March 2004
Does anyone have the same problem I have a \'99 passat tdi 110bhp estate (sport variant)My rear suspension makes some very strange noises can\'t tell from which side .Any suggestions it would ceratinly save my sanity . Read more
from The Cape Argus
The bold stuff is mine:
A Milnerton resident could not believe her eyes when she almost ran straight into a vehicle that she says has made her life a living hell for the past two years.
Shirley Alexander ... was heading to Marine Drive, when she noticed a red Uno in front her - with exactly the same licence plate number as her car.
For two years, the Alexander family has been receiving traffic and speeding fines in the post, mostly for violations in the southern suburbs. Unfortunately, the traffic authorities have not been sympathetic to their arguments that the fines could not possibly belong to them, and they\'ve had to cough up hundreds of rands in fines.
On Monday, when Alexander spotted the Uno, she \"just decided to follow it\".
She followed the ... driver parked at the top end of Buitengracht Street. She said she immediately called her husband, Vincent, and the Cape Town traffic department to report that she was standing next to a vehicle that had the same number plate as her two-year-old Mazda Etude.
When the traffic police arrived, ... had to keep surveillance of the area until the owner and driver of the Uno arrived.
The Parklands man was then cited for having number plates that differed from the number on the Uno\'s windshield disc.
The licence number on the disc is CA 400 617, while the number plate reads CA 155 360.
\"I bought this car from another guy about a year ago and did not know I had to change the number plate or check if the disk matched. I am only a student,\" the driver explained.
[believe that, you believe ANYTHING!]
He said he would await his summons and then go to court and explain his situation to the magistrate.
The
full story Read more
I assume that the legitimate owner will have those fees that were wrongly paid returned?
hmmm, perhaps not
Some people may remember me complaining about the ride in my 1999 TDi Passat Sport. After taking it back to the dealer for the third time, they have finally "discovered" the following:
- the upper and lower suspension arms need to be replaced
- the rear axle mounting is worn.
- they also said the MAF needs to be replaced, although I reckon it might simply need to be cleaned.
Although I bought under the VW Approved Used scheme, VW has rejected the warranty claim on the basis that it is wear & tear, not failure, and I am therefore facing a bill of £450 for suspension parts alone. Total bill has been quoted at £1000.
I intend to contact VW today to follow this up, but there is an urgency to this now because the used car warranty (such as it is) runs out on Saturday. Also, the car is booked in for its MOT the same day! I need to know if any of the above is grounds for an MOT failure and/or an urgent safety issue. Any advice on negotiating with VW today would be very much appreciated.
andymc Read more
Yep, I'll do that. Something else has cropped up, by the way - now that the warranty period is over, I didn't use a main dealer but went back to my mechanic for a full service instead. He estimated that the car hadn't had a fuel filter change in over a year - in excess of 20000 miles. Considering a full service was supposed to be part of the deal when I bought the car last March, and the fact that I had paid for a main dealer service in October to keep up the warranty, I am less than happy. He showed me the fuel & air filters and they were both filthy. He also showed me a fuel filter he had taken off a high-mileage car after six months - there was far less grime and road dirt on the outside of that than on my one. I've asked him to hang on to it for me so I can check the part number against the one on the receipt I got at the time of the service. If they are different, #*&%@#!!!!
So far, I'm keeping my cool, but any more deep breaths and I'll be starting to levitate.
andymc
Here's the link:
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2004092183,00.html
Here's the TRUTH! (Not from me - It was posted in a local forum ... but I agree 100%!)
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WE all need to move to Cape Town, South Africa.
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And change your tune on your first drive into the city, from the airport.
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I?ve just been on holiday there, and if you love motoring there is no better place to drive ? it is motoring Nirvana.
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Like Britain is a sunny "tourist mecca"?
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But now it?s back to the reality of traffic jams, road rage and a nanny state. So why is South Africa so good for a driving enthusiast?
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Too many Black Labels on your trip down here, lass.
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For a start, they drive on the correct side of the road just like we do.
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A most tenuous of positive aspects. I expect the Germans and French would disagree.
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There are also hardly any speed cameras.
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Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V my comment above about the Black Labels.
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In fact, there are probably more cameras on a five-mile stretch of the M25 than in the whole of South Africa.
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Ctrl-V
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And if you do get caught speeding, you simply get a fine instead of points on your licence.
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Psssst... Are we supposed to feel good about doling out the state for enjoying some speed from time to time, or what?
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With that in mind, you might think it would be complete carnage on the roads. But it?s not.
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Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! She obviously never had a radio on in the car during the festive season!
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The South Africans could teach us a thing or two about road etiquette.
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Absolutely. Rule #1... ^%$# with me on tarmac, you get a bullet / you get Glocked / you have your sheetmetal dented by errant feet.
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On the beautiful wide roads around Cape Town, I learnt that you can teach an old dog new tricks.
As I was zooming along a B-road, I came up behind a slow-moving car. But as I prepared to overtake, he moved over into the specially-provided hard shoulder lane. That?s right, moved over, leaving the road clear for me.
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(a) it's not binding that you shift across, (b) it's a dumb thing to do, given the litter that bedecks SA road hard shoulders, and (c) very few plonkers would ever actually have the humility to allow a faster vehicle to pass.
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It?s a real motoring love-fest.
