August 2003
I was hoping that one of you fellow Vectra 2.0 '97 owners could pop your bonnet and tell me how much your auxiliary belt is flapping on the top of the engine where you can see it most.
Mine seems to be quite a lot and I was wondering if i should change the tensioner or not.
Any idea's ??? Read more
Anyone know of an MoT FAQ type of site?
Thanks Read more
Job sorted thanks ---- can I be a motor dealer (BMW of course)
Anyone recommend a site ? I can get them fitted locally.
Thanks Read more
They arrived today, the right size and pattern. Bingo a good firm.
Has anyone noticed that UK is the only country in Europe where we must pay to stay for more than 2 hours parking on motorway service areas.
Throughout Europe every motorway has free parking.
Not only that but we are the only country to have no regular parking areas in between service areas.
I have often been driving my van or car late at night and stop frequently for coffee and a stretch to stay awake rather than pay those rip off services 5 or 6 quid to have a sleep
We are also the only country where we must pay for air
In France and Germany its an obligation that services provide free air for obvious safety reasons
I know that we should all put road safety first but there is a kind of psychology that makes us avoid paying and putting principles of not getting ripped off first instead
I think we've got our priorities wrong in this country and the government should step in to make some changes to bring us into line with the rest of Europe.
I give them points over here for free toilets though
Mostly they charge on the continent and its not unusual to find people wandering into the surrounding foliage to save their 50p's
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So where are the best and worst service stations then-
Worst - Hilton Park, M6 -(its a toss up which is more congested, the M6 or the service station car park)
'Bolton North' M61 - the most depressing place on the motorway network, and they build a hotel there. The hotel is so little in demand you have to book in and out through the shop !
Best - Tebay - what a cracking view !
Just saw the following on the TV
Staff at a centre where the learners take the written test became suspicious when many of those taking the test were arriving with bandanas on their heads and most passing the test.
Out of 400 applicants 97% passed.
A certain individual was said to have made £200K profit but now has two years inside to think about it. He was outside the test centre with a mobile phone so he could relay the answers to each individual via their hidden earpiece.
The questions remain. Why only 97% sucess rate? Why did it take so long to identify the scam. Read more
The questions never end...
What "property" did he obtain?. The licenses went into the hands of the applicants, unless they are talking about the applicant's fee they paid him being the property, but they weren't decieved into giving him that property. The candidates being prosecuted I fully understand, as they did obtain their license by deception.
I am not saying for one minute that he shouldn't be charged and punished, just that I don't understand the charge handed down and why that one was chosen. Do they not have an "aiding and abetting deception" or "conspiracy to defraud a gov't agency" type charge?.
Unless you are a judge or man of the law, I don't expect you to answer these, wellie. Just curiously thinking out loud in the hopes that someone will have answers 8-)
This is not intended to be a rant, nor is it intended to stir up any latent hostility.
BUT - as a bus driver I am totally mystified as to the attitude of the vast majority of car (and other) drivers. Many people seem to have it set in their head that they must get ahead of the bus at all costs, despite the fact that it may be turning off shortly, or pulling into a bus lay-by.
I'm sure that PeterPerfect and others will know what I mean, but allow me to expand (not much further though - my trousers can't take it ;-) )
I'll list a few examples and see what you all say:
1) A bus is indicating to pull out of a stop. It is creeping along so that it can move out quickly when (if) someone lets it out. A car driver moves past the bus, then quickly nips into a parking space directly in front of it. Why?
2) Simliar situation, but a car moves past the bus and then stops in the middle of the road to turn right, blocking the bus's path. Why?
3) A bus is travelling at 40mph (yes, some buses can go that fast - in fact I've had one up to 72 mph before now!) on a dual carriageway with a 40mph limit and yet every single car is trying to squeeze past before the dual carriageway ends. Why?
4) Roadworks - the afore-mentioned dual carriageway suddenly narrows to one lane (I'm thinking Woolwich Church Street here). Every single car has to stay in the lane that narrows right until the last moment and then try to force their way in front of the bus.
Which, on a related point - do car drivers really think that I give two hoots whether or not my bus gets scratched or dented? 'Course I don't. So why do they put themselves in the position where they could so easily get hit by my bus? One of these days I just won't brake...!
Anyway, as I said at the start, this was not intended to be a rant, just little old me relating some of the things that happen on more than a daily basis and inviting comment.
Over to you....
