December 2003
A friends 1999 Passat became disabled in flood (river) water, they were fortunately able to exit the vehicle via the (still working) electric windows, and then wade to safety. The vehicle was recovered several hours later and towed to a garage, where it remained for 10 days pending assessment by the insurance company. After inspection the assessor was of the opinion that a days work was all that was necessary to put it back as was.
My view is that the car will be a disaster waiting to happen, and that at the slightest sign of any electrical trouble (or preferably earlier) he should get rid of it!
Any views? (The owner was previously intending to keep it as a long term 'run it to the death' vehicle).
pmh (was peter) Read more
I have a Peugeot 406 2.0 hdi estate y reg 24000 miles and have had it for just under a year and have done about 12000 miles.I replaced the discs and pads around 15000 miles because the car was juddering when braking, and this solved the problem.However the same thing started happening about a month ago and the main dealer has told me that they need replacing again.A good mechanic friend has told me that both the discs and pads are fine,(the pads only about 50% worn and not 80-90% as the dealer told me.)He has replaced the pads and has only partially solved the problem,he maintains that the discs are perfect, so i am at a loss as to what else it could be.
Does this mean that i will need to repalce both discs and pads every 8-10000 miles or about every 6-8 months? This seems very frequent.I would appreciate any advice or feedback.( I have noticed on Johns column that they are prone to discs warping, but so soon?) Read more
Thanks again all-and Robin-I will visit my local partco in Kingston.
Has anyone else checked out Ben Oliver's on-line article on the "Autocar Experience" web site on what to do when tail-gated in the outside lane on a motorway? I wonder what Backroomers make of such advice from the much respected motoring magazine? Read more
Washing your windscreen is a very effective (non-aggressive) way of irritating tailgaters into pulling back a little out of your mucky spray zone.
Has anybody out there bought a Honda (CRV?) from Bob Gerard LTD in Leicestershire, if so, what was your experience? Thank you.
Read more
My pleasure, I have only spoken as I found - I hope everything goes OK and you get on with the car.
Has anyone any experience of insuring themselves against loss of their driving licence? I see there are one or two companies on the internet offering these services.
Reason I ask is that I have a friend (not me honest!) who drives for a living and now has 6 points. Now has 3 years to go without getting another six. I know the answer will probably be "he should drive more carefully" and I agree, however losing the licence would mean loss of job and livelihood and I feel this is probably worth insuring against.
Of note these policies also cover the more honourable (if that's the right word) cause of losing your licence - i.e due to revocation for medical reasons.
I'd be interested in people's comments.
Thanks,
Andy. Read more
Oops, finger trouble. I meant the premium is around 1%, payable monthly!
Hi, I have recently brought a 1996 mgf 1.8i and I have a problem with it starting in the morning after heavy rain. The rain enters via the boot vents then goes onto the manifold and drips on the ignition coil preventing it from starting on some occasions. I\'m not sure if there is supposed to be a guard to prevent it from doing this and I would appreciate anyone\'s comments.
Thanks - Chris
{please refrain from posting using solely UPPER CASE letters. Contributing to an online discussion group with the caps lock on is thought to be bad manners (it\'s a way of expressing bad temper because it looks as if you\'re shouting). DD, BR Moderator.} Read more
It is the non VVC model. It is very strange that they put the coil there. You would expect them to of put it higher up and away from the grille to prevent this.
On SWMBO's Clio (00W 1.6) there is a small rectangular area near the bottom centre of the screen, about credit-card size and slightly yellower than the rest. It has no visible function (no, it's not a rain sensor) so has anyone any ideas? Did the previous owner just stick something there? If so it was done extremely tidily and symmetrically. Read more
Thanks for that, G-t - fascinating.
I originally posted this in the evil spy in the sky thread, but then though it deserves its own thread.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/33083...m
Having lived in Cumbria for many years, I know what a god send these bus services are, as often the primary school is nowhere near the secondary school so taking 2 children to different schools can be a logistical nightmare.
Then they (the government) plan to charge anyone who uses their car to take their children to school because its cheaper than using what used to be a free bus, causing further congestion around the schools, meaning more parents drive their children because they are afraid of them getting knocked down because of double parking around the school because its too congested...... ad nauseum.
The US and Canada have a fantastic school bus service, where all traffic stops when their lights are flashing. Why don't we look to other countries solutions, rather than blindly ruin what little good ideas we have left.
Jonathan
Taken from the BBC link above:
Since 1944, local authorities have been obliged under the Education Act to provide free transport for all children living more than three miles from school (two miles if the child is under eight years old.)
