August 2003
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
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.
Can anyone recommend a good dash cleaner that leaves a "matt" finish? Read more
I bought some very cheap and chearful stuff years ago IIRC its by a company called carcare(?) had it for about 4 years now and works great, it is a big 1l can and cost me about 50p from one of those shops that opens up every now and again to have a closing down sale.
Just remember spray onto the cloth and not onto the dash.
Anyone got a portable satnav (a PDA version for example) fitted in a Galaxy?
Do they work with the quickclear windscrren, or do you need an external antenna? Read more
I thought I'd update in case anyone's interested...
I've now got a Viewsonic V35 (cheapest PocketPC available), running TomTom Navigator II satnav software, coupled with a Haicom GPS receiver and a 128MB SD card. The whole lot cost me £449 including all leads and windscreen mount.
Works perfectly with my Quickclear windscreen. Voice directions and colour graphics including 3D, for much less £££ than anything comparable.
Plus, of course you've got a fully-functioning PocketPC as well as a Satnav system!!
Recommended!
Purchased from www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk, who specialise in this sort of thing an mapping stuff.
Browse
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