July 2003
I am getting a noise at just below 3000 revs when accellerating in my 1.4 polo (1996). The noise seems to be coming from behind the dash (drivers side) and can only be described as something between a vibrating rustling noise, it seems to occur in all gears. Read more
Has anyone else seen the pictures for the new large BMW coupe - think its to be called the 6 series.
Bit ungainly i reckon.
I can just see it in Autotrader 14 years for now for £8995.... Read more
I am thinking of add a CD changer (Baupunkt CDC A-08) to my existing head unit (Blaupunkt Casablanca CD51). I have checked compatibility but here are other questions I have.
Part 1:
Ebay is my first place to look, prices at around 90 pounds (new). Is that a fair price? EuroCarParts are selling the CD changer for 136 pounds.
Part 2:
Where should I mount it? Its dimensions are 275 x 65 x 180 mm
a) under the front passenger seat? (My preference)
b) in the glove box?
c) in the boot? (Not my preference)
Question 3:
Though quite handly with repairing cars, I have never installed a CD changer before, can anyone tell me how I should to install it? Or should I ask someone to install it for me? How much would I be looking at? Can you recommend anyone in East/North East London (I live near Canary Wharf)?
Thanks,
Garrison Read more
Sorry DD, I am of the opinion that if they are going to get you, then they are going to get you. Thieves know where cds, phones etc are hidden, and they can also get into my Saxo in nanoseconds no doubt.
I remove the face plate from the stereo and take it with me so hopefully that might put them off and make them move onto the next car. Although, again, I know a lot of people who take the face plate off the stereo and put it in the glove box!! Why????
If someone looks in my window, they will see a radio with the panel removed and no visible sign that there is a cd changer in the car. Whereas, they will know that the average BMW. Merc, etc will have one in their boot and their owners will probably have a fully functional radio in the dash as well..
Just recently my astra after 80,000 miles had a timing belt changed, i was quoted £13.00 for the original vauxhall part and £8.00 for a oem part belt, I chose the vauxhall part, are there any differences in quality from geniune and oem parts? Read more
"For the record, I cannot actually eat Supermarket cornflakes or baked beans, they taste revolting! Likewise cheap coke :) Never concerned me about bog roll though..."
I've never tried eating bog roll - is there not that much difference between branded and OEM roll??
SO my mate Jon takes delivery of his brand spangling new Mercedes SL500. First Saturday, he spends all morning doing the wash, chamois, yellow duster routine so it sparkles like a toothpaste advert. Afternoon he takes in the Cheshire Polo match, and on his way home, warm and sunny early evening and with blonde trophy girlfriend at his side, he decides to pop into his local country pub for a swift pint. As he draws into the car park, he is confronted by not just one, but two, other brand new SLs. And not just the 5-litre V8 cooking version like his, but both the top-of-the-range SL55 AMG dogs pink fluffy dice machinery. \"Nobody even looked at me\", he complained. \"How is it that I can roll up in a 75 grand motor car, and come away feeling like the poor relative?\" He had a quick half, went home to watch the telly. Didn\'t look at the car again till Monday morning (he says). Read more
and the moral is, if you're going to splash the cash on a smart car (not a Smart Car) go the extra mile and buy a Good Pub Guide too. I'd have gone somewhere else (with a bigger beer garden) LOL
"Appearances can be Deceptive"
I can't see another thread about this, so here goes ...
I was almost sick yesterday as i watched Mr Crazy running down the track. I was a nipper when Tom Pryce was killed at Kyalami when he hit a marshall (1977 SA GP), and I recall seeing the footgae on TV that night, after returning from the track - marshall's head one way, legs another, torso another ... I had nightmares for weeks.
Fortunately the nutter was apprehended, but one has to wonder what would have happened had he 'collected' a car? Read more
Like a previous post said after the quick climpse before cutting to the adverts it made you really fearful of what the coverage was going to return to.
Thankfully no one was hurt (and there's no doubt drivers lives were at stake just as much the protestor IMO).
Lets hope we have a few more races like that one (without the protestor).
My moneys on Montoya now -the most consistent and he knows how to win championships after his Champ Car years.
Just heard Wilson has been signed by Jaguar for the rest of this year.... good news for British supporters.
**** Thread closed. Discussion continues in Vol 6 ****
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=36332
Subject:Top Gear, and the Phaeton
I can now say something about VW's Phaeton, as the cat was let out of the bag on tonight's Top Gear.
This is project 7 of 10. Look out for the Golf 5, shortly.
Other projects have been the 1 litre car. 100km on 1 litre of fuel, driven br Dr. Ferdinand Pietch just before he retired, Almost 300 mpg.
The Lupo 3litre. 90 odd mpg, but costs too much to convert to RHD for us.
The Phaeton.
All of this started in the late 80s. The CEO of Toyota asked his engineers to build the world's best car.
FP asked us to do the same, when he heard about it. A ruthless man. He upset most of us. His engineering was diluted by foreigners, like me. Even Germans were coming from the Eastern bloc. Folks walked out.
The Phaeton costs £65k. I WOULD buy one.
The joke is that the new Bentley will be almost identical yet cost 3 times as much.
The old Beetle dies at the end of this month.
Just think what it would cost to fit it with multi-point digital injection, ABS, airbags, leccy windows, catalyser.....
Look at the Phaeton and see where YOU will be in 10 years.
Look at Golf 5, if you don't believe me.
I have worked on both.
I couldn't stand Dr. Pietch. He drove people to death.
Now we have Berndt Pichetsrieder. A gentleman.
No money in A2, Lupo, Arosa, etc.
End of an era?
Start of an era?
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Bring back William Woollard.
5th Gear did - tonight!
