March 2004
any one no any cheap online websites were i can buy a new set of front wings for my golf,cheers Read more
Can't believe what I saw tonight - parked up was an 04 reg Fiesta with lights in his windscreen washers! These were white and not the usual boy-racer blue.
Either these are now a factory fit option or they were the owners first priority when he took delivery of his new car!
Wonder if he has invalidated the warranty in its first 24 hours.... Read more
I exagerrated about the BMW headlights, but they do seem to have a multi-coloured fringe around the edges -red must be in there somewhere!
As far as I recall the old construction and usage act insists on only yellow or white light at the front(unless you are in the emergency services).
When I discovered this forum a couple of years ago I got and so did many others, excellent advice particulary on Citroens from Mr Woollard. I do miss seeing his posts. Has he changed his ID?
Cheers
Peter Read more
>He also has plenty of patience!
Or is that patients? - given that I have a Visa that needs lots of MIG attention, a Xantia that potentially needs a new matrix, and a ZX that needs a bit of TLC - oh, and both the latter probably new clutches in the next year or so!
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
I promise I'm not going to ask about every main road to/in Scotland but...
Hols possibility no.2 is a couple of hours North of Glasgow. Is the A74/M74 still a nightmare and do you have to fight your way round that "outer ring road" effort to get past Glasgow?
Thanks,
M.M
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Provided you avoid normal business peak times i.e. 8/10 a.m. going in and 3/6 pm coming out, M74 is a doddle - straight into Glasgow City centre, watch for signs for A82 Loch Lomond and Bob's your uncle.
Have a nice trip!
The Countryside Minister, Mr Alun Michael, has issued a consultation paper about new laws and regulations that will affect the use of "byways open to all traffic" and other minor highways by mechanically propelled vehicles.
The aim is to stop their use by motor vehicles.
If you feel strongly about this, you may wish to write to your MP.
Here is a model letter (you will need to add/delete/change parts)
Mr/Mrs/Miss XXXXX
The House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Dear Mr/Miss ....
The use of mechanically propelled vehicles on rights of way
The Countryside Minister, Mr Alun Michael, has issued a consultation paper about new laws and regulations that will affect the use of "byways open to all traffic" and other minor highways by mechanically propelled vehicles.
Clearly Mr Michael is concerned about the level of 'cowboy' activity that goes on, with illegal and annoying motorcycling and driving on wasteland, open country, footpaths and bridleways, and rightly so, but the consultation paper seems to propose measures that will directly and seriously affect me, and I am not a 'cowboy' in any way.
I have been driving my road-legal rallycar [substitute: driving my Land Rover, classic sports car, etc.] on 'byways' and unclassified roads for XX years. I am a member of YY club/association, and I take pride in being careful and considerate to other road users at all times. I/we organise work groups to repair and clear rights of way.
Ramblers already enjoy access to around 120,000 miles of footpath and bridleway where they can be assured of not meeting other members of the public in vehicles. We have just 5,000 miles, and we are happy to share that with other users. Ramblers will also soon have thousands of square miles of 'right to roam' land as well. I note Mr Michael's hope that responsible users of mechanically propelled vehicles will welcome the intention, and I agree that the basic principles underlying these proposals have merit.
However, the representations made to Mr Michael that have prompted the detail in the paper have misinformed and consequently misled the Minister.
Can you therefore speak please to the minister to tell him that he has been misled and get his reassurance that the interests of ordinary people like me will not be unjustifiably prejudiced, and that he will insist on being better informed by fact-based evidence before taking further action?
Yours ...
Feel free to write your own,but calling them Lefty do-gooder interfering and namby pamby Liberals probably not a good idea, no matter how true it may be.
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Don't often sit on fences, FIF - that's not me!
I hate the idea of more regulation. But I hate noisy vehicles trotting around the countryside for the sake of it.
100s of ramblers do quite a lot of damage. A couple of 4x4s if it's wet enough will do lots & lots of damage. A farmer may do some damage, but he has to get around his fields.
Sadly, many people lack social responsibility these days.
