July 2003
Until today,I swore I'd never be interested in anything smaller than the car I have at the moment. A Honda Prelude which is looking very tatty and will have to go.Built in 1986! Time for another car. I've just visited the local Ford "seduction parlour" and was really impressed by the comfort and design of a Zetec Fiesta (2003 model presumably). I thought it pretty well banged together. In fact very well put together.Up to Jap standards. The Car by car Breakdown said it handled quite well but trim levels were not up to Yaris,Jazz,Polo. It may be that the review was written in 2001. I thought the trim looked OK myself. What about todays plastic bumpers in city parking dings? The engine was 1.6 with a/c. Some other review said the Yaris had a cheap looking inside. Has anyone else got opinions on this? Clarky like the fiesta didn't he? What puzzles me about Honda is that they don't use galvanised bodies while Ford do. What do you think of the Fiesta (assuming you don't mind small cars)? Cheers,Mikey. Read more
Just seen the Porsche Cayenne in the flesh for the first time and I can honestly say that it is nothing like what you see in the photos....it's even uglier.
For all those who think that BMW have lost the plot, Porsche really are leading the way.
Is there an uglier car out there than the Cayenne? Read more
Just seen the Porsche Cayenne in the flesh for the first
time and I can honestly say that it is nothing like
what you see in the photos....it's even uglier.
For all those who think that BMW have lost the plot,
Porsche really are leading the way.
Is there an uglier car out there than the Cayenne?
having just seen my first Cayenne, can't agree more
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
In the process of doing some clearance at PU towers...came accross a newspaper dating back to August 1989...the motoring pages no less. Local Ford Delaer selling an F reg Ford Sierra 8k
1.6LX - £9299.
Its present day equivelent seems to be a Mondeo 1.8 found one of these on the web - a pre-reg all yours for £11,930.35. A markedly superior vehicle 14 years on. I would reckon that the average weekly wage in '89 was around 250 per week and likewise today 500 per week, we seem to be getting an awful lot of car for our moeny these days ! Read more
Also with slower production lines is that the cars may be made slightly better, *cough* anything non-Japanese
Kev
Hello again,
On my way to work this am I noticed my engine speed was stuck at about 4000rpm.
I stopped the car and 15 minutes later the problem had disapeared.
I had the head gasket recently replaced and I have experienced similar problems when it was overheating.
This morning however the engine temp was normal and the coolant in the tank was normal.
I checked the acc cable and it was ok.
Can anyone suggest why this might have occurred??
Thanks in advance Read more
I wonder if the ECU fault codes would give any clues if interrogated?
I will be in the market for a late/low family diesel later this year. Have had much experience of successfully buying at auction in the past, but now as an employed bod do not have a lot of time.
Are the current margins big enough to make it worth while finding some time to get to the 'block' or is it better to go to a specialist or main dealer and haggle, and get a bit of warranty benefit as well? Read more
I asked a similar question a few months ago, plese see
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=10...5
I didn't save a fortune compared to supermarket prices but auction is on doorstep and supermarket is a 3 hour drive away.
4 months and 4500 miles later I'm happy with my auction purchase.
Is anyone else getting very slow responses from the HJ site?
It's not my computer or link (other sites unaffected and I have a permanent LAN connection to the www).
cheers
Ian Read more
Mark: Thanks for your reply at 21.47 on 18/7/03
Stephen: Apologies as I had missed your update at 18.38 on 18/7/03.
My 106,000 mile Accord VTEC uses oil when driven regularly above 4,000 rpm, have been topping up with Mobil 1, but will it do any harm to use another fully synthetic brand such as Halfords which are quite a bit cheaper?
Read more
Thanks.
Hey Guys,
I really need help on this one, its getting expensive but driving me MAD !!!!!!!!!!!!1.
After about 5,000 Miles the brakes started to become very squeeky. I took it into Kwik Fit who advised the pads to be changed. I handed over my hard earned cash and within 500 miles the brakes started to squeek again. At my 10,000 service they noticed that the brakes had hit the min mark and advised a change of pads and to lubricate the caliper. I had the pads changed again ! within 500 miles the brakes started to squeek again. I have recently took it in for its 20,000 miles service and have been informed the pads are down to min marker again and my drums are lipped.
