August 2003
There have always been drivers who won't or can't signal/indicate for any reason but in my limited driving excursions I've noticed more and more of a new? breed of driver. These are the drivers who ONLY indicate when they know they're just about to do something stupid, dangerous and wrong!! Just done the obligatory M25 Thurrock run and spotted no end of contenders for the 2003 'Wreckless Driver of the Year' award nearly all of who indicated - albeit very briefly- before dangerously veering out, cutting in, changing lanes .... etc.
It's as if these people think that a quick twink of the old amber excuses all their sins and guarantees their safe transit to wherever it is that they're in such a hurry to get to.
Why do these people kid themselves that indicating under such circumstances makes their stupid actions any less unacceptable ? Read more
I have a 95 Astra on which the ignition switch / steering column lock has become difficult to turn on. Repeated attempts have so far succeeded in getting it to work but I expect that one-day it will refuse to work. Can I use something like WD40 in the ignition barrel to free it up or is this not allowed. Failing that will it mean a new ignition switch barrel or will all the steering lock have to be drilled off and a new one put on? Read more
Thanks to you all for the replies. I will let you know how I get on.
Dear All,
Just floating this one out to you all as it's a bank holiday and no repair centres are open.......
I've had the misfortune of reversing into a daewoo lanos, putting a dent and a small (1 inch) crease into the boot panel. Is it possible to remove such damage without having to purchase a new panel?
If not, does anybody have a rough idea of what I should be looking to pay for labour on this type of job?
Many thanks Read more
Try Dent Master, or similar, people who i've spoken to pay about £30- £80 and get their dents taken out in a few minutes, my local Saab dealer even uses them to tart up the part X's
And dont forget a lot of these people will be buying on finance over 4/5 years so when their car is esentially worthless they will still owe plenty on it.
These places advertised on telly make me laugh, you are basically given a choice of two (awful) cars and bullied into buying one for well over book price with ludicrous finance charges to boot....
I'm a loser, baby....so why don't you kill me?! Read more
What is truly scary is that when the consumer does understand the trader's legal obligations, the law seems to either be toothless or isn't applied appropriately.
Despite having worked in this business, I got stung on a VW Vento 4 years back - the car was a shed and I didn't spot the problems for 48 hours (pressure of impending fatherhood didn't help).
Despite using the local trading standards, small claims court and even trying to get the trader declared bankrupt, all I got was a visit from his "mates" making it clear that my best course of action was to drop everything or they would.... well, let's just say I looked around for the cameras. It was like a scene out of The Sweeney.
Introducing new laws is pointless until the law applies the existing ones effectively. In meantime, Growler hit the nail on the head. Buyer beware!
If I don't reply it's nowt personal, I'm just working!
The London congestion charge is 6 months old now. Here are a few stats from this week's 'Economist' magazine (a surprisingly good read):
Delays down a third;
average speed in the zone up by nearly 40%;
most of the 100k drivers a day who pay are satisfied;
a study of 504 London businesses found nearly 75% said it hadn't harmed profits, 9% said it had, nearly half said it was working well;
net revenue only half that predicted, therefore more subsidy needed;
public transport fares raised, tube by 3.6%, buses by 7.4%.
William Hill put Ken Livingstone at 3-1 on for re-election.
So is it a success or failure? Read more
As far as the public are concerned it must be a success as traffic is less than it was.
As far as the politicians are concerned it is a complete failiure because it is not making enough money.
The scheme was never introduced with the objection of reducing congestion, it was introduced to make money. If it was introduced primarily to reduce congestion there were other, cheaper ways of detering motorists.
As Rob has said just watch the charges go up and/or the area it covers expand.
I think we have all been conned. Again!
AAAAAARRRRRRGGHHHH!!!!
In my over enthusiastic efforts to eliminate or at least reduce a deep scratch on my Audi's paintwork, it looks as though I may have removed(?) the top lacquer coat thanks to rubbing to hard with scratch repair creams and TCut. The paint seems good, but its appearance now slightly dull compared to surrounding areas.
I have waxed and re-waxed using auto-glym with moderate success, however am wary about waxes having further 'cutting' properties. Does anyone know of a method or product which may help me out. I realise a body shop will be the only 100% cure, but don't want to shell out £££ until I know all is lost.
Size of affected area that of a small fist.
