November 2003
Just read an article in the telegraph about accidents being staged in order to claim thousands of pounds off the 'guilty' party's insurance company. Most of them seem to involve a car braking in front of you sharply and they have often disabled the brake lights so a following car is more likely to end up in the back of them. They then claim for loss of earnings, whiplash as well as damage to the car. They are also picking on lone drivers (especially women ) and the elderly.
Keeping extra distance at these times between you and the car in front could save you from being another victim.
teabelly Read more
Not a good week in the No Dosh household.
Mrs No Dosh has a '98 Laguna 1.6 16v. I had to manouvere it out of a tight space yesterday and noticed a "bonk" everytime the steering passed straight ahead.
After popping the bonnet and having a listen, the noise doesn't seem to be coming from the pump, nor does it seem to originate from either wheel end. Could be the rack?
Anybody any experience of this and any suggestions on what I should be looking at?
Ta
ND Read more
Good thinking - it would make sense given that the noise comes when returning across "neutral" steering from either side. I shall have the beast up on stands at the weekend for a rummage and will start there.
Ta!
What is the law on these? I thought the vehicle had to be stationary to use them but i am often very distracted by tow trucks including AA towing on the motorway with the lights flashing for no good reason that I can see. THey are moving at least as fast as a caravan so why the need to have them flashing. When stationary obviously they are useful. Is it jsut part of the fashion to light up you vehicle along with the fog lamp users?
Cheers
Peter Read more
I can well understand why a recovery vehicle towing another broken down vehicle should display flashing beacons, but why does a flatbed truck need then when it has a vehicle on the back? Or indeed (like I saw today) when an AA truck has a scooter strapped to the back?
Surely in the above instances, there is no actual change to the size or length of the recovery vehicle, so why the need to warn us?
Cheers
Rob
Hello All,
My first post in the forum!!
I'm 21, just having finished Uni. I passed my driving test last year in September and am now after a car for work (having no experience previously). My budget is ~£3000, give or take few hundred. I am able to go to £4000, but would prefer a £3k car!
I am looking at 1.4CL 3 door VW Polos. They seem quite well kitted out, good build and relatively low insurance, but very expensive. (Although I guess that's good when I sell it on?!).
I have driven one and like it very much. I am wondering whether this is a good car to go for, or whether to go for a Punto 1.2 ELX or similar. (i.e. Fiesta, Clio, etc). I would like the kit (electric windows, central locking, PAS etc, but don't wanna pay a fortune).
I am a 6'2" male, so this has to be taken into consideration. Does anyone have any ideas for suitable cars for me, or do people agree that this is a good car for me? Does anyone have any similar experiences?
Cheers for your input.
Lockey Read more
I got the Fiesta in the end - I got it for £2200 in the end with 38,000 miles on clock. Not bad! It's a great little runner and saves me £250 on insurance over the Polo and I really enjoy driving it!
Cheers for all your input everyone!
Lockey
Confession time.
The standard brakes on an Alfa 156 leave a lot to be desired. Make it a 156 Sportwagon Turbo Diesel (about 20% heavier than a 2.0TS saloon) and they are a recipe for disaster. There, I've admitted that my rash purchase of an Italian car may not have been 100% wise.....
I've sourced a full new set of Brembo 4-pot calipers, appropriate discs, pads and steel braided houses (as fitted to the 156 3.2 GTA) for £550 but they will require that I fit a 15mm spacer on each wheel as I have the Veloce 16" as opposed to the GTA or Selespeed 17". This disc size isn't the problem, it's clearance on the calipers. The spacers will be installed with longer wheelbolts.
I intend having the geometry checked out by Micheldever once everything is set up, but I would appreciate knowing what difference, if any, I may experience with the wider track. In particular I am interested in additional wear and tear on what is widely recognised as a fairly finely tuned suspension setup. I already have a knocking from the OSR which I suspect is a bush* (156s are famed for this) and don't want to make matters worse.
All help gratefully received.
ND
*I plan on having the bush replaced at the next service, due in a few weeks, but is there anything I can do in the meantime to relieve the bush problems?
And yes, I will be telling my insurers about the changes. Read more
Haven't made the purchase yet.
