September 2003
I wonder if anyone out there can give me some advice?
I've got an 18 month old Golf V5 170PS Tiptronic that develops a faint but distinct engine rattle that comes on at 1800rpm and goes abruptly at 2000rpm that can be heard in 2nd and 3rd gear only when the engine has warmed up. I can't hear it if I hold the revs between these limits at higher gears.
The noise sounds like a rattling tappet, but if this was the case presumably I'd hear it in the higher gears as well?
Using Optimax makes no difference.
The car's done 16000miles and for all I know the noise has been present for ages as I can only hear it when the radio is off.
The car drives OK and I can't hear anything when the engine is idling.
I had a coil pack go 6months ago but that was successfully fixed.
Any suggestions gratefully received. Read more
Gotta share this. Just went through the nause of searching for cheaper car insurance. Used AA and RAC brokers, 5 others and yes, the Norwich Union banner of course. Quotes ranged from £362 (current insurer) to £486 but AXA direct www.axa.co.uk offered £258.
Used the same conditions, excesses, annual mileage etc for each but saved over £100. When I contacted my current insurer (Admiral) they admitted that AXA are cheap in the market at the moment.
Strange thing is, the same AXA quote was £411 through the AA. A bit of hefty commission, perhaps?
Well worth a try.
Andy Read more
speaking of insurance i managed to save myself about £60, would have been about £100 but i have to pay in installments as i don't have enough cash ast the moment.
the website i used to get my quote was
www.confused.com/
just stick in your details and it checks a load of insurance companies for you then emails you when they have been checked. found it useful and saved me a few bob.
My mum and gran have kindly offered to cart me and all my stuff back to uni. As I brought everything back last time it'll be a job!
What has more space, realistically? Punto+Micra or a hired Escort (or similar) van? The van option would be expensive - £80 for the weekend, but would save hassle should I find some things don't fit. Read more
>>in my experience, credit cards love us ;)
There is nothing wrong with using credit cards, I love them and I use them all the time. However, I make sure I pay up in full every month so I do not pay any interest.
It never made sense to me to use the overdraft facility or the cash advanced on my credit card though. My cards range from 17.5% to 22%. Consider the BoE rate (3.5%) is currently at its lowest in 25 years, doesn't it make sense to transfer the debt from 22% to a 3-4% low-interest loan, if necessary? (With the help of parents or get a few friends together to take a large enough loan so to guarantee a low-interest loan)
Most impressive demo for lunchtime TV.
Watch it if it is repeated later today
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3077508.stm
Unlike all others I have seen the wheels fold up for 30mph on water. Read more
Too much trouble to fit red and green lights to left
and right and a white at the rear?
For £150K I'd expect the job done properly.
Where is anchor number five and to what does it attach?
A friend of mine is having problems with his X-plate RAV 4. He is reporting that there is no power available particularly for pulling out at junctions and has to build up speed more gradually than would be expected under normal driving conditions.
The car has been serviced recently and the problem seems to be more common now than previously. The problem has been apparent since he bought the car but more intermittently.
Any ideas?
Read more
Hi,
A friend has a new shape Micra with a problem.
Intermittantly the brake lights remain on and she suspects the brakes are actually being applied as well. (I haven't driven it myself so I can't confirm this though)
Nissan have looked at it but because of the nature of the problem it wasn't doing it whilst testing and nothing showed up on their Consult system.
Anyone else come across this?
Thanks in advance
Paul Read more
Brake assist is a purely mechanical system and cannot apply the brakes on its own - trust me, it is not the brake assist. It is remarkably simple - but difficult to expalin in a few words. Think of it as just a kind of co-axial piston assembly in the master cylinder.
You really need a diagram to see how it works - try a web search.
Toyota Supra E reg, free to good home.
Located in Guildford, must be trailered away as undriveable, will be scrapped on 8th September if no takers. Read more
Full of &&****@ petrol too!
I think I'll have to go and have a lie down...
I am buying a car through Showroom4Cars and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them?
Regards
Paul Read more
Thanks for a great message board, I just wonder if posters could include a reference to which car is being discussed in the subject line. It would save a lot of clicking if they could.
By the way Aprilia, thanks for your reply to my previous posting about my C5 - you were right! Read more
Great suggestion Bill. I do occasionally edit in the car's make or model into the subject header when time prevails, but it would save me time and effort if people were to do this in the first instance.
Currently have a Land Cruiser LC5 on order, and am now getting a bit windy having never owned a Toyota. Last 3 cars have been Land Rovers, but after reading various reviews on th LC, I fancied a change.
Is anyone out there running one of these beasties? If so I would like to hear of any good or bad points.
Just need to reconvince myself that I have made the right choice!
Cheers
Jim Read more
I hope I don't disrupt anything here with the following. Myself and two other retired pals are purchasing a sizeable acreage in the Northern Territory by way of a hidey-hole for a few months each year. It's some ways of the beaten track and in the wet season could possibly be inaccessible without a 4WD.
In July we went vehicle hunting for a suitable 4X4. Obviously the Toyota dealer in Darwin was the first stop. "Obviously" because of the high rep the LC has in Australia. Those fellers who live way off the highway and often have to cover many km on remote tracks wouldn't have any time for anything which didn't cut the mustard. So red dust encrusted LC's of all ages are everywhere. Get talking round the bar and it's easy to get solid opinions from serious LC users. They are less complimentary about Land-Rovers so I think that says most of it. You certainly won't have any mechanical or quality issues.
However we next visited the Nissan showroom and tried out the big Patrol 3500. AUD $18,000 cheaper, just as big and we were presented with an article (wish I still had it) from an Oz motoring mag which did ranked the Nissan slightly better in off-road performance on a side by side test. So the Nissan is on order for next month.
The other thing which struck me and still sticks with me was the Toyota 4WD hubs are manual lock, the Nissan's are auto (in that market anyway).
Hope I haven't ruined your day.
Thanks Drage, I was hoping you'd confirm my suspicions.