A friend said they would like their next car to have 'remote hatchback opening' (i.e. from the key fob). Does anyone know where we will find a listing of cars that offer this option?

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I had the misfortune of someone in attempting to avoid an undertaking moped swerve and plant the corner of their car into my bumper. Fortunately neither of us were going that fast and it was only slight contact. There wasn't too much damage to my 6 month old car but a new bumper was required and the bonnet had a crease that had to be ironed out. The car was duly taken to a suitable bodyshop and I went off on hols knowing I'd be collecting my car when I got back.

So I collected it and my car had clearly been outside for a while it was quite dirty. The paintshop manager mentioned something about the difficulty about getting panels to match and some difficulty at getting the bumper mounts straightened out which distracted me from my inspection of the car. My cursory squint at the car was too brief and I was much too close to look at it. To be honest, I didn't really have much of clue what I was looking for.

He then said, he'd hose the car down for me to get the muck off. It looked ok covered in water so I drove it to work and thought nothing of it. I've been commuting into London the last couple of days and I've left the car in the garage. I got back early yesterday and thought about washing it.

Oh dear. Whilst I was washing it, the panel fit was terrible, the bumper is recessed about 5mm to far in leaving the front wings and bonnet tips sticking out. So I carried on and chammied it down.

The end result made my heart sink, the paint finish was actually quite bad, I could see where they hadn't really blended in the new paint to the existing paint, the bonnet blending was really bad that I could see where the new paint and old paint ended and the bumper is a different colour, also no attempt was made to even blend in the wings. Then I noticed the blank for the towing eye in the bumper, it was the original blank and the colour difference was quite pronounced, they hadn't bothered to respray it.

So I rang the insurance company, they've offshored their call centre, wonderful. I can almost hear the 'if this happens then this happens' kind of logic happening. I got quite short shrift but the insurance company said they will sent a engineer out to have a look at the car, if they agree with my point of view then they will pay to get the work rectified. I don't want it to go back to their approved garage I want my dealer bodyshop to take on the work.

At least I would hope for some attempt to get the repair finished to a decent standard. At least get the bumper fitted correctly and the new paint blended in.

Have I missed the boat here and should I have rejected it at the garage? I've read the long running Polo saga and it fills me with dread, anyone had similar experience with this kind of thing? Read more

We just came back from a week's holiday based in SE Ireland ,which I can recommend. Good roads and cheaper petrol plus of course the familiar Irish attributes!
We had an excellent self-catering cottage near Kilkenny ..thatched roof, tho modern inside, with very pleasant owners ( Mr and Mrs delaney) who live next door ...about 1.5 hours from Dublin or Cork .Try Emyvale Cottage 003537722335 Read more

I was given a peugeot 405 diesel, which needed a couple of things doing for the MOT. This has been done and it now passed - but there is something wrong with the position of the gearlever. The lever itself is far too forward - and with 2nd, 4th or reverse selected - the lever is at the normal position for neutral. When 1st, 3rd or 5th is selected the lever is nearly touching the plastic where the radio is!
There was a problem in that a bodged fix had been done where the bellcrank bolt attaches to the steering rack - which needed a replacement of the rack (And the fact that the rack was leaking anyway) and correct parts fitted. When I came to use the car after it passed its MOT - it jumped out of 5th gear whenever you took your foot off the accelerator. My current thought (owing to the position of the gearlever) is that the selector rod from the gear lever to the linkage is one from another car - fitted as part of the bodged repair - which I will try and get another one from a breakers. The other suggestion I had was that it was a worn 5th gear cog in the gearbox which was causing it - as I have read somewhere that the 5 speed box on the 405D is a retrofitted 4 speed box - and the 5th gear cog is easy to replace. Failing that I could get a 'box from a breakers. The car is probably due for a new clutch soon as the pedal seems very high - so this might be the best solution.
Has anyone else had this sort of problem - and any suggestions on how to fix it?

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There seems to be loads of companies offering performance chips or tuning boxes for Diesel cars, which suggest to me that there must be quite a few diesel cars out there with these chips or tuning boxes installed.

If I were wanting to buy a diesel car is there an easy way to spot that it has had one of these devices installed?

The tuning boxes can easily (so I am told) be taken off so how would I as a buyer figure out if a car has been subject to use with one of these power enhancement mods?

I wouldn't want to buy a car that has had one of these mods as it has undoubtably been put under greater strain than a non modded car.
I realise that these devices utilise the safety margin these engines have but I would still prefer an unmolested example.

The value of a car that has had one of these devices is surely less than an unmolested example but unless there is an easy way to spot that it has been deinstalled the buyer will be none the wiser and thus paying over the odds. If it has a tuning box still installed you would? be able to spot and thus offer less for it.

With more and more of these mods being sold, is buying a diesel becoming more fraught with uncertainty?

Thoughts appreciated. Read more