October 2003
Parked my car under construction are where the cement has not fully dried up. Was raining overnight and my car window and bodywork are now having some white stains caused by the cement.
How could I remove the white stain from the window and bodywork without scratching the surfaces.
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Just glanced at my local free paper and the front and back pages are an ad from the local multi franchise dealer.
The deal that grabbed my attention was a Stilo Abarth (2.4) five door for £10812, including leather and sat nav. I don't know anyone who'd be interested at the moment, but at that money, who cares about depreciation - you get all the performance and all the toys for the price of a bog standard Focus. List is over £18k, so it's a 40% saving (!)
Or is the Stilo really too horrible to contemplate even then? Read more
Well I'm not looking for myself, but...
Top Gear magazine says in its back pages: "Fiat Stilo: Don't be fooled by: the Abarth. Sounds good, but isn't." And that's compared to the rest of the range.
Admittedly that's at £18k, near enough, not £11k, but the car still manages to combine the performance of a 2.0 Focus with the insurance premium and fuel consumption of a BMW 530i.
My wife's Escort 1.6 estate LX has just been damaged in a accident,the garages say it is probaly a write off. The damage is only bumpers +front wing+and some damage to nearside doors.The car is a 1996 with 57000 miles. I wondered how much it is valued at and what would tip it over the limit.Thanks in advance.
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Hugo's option 3 is the one I'd pick. Did it once on my stolen/recovered Fiseta, got a garage to quote for the repairs which came out at £900. Told the insurance company I'd accept £900 and arrange the repairs myself - after a visit from their loss adjuster who confirmed that £900 was reasonable for the work needed, they were happy to pay me as it closed the case for them. Then I sourced the new locks, steering column etc for around £300 and did the work myself. I touched-in the bodywork scratches, a proper respray of which had formed a major part of the £1000 quote. The £700 'profit' offset my loss of no claims and helped me run the car for another 3 years.
A colleague at work told me about this option and I'm forever grateful to him.
HJ tells me that the cheapest small car is a fiat at just under £5K,given that it wil come with a warranty would you buy this new or spend the £5k on an second hand vehicle? Read more
Although around for a long time, Peugeot 106s are cxheap and pleasant to drive (or Citroen Saxos if badges matter)
madf
i have recently noticed a small water ingreess in the passengers footwell on my 93 ford escort,after some reading on fords water ingress problems i came accross a number of people who have resolved this problem by replacing the pollen filter so i thought ok thats what i will replace first ,but after a trip down to the local motor factors asking for a 93 escort pollen filter i get the reply "one does not exist " so a little bemused i explain about the water leak and he said it may be the windscreen seal or the heater matrix?
any ideas about the pollen filter? because i was under the impression that all fords do have a pollen filter?
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thanks will do
Could someone set me straight on this please?
I've just changed the oil on my 1.6 Astra 8v engine. When putting the oil in I made sure it was spot on the max mark - started the engine, let the oil circulate and checked again - it was two inches OVER the max mark.
I assumed this was just because I'd moved the car slightly after filling the oil and was checking again on a slight slope (the car on a very slight camber and went on a brief test drive). It sounded fine, apart from a vile smell of burning oil from where I managed to spill a little into a place I couldn't wipe!
I put about 4 litres in total into the engine - is that about right? I don't trust the Hayne's manuals for values any more after an an error managed to result in the costly destruction of my dad's auto box. If anything I'd have expected the level to go down as oil is circulated into the filter and around the engine. Read more
I put about 4 litres in total into the engine - is that about right?
Nope, too much. My book says 3½ litres of oil for the 1.6 engine. Its the 1.8 & 2.0 litre engine that takes 4 litres of oil.
Whip off the oil filter (it holds approx ½ litre of oil) and pour out the oil from it. Refit and the level should then be about right. As a guide, between min & max on the dipstick is ¾ of a litre.
This afternoon one of my colleagues T-boned an Escort estate, chap driving the Escort pulled out of a side road directly in front of him, leaving him no time to stop. Happens everyday somewhere I expect, fortunately, today, two shaken drivers, two shaken passengers, lots of bent metal, smashed glass and a few deployed air-bags but no serious injury.
