We've heard all the stereo types and the comments, many of which I've probably said myself; but over the last two weeks I've been driving a high top, LWB, LDV. And yes, its white.

Nobody lets you out. Not ever. No matter what. You have to push out.

Everybody, and I mean everybody, pulls out in front of you. Whether they are some lunatic kiddy in his go-faster honda or some old guy in a Morris Traveller.

Even "real" truck drivers treat you with contempt.

Everybody feels your in the way on the motorway, irrespective of which lane you are in or what speed you are doing.

I have a whole new understanding and if I had to be treated like that for any longer than two weeks, I reckon my own driving would become pretty anti-social as well.
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Hi

Let me start by saying I hate cars. I have an M reg 405 diesel estate with air con and temp. selection. according to the Haynes manual it's the later type heater which has sliders instead of rotary knobs.

Ok here's my problem. If I put the temperature selector to cold the air con switches on but if I put it to hot only cold air blows. The heater matrix is hot and the Haynes manaul lacks any information. The control assembly contains an electronic board which seems ok.

According to the limited information in the manual the system is controlled by flaps and servo motors but I'm at a loss to locate them. My dealer has said that I'm looking at 10-12 hours labour to strip and diagnose.

Can any nice person offer advise as to where to look?

thanks

Ian
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Has anyone replaced the tensioner for the Cam chain on a 2.0Dti.
Mines a '97 and I read in the Haynes manual about the tensioner plug that fits into the side of the engine. This made me think that maybe I should do this as part of a service!!!!!
Any idea's??

cheers. Read more

Following my previous posts on this subject I am now in a position to give a longer term view, having covered about 3000 miles on a 100% biodiesel, supplied by ID Oils near York.


Car

1999 Mercedes C220 CDI


Performance

There appeared to be no material difference in performance - if anything the power/acceleration seems to be a little smoother with less evidence of the turbo surge when accelerating.


Fuel Consumption

Fuel Consumption overall was less good than with normal diesel. The fall-off was around 8% even though a handout from the suppliers of the fuel claimed that fuel consumption would improve by about 7%.


Price

65.9 pence per litre, obviously quite a bit cheaper than normal fuels. The suppliers claim that because of EU tax proposals the price of Biodiesel could reduce by another 20 pence per litre over the next two years.



Benefits

The other main benefit was the smell from the exhaust which was much more pleasant than normal diesel fumes.


Drawbacks

The major drawback was that with the Biodiesel the car seemed to start hesitantly from cold, as if suffering fuel starvation. On occasions the engine would splutter and die three or four times before running normally. Once it got going it was fine. As I was away on holiday last week and could not obtain Biodiesel I had to put ordinary diesel in, and I have found that this problem has now disappeared.


Overall

I am a bit unsure about using Biodiesel all the time because of the starting issue as discussed above but I will probably continue with perhaps alternate fills for the foreseeable future.



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My experiences are actually based on the purchase of a motorcycle, not a car but I am sure is valid for both.

Over the past few years I have purchased a couple of bikes from the franchised dealer and diligently upheld every service schedule requirement in the book. Initially i did this to maintain my warranty and more or less took the extortionate costs for parts and mainly labour on the chin. I continued to use the same place after the warranty ran out thinking that it was the best thing for my pride and joy. I am also at the stage in life now where I can't be bothered doing routine tasks on working vehicles myself.

There were however a couple of occaisions where I was less than happy with the service, one being where the bill was added up incorrectly and surprisingly not in my favour. The other where I got a call to say that at the end of the working day they had found a spacer on the wheel balancing machine, were trying track down the owner and thought it may be mine ! It was as it turns out.

I decided to take the bike to an independant guy after a while, paid a fraction of the costs, got better service and the machine actually feels better each time he works on it, which was not an impression I ever got after it left the dealers place. I spoke to some mates about it and one of them, who seems to buy new cars/bikes on a very regular basis, says that he never takes them back to the franchised dealer for service but rather takes the chance that the vehicle will be OK in the warranty period anyway and they generally have been. Any problems he has had he says he still manages to get sorted anyway.

So was I being naieve in doing what I thought was the right thing? I did actually speak to the owner of the franchise as he was wondering where I was taking the bike as I hadn't be seen for a while. I spoke to him about the costs and was told that they have high costs in furnishing workshops and sending people on courses etc to meet the manufacturers requirements and so on. (That kind of stuck in my throat when the trained technicians couldn't re-assemble a back wheel properly.) Well I am sorry but I don't accept that as a reason to be 35-40% more expensive in labour costs than a private concern. Surely setting up the facilitiy properly is a cost of doing business and for just how long do you keep on over pricing customers?

There is a large percentage of people who will just keep on going back to the dealer who are like I was in thinking that it is the easiest and best thing. I would now advise all to look around and think about it, especially after that warranty period is actually up. Read more