February 2004
Anyone thinking of buying a new Golf should seriously look at the new Audi A3.
I have owned 4 Golfs in my life. I saved up and delayed replacing my old car so that I could get the new Mk V Golf. However when I went to look at it, in my opinion the interior has been downgraded and it looks ever more like the Polo.
I am very pleased to say I voted with my wallet and bought the new Audi A3 instead - only slightly more expensive but twice as good in my opinion!
If you haven't looked around the new A3 - I strongly recommend you do. I think the VW golf has lost its place as the benchmark for top hatchbacks.
Anyone agreee or disagree??!! Would be great to hear. Read more
Continued quality problems are still dogging the group`s vehicles, which is not only affecting customer brand loyalty but costing the company a fortune in warranty repairs.
www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6869&si...6 Read more
On a flight back from Denmark on Thursday night, I also read that this is hitting the German state of Lower Saxony hard, as they are the single biggest VAG shareholder (18% from memory of reading the article), and derive much of their income from the annual divvy. With profits down, VAG wants to reduce the divvy accordingly this year.
Does anyone know of a diesel engine specialist in or near Bedford who can give me a sensible quote for changing 6 glow-plugs on an Audi A6 2.5 TDI?
One garage has declined to do the work (too much risk of them snapping) and another has quoted over £200, which I take to mean they don't want to do it either.
Dave Read more
One thing I have learned is to make sure they put everything back how it came off, on a diesel engine in a nice car, anything that can resonate is secured and held with clips, brackets and tied down, but some garages just forget where all these little bits go, and leave them off, and then you can get additional noises at certain rpm you never had before.
Problem ... police roadside checks catch
only a fraction of illegal drivers
ILLEGAL driving by refugees has reached epidemic proportions, a police force claimed yesterday.
Six asylum seekers AN HOUR are caught at the wheel in Wolverhampton without licences, tax, insurance or MOTs.
Immigrants from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and many African nations hold driving licences in their homelands but fail to convert them to UK documents as they legally must after a year.
Instead they drive on false papers ? and when caught they either plead ignorance or simply disappear, said police.
Traffic cop Sgt Gary Dorrington said: ?Number plate checking vans catch half a dozen refugees an hour at peak times.
?It is an epidemic, worse than ever before. We treat them exactly the same as anyone else by way of a summons to attend court. But many simply disappear.?
The force has had to recruit £25,000-a-year Asylum Seeker Liaison Officer Siobhan Martin to handle law-breaking refugees.
She has compiled an information leaflet and will visit English classes for refugees to give ?help and guidance?.
The countrywide menace has been highlighted by a number of recent tragedies ? including that of teacher Deborah Peaty, 26.
She and her unborn child died when her car was hit by a BMW allegedly driven by Sri Lankan Ratnam Yogan, 29.
He was charged with causing her death in the pile-up near Daventry, Northants.
But he fled the country after a bungling judge overrode police objections and granted him bail. Read more
When I first saw this thread earlier, I stupidly thought "no, this one won't turn into yet another a political rant"
How wrong I was.
Thread write locked.
--
Dynamic Dave
Back Room Moderator.
I notice in the south of Spain that there are many expensive UK registered cars supplied by UK dealers,identified from the number plates,that are left hand drive.I am puzzled why people choose this method rather than buying the same car in Spain.Are there any advantages.
Read more
No, none at all!
The rules governing non resident owners and foreign registered cars are very complex! Basically as a non resident you may keep on the road, an E.U. foreign registered car for no longer than 6 months in a calendar year. It does not have to be taken out of Spain for the remaining six months, but must be placed in closed storage and its presence there registered with Guardia Civil Trafico.
If you are officially resident in Spain - you have to apply and prove you are financially self supporting, provide photos & fingerprints and wait for your official N.I.E. card (foreigner's identity and fiscal number card) Once you have this you are required to transfer your car to Spanish plates, which can be very expensive, depending on the value of your car.
Of course for a UK car to be road legal in Spain it must also be road legal in UK i.e Road Tax, MOT & insurance! This means a return to UK for an MOT etc.!
Many expats ignore these rules, but they are playing with fire as the car will be impounded immediately if a Guardia Civil officer has cause to request the papers - and they do!
Roger.
What is the best car oil. I always thought Castol gtx and mobil 1 is the best quality, but with evidence can anyone tell me what is the very best oil on the market for the average car/ motorcyle.
