November 2003
I have been offered an Audi A6 TDi, W registration, July (August?) 2000, 96000 miles, from a company I know for £9000. I am finding it very difficult to know the market value (guides produce huge variations because of the high milage. It is an imported car of high specification including leather seats and sports suspension. It has a full Audi service history and is in good condition, having done much of its milage on motorways.
Is the 2.5TDi engine good for high milage if serviced properly or is it likely to be expensive to keep going to 250,000 miles?
Any comments on value and /or reliability welcolme. Read more
I have a MG ZR diesel turbo 101BHP,Registered in July 2002 with 22000 miles.The last couple of weeks it's been using water at the rate of about one litre every other day.I've taken it to my main dealer under the terms of the warranty however they tell me after 40mins of pressure testing that there is no leak on the system something I was able to tell them myself.They offered no other explanation or solution in the mean time I have a car which I need to fill with water more often than I do diesel!When I questioned the head gasket as advised by a local independant garage I was ridiculed by the dealer telling me they don't go & they have never had any problem with this range of diesel engine.My suggestion that I may actually have the first was not too well recieved & they refuse to discuss in any more detail.Has anybody else come across this problem & if so how can it be resolved.yours hopefully, Darren Samuel Read more
the rover 75 diesel is a bmw engine though whereas in the mg zr/zs and 25/45 it is an L series rover engine. It is very true that these are extremely reliable and head gaskets going on them are hardly ever heard of but the coolant has to be going somewhere in your case. Try posting on mg-rover.org in the "ask guru's section" they know their stuff on the rover engines (and mg rovers customer service!!) and might be able to give you a few pointers.
Hi,
I have been given the chance to buy the above cheaply. The car is pretty much immaculate, 100k FSH everything working etc.
Does anyone out there have any experience of these cars. I understand they are reliable etc, anyone know any different? I need it for a round trip of 12 miles a day to work but more importantly lugging a twin axle caravan, wife daughter and two dogs around for weekends and summer holidays etc. I know the diesel will probably be a bit more economical but at the price I have been offered it for it's not an issue.
Any comments greatfully received
Ian Read more
Can somebody tell me how to replace the gear lever gaiter on a 1999 Astra. The old one is falling apart. Read more
NormanB, your suggestion is just as feasible as mine. I was quoting from a Haynes manual on how they suggest changing a gaiter on a Vaux Cavalier, which, IIRC, has the same gearlever as an Astra.
I know it's not strictly car-related but I'll keep it short.
I was unfortunate to watch a quiz programme on C4 on Friday.
The "winner" received a brand new mini as her prize. BUT
She had to answer a further 5 questions before actually winning. Answering incorrectly resulted in her having to "remove" a part of the car.
In summary she:
1) Removed the wing mirrors with a baseball bat.
2) Smashed the headlights with a hammer.
3) Spray painted the driver's door.
4) Smashed the windscreen with a sledgeghammer.
Personally I thought the whole thing was going too far. My question is, How much will it cost the winner to put it back together again??
Any ideas? Read more
This reminds me of a letter I sent into Jim'll Fix It circa 1980 asking if I could smash up a roller with a sledge hammer.
Never did get a reply.
I guess this is a yes or no answer, and I rather expect it to have been done to death already. Apologies, could not find it.
Bought a used car 24th May. Today suspect an expensive problem. I am within six months, just.
When the car was bought, the dealer mentioned (and kept mentioning) that his warranty was for six months or six thousand miles, whichever comes first. I have exceeded six thousand miles.
Am I right in thinking that under latest Sale of Goods (since March 2003) he still has to show the fault wasn't there at time of purchase, or fix it, irrespective of his imposed mileage limitation? Read more
Simple really - statutory rights are what you are entitled to in law. No matter what else a dealer / company offers these are the very minimum rights you have.
Many companies offer more. Some try and get away with suggesting you have less in the hope that you will take what they say as gospel and don't actually know your legal rights.
