November 2003
Information from alfaowner.com
Recall on Alfa 147 JTD
The additional heater (only 147 JTD) can catch fire.
39,000 Alfas will be recalled. The cars in question are manufactured between January 2002 and April 2003 and have chassis numbers between 3084119 and 3171718 and between 5041468 and 5097241.
One of the Dutch members of the forum over at alfaowner was contacted by his dealer this morning to arrange to see the car for the recall.
If I get further info I shall add it to this post. Read more
Ok,
The scenario is:
I've had enough of the constant niggling problems from my '95 M Peugeot 306 DTurbo, and im selling it. Decided.
It has 129,000 miles, and is in good nick otherwise, i can hide most of the other problems for the length of a test drive (Note: Please no-one on this site buy this car!)
I'm thinking it might be easier to get rid of as a p/x, as they might not check it out so stringently!
The options are:
1.Another car the same (i might have trouble explaining the reason for a direct replacement at the dealer tho)
2.A newer shape, £3k ish of the same prob R reg 100000 - with 1 year warranty a requirement
3.A 1.6 Escort, S reg 75000miles with a few toys
4.Some dirt cheap old banger with standard 3 months warranty
5.Or push the boat out and somehow afford a 3 yearold something
Considerations:
20 year-old male, so Pug group 5 insurance looks good over Escort group 7.
I like the power and handling of my current car.
I'm a student on a placement year, so i've got 7 months of 250miles a week commuting left, before going back to uni.
What do people recommend? I'm swaying from one extreme to the other at the moment!
Oh and what trade-in price would i likely get? Is £1800 realistic? Read more
'Tis the dreaded Festive Season (continuous hands in pockets and never-ending visits to the ATM) and thus all the crooks and criminals have punted the bus fare from the provinces into Manila so that they can try their hand at "gaining access to sources of greater material wealth" as the farcical police warning puts it.
Now then. Growlette parks her Ford Lynx outside the clinic yesterday. Housemaid is with her. Housemaid leaves cellphone on charge in car. Growlette leaves Lotto tickets on seat ready to collect her winnings this week of 120 Pesos (not a whole lot, luckily). Growlette locks the car and sets the alarm. It makes the right noises as ever.
While inside the clinic (15 mins) the car is in earshot and in sight (although she isn't looking at it al the time).
The pair return to the car, she presses the key as usual, it makes the distinctive beep-beep-beep sound and the doors unlock.
The cellphone is gone, so are the Lotto tickets. Yet the alarm was set, and makes a helluva din if you key-open the car without disarming it (she would have heard it from where she was) and yet when she got to the car it was fully locked with the alarm armed.
Short of strange oriental magic which may yet be beyond the ken of the foreign devils, can anyone explain how this can have occurred?
Read more
Where do you get the software for your Psion from ?
Its a palm. Two actually. One old 3c for car satnav, and a palm m100 for traditional use.
Went to my local Mazda dealer on saturday and sat in the new Mazda RX8. Very nice indeed. Seems well put together, very comfy (but didnt even try to get in the back as it looked very cramped)and just a general feeling of 'this is a really nice car'. Then saw one out on the road whilst driving and it looks great. There doesnt appear to be the huge gap in the front wheelarches i'd originally expected from the pictures, and it just looked damn handsome.
Then it was on Top Gear last night, and i have to say i'm mightily tempted with one. Its the first car that i've seen for a long time that has generally surprised me with its new angle and spec. Very nice. Just not too keen on the MPG figures... Read more
"Oh my God whaddya mean JC doesn't like it? That's Mazda finished then"
I think Phoenicks was talking about JC not liking the nissan, not the rx8? I seem to remember jc not loving the nissan too much.
Although the car has more favourable reviews else where, so I would put it down to jc's taste (lack of on this occasion).
Could someone kindly give me the contact telephone number for Continental Tyres in the UK?
Thanks
Dave Read more
Thank you, Peter, your help is appreciated.
I thought that to use Yell you needed to specify a town. I was obviously wrong.
I had tried Google and Ask Jeeves, but Continental don't seem to have a web site for their motor tyres and there was no contact telephone number on that site in any case, just an email facility.
So, you see, I did try.
Dave
Yesterday I had to disconnect the battery on my Terrano 2.7TDi (had to remove the battery because I was topping it up and dropped one of the filler caps in an obscure corner). Fired up the engine fairly briefly to make sure all was well.
This morning cannot get the car to start. Glow plug light goes on and off fine, engine turns over well despite hard frost. Only odd thing is that when I switch off the ignition the door locks click.
I suspect I have confused the alarm/immobiliser circuitry, though cannot rule out overfuelling or other similar problem from only running engine briefly yesterday.
Any ideas? Read more
Sounds like the NATS (Nissan Anti-Theft System) doing its thing. We had several on the fleet which would do this if battery flattened or disconnected - was always a dealer visit (towed there) to reset it.
Neil
Anybody know of anybody who can insure a car for fire and theft only? (while it off the road for the winter months.
My current insurer (Esure)only does third party fire and theft which means I would be paying for something I didn't want? I want to garage the car and use the spare across the salt laden roads but looks like a none starter at the moment. :( Read more
Yes, classic insurance specialists is the route to look at. People rebuilding cars, and adding value all the time, often take out insurance like this.
We have to frequently drive 2 miles to the nearest park to walk our dog, it varies but on average 5 times a week. Is this likely to cause damage to the 2 Litre petrol engine (it's a new Mazda) and how badly ? I read that it might seeing as a car needs over 3 miles to complete a full cycle. Read more
Hmmm.
Something about 163,000 miles mainly in top gear at 70mph and the selectors not being used.
The acceleration is zero at constant speed on a motorway, but I take your point.
Yes, I'm still with VW Germany. I'm home for a week to get away from cars!!
Busman's holiday?
**** Thread closed. Discussion continues in Vol 8 ****
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18401
Subject: That Toyota Pick Up!!
Well was it staged or that really happen? That was the sort of publicity Toyota could never buy! Obviously better built than my mother's Corolla then! Read more
Just to revive this thread, the TG website has the Toyota Pick-Up video available for download.
You'll need RealPlayer to view it, btw.
Broadband users, click here:- www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/downloads/hilux_broadband.ram
Dial-Up users, click here:- www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/downloads/hilux_narrowband.r...m
Thinking of buying new Golf GT TDI from Motorpoint. Car would be an import - anything to be wary of? Particularly wondering if will get poor service from main dealers at servicing (car not bought from franchised network). Also concerned about whether resale value may be affected with an import.
Other option buying UK sourced car from broker, or I suppose going to local dealer and asking them to match broker price.
Would be interested in people's views.
Andy. Read more
I've heard similar problems abour Fords (and Vauxhalls) supplied via Cyprus and also Malta.
There are other threads on here on this subject.
Browse
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Thanks for your replies everyone, i must say that i fully agree with flatfour in principle, the prices of 3yrold Mondeos are truly astonishing, but being 20 the insurance goes up at a rate of £130 a group from grp 5 up, so i really can't afford anything grp 7 at at most, and id rather not increase my current grp 5.
Now then, i've decided i just need 'a car' at the moment, ive had 6 months of fun in my DTurbo, now practicality is important. So, i flicked through autotrader and parkers, and found an unlikely successor:
'97 P reg
50,000 miles
Fairly reliable
1.5l 16v 90bhp Petrol engine
Aircon, ABS, PAS, full electrics
Group 5 insurance
All for £1200 - Sound good?
DAEWOO NEXIA!!!!!
For that spec and that money i'm fully prepared to swallow my pride, along with my backwards-facing baseball cap!
Any comments on this car?