December 2003
A colleague was pulled up and breathalysed last night for driving with fog lights. He was asked the inevitable question to which there is no acceptable answer - "do you know it's an offence to use foglights in these conditions?"
Yes, there are more dangerous pastimes such as tailgating, but it's a start. Read more
I noticed when I was working for Toyota motor manufacturing that the crash bars inside the doors were set very low in relation to the cars waistline, particularly so in the Corolla. then I noticed that the from structural member of the car )basically an "O" section beam behid the front bumper plastics was set at a much higher level. This seems all wrong because I saw a programme not long ago which stated that crash bars used to be situated much higher in the doors but a change in EU rules governing side impact testing had changed. So basically what im suggesting is that low set crash beams are pretty useless in side impacts because, and to contradict the EU the first part of a car to strike another cars side is most certainly NOT the metal pressing underneath the radiator its the "bumper iron"which is a lot higher. Only Volvo seem to have retained a much higher crash beam. I know this because whilst out in my support van last week I came across an accident where a Volvo HGV Artic had overshot a roundabout and hit the side of (ironically) a Volvo V40 estate . the cars side was flattened but the high set thick tubular door crash bars had stopped any intrusion. I was most impressed as the V40 driver was unhurt, but any lower set bars would have been useless and would have allowed the doors to move inwards causing injury to occupants, yet there is a move away from high set bars to meet EU regs which seem to be putting us all at risk! Read more
On the newer HDI powered Citroen C5, the reverse was moved to next to 1st gear. When reverse is selected, a bong noise is made to alert you. It was annoying at first, but is quite an interesting point for passengers, they always comment.
While trawling through the minutes of the local council's Traffic and Parking Committee, (sad, I know, but someone has to do it, and it's amazing what you come across), I unearthed this little snippet from the Safer Journey's to School Project:-
5.6 No matter how well located, designed or signed it is acknowledged that the provision of a crossing will possibly result in accidents occurring.
5.7 The latest personal injury accidents rates per year per facility for the Borough of Southend-on-Sea for Crossings and Signals are:-
Zebra crossing - 0.68;
Puffin crossing ? 0.74;
Pelican crossing ? 1.12;
Toucan crossing ? 1.24.
Guess which crossing type is either slowly replacing zebra's, or being provided, around all our local schools?
Which would you prefer?
Cockle Read more
My humble observations
With Zebras, people are more likely to wait for the car to stop before crossing, this usually happens as soon as they position to cross. Pedestrian is happy, can cross straightaway, motorist happy, can move off again straightaway and didn't have to wait 10 seconds between his red light and some green man to appear.
At Light controlled crossings, pedestrian arrives, presses button, looks and sees traffic is far up road, so crosses on red man, cars arrive and get stopped, sit there for no reason witha large queue forming, start to set off, and another pedestrian comes, presses button, and has to wait ages to cross before lights change or gap appears.
I much prefer Zebras. I have seen the mayhem where thay have been removed and replaced by various bird crossings around here.
whats the newsest dumped/scrap car anyone seen on the side of a road?
I recently saw a 'P' reg Audi not sure what model it was. Read more
I have a 2000 Megane Coupe which has a few light scratches and coloured paint on the bumper (ahem, not my fault!) and the spoiler has two increasingly large patches of small paint flakes coming off, as though a bird has pecked away at either corner.
Am i right in thinking that these body parts are fibreglass? and does anyone have any hints/tips in how i can clean both areas up?
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They're usually one of a couple of types of plastic - not fibreglass. If you have a bump, sometimes paint can flake off as the bumper flexes and goes back to its original shape. Special primer is wise to help the paint stick.
I would have thought that one of the mobile dent/paint/scratch outfits would be the best bet (yellow pages for your area?).
A friend has a T reg Petrol Freelander that has been running warmer than usual for a couple of days. They've taken it to 2 garages, including LandRover who both say the Head Gasket has gone. Fine.