Escort driver maintains he never saw the Transit, my colleague driving the Transit maintains that he had eye contact with the Escort driver the whole time and that the Escort was stationary before suddenly pulling out. Transit passenger confirmed that Escort driver was looking in their direction as they approached the junction, then added that the Escort driver was on his mobile.
Strange thing is, the two guys who were in the Transit have been really vociferous in decrying the forthcoming ban on using mobiles while driving; about 16:00 this afternoon they changed their minds!
Basically this guy was just so engrossed in his conversation that, while stationary at a T-junction, he didn't see a Transit coming from his right at about 25mph even though he was staring right at it.
Cockle Read more
corblimeyguvnar - Landvetter? Use a real airline? I should be so lucky! My employer chooses Dan Dare from Stansted to Save airport for me! Given an average cost over the past two years (I do this journey pretty frequently) of less than fifty quid return, all taxes included, I think I can see why!
In fairness, give me Stansted over Gatwick or Heathrow any time, and from a purely selfish viewpoint, from someone happy with the way it is today, I am not in favour of Stansted being developed as will happen! :-(
Will try to find the Dancing Dingo on the next visit, thanks.
The most way out place found so far was an old (grain?) ship called the Fryken, where a group of us had dinner and sank a few pints, wearing dodgy sailors hats, whilst sitting on fifty gallon oil drums in the hold. Hmmmmm!
Hi, looking at a 98 E300 TD, and no recent history. Had a full AA check, who gave it clean bill of health, just said that lack of history always leaves a doubt re the turbo. I want to know if there's any way of checking that the turbo is ok / well maintained ? Any advice appreciated. Thanks. Read more
Insist on an emmisions test, this may show up impending problems
Folks,
The Clarion machine in my '96 Vx Monterey chews tapes and does not "auto-reverse" without massive "wow". It does, eventually, settle down in mid-tape.
(don't laugh - I only discovered the benefits of CDs a few years ago..and now it's Mini-disks and DVDs..)
Are there belts and things that wear and can be changed, or should I treat myself to a new device?
I have seen drive belts in the Maplin book. Are they worth changing, and is it easy?
rg
(Techno-Luddite) Read more
Don't use surgical spirit, it contains either castor oil or clove oil or something and the alcohol will evaporate and leave a sticky residue. Much better, if you're going to Maplin to get a can of IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) I got a big one for a couple of quid that'll probably last me at least 10 years.
I agree about the belts, they go slack and grubby, you can also get Ultrasolv to clean belt residue off the cogs, or you could use IPA as well if on a budget.
I am thinking of buying an astra 1.7td next time once my trusty vento has reched the end.Whilst vw's are supposed to be ultra reliable I have spent a lot of money over the years and want a change.
I have not owned a diesel car before and would be grateful for the views of owners of this type of car.
I would need to tow a small caravan (700kg max)and do about 20,000miles a year.
I'd like to know about reliability,performance,problems,how are they on motorways and the kind of milages drivers can get out of the car.
with thanks Francis
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Bought P Reg Astra Estate 1.7 td (GM Engine) with 103K on the clock in September last year. A glitch in May when the headgasket went has not diminshed my satisfaction with the car. I'd driven the Isuzu engined one and it feels like it's got a lot more oomph, but I'm quite happy with the GM Engine having seen yet another motorist pulled over today for speeding on our backroad into work.
It also towed a 1.5 tonne digger on a trailer up a 1 in 5 (although it did need first gear and got a bit hot doing it).
It's now at 121K, passed MOT after replacing two suspension bushes, and gets 40-42 mpg. Not many motorways round our way but on holidays it's kept pace with traffic, though it might take a bit longer to get there.
Personally I go for the estate over saloon/hatch but that's practicality for me.
Driving a diesel after a petrol took a bit of getting used to but a search of the site will yield diesel driving techniques and tips. There's also plenty of info here on the relative merits of diesel vs petrol.
Hope this helps
Chris TD
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I have finally removed it by using hardwax, similar to those of Autoglym Paint Renovator, and then followed by some soft wax to preserved back the paint work.
Thank you