Read more
....and 5 litres of own-brand fully specced fully synth 5W40 is £10 in Leclerc in France - if you happen to be going there.
I have been driving a car for many years, and although I have had a motorbike I have only ever ridden it when the weather is good.
I want to save money on motoring and am considering the use of my 125cc motorbike as my main form of transport. The savings are very significant, for example tax is £15 vs. £160, insurance is £100 vs. £600 etc.
I drive about 10,000 miles per year with some longer distances. Would a 125cc motor that is well serviced etc last long enough to be viable?
What are other motorbike riders opinion on this? Is it a good idea in the long run?
Your thoughts would be much appreciated.
Gregory Read more
A 125 is certainly up to the job but ask yourself if your backside is?
A good tip is to talk to the local motorcycle couriers if you can catch one or find them off duty. They often sit at fixed points like taxi drivers or at try local bacon sarnie joint.
Most of these guys are OK guys and don't be put off by appearances .
They are all motorcycle experts . Whatever it is they have it will be probably shaft drive , comfortable , reliable and cheap to run and insure.
I am likely to be changing my job in the near future which will require me to become self employed. I will need a car to cover about 40K miles per year for business purposes. I dont wish to buy new becuase of the first year depreciation. Would I be best to buy nearly new or use some form of leasing. Is there any independant source of information on leasing schemes. Any advice most welcome. Read more
The other thing is that there can be tax advantages to leasing, so what I would do is find the best deal you possibly can - do you need any particular body shape or equipment specification? Surely you must need a diesel at 40k per year, too. Work out the cost to you to buy it outright, whether cash or on finance.
Normally I am very positive about Alliance and Leicester's Car Purchase Plan, although over three years and 120k you'd have to pay well under £9k for a Mondeo to get back the 40% balloon payment, so in this case it's probably not cashflow effective.
When you have that cost and you've looked at the tax and VAT consequences of buying and running your own car, work out how much the monthly payment would have to be on a lease to come out ahead. If you can't do that, speak to your accoutant, who should tell you soon enough.
Hi Everyone,
I have a 1996 "N" registed VW Golf 1.8SE with the ADZ engine and single-point Bosch Monotronic fuel injection. Yesterday, I took it to my local independent garage for its annual service, and I mentioned to the proprietor that it was pinking on acceleration (and I don't use supermarket petrol).
I got a call from him a couple of hours later, stating that the timing was out, which had caused the pinking. Apparently, when the engine is at Top Dead Centre, the rotor arm should line up with a groove in the top of the distributor, and on my car it didn't.
Anyway, when I collected the car and drove it home, it felt somewhat funny. The pinking was gone, but the idle speed was up from 800rpm to 1000 rpm (not adjustable on Mono-tronic), and the engine seems louder. On checking with my Haynes manual, it states that the timing is set for the life of the vehicle at the factory, and it shouldn't be altered, in fact it warns that there are no timing marks on the crankshaft pulley to do this with. So I had a thought. The car had its cambelt changed at the same garage last year, so I'm wondering if during that time, with the belt off, the auxiliary shaft which drives the distributor from the timing belt moved, hence this time around the rotor arm isn't pointing at the TDC mark anymore. Having now moved my distributor (which the mechanic states was seized in place - factory anti-tamper seal possibly), does this now mean that my engine is correctly timed, or are there other parts in my distributor which is confusing my ECU even more?
The guy who does my servicing is very honest and reasonable, and has always made a very good job of my cars before. But like everyone, he is human and humans do make mistakes. If I went back to him with some feedback that what he'd done was wrong, he'd be happy to put it right I'm sure.
Any suggestions?
Steve Read more
If you look on the top of the gearbox adjacent to the engine block you will see a plastic plug covering a hole. Pop out this plug and also unscrew the large hexagonal plastic bit as well (for better access and with a bit of imagination you will see a sort of pointer which you use as a timing mark cut into the upper edge of the aperture.I am going to check up the procedure for resetting base timing.
Andrew.
Simplicate and add lightness!!
Does the new Ford Fiesta use the Focus auto box or the same box as the one in the new Mazda 3?
Read more
Browse
Isn't the BMW 3 Series now outselling the Ford Mondeo. Also, the Euro factor applies across EC (except the UK, Sweden) - including the French, Italian and Spanish cars. Are they all having downturns?