Cheers
Rob
"Lord of Lard" Read more
That is just plain stupid. In heavy traffic situations it is just impossible to predict with any accuracy how long a journey will take so the only solution is to devise a 'worst-case' timetable and as I commented, that seriously disadvantages the passengers as well as making the service very unattractive to car users.
As for the targets, if they are that strict then either Stagecoach must have found a dodge or they got hit hard in penalties as the 192s in the evening used to be terrible - I often had to wait 15 to 20 minutes for a service that is supposed to run every 3 or 4 minutes. If they just ran buses and didn't try and fit in to a timetable it would make a much better service for the public and when they are this frequent it's not going to make any difference.
I bought a Polo S (65) last December and have just noticed water ingress between the rear hatch and the plastic lining (I can hear it sloshing about and when I open the hatch, it runs out and into the boot). No other problems. Has anyone had similar? I guess it has to go back to the dealer...
Many thanks, frmarcus Read more
Sounds like the hose on the rear washer is leaking, this is a common fault on VW's, as they only push on, the dealer should sort this. If you have central locking and alarm the water can cause problems with the lock and alarm sensor.
Considering the other post here from me today, I was thinking about interesting, different cars to change to. Now I remember the VW Golf Umwelt from years ago. I'm not seriuosly considering buying one, even if I could find one but has anyone else in the forum driven one or owned one. Do they crop up in the classifieds? How many did they sell? Possibly questions for sean.
As far as I can remember, for people who never heard about them, they were diesel, obviously, had a clutchless manual gearbox and a massive flywheel. Whenever you stopped at the lights or took you foot off the accelerator, the engine cut out. The massive flywheel kept plenty of energy instore so that as soon as you reapplied the gas, when the lights change to green or to accelerate, the engine fired up without a murmur.
I remember the Autocar roadtest, they were quite unnerving to drive by all accounts. Was the technology not good enough to develop and continue, I beleive the car was quite pricey but managed a really high mpg in town.
Can anyone else think of other strange variants of run of the mill cars?
Possibly the V6 Metro was a bit before it's time but completely out of character to the rest of the range. Read more
Wasn't it the case with 2-strokes that they had to have overrun freewheel because if you took your foot off the throttle going downhill for example there'd be insufficient oil going into the engine (in the petroil mix) in relation to the revs it'd be doing?
Saabs had that feature too.
But an uncle had an 'auntie' Rover - a 90 or 100 - which had a freewheel system on it too (despite being 6 cyl 4-stroke). Presume that was just to save fuel (?)
It would have taken a heck of a flywheel to keep a diesel engine turning while waiting at lights, what with that compression ratio!
Hi,
I would be very grateful for some advice on the following potential purchase I’m considering:
trade in car:
'97 p-reg fiesta 5dr 1.25 ghia in dark green and 77k miles with a full service history and with good body work.
purchase car:
mondeo st 24 5dr with 46k miles in metallic black, good body work, apparently good drivetrain, and certainly drives well compared to all the others I’ve tested.... but the problem is that it's a repossessed ford credit car, and as such the service history is slightly patchy - the car is 5 years old, and in the slightly dubious service book only 3 services are detailed. The car has a mot, and has new brakes pads and discs, new mid-section exhaust. There’s no evidence to suggest the car has been neglected, quite the opposite, just it looks like someone forgot take the record book back when they took the car.
mondeo is up for £5350, and the trade in offered on the fiesta is £2350.
To me the mondeo's price seems a bit high. What do those in the know think should be offered for the car?
cheers,
fiesta man.
p.s. the mondeo comes with a 3 month warranty, but I’m considering that worthless.
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NEVER use cash! you have very little protection if things go wrong, Best of all use a credit card followed by a regulated car loan.....even if you have cash.
Cash is NOT king.
Regards,
Alf
Had my first drive of a Cupra R today, Goodness me what a fantastic car, very, very quick shame about the interior being a bit cheap and not a good feal to it. I think I might buy one of the new 225bhp in november, any feedback would be great. Read more
Vansboy - re the creaking. My Toledo (same as the Leon but with boot) has also started to \"creak\" at the back.
I\'ve got to have a proper look but my initial thoughts, after thinking it was something mechanical such as the suspension bits, is that it\'s the rear seat back or squab.
It maybe me but I only noticed the creaking since having had the seats folded down recently. Maybe HJ has a clue from his experience of a Leon? RB
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Thanks Nitroburner (cool name!)
I've just changed the belt myself and the tensioner did seem tight when i moved it. I was just surprised to see it flapping so much with a new belt fitted !!