LandRover want to put a new engine in it. This seems excessive to me. I would have thought that head maybe, but a new engine? It didn't grind to a halt in a cloud of steam or anything dramatic. It's been regularly serviced, hasn't done monster miles and isn't thrashed.
Is there a history of Freelanders overheating and needing new engines as a reult???
Simon Read more
Thank`s for that DL my mate has got a freelander and he reckons he was told by rover`s it was the same engine.As I haven`t looked I should not have passed comment.Apart from the fact I have owned a rover for the most part of 15 years also worked on them for others.I do like em that`s why I still have one.and judging by what I`ve seen so far with other motor`s I will stick with them.All comments taken into account
Anyone know the timetable for Blackbushe tomorrow?
At a loose end and fancy a look.
Whilst leaving all cash/cards/cheque books at home!!!!!
And no I can't look on auctionview because I'm not a subscriber. Read more
not tempted to nip back home and get the cheque book?
Is it me or does anyone else think the new style UK car tax disc expiry dates that came in from September are more difficult to read than the old ones? The shiny gold numbers & letters may be more difficult to copy (I assume by computer scanning), but especially when behind a shiny plastic disc holder they seem to me to be more difficult to read. Not that the police or traffic wardens around here seem interested in the old style out of date ones anyway, unless they are having a special clamp down! Read more
Just renewed mine for Jan 2004 (not going to get 80 extra quid off me) and saw the PO Clerk zap the renewal form bar code then the new Licence. She confirmed this married the two up for DVLC and electronic update would take place during the silent hours.
So if you get an old style licence it could be that the issuing office have not as yet the new technology.
DVD
I mentioned in a previous thread that I had been considering setting up as a home trader. I got a quote for trade insurance, and it was cheap enough for me to consider the idea more seriously. So I am planning to start early in the new year, and am in the process of finding out all the things i need to.
Is there such a thing as a definitive guide to what is required of me as a car trader? I want to do everything above board, so i need to know exactly where i stand on legal matters such as tax, warranties, etc.
I'd also be interested if anybody has done this, and how they are getting on? It will be a part time thing at the moment - i'm fortunate that i live within 10 miles of three big auction houses, and my full time job is flexible enough to allow me to get to them on sale days, but if it went well i would like to do it full time. Yet reading past threads on this subject there seems a lot of people reckoning that there is little profit to be made. So it would nice to hear people's experiences, good and bad! Read more
Well, 40k (warranted by the way and with FSH) is lowish mileage for a 4 yr old fleet vehicle. Remember that many people still receive company cars as perks, not because they have to travel the length of the country as part of their job.
Sold my old car and had £10000 to spend on new one. Went to local Honda and Toyota Agent who stated that they were not interested in giving any discount as they preferred customers who took out their financial packages.
So I went to one of the Honest John\'s listed internet dealers and had car delivered (Toyota Corolla) by transporter to my door in a week.
Saved well over a few thousand pounds.
Honda Agent telephoned on the date of delivery of my new car offering £500 off a demonstrator model.
I told them I had bought a new car from the internet and they requested details of the internet site in order to pursue a pricing policy of Honda that there is no discount on new vehicles.
Need less to say I did not give them the internet site or tell them I had bought a Toyota Corolla.
Is Honda unfairly fixing the prices of new cars with their dealerships? and not permitting any discounts ?
Rederech
There\'s no need to SHOUT..... I\'ve changed the title to sentence case rather than caps. ND
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\'[Daihatsu]...makes cars to make money. Unfortunately, with the exception of Honda, this is the Japanese way\'
Jeremy Clarkson, Dec 14th 2003.
\'Hmmmm\' Thommo, Dec 18th 2003.
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For the ordinary lights, my Leon and Passat both have the rather shrill "lights on" warning, which sounds if the door is opened once the engine is turned off, even if the key is still in the ignition. If the fogs are also on, they switch off automatically as soon as the main light switch is turned off, and don't come on again unless you specifically pull out the headlamp switch. But I do like the idea of foglights that would self-cancel after ten or fifteen minutes of driving, so long as there was enough advance warning.
andymc