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And the "women" in Bangkok are all gorgeous, and love foreign tourists for their looks, not their naivety.
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But I do love the sheer b***** mindedness of UK drivers.
Only a Brit would hog the fast lane of the motorway in their 1.2-litre rust bucket with an irate BMW M5 driver on their tail and still not move over.
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She'd be surprised mefinks... we don't have 1.2-engined rustbuckets, we have diesel-engined double cabs.
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And only Brits make those charming gestures when you cut them up.
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It just seems so lovey dovey on SA roads for this wanchette, because she doesn't know what "jou ma se blik poes" means.
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Ahhhh, it?s nice being home ...
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Was the cheque from Cape Tourism in the mail when you got home?
EDITED to correct glaring gender b*****ups!
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anybody see the 5th gear programme last night that featured Henry's baby?, i got the impression that in it's day it was quite a versatile beast, with body styles that range from "saloon" to "charabanc",which if you took the top-sides off, left you with a flat-bed truck!. Apparently, there is still a bloke (farmer) in britain that still restores them, and can supply you with all the parts to build your own. he even has a sportster version that will do 90mph!!!. the programme also featured archive footage of the 't' going through and over terrain that would make even some of todays 4x4's baulk!.
billy. Read more
Reverse gear on a pedal meant that Model Ts were used in a sort of Polo game replacing the horses! The riders, err drivers could swing the polo hammer in one hand while steering with the other hand and could go forwards or backwards with their feet. Mad
Didn't Ford build a few new Model Ts last year?
Gareth
Surely an early April fool?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3528757.stm
Which is your favourite bit, the removable cushions to match madams outfit, the lack of bonnet so no need to worry about ever opening it [LOL!] or the split headrest for ponytails?
CF Read more
I have been tempted to put this in the "silly thread", but reading back, the whole thread has been pretty daft.
I think I'll just make it "Read Only" as any pretence at this being a serious topic of discussion went out the window after the first few replies.
No Dosh
mailto:Alan_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk
Someone told me, or I read somewhere, that the UK is currently manufacturing/assembling more cars than ever before.
Is this true?
I guess it means Toyota in Burnaston, Nissan in Sunderland, Honda in Swindon, Rover in Brum, Jaguar in Cov/Liverpool, Land Rover etc have replaced BL, Ford, GM, PSA, etc
Anyone got any facts?
Read more
I think carrying the risk of 60,000 people directly and indirectly employed around Birmingham and their livelihoods is risk enough. People think their behaviour is bad but Ford is saddled with enormous debts and still trades, so does GM who cross-fund car production with its finance arm. MG Rover are not alone in their approach.
How the Guardian drew that conclusion is anyone's guess, in two articles on the same day, one said £100m, the other £70m but the only source they referred to was the statement to shareholders. Limited companies do not publicise accounts.
In a letter to the Guardian today, Tony Woodley said that he was totally satisified the directors are pouring all the cash they can into product development.
Quite why the Guardian picks a two month old news story for its front page on the same day the Rover V8 is launched is anyone's guess.
In terms of UK car manufacturing levels, MG Rover chip in with 140,000 cars mainly all for the domestic market but they have opened new dealerships in over 15 countries now and the push is on for the US market. It's easy to forget they are still a £1bn+ a year turnover company and play an essential part to the West Midlands economy.
Are VW's the most reliable of cars available today? Until I searched HJ's website I was convinced that a purchase of a new VW Golf or the VW Bora might be a good buy but now I'm not so sure. When I sat in the Bora, in particular, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the fit and finish but all this is wasted if, after purchase, the car then produces a litany of faults throughout the ensuing years
Can initial impressions on sitting in these cars in the showroom be so dissipated by reading all the adverse comments concerning faults and recalls on these models? I know that is practically impossible to buy any car that is perfect but it seems that the Japanese cars reign, according to the statistics. In my shortlist of new cars to buy, I have listed the Toyota Corolla but am rather put off by the low overall gearing in top gear, where it is < 20 mph/1000rpm.
Read more
My Audi A4 was unrelaible: a/c, suspension, etc
Tried an A2 could not engage 5th gear when cold!
Bought a Ford and no problems..
Would buy Japanese/Ford or BMW.
Never VW/Audi/Rover/Saab as expensive or unreliable or both.
madf
has anybody had any dealings with Drive time (01923 828 628)regarding the purchase of a new car any problems etc Read more
I was going to purchase a car from them last year.
I paid my deposit and unfortunately due to illness I wanted to cancel the order. I had no trouble doing this even though they were not obliged to. The bloke couldnt be more helpful and from my experience they are excellent to deal with. You are right no PE though they just broker new cars.
From this morning, each time I log back in, topics that I decided not to read last time remain 'new'.
What has changed? Is this a good thing? Read more
I wish this happened on my computer. If I log off
the site, when I come back the things that I haven't
yet read are no longer marked as 'new'.
I think maybe the Mods have bugged my computer to prevent
me from contributing to as many threads as they can. ;)))
Happens on my pc as well HF. Which is a pain because either I have to make sure I read all new msgs before logging off, or try and remember where I got to and then do a date/time search.
Browse
Christos, an apology. I think you may have posted this question last week in Discussion? I went to move it here and accidentally deleted it. Unfortunately I couldn\'t recall the name of the person posting to email and explain.
You have my apologies.
No Dosh
mailto:Alan_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk