November 2003
Ive been quoted £90 to get a drivers side wheel bearing replaced, is this an acceptable price?? Read more
Are any of you as sad as myself - that you watch the so-called gameshow called distraction?
Anyhow - now for the all important motoring association.
I have been surprised the two weeks when the mini was being smashed up at the end of the show just how tough the headlamp lenses were. It often takes two or three good blows from a club hammer to smash them through.
Leon
PS - do you reckon they patch the cars up at the shows expense?
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What surprises me was once the polycarbonate lens was broken, that it often took another few smacks to break the bulb.
So, even if the seat had a stanley knife cut, broken lights, bonnet and mirrors, I think it would still be a very good value MINI.
The paint may even be cleaned off by a competent bodyshop for little charge.
Driving to the south of France just after Christmas to do some skiing and sightseeing; fun drive in a day, via EuroTunnel !
- anyone got any advice who's been there :
1. Cheap place to stay ! Some of the chalets are mega-expensive, and there's only 2.5 of us... looks like it's cheaper to stay somewhere down the mountains...
2. Got a good route via the web - anyone got any practical experience.
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Having looked at the E-mail address of the poster before you, I can confirm that he was making a feeble, and failed, attempt at a free advert.
But your comments are a very useful reminder so something good has come out of it!
Are the prices here and at places like it fixed or will they "deal" on the price and trade in?
Thanks for any info Read more
I would suggest that site isn't like the GTC. GTC has loads of cars at sensible prices. Those locations that are set up around the finance package are another deal altogether and should be avoided like the plague.
Having secured a very good deal on a new diesel corolla from a dealer ( beat uk broker by £500) I have to decide whether to take up the gap insurance they offer at £400 for 3 years. This guaurentees the full value is paid up when the car depreciates most heavily ( I think)should it be written off. Does anyone know who else offers this type of insurance so I can compare prices in the probably unlikely event I take it out. Any oppinions? Read more
It's usual for car insurance policies to offer, as standard, the replacement of a car less than 12 months old with an equivalent brand-new one if it suffers damage over a certain percentage of its new price. I thought that GAP insurance was basically for when you took out a loan for a used car, and then after a while what with used car prices almost in free-fall, the value of the car if written off could be less than what you owed the finance company - then GAP paid the difference so you were not left out of pocket.
Hi,
I'm thinking of buying the odd car at auction to sell on. Nothing serious, just now and again to hopefully make a few quid.
I'm now thinking about what are the safest and easiest cars to do this? I reckon I'll stick to small cars so perhaps Fiesta's, Golfs, Clios - something easily identifiable where demand is fairly constant? I'm not sure about what sort of age car to buy yet. The nearly new stuff would be the safest bet I suppose but then again after visiting a local auction recently I was quite surprised how expensive these cars were. Cant be much margin in it for the dealers I would have thought! Then you look at the older cars which, on the face of it, seem like bargains but I dont want the risk of a money pit either!
Anyone got some good tips? Read more
Smartdealer
I went to the Scotland Central 'Auction Man' main sale on a Wednesday. Drove six hours up there looked around the sale, watched how it went for an hour or two and got back in the car
and drove home. The BCA sale the same day was no better. Having said that, some people from the Midlands make regular flights up there to buy and bring back so maybe it was just a bad day that day.
However, back down in the Midlands not long after a 99V Vectra SRI 140 hatchback was mine for £2900. I have heard rumours that Manheim Bristol is supposed to be good.
Never ever bought a car from BCA - prices seem higher, the deposits are £500 each for non account holders (£300 Manheim)
and for some reason they are often rather crowded. Good advertising ? If there is auction talk in the Midlands among the general public one word always comes up - Measham. I'll say no more.
Good look in your quest. A.
Hi there,
I am going to see a dark mettalic green '98 Citroen Xantia 1.9 TDi VSX estate, mainly because I want a good size family car with AC for not a lot of money. I have been told be the owner that he has had it from 5000 miles as a company car, and has taken the mileage to 112,000 at wich point he bought it from the company, and got the mileage up to it's present day 140k.
He stressed it was all motorway miles, him and his wife using the car to travel to Leeds and back for work. The inside he says is spotless, as they have no family, and normally carried only a suitcase and briefcase. The outside he describes as excellent, and it has all the usual electric bells and whistles of the VSX, alloys, AC, PAS, ABS etc etc all working. It all sounds good so far, although the miles are high. Questions:
1. How much does anyone 'in the know'' think the car is worth. The asking is £1,650, which sounds reasonable to me?
2. Are there any issues with this model (I read about the VSZ suspension being occasionaly problematic)?
3. I would love to hear any feedback either positive or negative from any owners of this model of car.
4. In the photo of the car it looks like it isn't the updated model as I saw an S-reg car was. Is this strange, or is it possible 1998 model could still be the old shape before the update?
PS. Where is the best place to buy those aftermarket reversing sensors that you can retro-fit to any car?
Many thanks,
Tim (freewheel) Read more
1. How much does anyone 'in the know'' think the car is worth. The asking is £1,650, which sounds reasonable to me?
1650 sounds light to me, but: at 140k it will soon be due a timing belt change, probably with water pump and tensioner at this mileage (£300), at 140k - how much longer is the clutch going to last (£400), 5 years old - might need a new radiator soon (£200), and a full set of spheres (there will be 8!) with LHM change £250. More like £2,500 then. If it's reliable and does not need lots of cash spending on it, why is it for sale? As has already been said why an estate for no family / briefcase (big caravan?). I'm a cynic though!
2. Are there any issues with this model (I read about the VSZ suspension being occasionaly problematic)?
Hydractive II suspension can be problematic - it may be erratic in switching from hard to soft or it may not do it all. I think the unenergized state is hard so if it does go to pot, the ride will not be all that great. Not all that much understanding of the suspension, but not all that much to go wrong really - you might need to find an independant that can talk to the ECU for fault diagnosis though.
Big problem with estates is the front door hinges not being properly welded on and falling off - pay good attention for rust / cracking around this area.
1.9TDs can lunch head gaskets, and the heater matrix is prone to failure if the coolant changes have not been done on time with proper Citroen Antigel - replacement is a full day's work plus (dash out). Check for antifreeze smell / dampness in passenger foot well.
3. I would love to hear any feedback either positive or negative from any owners of this model of car.
For the money the Xantia is pretty much unbeatable - don't expect the 1.9 TD to set the world on fire though - especially in an estate! They are quiet refined cruisers though, and will happily sit at 80 (ish..!) on the m-way all day and return the right side of 40mpg. With hydractive they can be hustled pretty quickly along the bendy bits, but expect to have to work the 1.9 TD hard to keep the momentum up.
4. In the photo of the car it looks like it isn't the updated model as I saw an S-reg car was. Is this strange, or is it possible 1998 model could still be the old shape before the update?
The change over was in about 98, so a pre-facelift is possible.
At this mileae you have to buy on condition and history, and set off against this in your head possible costs. If you're only going to do 5k a year then it will probably go for another 4 years with minimal spend. 20k a year, and you can probably expect high maintenance.
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
I had my Sintra power steering repaired (Vauxhall Recall) in June this year by a Vauxhall main dealer. On October the 30th the car suffered a total loss of steering, luckily no accident occurred. I had a mechanic look at the problem, he diagnosed negligence on behalf of the dealer who did the recall work. It looked like the person who did the repair work put the pinch bolt back into the steering column before sliding it down the rack shaft. Basically only about 1/2" of the column was secured to the steering rack. So eventually it came apart, I have complained to the dealer who denied any responsibility, I then contact Vauxhall, they decided to side with the dealer.
This is a warning to any Vauxhall Sintra owners who have recently had the car repaired under the recall. Take to an independent garage and have it checked out. We were being watched over by somebody the day it failed, otherwise I am sure that I would not be here composing this email today. Read more
My Mondeo (MK1,2litre,75,000 miles) mis-fires occasionally on cold start-up. The plugs are OK and I suspect a sticking valve.
It self-cures after about 20 seconds. Is there an easy cure and will the cat. be harmed if the problem is allowed to continue? Read more
Colin,
Providing oil change intervals have not been generally disregarded, I would suggest you add a flushing agent before changing the oil (I use Forté Motor Flush), use 5W/30 semi-synthetic as above, and I would also add a Forté Top End Treatment to the fresh oil to aleviate any problems with the hydraulic lifters.
If you need to find your nearest Forté stockist call Forté Lubricants on 02476 471213.
Regards, Adam
Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.
Don't think this has been linked to before : a nice summary of the various alleged performance / economy enhancing devices that we discuss occasionally here :- homepage.ntlworld.com/cains1/Fuel_saving.htm
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A pity he doesn't understand the difference between turbulence and swirl but the rest of what he says makes very good sense.
The sad thing is that there will always be gullibles who ignore the warnings and believe the hype.
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Cost me £80 for one on a Xantia TD earlier this year. That was half the price the main dealer wanted. Given that you have to remove the hub, then press out and in the new bearing, you're looking at about 2 hours labour, plus the cost of the bearing (£25 seems about right). Unless you have the means to get the hub nut undone (they're very tight) split the bottom ball joint, and then press in and out the new bearing, this is a garage job.
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....