Within 500 miles .... the brakes are squeeking even worse !!!!.
My driving style would never warrant this amount of brake pad changes any ideas what could be wrong ?!?!?!. As the frequency of changing the pads etc is costing me a small fortune.
I also took my car into peugeot, they were useless and gave the response "all cars brakes squeek ?".
There must be something seriously wrong for the amount of wear ?. I have also had brake fluid changed recently to see if that would help .... no affect Read more
I have had a chat to another mechanic who seems to have a better idea of what the problem could be.
The pistons on the caliper are locked on the one side ?
My wife is thinking of buying a new Honda Jazz or VW Polo 1.2 which are about the same price.She drives about 18k per year, mainly rural commuting, with the occasional longer journey. We like the modern design approach of the Jazz and likely build quality and reliability expected of Honda. However, the Polo seems very solid with excellent residuals.Having said that we had a Polo from new 7 years ago which suffered the usual door seal leaks and gearbox failure!
What about the Polo 1.4 TDi as an economical alternative - is it worth the extra £1000?
BTW does anyone know if the recent mods to the 2003 MY Jazz suspension have cured the 'hard ride' criticism?
We would be most grateful for BR members thoughts on any of the above.
Read more
There is something about the Jazz in today's HJ column in the Telegraph (not sure exactly which model as I was only glancing through whilst in a traffic jam)
I'll get back to you later if you haven't got it and need to know anything?
Personally have been out and bought a new car today and am chuffed to bits :) (not going to get it until 1st September though)
Please forgive me as I imagine you regulars have gone over this before, and I will search the archives promise. However, right now either the site or my computer is running so slowly, that this seemed the best thing to do.
I've been posting about our decision making process to find a small car suitable for our 19 (next month) year old daughter to learn to drive in, which will then go on to be a car for her use.
For various reasons, if we like the test drive, we've decided to go for a new, demonstrator, or pre-registered Toyota Yaris, 1 litre, 3 doors.
We decided on this after first looking at the second hand ones on offer.
We want to be able to deal with our local main dealer. As I've said, we are not car savvy, and this is the best thing for our family to do. Could buy elsewhere and go there for servicing, but am nervous of an import.
The dealer has 3 pre-registered cars (2003)now of interest to us
A silver metallic T3 - this has remote central locking, a cd player and alloys on top of all the standard stuff (new list £8,546.95 inc 12months tax, mats and £20 fuel) they are asking £7,795 with only 6 months tax
A Colour Collection in metallic burgundy - this has the colour spec and a cd player (list inc as above £8,546.95 - no alloys and key op central locking) they are asking £7,295 as above
A Colour Collection which has the colour spec and alloys (but on this particular one they have added a cd player at the garage) List without the cd player is £8,746.95 - they are asking £7,760 with cd and six months tax.
I haven't yet checked the pre-registration dates etc. but on a first glance it would seem that financially, the best bet would be to shop around and barter like mad for a T3 silver which has the lot and would be new on first registration to us - unless they are prepared to drop quite a bit?
I am trying to use the net to find the very best prices for these cars, and will use these to help negotiate at our local dealer.
Plus - as we are inbetween Tunbridge Wells and the south coast, would anyone know if it's likely that we could get a better deal further south, or is it just a case of trying all the dealers in a radius? Can you do this just by phone as we know what we want?
What are we likely to be able to negotiate off, any one know? or have you got any other observations given that this is the car at the top of our list.
Thanks.
Read more
www.ukcarbroker.co.uk has the Yaris T3 1.0, new, with your daughter as the first owner, for £7280 + £273 for metallic paint, total £7553. That includes a year's tax.
I also think a pre-reg is worth ~£200 less. Against that delivery may be extra, or you might have to travel a long way. It's worth finding out though.
Browse
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=14...5