Any help really appreciated. I'm going off to cry... Read more
Yes, the finish is base coat and lacquer and what you wrote is highly likely.
Most body shops have lacquer already in the paint kettles as many cars use this technique now.
It may cost you much less than you think.
Hi there people :)
I've been thinking of picking up a Mondeo at auction, and was wondering if any of you more regular auction-goers have any idea about the typical value of these at the moment?
I'll probably have about £3k to spend, and would be after a tidy Ghia X model with decent paintwork, but mileage isn't much of a concern to me.
What would I be looking at getting? I found the report of an £825 98R LX in HJ's auction roundup the other week quite encouraging - I should get at least a 98R Ghia X 2.0 for my budget, right?
Cheers! Read more
My '96 mondeo has done 32,000 miles and the digits are all over the place! Definately genuine mileage (I've owned it from new).
I keep thinking of changing it, but its got everything I want (A/C, multi-CD, etc) and I think it might have just about stopped depreciating!
Looking at a current shape M3 with SMG next week. I was looking for an Z3 M coop but then this came up.
Can anyone value this car, I can't find anything on any of the online Glass's guide links I have, and Parkers is a joke.
It's a 51 plate, carbon black 54,000 miles, SMG, roof, 19''s (Hmmm....) and HK stereo.
They're asking £31k on Autotrader or £29985 on their local site - That's from a BM dealer.
I don't do a lot of miles so the high mileage will even out.
Worth it?
Read more
Point taken. This site has to be paid for somehow.
Don't know if its exactly true, but still a good story that makes me smile.
A friend of a friend took their car into the local, well known, "fast - fit" place for a free brake safety check.
All the brakes were fine but they were advised that all their shock absorbers were in a dangerous way and this could seriously affect their steering etc under heavy braking.
If thats the case, they said, you better change them over. When they came back from shopping they were handed a hefty bill and asked how they were paying.
"We're not" was the reply, here is the 2 year warranty on the shock absorbers you replaced 8 months ago.......
Allegedly true, and certainly believable... Read more
I just kept going to different branches, just in case...
R-O-B = Rip Off Britain. (perhaps it should be rip off Europe)
Always had suspicions this was happening now I have the proof.
Major hire car outfit which asks which country you live in before giving an online quote.
Just done two quotes, identical vehicles, location and duration.
Checked both quotes in detail to see if they were identical in what was included, and indeed they were.
To a USA resident weekly rate = 254.99 USD.
To a UK resident weekly rate = 387.00 USD [1]
Over a 130 bucks extra a week
[1] To be fair the rate is sometimes higher to residents of other European countries eg Germany @ 524 USD.
This rate, however, includes all sorts of insurances and to be honest I can't be bothered to back them out to see what the exact base rate is. Somewhere around 275 usd at a rough guess. But it would be far lower than the UK rate, of that I'm certain.
Read more
Other than a brief discussion about rental cars, this thread has little to do with motoring and a lot to do with politics.
Therefore I've locked it. There are more suitable places.
Mark.
Browse
I am always amazed at the behaviour at a local roundabout. Situation is a 2-lane exit slip road from a motorway coming down to join a dual carriageway running at right angles under the original motorway.
I would have thought correct procedure is if turning left, take left lane and indicate left. If going "right", (i.e. 3/4 of the way round the roundabout), take right lane and indicate right, changing to left indicator as you pass the exit before the one you want to take.
Frequent behaviour is approach in left lane, give no indication, then wander all the way round to the third exit in the left lane of the roundabout. Sometimes they even make it more obvious they're in the wrong lane by indicating right while in the left lane (still doesn't dawn on them!), or even worse was the one the other day who took the left lane and went all the way round to the 3rd exit while indicating left (think they forgot to cancel after exiting motorway).
All this causes great confusion and danger, not only for other traffic coming down the sliproad, but for those waiting to join the roundabout from the dual carriageway, never knowing when someone is going off at the first exit or not!.
I knew someone who got so annoyed by this habit that one day he came down the sliproad in the right lane, and when he saw the car parallel to him in the left lane was going 3/4 of the way round, he indicated left and moved over, forcing the other car to take the "straight ahead" exit - back onto the motorway, and with the next exit about 6 miles away!
On many other roundabouts, the lane discipline seems to be join the shortest queue and force your way across if necessary.
By the way, does anyone else think the recently-introduced "spiral" lane markings are a help on roundabouts?