At the mo i own a Vauxhall Omega 2.5 Elite, i am thinking of getting 7 series BMW 3.0 or maybe a 5 series, has anyone got any tips, buying advice and actual running costs on these cars, it will proberly end up being a 1996/1997 model ,are BMW's worth the extra 50% buying cost over say a Vauxhall Omega 3.0 Elite bearing in mind i do like my Omega and might still upgrade my 2.5 for a 3.0 model, confused i am.
PS:I have only ever driven one BMW and it was a shed & i do my own servicing Read more
Used Car Buyer has an article on buying BMW 7 series and from other's experience I agree with it.
ALL electrics are dodgy
Engine failures are VERY expensive: any noise at all = walk away
Bodywork should be perfect
IT will cost a FORTUNE in parts - and you will not have some specialist tools to diy
Electrics must all work, electrics will fail, electrics cost a fortune, there are over 400! electric things to check. the nice displays on the dash fail through age and cost £300 to replace .
Like an old Jaguar but much more expensive..
BTW : did I mention the electrics?
:-)
madf
I have a ford scorpio with a tinted heated front screen, it is fitted as standard to the car.
I have a small crack in the windscreen, if it failed the mot on this, would my fully comp insurance cover the replacement without effecting the no claims bonus.
I know these screens are very expensive, only thing mentioned in the policy is the standard excess payment to replace the screen.
anyone had to claim on these ?,
Thanks
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Had the same probelm with my Mondeo. Autoglass came round and asked me if I wanted it fixed at no cost or pay my £50 excess for a replacement. It was so pitted and scratched it made sense to replace it.
What are your views on this? Im looking at a car that has been damaged in the past and repaired. I emailed the seller to find out the details of the damage. This was his reply:
'It was driven up a kerb (hence new wheels), all the parts that were replaced were genuine brand new renault parts and were a new front bumper and some parts underneath. It was then put on a geometry machine to check it was all straight.
It has been proved by the fact that after 10k miles there is no uneven wear on the tyres.'
It doesn't sound too bad to be but he has no photos of the car when it was damaged so there's no way of seeing the extent of the damage.
For a car like this what would you consider to be an appropriate saving on the price. The car is priced at £5495 and would normally sell for about £8000. Would close to £3k (after haggling) be an appropriate saving? How hard is this car going to be to sell on in the future?
What do you guys think? Read more
Walk. There's lots of other cars out there. If that's what your budget is, then buy an older car that's done more gentle motorway miles that don't wear the car out.
Remember, if you don't trust it (as you obviously don't) then there's always another second hand car.
If you're suspicious, say thank you and go away.
M1 FENCE BLOCKS VIEW - DUMBING DOWN CONTINUES
16:00 - 01 March 2004
Work was starting today on a £100,000 fence along part of the M1 - to stop drivers crashing when distracted by a nearby river.
Minor accidents and traffic jams have been caused by drivers slowing down to look at the River Trent, especially when it floods, as it runs near junctions 25 to 24a on the southbound M1, claims the Highways Agency.
Work was starting today on the wooden fence, 1.2 metres tall and 600 metres long, to screen the river from drivers between the junctions.
It is expected to take three weeks to put up, weather permitting.
The southbound hard shoulder will be closed during the day and the inside lane will be closed overnight from 10pm to 6am.
John Warner, Highways Agency route manager, said: "The problem is that drivers slow down as they try to look at the flooding."
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heli - Sooty reports that the fence is only 1.2m =4ft tall. I suppose that is a little above eye level in an ordinary car, but it's hardly an obstacle for buck and truss drivers, is it? And what about the cost?
Last year when the outside temperature was above 25c. And the vehicle had been running for at least 1 hour the vehicle was apt to cut out completely....very dangerous with steering locking !
After 5-10 mins.the vehicle would start again and perhaps travel for another hour.
2 dealers say they cannot help as nothing appears wrong on the data check. Can you help please as i am travelling to portugal soon which may be v.hot???
Thanks for any ideas. Roger pedrick
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Chrysler had problems with coil failures on these. I actually had one fail on me when driving in Vermont (it was a rental) - guy at dealers said it was a well-known problem.


hi there, theres someone breaking two mk2 gtis on ebay! i just bought loads of stuff of him, not sure of the item numbers but his e-mail addy is michellstev5@aol.com, hope this helps.