March 2004
Went into local VW Main Dealer last saturday morning and while purchasing normal service parts, asked to buy the Special Tool to change Rear Brake Pads. (Basically I imagine this to be a tube type peg spanner which engages with the piston, and winds it back in).
Was taken aback when the Parts Sales person rather frostily said something like: "We have never been allowed by VW to order Special Tools for retail customers" There was no chance of negotiating this. (I strongly suspect that this is the Dealer's own policy, to try to keep their Service bay fully utilised at £96 per hour + VAT charge out rates).
I have a policy of only using genuine parts and tools on my vehicles!
Has anyone had a similar "Retail Experience"? I would like to know before I approach VW Milton Keynes for confirmation....
Lastly, can anyone recommend a hassle free source?
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I drive on mostly A-Roads to my work. Every day i experience large queues due to tractors/JCBs on the road.
Wouldn't it make sense to ban these vehicles from A Class roads and above between the hours of 7:00-9:00 and 16:00-18:00? Your thoughts please! Read more
Tractors are banned from entering Reykjavic during rush hour.
Just thought I'd throw that gem in!
A post by Volvoman yesterday made me wonder:
As the DVLA website states, the V5 shows only the registered keeper of the vehicle, and that person is not necessarily the vehicle?s legal owner.
If a car is bought new from a dealer, and paid for outright, without finance, then there will be a bill of sale, which is probably reasonable proof of ownership.
But if a car is bought privately from say its third registered keeper, how do I know that he is not selling it from under the nose of its legal owner? And even if he is selling it legitimately, what document do I have which states that I am now the owner? Just the receipt? And what about someone who buys a new car but then gives it to their daughter as a present?
Insurance companies do indeed ask ?Are you the vehicle?s owner and keeper??. I have a document which says I?m the keeper, but if I reply that yes, I am the owner, how can I be sure I?m not giving false information?
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It seems 'sense' to me that one doesn't actually 'own' anything until one has paid the entire amount of the price for which it was sold.
But the one time I bought a car on HP, I don't remember receiving any document which said "You are NOW the legal owner" once the final payment had been transacted.
And if I read DVD's post correctly, I would be classed as the legal owner as soon as I took delivery (?)
It's Tuesday - Motoring day in the Independent. Nothing from LJK though.
But Sean O'Grady has a piece featuring Josh Tickell, who has crusaded across the States publicising biodiesel (there must be oodles of second-hand veggie oil available there). There is one superb sentence: "Biodiesel lowers diesel emissions, especially the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is reduced by up to 100 per cent, ..". Now that really would be a miracle! Is the exhaust only water? Read more
Hmmm ... careful now!
(Seriously, don't read this and eat at the same time)
www.bio-petrol.com/
In fairness, the most optimistic forecasts I've seen are that up to 20% of current diesel fuel use could be replaced by biodiesel made from both fresh and waste vegetable oil. At the same time, that doesn't include biodiesel made from algae, which would require far less land area to produce than the likes of rapeseed or soy.
www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
andymc
I have a 'W' reg Vectra 2.0 DTi which has had the common problem of not starting if left for a while.
Accepted wisdom on this problem is that it is caused by air leaks in the fuel system. This is generally cured by replacing the bleed off pipes, changing the injector seals, replacing the filter housing and fitting a non-return valve in the fuel pipe.
So we tried all that. No joy.
Annoyingly enough the problem doesn't occur if the temperature is low enough to trip the glow plugs. (This occurs at 4°C)
Then last week we heard from a Vauxhall related source what the real problem is with these cars. Apparently the introduction of low-sulphur diesel has resulted in a coating within the diesel pump being washed away. The solution to this problem is to replace the pump.
The cost to do this is £1,400.00 plus VAT and fitting.
So far I have spent in excess of £500 trying all the conventional remedies. Last week I could have sold the car through a retail source but had to pull out when it was clear what the consequential costs of the car failing on a retail customer would be. (My dad is a motor trader and was selling the car for me.)
I have therefore had to sell the car to a trader with no come-back for £900 less.
If you own a Vectra or Zafira 2.0 DTi then get out of it soon before the problem becomes widely known. Read more
Couple of points here:
Implication here is that the fuel isn't getting to the injectors because the pump is not performing as it should, if so why is the car starting when the temperature drops below 4°C?
Apart from the glowplugs tripping in - does anything else happen?
If a diesel pump is affected by the very fuel it's supposed to be pumping, then it's clearly not fit for it's purpose.
Presumably the new (£1,400!) pump has been altered so it is unaffected by low-sulphur fuel, this clearly makes Vauxhall aware of the problem.
Your Vauxhall related source needs to substantiate this.
I bought my wife a 96 Audi A4 that was in pristine conditon when I picked it up but now 6 months down the road the rear bumper has been "attacked" on a number of occasions.
Now I know it is my fault buying a car with colour coded bumpers (why do manufacturers insist on doing this?) but is there anything that I can do to protect the paint being stripped off even more? Read more
So don't drive into it! Simple.
Terry
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand"
is diesel fuel non-colour and transparent, recently my car was splash by these non-colour oil (which I believe to be diesel), does it harm the paintwork and trimmings etc, on my car. Got it wash away now.
??? Read more
It does seem able to stain white paint yellow, but only after repeated splashes which have been left to dry.
so (and before you answer no im not going to do it, if u read i got a wonderfuly reliable 3 year old hyundai) - if somebody brought a car say from an auction - didnt get it registered or registered it in a false name, got fake tax and no insurance.
Was one day caught by the police, what would the penalty be for the offense?
if they had a license would they be banned? Read more
friends considering buying one (for the money nothing compares), but will the diesel be euro compliant when the new directive comes in? Read more
Do i have an Head Gasket problem? Before i changed top hose engine seemed to run better when expansion tank empty and less water in engine?
620si Auto (Honda Engine) was losing a litre of water about every 2 weeks (found small crack in top hose, have replaced). Now as soon as engine gets warm expansion tank boils spurting steam and water up into the air. (while replacing top hose replaced rad cap and a tested and found faulty thermostat).
Bugman Read more
I meant part-ex it at a car sales lot - many will give you £1000 as long as it drives in and has an MOT.
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Thanks, Dave. I have no problem with that.
"Buyer beware" is fair enough if the buyer is in the trade. Traders that give a "guaranteed minimum trade-in" will have already built a contingency into the car they are selling to cover problems with the traded-in car.
In fact, I think you'll agree, the guaranteed trade-in figure will often already be added in full to what would be a fair price for the car being sold. They give you £1000 trade-in but the car you are buying is £1000 above its true value.
Sorry to have got a bit off topic.
Browse
you might find the vw dealer uses tool from snap-on, some dealers dont order special tools from the parent company due to cost (you think snap-on is expensive).