I recently had my belt,idlers & tensioner changed on my Vectra (yes I know but I\'ve had this car 2 years and its been great, really ) I know Vx had lots of problems with the tensioners supposedly being plastic, but I noticed that the new tensioner was metal, is this an update or were they all like this originaly. I also saw that the idlers were still plastic. Read more

What is the criteria that Police forces adopt when choosing a Motorway Patrol car?

The reason I ask is, I would imagine cost would be high on the list; I've seen a lot of Range Rovers, Discos, the odd Nissan Patrol, Terrano II, Isuzu Trooper and on one occasion even a Merc ML - What is the justification for running a 4X4 as a motorway patrol car over say a Vx 3.0 Omega estate or a Volvo T5 V70 for example?

I would imagine both the latter would be much better high speed pursuit vehicles and be able to carry pretty much the same equipment/load as most of the above mentioned 4X4's and be equally capable at a motorway RTA and I'd imagine that they may be cheaper to run too.

Even if cost isn't a deciding factor, the only advantage of a 4X4 that I can see in this context would be the greater visibility, the off road capability simply wouldn't come into the equation. The disadvantages of a large 4X4, such as the reduced acceleration, lower top speed, poorer high speed manoeuvrability and stability would factor far greater and even if the running costs were indeed lower than a suitable estate car, still (in my mind at least) it would not justify their use in this context.

Am I not seeing the whole picture here?

Chad.

PS. I'm not on a 4X4/SUV bashing exercise - the police must have reason for choosing 4X4s as motorway patrol cars, I'd just like to know it! Read more

Does anybody know what the Inland Revenue approved mileage rate is from somebody claiming fuel while using a company car upto 2000cc on business ?

I know using your own car is 40p up to 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter, but I can't find a reference to a rate for using company cars I'd expect it to be around 14/15p.

And yes, I have tried the IR site and their telephones. Read more

Morning all,

My 1998 car is starting to look a little tired now - in particular the plastic trim. It has quite a few plastic bodywork components, including door handles, bumper inserts, wheelarch trims, skirts etc. These are all becoming faded and generally making the car look tatty. In the past (long time ago) I used to use Armorall, but find it is messy to use, doesn't last very long and causes streaking on the paintwork if it rains. Therefore any recommendations regarding an alternative would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jon Read more

Does any body have any idea of the real world fuel consumption of the new 307 HDI engine.

Thanks Read more