I own a one-year-old Skoda Fabia 1.9 Tdi, with which I'm absolutely delighted - 28500 trouble-free miles to date. However, there is one little niggle: the front nearside sidelight bulb keeps failing - about once every two weeks. It's easy (and cheap) enough to replace, of course, but I can't help feeling that there's an underlying problem which I'm too unmechanical and dim to diagnose, but would appreciate any thoughts on. What I have noticed is that, almost immediately after replacement, the new bulb burns much less brightly than the offside one, with which I have no problems. Any thoughts appreciated. Read more
The power feed back to earth is inadequate.
If your car is 1 year old, won't your dealer sort it?
If not, look at the bulb holder.
I think you have a capless bulb. Determine which of the 2 wires is live when lights on, and which is earth.
Clean earth return with fine emery board.
Follow wire back to headlamp connection block and check return is clear.
I may be about to sell a P reg Xantia 1.8LX 16v very soon but have absolutely no paperwork for it, except current MOT, V5 and receipt for recently replaced engine and genuine citroen bits eg cambelt, oil filter etc, which I bought.
The car is in generally good order and I am hoping to secure around £1200 to £1400 for it. It has done 99K but the replacement engine has only done 18K. Car is generally good, except:
1 inch dent on rear offside wing
similar on nsf wing corner, near where it meets the bonnet
small crease on bonnet above headlight (yes the headlight was replaced)
small crack on front bumper (done at the same time as the nsf) invisable on close inspection. Supergluer here??
Small ciggie burn in rear seat (app 10mm dia)
The reason for the lack of paperwork is that the chap who owned the car when the engine blew was going to scrap it. I thought it was a shame and resued it, but not before he binned all the paparwork! As I understand it had a reasonable service history, always being serviced on time but not necessarily at main dealer. With the exception of the engine there were no experienced probs. In fact inspection will verify 2 new tyres on the same axle.
Questions:
Is the price reasonable for that car? I know a new engine probably won't increase its value that much if at all. It just makes it work.
If I can get the damage fixed for a couple of hundred (poss replace bonnet) should I, or just offer it as is for slightly less?
How do I get around the lack of history? The story I gave is genuine, the previous owner never received any money for the car - he actually gave it to me, so he has nothing to gain by fibbing. Do I tell prospective purchasers that it was rescued from the scrap heap and this explains the lack of history? Sould a bit iffy. I don't want to lie. How do I convice people to look at it for what it is?
The reason I may wish to sell it is because I will hopefully get more for this than my L reg xantia (no job means money is useful!).
H Read more
Thanks M.M
£1000 wouldn't be too bad. After all I would still have covered all my costs.
£60 delivery
£300 engine
£130 anciliaries
Some cash to the chap that fitted the engine £150 tops, judging from the time he spent on it.
So, all in all I'm probably looking at about £750 costs, not bad for a P reg Xantia with a low milage engine!
As you say, ideally I would like to keep it and may be fix the dents in the longer term. The problem is that I don't need a car. My L reg Xantia has a bigger engine and more gadgets on it and it has a sunroof, which has been a real bonus during the summer.
As for the deal going sour, that is why I want to be honest. At the end of the day, if I put off a buyer by being honest, that is a better scenario than a deal turning sour because I had been econmical with the truth.
I don't know where you live MM but in Cornwall prices are a bit higher than some areas in the south east and the north. Whoever gets this will get a bargain, no doubt about it.
H
My father-in-law runs a '99 Citroen Xantia 1.9 diesel automatic with about 35K on the clock and regular service history. It is used for a mixture of short and long runs and towing. A fault recently developed while he was on holiday in France while towing a small caravan severe wet weather. The car became very sluggish to set off in first or reverse. When towing he could hardly get it going at all. Up hills solo; the same. At some point in the story the gearbox went into "fault" mode where the gear indicator lights flash, but that particular symptom has gone away.
Yesterday I drove the car and saw what he meant. When I last drove the car, it was fairly quick off the mark at anything more than tickover. Changes up and down the box were scarcely noticeable. The car behaved exactly as I would expect a modern 4-speed automatic to. Yesterday, having checked that the box wasn't in "snow" mode, the car was very sluggish setting off in first or reverse. Flooring the throttle didn't seem to make any difference to engine speed unless it was in neutral when the engine revved freely. Once it got moving and changed into second gear, it seemed completely normal. Acceleration was, in fact, better in second than first. It was similar setting off in "sport" mode, but it hung onto the gears longer as I would expect. It was just the same when I selected gears individually.
The car has visited a French Citroen dealer who pronounced it OK and correctly filled with fluid. It has visited the Citroen dealer in Huddersfield who suggested to f-i-l that he take it to the local auto gearbox specialist if he wasn't prepared to stump up the cash for a new gearbox. He wasn't, so he had the mystifying experience of said specialist telling him there was nothing wrong. This on a car that, until it reaches 10 mph or so could be blown into the weeds by an athletic snail.
I've done a search and the only thing that fits is low oil level. Yesterday we couldn't find the handbook and I couldn't find a dipstick under the bonnet to check the level.
Any clues anyone?
H.
Read more
Sorry to revive this but it may help someone.
Having repaired relations with F-i-L over a pint or two I subjected him to a bit of light cross-examination about the Xantia. We concluded that the French garage, ignoring the temporary gearbox fault brought on by severe wet weather, tried to fix the problem by messing with the fuel injection. This would account for the lack of performance when setting off and the need for adjustment made to the injection by the local garage.
Still haven't driven the car but have seen it set off smartly like it used to.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Individual parts of it are nice, but as a whole it looks, well, ungainly. Too out of proportion.
Remember the 850? they said that was fantastic too. I think my Mk3 golf is worth more than an 850!