February 2004
Wew have rewcently swopped the Honda Jazz for a pre reg pre facelift Civic.
In the 2003 brochure it states the SE Executive has full leather seating. this is not quite correct as the sides , back, and headrests are actually vinyl.
Now I feel a bit cheated by this, but as we have actually bought a used car off the dealer I suspect we do not have any redress.
In the 2004 model brochure it states full leather upholstery but they have no more leather in them than mine.
Question is are Honda cheating their customers or are Honda being cheated by their suppliers .
Mal.
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Reading a story in the local press about a young lad in London, whose father 'didn't spend enough on him', and so nicked the old man's credit card, and went on a 12K bender, including Limousine hire.
Begs the questions:
How hard is it to hire a Limo (obviously NOT that difficult!) - do they perform any background checks as to who/what/purpose of trip?
Do Limo hire people have any ethics - if a 17 yr old presented a gold card in the name of 'John Smith' [True!], I'd start asking some serious questions ...
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Often seen teenagers yelling out of those stretch limos, sometimes exposing their body parts and being thoroughly larey. I know it's become quite fashionable to hire one to take you and your mates on a pub crawl for the evening...
Corolla (2000) needs new front brake/pads soon.
As Toyota saw fit to install non-ventilated discs at front, and drums on the rear, needless to say the fronts have taken a hammering and now need both discs and pads replacing.
Is it possible to replace the standard fronts with bigger, more powerful units? Even new, the stopping power wasn't exactly overwhelming. Read more
The wifes'MK2 Golf Gti has just about had-it,and we're in the market for a decent cheap run-around,our budget is 1,200-1,500.There seems to be so much rubbish around at this price,has anybody got any views on whats good and whats not?Something Golf sized would be ideal.The golfs at this price seem to be heaps! Read more
tried Classified on this site? the Mazda sounds ok and there's a Golf (auto).
IIRC, it was in a recent Technical thread that someone stated that short journeys and gentle driving (generally in small cars…mine is a Jazz) were the catalytic converters worst enemy.
My driving comes mainly in this category (apart from a 60 mile Motorway trip in the Grandpa Lane once or twice a month). I am anxious to avoid the wear and tear consequences of such car usage.
In H.J.-FAQ #13 there is specific advice regarding diesel engines and how frequently to hit 4500rpm but in FAQ #10 no figure is given for petrol engines. I therefore concluded that rpm was of less significance with petrol engines.
Am I correct? If not, is there anything I should be doing (especially re rpm) apart from making each journey a *minimum* of three miles and changing oil and filter every 5000 miles?
Thanks in anticipation of your help.
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Petrol additives - my wife's Punto 1.2, which does mainly short trips in the week, is always run on Texaco mixed with Redex injector cleaner. It runs very smoothly and pulls cleanly, even when cold, which in my view isn't bad for a four-year-old small car with a low, mostly urban mileage (27,000).
I noticed when buying more Millers Diesel for my car that they have now started doing a petrol version - have bought some of that to try on Mrs B's car...
When I got my old VW Jetta MKII I was getting average 40 MPG (usually 20 mile round trips) but this has slowly started to drop over the past 3 months and is now about 30 MPG with a 'chokey' smell coming from the exhuast. Also the plugs are sooty. It has a new air filter in but is still bad. The autochoke unit works OK i think, it opens back up after a couple of minutes after start up. Is it a problem with the carb? Read more
Carb is favourite, but could be many other things as well. Distributor vacuum unit is very important for mpg, but wouldn't usually make the exhaust smell rich. Blocked crankcase breather, dirty air filter due to exhaust maionifold leaks, carb icing due to inoperative hot air intake system, and fuel pump diaphragm leaking into crankcase also possible.
No disrespect, but if you are not too mechanically minded it would be worth getting a professional diagnosis. Ask friends & family for a recommend, or look in Yellow Pages under "Car Engine Tuning".
Regards, Adam
Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.
I'm finally going to replace the water pump as it is leaking quite fast now.
I understand there is a hole in the cylider block flange near the starter motor to insert a rod to lock the flywhell at TDC. I can't see it, is it beneath the air filter container and do I have to remove it?
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Part time bear wrestler, yeah, that's right! LOL. My knuckles are also scratched and chaffed. I learnt how to do it though and I will at least from now on always change cam belts myself.
I've got an '02 base model Fiat Punto and have recently noticed that the driver seat belt rarely retracts properly when I undo the buckle. This is annoying, because I don't notice this has happened and end up trapping the seat belt in the door when I get out the car. It's also a concern - if the belt isn't retracting in 'normal use', what's the effect in the event of an accident?
The car is just under two-years old and therefore still has its manufacturer's warranty. Is this the sort of thing that would be covered, or do I face a hefty bill, or should I not be too concerned?
Thanks for any advice!
Sam Read more
Could this problem be due to condensation/dampness on the belt mechanism during cold weather? So that simply pulling it out to full length and allowing ventilation for a few hours might sort it?
A friends new shape Sharan TDI auto gearbox has failed (reverse gear), VW has quoted 4k for a new box, sounds a touch steep to me, I have suggested he checks out a quality independent outfit that is a specialist in auto box's. In addition judging from various posts in the backroom a visit to a VW dealership should be avoided as VW dealers (not all), but on average = rudeness, arrogance, and high prices. Do we remember the advert "if every thing in life was as reliable as a VW" ha ha.
car has done 100k
I would be grateful if any body has some good advice on how to get this auto box repaired in the most cost efficient way.
Thankyou Read more
One of my colleagues suffered a battery failure yesterday in his 95 Cavalier. He replaced the battery but as he bought the car second hand he has not got the radio codes - the radio model no. is SC303 .
Is there an easy or cheaper way to find the code than paying the main dealer an arm and a leg ? Read more
He might need to pull the radio from the dash anyway. The last time I needed a "new" removable radio display replaced by Vauxhall under warranty (6 months ago) they wanted the vehicle chassis number & serial number of the radio (same as on the Pass Card) from the side of the radio before they would consider the warranty work.
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Smell it.