October 2003
My '99 T-reg A6 1.9 TDI (110) has just had its 120,000 mile service, and the dealer suggests I have the air mass meter (amm) replaced because it is sluggish, and replacing the amm will increase power significantly.
It's been sluggish ever since I bought it over a year ago when it was just under 100K miles and the power delivery hasn't changed since then, although I must I've always found it a bit slow, especially when compared to a 1.9TDI (115) I've had for some time. It appears to have quite a big turbo lag (if that's what it is) and often power seems to tail off quite fast when I accelerate and hit about 3,500 rpm.
The question is: is the dealer simply trying to rip me off (for £340) or is this really a problem and should I have the amm replaced? Could I ask the dealer for measurements before and after the replacement which should show an improvement (just in case there is a dispute and I don't notice a difference in power delivery)?
Elsewhere on this site I've read the the amm on a VW 110 TDI (which is effectively the same engine) can fail due to corrosion, but I wouldn't know what the symptoms would be other than reduced power. As I'm not sure how much power my A6 should be giving me, I'm looking for some guidance from you fine folks.
Cheers,
Robert. Read more
i currently drive a 1998 xsara. Had it bout 2 years now no real problems except the last few days noticed small pool of liquid in front of front wheel after use. Regularly check my levels every week my coolant is up to the max level at the mo. drips for about 5 min then stops could this be just overflow running off from the radiator or something else. First major thing i have noticed after nearly 2 yrs motoring. Def coolant cos of the colour Read more
small pool of liquid in front of front wheel after use. .... drips for about 5 min then stops ....>>
To me this suggests that you have a minuscule leak which seals itself when the radiator is cold, but appears when expanded through heat.
Use the "forum search" button (under log-in details on right) to find threads containing the words "radiator coolant leak" or "radweld" or "wynns stop leak" .
I wonder if any of the backroomers are cabbies, or might know the answer to this one.
I was very nearly run of the road last night by a psychopathic private hire car driver (and by 'almost' I mean 'about 6"') during one of the miost irresponsible and insane overtaking manoevres I've ever seen - I've never come that close to being roadkill in my life. Fortunately, I'd just dropped of a couple of passengers a few minutes before, but the thought of them getting involved too makes my blod boil..
During the chaos, I only managed to get the private hire number (at least I assume it was - it said '83' in large numbers on a plate in the rear window along with the licence number, rather than being displayed externally), the 'Y' of the registration, and the fact that it was a silver Transit minibus.
Does anyone know if private hire car numbers are unique to the company, the city, the county, or even the country? It's not much to go on, but I'm determined to see that the company knows their driver almost caused a serious collision, whether they choose to do anything about it or not.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Read more
Just an update to close this thread off:
Finally managed to trace the taxi to Harborough District Council after a bit of phoning around - it turns out that each district maintains a log of it's own licenses and that there isn't a mechanism within Leicestershire to cross reference those numbers. The administrator in the licensing department was very helpful, took all the details, and actually knew the stretch of road personally (along with the particular bad driving habits that are displayed there). She did state, as I expected, that it's hard to make a case of an isolated event, but that notification of the complaint would be sent to the driver and that it would be kept on his record to cross-check against future incidents.
So yeah, have let off a bit of steam and am feeling a bit better. Cheers for the help folks :)
I think I'm going to have to replace my Mark 2 Golf in the near future - it's done 189,000 miles and has developed the notorious cutting-out problem which I understand is tricky to diagnose and solve.
I don't want to spent more than £4k and I'd like a car which meets the following criteria:
1. Reliable
2. Reasonably satisfying to drive
3. Not much wider than the Golf (5'6") as I have a narrow garage
4. Unlikely to get nicked - it will be spending a lot of time in station carparks.
Having looked in HJ's car by car breakdown and at the Parkers guide my shortlist is Corolla, Civic, Almera. Any views on these or alternatives that I should consider? At what sort of mileage are these starting to get tired?
At the ripe old age of 39 I have never bought a car other than from a family member so I'd also appreciate any views on whether it's worth paying main dealer premium or would I be better off going for a private seller or independent dealer then buying a warranty from Warranty Direct. Local main dealers seem to have very few older cars for sale. Does anyone know of any good independents in or around Sheffield who might have the type of car I'm after? I should also add that I have no mechanical knowledge whatsoever....
Thank you!
Pete Read more
Anne, thanks for the info on 306s. I think if it was company money I'd be very happy with a 306 as it sounds as though they are a really nice drive. But I think the safe option (he says touching wood) is for me to go Japanese.
Pete
Hi, I'm looking to change my car in the next month but am still undecided on what to go for. For the last few months my heart has been set on a clio 172 but then recently I've been checking out other possibilites. These have included the 306 Gti 6, the astra coupe turbo (although these are still a bit more than i'm looking to spend) and cars that are not of the hot hatch type such as an MGF VVC or even a Merc C230 Kompressor. Can anyone suggest any alternatives or offer any advice (ie. running costs and reliability) on any of the cars i've listed bearing in mind that i'm 20 and so insurance on any of these is going to be high enough so group 16 is about as high as i can feasibly go.
Cheers guys. Read more
Any of the Seat Leon Cupras (180, 210 225 bhp). Check the insurance groups-maybe only the 180bhp is in your ballpark.
Nice car the Leon-I had a lower model but loved it to bits.
