8.
Molst Passat engines will instead be FSi petrol or PD diesel to stay in step with emission regs.
Bad news is that the planned late 2004 launch has now been put back to early 2005. So current model will stagger on for another year yet. Read more
Do wheels need to be rebalanced, unless the tyres have been removed from the rims.
Can a tyre get out of balance over age? Read more
mmh. Ive heard this before.
is wheel balancing really that unreliable - are you likely to be worse off that before?
I understand that balancing can be done "on car" - how does this work? Who does it? How much does it cost? Is it worth it? Does it affect abs? (rotating wheels off the ground?)
Browse
I can't see why the UK just can't get some decent toll rodas, like the rest of Europe (bar a few countries). Here in France they work real well and are nearlly always farily clear (unless you choose to take them on National Holidays such as Bastille day, which is plain stupid). Sure France has an excellent public transport system, which many car drivers also choose to use, it is cheap enough to remain viable.