Local authorities have provided free transport
But in the Queen's Speech, the government unveiled plans which could force parents to pay for their children's school run.
Twenty local authorities around the country will be invited to take part in a pilot scheme which will allow them to opt out of providing the free transport.
After three years, the government will review the results of the pilot, and some people believe it may lead to all local authorities being ordered to follow suit.
At the moment, free school buses cost local authorities millions of pounds.
Part of the thinking behind the new plans is to get parents who can afford it to pay for their children to make their own way to and from school.
Afford to pay
It could be argued that the free system effectively subsidises wealthy families who could easily afford to make their own arrangements.
The new system will be means tested, so that children from poorer families will still be entitled to free travel.
North East school transport
Cumbria 15,000 pupils, costing £11.2m
Durham 20,000 pupils, costing £10m
Northumberland 11,000 pupils, costing £8.3m
North Yorkshire: 20,000 pupils, costing £16m
Some of the figures make interesting reading.
Every day, the four big authorities in the North East provide free school transport for 66,000 schoolchildren.
The total bill for this comes to £45.5m.
Council tax payer to benefit
On the face of it, these local authorities could save council tax payers millions by removing free school buses. But it is not that simple.
Under the terms of the pilot scheme, councils which withdraw free transport are obliged to make sure a paid service is made available to all children who live further than one mile away from their school.
In a busy urban area, this wouldn't pose much of a problem, there are plenty of commercial bus services which the children could use.
But in a place like rural north Northumberland, there are few if any commercial buses running.
This means the council would have to make provision for such a service, so that even though the child would have to bear the cost of the bus journey, the council would bear the cost of providing the bus.
Read more
I dared to make the decision to send my eldest to
a grammar school in another borough, rather than to the local
comprehensive which I had many, important, reasons to decline. Because of
this, I have to pay school bus fees of almost £700
per year.
My son also attends a grammar, but fortunately we only live a couple of miles away, some of his school mates travel 30 odd miles to attend and have to pay a sum similar to HF's. Unfortunately, half way through term, the contract bus company went to the wall, literally overnight and left them with no transport at all. A new company was found, but, of course, required payment. This has now left those people not only having to pay twice but unlikely to see any money back from the first company as they are now unsecured creditors in the lengthy winding up process.
As to stopping children using the bus, my son now cycles most days but occasionally has to catch the bus when he has bulky items to take in with him. It now costs just under £2 each way as he is over 14 and must pay adult fare, mind you that would only help one way as before 9am our buses have no child rates. The real killer is that our two bus companies do a joint weekly 'rover' ticket, anywhere in the area, for £11, but the daily 'rover' at £1.80 is only valid on the issuing company's buses and as he needs two buses to get to school, one of each company, he has to have two 'rovers' and the cheapest he can do it is £3.60 for the day. Therefore, it is a 'no-brainer', for an odd days travel; warm, dry, convenient travel for less than a pounds worth of petrol or stand in the cold and wet for a bus and pay £3.60.
Cockle
Here in France our local tyre place (Speedy)has a special offer on its own brand of tyres that are made for it by Continental.
They say that they will guarantee them for 5 years or 40,000kms which suggests they are very hard wearing - does that mean they will be noisy.
Being rather short of cash at the moment and needing to buy four I'm tempted to go for them. They are not the cheapest budget at over £55 each but with the offer you get the 4th free - and they are considerably cheaper than the main brands.
My question is will they be loud on the autoroute - I value quietness over sportiness.
Any views?
MB Read more
I was doing consultancy work at Gaydon (Rover R&D) around 1994/95. I remember they had a problem with tyre noise on the 200/400, some customer complaints, and I had a chat with a tyre engineer about it at the time (it was just out of interest - I wasn't working on the project).
I don't think the grade of rubber has a lot to do with it. He told me it is more about oscillations set up in the tyre structure, especially the sidewall. By using different belt techologies the frequency and amplitude of oscillation can be altered, as can the degree of damping (and hence resonant frequency and amplitude of resonance). As with most things, there is a lot more to tyre noise than meets the eye.
A mate who buys n sells recommended this lot. Apparently its saved him buyin a coupla dodgy motors. Does it via text message.. www.dooch.com Read more
But looking at their web site it looks like it only searches their database (submitted by members?) and not the usual databases.
Browse
.jpg)
Although we have all seen the floatworthiness of old Beetles, I doubt that a VW which has been immersed 'halfway up the doors' will have stayed dry inside. Doors usually have drain holes in the bottom edge, so water will presumably have travelled up inside, and it will depend on how effective the inner membranes were. Expect the worst. :(