MoT time came round recently and I found myself at the test station in a pit with the tester looking at the Synergie's brake disks. The Lucas brakes have a single piston in a floating caliper. The rods on which the caliper floats are shiny, greased and protected by intact gaiters, and the caliper can be moved easily when the pads are withdrawn. The pads were not siezed in the caliper but that shouldn't matter given that the caliper floats.
Why was the outside face of the disc immaculate and shiny and the inside two thirds of the disc surface rusty and pitted? There is an obvious implication that more effort is being applied to the outside of the disc to keep it so clean, but why?
I've been spannering cars in an amateur way man and boy so I'm not surprised, just curious.
Any genius out there know what is going on?
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land Read more
JBJ,
Possibly....but some of these are Citroen rear discs that have a complete metal "cover" that keeps the road dirt out and they are just the same.
I accept it, don't worry about it but it is odd.
M.M
Can anyone suggest a way to remove white road paint which has splattered on my car and seems immovable ? Read more
Here's the original thread on the subject:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=11406 >>
I did wonder. But this explains how that thread from March 03 has become active !!
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=16...7
My original post above was a conclusive victory for the Honda to the degree that I'm almost embarrased having even considered the Merc in the first place!! All I needed to do now was decide on which model. Well since aircon is a must for us it had to be at least the SE but I have a real aversion to wheel trims and think the car looks much better with the alloys. My wife said she couldn't care less as long as we don't go a penny over our £9K budget. Sounded like a challenge to me!!
We knew that a brand new SE or Sport was out of our budget so I did a search within 100 miles of our home on the usual car sites and it only threw up about 20 SE Sports. They ranged from an 02 reg with 37K on the clock for £9k to well over 10K for a 52/03 reg!! I also remembered what the smug Honda salemsan said to me after we test drove the car - he basically said the price you see is what you pay as he doesn't need to discount as they're walking out of his showroom at the moment and they're in short supply!! This was going to be harder than I thought!
Then I spotted a demo 03 Sport with 4.5K, in the silver colour we wanted, for sale at a nearby Honda dealer for £9995. From what I've seen that was a good price in itself. I wanted to trade in the wifes 1994 Escort 1.6 LX which, according to the guides, had a trade value of £300 and a private value of about £500. I think I would be damned lucky to get £500 privately for it as the brakes are awful, the power steering whines and generally it's unpleasant to drive.
Knowing this I just steamed into the dealer and thought I would take the pee a little and offered my car in part ex and £9k cash. They wanted to test drive my car which I thought will blow the deal! They spent 5 mins pondering then agreed!!! Hmmm too easy I thought so I asked for 6 months road tax and a full tank of fuel aswell. They agreed to that too. Hmmm so I asked them to throw in some nice mats and a Honda cleaning kit - got that too!!
What a result. No hassle selling our car and I think a very good deal on the Jazz too. Would anyone agree or disagree? Having said that I do wonder if I could have got more off as I was expecting a battle but instead I got a very honest and professional service without the BS you would normally expect from a main dealer.
In any case the wife's happy and I've got myself a zillion brownie points and a dozen night passes with the lads! We pick the car up in about 10 days after they fully valet the car, including cleaning the seats, and I can't wait to drive past the first dealer and put two fingers up to the smug one - he says with a big smug grin on his face ;-) Read more
Regarding deals on new examples of the Jazz, a recent search on the Auto Trader website revealed a dealer with a number of pre-registered new cars at a considerable discount. I guess these are the last of the batch of pre-suspension revision models.
I was in my local dealer today testing a CRV (see earlier post)and mentioned this to the sales person. They told me they also had some new examples of the 'old' model Jazz for a 'good' price - subject to haggling of course.
Bearing in mind that 2 dealers have told me that they cannot tell the difference between pre and post suspension revision cars it may well be worth while negotiating a very keen price on a new earlier model rather than an 'expensive' used Jazz.
The dealer this morning told me it was impossible to tell from chassis numbers which were the later cars and even an inspection on a ramp did not reveal any obvious external difference. The only way they could confirm or otherwise whether an 03 model had the revised suspension was to email Honda in Japan with the car's VIN!
Maybe the so-called revisions are a hoax after all!
I have a Mk5 Fiesta on a W plate, when the car is cold the heater is cold, driving along the heater get warm then warmer, but all this is with the control turned to cold. If i want heat and turn the dial to fully hot, i gets hot, but when i turn it back to cold, it stays hot, even after a few miles.
I understand that the control itself may be faulty or the valve against the bulkhead behind the scuttle might not be closing properly, i think the valve has a motor of sorts to close it.
Has anyone got any ideas or if this is a common thing on the Mk5 Fiesta or an easy repairs. Is there any way i can test the control and the valve seperately ?.
Pastyman.. Read more
Yo King Arfur, majesty dude,
Me car is only 3 years old, i dont want secondhand toot on my set of wheels. Besides that, theres a chance that the one out the scrappy might be duff as well, its seems a bit of messing about only to find you've got to do it all again.
Pastyman..
Colleague bought a Ford Ka with 14000 miles and full service history for £4450. Had to chase up the dealer to get the service booklet which turned out to be a replacement book with the first stamp at 14000 miles dated the day she bought it and over written 'predelivery inspection'. In other words there is no documented service history. I've told her she would have paid less money for a vehicle with no service history but I dont know how much less. Anybody got any ideas ? Read more
I should think most franchise dealers can provide a history for any car they sold new, but I'm not so sure about the completeness of national networks. Ask the original selling dealer if you know which it was. Rear number plate? Service booklet?
Browse
.jpg)
I wonder how many other VAG TDi engines are running around producing only a fraction of the power output they should be.....
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....