As for the original query, I get the impression (but again TS will give you the full low-down on this) that this law only covers failures that should reasonably have been known about at the time of purchase or would not be expected to occur under normal (reasonable) conditions. They have to be reasonably fair on the trader as well - you can't expect them to rectify every failure no matter how the car is driven or how far.
hoping you guys can help again with this.
i suspect my head gasket has started to go on my 1994 escort 1.8td. the water in the header tank has always been costant at the max but has taken a dive to min. also the car seems very laggy when you put your foot down where recently it was all there. could this be the problem or am i looking in the wrong place? (engine temperature has always been easily in the normal range, never venturing hotter than half way up the scale).
if it does need doing what precaution should i take (i've done head gaskets on a few mini engines and a ford 1.6 zetec). i have the haynes manual for the diesel engine but it doenst cover the turbo. does head gasket replacement get trickier with the turbo involved or is ti fairly straightforward?
thanks for the help
richard.
p.s. any suggestions as to anything else that could be causing this and an idea of parts costs (as i plan to do this myself if at all possible).
Read more
I have just sold my wife's 1999V VW Golf 1.6SE automatic.
Back in 1999, I approached a UK VW main dealer for the car. Their attitude was summarised by the statement of 'We do not do discounts. Sir.' They wanted a ridiculous £17,200 for the car.
Next stop VW dealer in Belgium. Same car: £14,150 inc VAT and transit to UK. And flowers. I bought it.
Take the same car the UK VW dealer for servicing and all I get is ye olde 'it will be worth less when you sell it' spiel.
Well, I just sold the car for £7850. So after 4 years the car kept 55% of its original value. The buyer was aware that the car was an import and they couldn't care less anyway: it was the spec and full VW history that was important to them.
So I would like to extend a warm 'Thank You' to Volkswagen UK for distorting the price of thier UK-supplied cars to the benefit of those who imported them from the continent. Read more
"if you`ve saved a hatful on the buying cost, then so will they on buying it off you"..
I also thought this was the reason - and I think it was the reason given by glassess guide on either 5th gear or top gear a couple of seasons ago. Although they were implying that the values should be less in the second hand market full stop (that private buyers would pay less).
Don't personally think the argument holds any water. Does this then mean that all fleet cars should be worth less, due to the huge discounts that the companies get?
I bought a peugeot a M reg 306 xldt with 110K on the clock from auction on Friday night for my wife & have been running through the car for 2 days trying to fix obvious problems. I know one of the glow plugs needs replacing, so that will be done shortly.
What I'm worried about the head gasket. First indication is that one of the fans come on from shortly after startup .I'm fitting a new switch tonight with an anti-freeze change to try sort that out. Temp gauge is pretty stable at 80, rising a few degrees when pushed harder.(I learned today that I have to bleed the radiator properly on this car). Second was on Saturday I noticed that the radiator cap wasn't sealing correctly. A replacement sorted that out straight away & no more coolant loss, but I am getting pressure in the radiator after the car has cooled down. Not a lot of pressure, but I've heard that this is the first signs of a blown head gasket.
Any advise or signs to look out for are welcome, I've never had any issues of this sort before so I am a little unsure. Either way if it needs doing I consider it worthwhile with the condition of the car & what I paid for it.
Cheers
Paul Read more
I'm afraid that is bad news. I sounds very much like a minor head gasket leak that is letting air/fumes into the water system thus displacing water and forcing the water level up into the header. Do not run this car too far if you think it is a gasket. The high blasting across the aluminium head can erode a grove pretty quickly and would lead to a head skim. Go to a garage that has a gas sniffer and get them to test for fumes in the header tank then you will know for sure. Good Luck
hi
while fitting an alarm i touched two wires together and blew the fuse on the c/locking now it does not work unless the ignition is on i changed the micro switch in the door but nothing happened any ideas what else it could be. Read more
i have changed the cdl module which is also the relay all in one on the later models and now everything works ok
£64 at vauxhall £2 scrap yard
thanks for everyones help
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sorrera / Aprilia,
Sorry not to have thanked you sooner for your helpfull comments.
I did view and drive the car when they reduced the asking price to £8200. Despite being in excellent condition, I was disappointed to find that it had done 26k since the last service and the cam belt change at 80k had not been done. The test drive convinced me that I should walk away. Heavy clutch, notchy gearbox and not particularly quiet on the motorway (road and wind noise, rather than engine). It did not feel special enough to justify the complexity and potential for high maintenance and repair costs.