Given the propensity of the 156 for signalling every imperfection in the suspension and tracking, I think I will pass on the Caliper/Disk route.
There has been a lot of debate on a dedicated Alfa site on different pads and although the greenstuff ones got a good write-up, the DS2500s (a fast road pad) were generally rated above them, even when used with the standard discs.
Has a 3 cyl Corsa in the workshop for an engine change this afternoon. Nice easy job. All went swimmingly until startup. Connected the battery and noticed the central radio display lit up straight away before putting the key in, hmmmmm. Fired her up and let it run for a few minutes, no leaks, nice and quiet, great, switch off, er, it wont, even with the key out still chuntering along happily!!
Stalled it and removed batt earth. Reconnected and switched ign on all normal, switch off and all the warning lights stay on. Ran out of time to do anything else tonight.
Any thoughts gentlemen? Ignition switch prob perhaps?
Andrew
Simplicate and add lightness!! Read more
You never mentioned pressure washing in your previous posts!!!!
Foul - not fair
just enjoyed another superb session on C4, and doesn't rallying knock F1 into a cocked hat. This is real, on-the-edge driving where, literally, anything can happen, as opposed to the processional bordom of F1 where only the occasional pit drama or weather upset adds flavour. And with rallying you can equate to the cars.. gimme more, please!
I feel better, now. Read more
Up early this morning (twice in a row at a weekend... must be unwell), and whilst having an early morning session at the gym, saw some stunning rallying on one of the sky channels.
The event was the 'Pacific forests rally' in Canada, and the stages made keilder look like a kiddies playpark. There was no sound on the telly, but I think the event was won by a Subaru WRX, but there was definitely a mk2 golf and i think a mk1 toyota corolla in there.
and this is why it comes under my definition of proper rallying - one of the cars flattened his exhaust, so they cut a chunk out and were welding a 6x4 patch on it. The welder was wearing a mask and gauntlets, whilst another bloke was holding the 6x4 patch with bare hands without and goggles on !
great fun
Bora - what Bora ?
I have a 1999 Audi A4 1.8 SE (5v). The main dealers say that the cambelt doesn't need to be changed untill 115K miles. The owners handbook backs this up.
This seems very high to me and I'm not sure I should leave it that long. The car currently has done 62K miles.
What do you think I should do? Read more
I had similar concerns (see thread Audi 100-cambelt-recent post).
I decided to change it after nearly ca 70k.
The old one looked fine ! But too much to risk. I was quoted ca £200 to change by independent but local garage did full 20k service and cambelt for £188 !
Hello,
I've been reading this forum for a few months now but never posted, its a fantastic wealth of knowledge on all things motor related. Congrats to all who make it what it is!
Anyway, I seem to remember a month or two back someone was asking where to obtain certain screwdriver heads for various screw types. Today I purchased a 101 piece set for £8.99, Not sure if the mods will let me post the name of the large chain of discount supermarket that specialises in imported food and other items so I shall leave it at that until I get the all clear.
However the heads include:
Clutch
Torq
Spline
Tri-wing
Square recess
Spanner
Slotted
Philips
Pozidrive
Metric Hex + tamperproof
Fractional Hex + tamperproof
Torx + tamperproof
Worth noting I am not affiliated with the store or manufacturer that sells these, just thought it may help someone. I hope I haven't posted anything that the mods feel is inappropriate.
Mike Read more
I have used my £3 Lidl multimeter on 240V and it did not blow up, it simply read 238V or thereabouts.
My Passat PDI 130 needs new tyres.
I am thinking of getting P7s.
Does anyone have any experience of P7s? Read more
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I don't think you can claim for whiplash injuries if you drive into a stationary car. The point about this latest spate is that the fraudsters deliberately cause someone else to drive into the back of them, thus technically putting the other driver in the wrong
If we all scupulously obeyed the 2 second rule of course this would not be possible, even if someone did an emergency stop in the fast lane at 80 mph, because every following car would be keeping its safe distance. In practice of course we are all human, and some are especially vulnerable or easily scared by others aggression.
It's a bit like Ripley (dare I mention the name?) and his ring of confidence or whatever he called it.