August 2003

Forum family car?

kam on 10 August 2003

Having grown extremely bored,extremely quickly of my passat 1.8t sport,i would appreciate any advice on changing to another family car.It MUST have a decent chassis and be involving to drive,unlike the passat.My budget is about 8-9k, any ideas?Badge snobbery is not an issue. Read more

peterb on 11 August 2003

The previous generation Primera had a great chassis. However, they're a bit below your budget.

Question The Fiat Ulysse ??

Pete on 10 August 2003

Can any Ulysse owner out there, please confirm for me, the first nine digits of the vehicles VIN number? ( ZFA?????? )

Please note that I am not asking for the full VIN number, just confirmation of the first nine digits, which will be common to all the Ulysse vehicles.

Thank you, Pete. petel@clara.co.uk Read more

Pete on 12 August 2003

Two Ulysse owners have now contacted me and confirmed the first nine digits of their VIN numbers. No problems.
Thank you. Pete.

Question Mazda 626 noisy tappets

Marc on 10 August 2003

Afternoon all - my in laws have a 93K Mazda 626 2.0 (16v) auto with 94k on the clock. Car has recently been making a constant ticking noise once warmed up. The local mechanic has said it was the tappets and used a two stage flushing kit and changed the oil - this usually works apparently. This has improved the performance of the car but the ticking noise remains. His next suggestion is to replace all of the valves/tappets but this would work out to be quite costly with there being 16 of them. Question is, what would be the consequences of doing nothing and continuing to run the car. Is engine damage likely?

Thoughts appreciated

Thanks Read more

Colonel Panic on 26 July 2005

There is a similar noise possible on there 4 cyls caused by the timing belt tensioner. There is a flimsy spring and rubber blob that goes week, and the tensioner/belt begins to oscillate and produce a surprisingly tappety noise from behind the black plastic timing cover. Have a listen here.

Question 406 revs drop off in 1st & rev

MarkD on 10 August 2003

I have a Puegeot 406 1.8 16v with 75k miles, though only 2 yrs old. I find that when I pull away the revs just fall off and it would stall if I didn't slip the clutch and give it more gas. Similar happens in reverse too. The idle speed looks fine, about 800 rpm and pretty constant, the MPG is what I would expect and the engine sounds very quiet and always starts first time. This will occur from warm or cold and continues throughout any journey. Read more

Question Indicator self cancel

GroovyChick{P} on 10 August 2003

I've just discovered that a spring has fallen out of my steering column, in my focus, and now my indicator self cancel doesn't work. I replaced the whole indicator/main beam stalk a couple of months ago as the main beam was sticking on, everything has been ok until today.

I'm finding it really annoying that the cancellation doesn't work. Could the spring be out of the unit itself or is it something that has just fallen from the steering gubbings etc..

Can anybody tell me if its easy to fix or is it going to be more trouble than its worth.

Thanks in advance

GC
Read more

DomT on 2 December 2013

In 30 years of car ownership I've NEVER seen a tester check self cancelling, I have had a fail for a rear fog lamp dash switch not securely fixed in its hole though.

Buses/coaches/trucks DO have sef cancelling. in 22yrs as a PCV driver I've never come across one that hasn't..

Forum End of Warranty - get an Inspection?

Armitage Shanks{P} on 10 August 2003

My car is going for its first MOT, 10 days before the manufacturer's 3 year warranty expires. It all seems to be working fine - a/c, electric gizmos etc.

1. Is it worth asking the MOT garage, a main agent who supplied the car, to see if they think there is anything that needs doing? (Would they tell me?)

or

2. Is it worth spending £99 on a full inspection offer which has just appeared on the HJ website opening page? Comments and ideas welcome! Read more

M.M on 10 August 2003

AS,

Hmm...for the £99 of the used car check you could get a medium service at an independent that would include all the items** in the inspection and get your oil/filters changed as well..

Obviously it may not include the looking for accident damage and checking the car ID but you don't need that stuff if it is already your own car.

Note the inspection excludes some of the most likely troublesome areas on many modern cars...Alarms, air-con, electronics(!) and so on.

M.M

Forum What IS average mileage?

weatherwitch on 10 August 2003

I'm looking at replacing my wonderful old Corolla, it's an 1988 E reg and has less than 118,000 genuine miles on the clock, so many car adverts say low/average mileage, and an N reg I found seemed to imply that 80k was low mileage?

I realise that I've been spoilt but is there a guide anywhere as to what is a realistic mileage? I'm looking for cars between N and up to R reg (1997)

Many thanks, sorry if this is in the wrong forum, it's my first time on this one :) Read more

ratty on 12 August 2003

would you live anywhere near the east midlands - I have a 1997 corolla that I am thinking of up-sizing. It's a 5 door and one of the last japanese built.

Forum Honda Civic November Facelift

fitz on 10 August 2003

I have heard that the Honda Civic range is to get its first facelift, with the revised cars being released on 1 November 2003. Does anyone know any details of the planned changes and particularly what revisions there will be to the Civic Type-R. Read more

fitz on 23 August 2003

I first heard about a civic facelift in Auto Express. If you look at the table they print every week showing dates for new models you will see a release date of 1 November 2003. I have tried a web search for further details but found very little info. The best I have come up with is on the www.civictype-r.co.uk site. There are several mentions of it in the Forum section, or try using the search facility. I'm not sure if you are going for the type-r but if you are this site is great for type-r owners with a wealth of info.

Question Audi A4 TDI Ripoff price

big dave 30 on 10 August 2003

can any one tell me if £ 288 is the correct price for a mass air meter for an audi A4 1.9TD-110 1998-SE for finding and repairing the fault at a main dealer.They quoted £199 for the part the rest is for fitting.I had a fit at the price did anyone have the same responce. Read more

Aprilia on 10 August 2003

VW/Audi parts are not cheap - but £200 for the AFM is not actually that bad as a dealer price. Eurocarparts sell them for much less though (around £100, I think). I fitted one to a Passat TDi about 6 weeks ago and I think that's the price the owner paid. They are easy to fit - you could DIY if you feel confident, or you could get an independent to do it for you for less than the dealer.

Forum Any Thoughts?

joseph3777ee on 10 August 2003

Hi: Am hoping to buy the Freelander Kalahari Td4 Diesel. Would welcome any views readers may have.

Thanks in advance
J
Read more

Johnny20 on 12 August 2003

Toyota RAV4 D4D - looks funky, newer design than the Freelander, 200% more reliable and 0-60 times are faster 12.1 against 13.2. I know 0-60 times proabably won't be appreciated but it sweetens it up a bit :-)..and its cheaper, I think.