October 2003
After being a dad for 21 years and with 4 children, I went to help on my first school trip today with 20 charming and well-behaved 7-year-olds. Bon't bin this post yet mods, the motoring bit is just coming.
We travelled from Richmond to Chester-le-Street and back in a modern tall 50-seater air-conditioned coach with a 100 KPH sticker on the back. I sat near the front so I could be nosey and watch what was going on 'cos I used to drive coaches part-time in the early 70's.
During the trip up the driver yawned continually, appeared to ignore his mirrors, mercilessly tailgated traffic trying to observe the 50 mph limit through the roadworks and took a 15 minute call on the plumbed-in mobile fitted to the dash (not hands-free) during which time he steered with alternate elbows (never deviating more than a couple of inches from the nearside lane marker). I would characterise his driving as aggressive and unprofessional and I hope I put up a better show 30 years ago even when distracted by a victorious, noisy, drunken and incontinent darts team.
Now I'm not even an occasional user of buses or coaches, preferring the cars, motor-bike or push-bike so my questions are, is this normal? Do any of you use buses or coaches to get about and is this driver representative or a one-off? Any input from the professionals among you?
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land Read more
Good folks of this site, I bring amazing news!
Between the hours of approximately 1030 and 1045 this fine, crisp autumn morn a miraculous event happened.
(Brace yourselves....)
HF drove on the M25!!!!!! Yes!!!!!! Really!!!!!!!
Admittedly, it wasn't entirely on purpose as I (who was supposed to be navigating) had a momentary lapse of attention and directed her to where I thought the A21 was.
Regulars will know that HF has a morbid fear of motorways, and regularly has nightmares in which she finds herself upon the M25. Today, those nightmares came true!
So, if you were on the M25 between those hours, and between junctions 4 and 5, count yourselves very very lucky that you came away unscathed!
Boy am I in the deep doggy doo doo now!
Cheers
Rob Read more
Well that is shocking, thinking that the M58 is a MOTORWAY, its not its the biggest skateboarding park in Europe, mind you they did build the M65 so i could just stroll up to Burnley, Accrington why even exciting Oswaldtwistle, but at certain times other drivers think they can use it without my permission, certainly beats going over the moors through Belmont and getting on the A666.
Can anyone tell me what rear drop links are? Read more
....and they rattle like hell when they are worn!
The front o.s. brake pads wear at a considerable rate more than the n.s. I have replaced cylinders but no better can anyone help Mikel Read more
I`m afraid there are a few possible causes for it.One is the pads were incorrectly fitted.ie were they fitted direct from box
they should be a slightly loose fit in the callipers any paint should be taken off with emery cloth and copperslip or copper grease should be applied to the metal backing of the pad PS not the brake pad surface in contact with the disc.Sorry if you already know that.the other possible cause may be incorrect size bore on that calliper to the piston that will cause it as well.The other poss is which is highly likely the bolts you undo to remove the pads have a sliding tube fitted under the rubber seal if they get dusty the same problem occurs.If I haven`t told you anything new I appologise
My wife's 1994 Escort is now well past it's sell by date (especially the lack of brakes - scary!) and with a young child and another on the way we thought it's best to buy a newer car for her. We don't want to spend more than 9K if I can help it and we didn't want a large people mover thingy like a scenic nor a little town car like a yaris. The A140 and the Jazz seemed to fit the in-between bill perfectly.
We test drove both yesterday and here are our thoughts and preferences:
1. External Looks - preferred the A140 as it's very different to everything else and has an appearance of class.
2. Internal Looks - preferred the Jazz (albeit a bland colour). The dash layout was clear and all the buttons appeared to be in more convenient places than the A140.
3. Ride position - preferred the A140 as it was slightly higher which gave a sense of security.
4. Practicality - preferred the Jazz by a mile. The seat config is superb ie no need to remove and store the seats in that spare room we all have!!
5. Overall - preferred the Jazz but if the price and ownership costs were right we would still be happy with the A140.
That being the case I wanted to compare costs of purchase and ownership. We must have aircon and RCL so we would need to look at the Jazz SE and A140 Elegance models. With a budget of 9K I think I should be able to get a 6 month old Jazz from a dealer or possibly private but there doesn't seem to be many about at the moment or I could get an 18 month old A140 at auction with average miles but again I would need to be patient to get the right colour and condition and it's slightly more hassle.
Assuming I could get either as above what car is most likely to lose more money over the next 5 years? Also can anyone tell me the true servicing costs of these cars as I just can't believe what the dealers told me as they came out with so much bull...!! The Merc salesman was so bad that he has almost put me off the car entirely!!!
Finally I have always been put off buying new due to depreciation but for 3 years peace of mind then I may reconsider at the right price. Has anyone been able to get the Jazz SE for near 9K as the dealer said he couldn't and wouldn't give a peeny off the book price of £10.5k ouch!!
Sorry for the long post... Read more
Tony...You really started something with this thread!
Have a look at the following link and you will find a name and location which may lead you to the sort of deal which you are looking for.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=12...7
Let us know how you get on...it is always nice to know if the suggestions lead to a successful outcome.
Last years brochure is clear about the back seats folding down to give a LEVEL loading space, but this years dealer seemed to think not (although he didn't seem too knowledgable on Estate specifics).
Can new Mercedes C-Class Estates provide a level loading space when the back seats are folded down?
Thanks,
Matt. Read more
The team are back for a new series this evening. Channel 5, 20:30.
Read more
I thought the show was excellent. It's about time car shows devoted some time to safety and Stiff Needle and Vicky Butler-Henderson (isn't that a brand of cigarette ... 20 Vicky Butler Hendersons and a bottle of gin please ...) often make comments about the poor driving standards of some people.
It was on Top Gear or in the Sunday Times Motoring supplement that Clarkson reviewing a car said that it was so good that it prompted him to go round corners faster than was advisable. That strikes me as a shameful comment.
Following all the problems I have been having with my polo being set on fire (incidentally, I took it back at the weekend and asked for it to be fixed), I went out and bought a '98 Ford Escort to get me to work and back every day. After a few days, there was a severe vibration on braking and a slight constant vibration through the steering wheel. I had the front discs replaced and this cured the vibration on braking. But the steering wheel still vibrates slightly all the time. I have noticed at low speeds that there is a slight grating noise coming from one of the front wheels as if the brake pads were touching on the discs with every complete revolution of the wheels. My first thought was wheel balancing but I don't see how this could explain the slight grating noise.
Any ideas? Am I potentially looking at mega-bucks to get this sorted out? Could the noise just be my imagination? Could it just be because it's a diesel?
Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated!
many thanks,
~James Read more
It could be that where your old discs were worn, they made the problem worse, but where you had new discs/pads fitted, the hub mounting area behind the disc, was this cleaned of all corrosion/dirt etc ?, as this could make the new disc sit on the hub unevenly and you will still get a vibration at the pedal.
Pastyman..
I'm just about to pick up a V Reg Vectra 2.0Di Estate, after finding my poor dog can no longer comfortably stand in the back of my Celica...
First... I can't find out from the net if this engine is turbocharged (I've only looked briefly under the hood and saw the big Ecotec label, but didn't spend long enough to look like an anorack) The label Di leads me to think not, but the dealer selling it says yes.
Also, I understand the engine has a couple of common faults that can show up... It's got 103k on the clock so I'm expecting a few teething problems, but having experienced the quality of Vauxhall's engineers in the last few years I thought it would be a good idea to get some pointers before I find myself at their mercy. The dealer is giving a 12 month warranty which will hopefully shake out anything major...
Thanks for any pointers. Steve. Read more
Almost certainly to be the leak off pipes which are causing the difficulty in starting after being left standing.
A simple half hour job. However Vauxhall usually diagnose injector seals as a matter of course.(a five hour job) and replace these pipes as part of the work.
Browse
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I organise weekend trips and booze cruises for my office social club and have done for over 20 years. Originally we used a local family company but when they got out of the private market to concentrate on contract work I started going through a local group travel company. I must say that with one exception all the drivers we've had have been excellent. Courteous, safe and considerate drivers. The only phone calls have been when caught in a jam (M25 on a Sunday night etc).
The exception? I made the appropriate comments to the group travel company and they no longer use that coach firm.
Funny though how it's cheaper for a trip starting and finishing in Surrey to use a company based in Lugershall rather than a local company. And for booze cruises an excellent (very large) company in the Medway towns are cheaper than our locals - and they have a lot further to drive - and they have double deckers with trailers for the personal imports!:o)
Terry