April 2004

focusman

i have been looking at a focus zetec auto, 4000 miles on a 03 plate. it was brought in from jersey when 6 months old, it is now 12 months old. garage selling said car say it has 2 years ford warranty left. can i expect any problems getting warranty work done. has anyone been in similar situations and did it get resolved.
thanks Read more

focusman

update - rang ford uk, customer services, as long as it serviced in accordance with warranty rules etc. everything is ok

budu

She left the sidelights on. There was enough charge in the morning to turn the engine over once but it wouldn't start. After a jump start I drove for two hours non-stop and the car has been fine for a week of daily starts. But I was told today that I can never get back to full charge on the alternator and must put the battery on a trickle charger, at least overnight. As I haven't met any starting problem, is this true? Read more

Cliff Pope

I dont think you know much about BL some are still
going strong at over 200k miles.


Quite so. I have just met a man with a 1965 Morris Minor. It has done 265,000 miles and he has never touched the engine.
carayzee

Exceeded!

www.punchbaby.com/media/gitfakt/clips/TV/caravan.w...v

(Note: file is approx 1.9MB download) Read more

Dynamic Dave

The link should work now.

matstro

I\'ve got a Fiat Ducato van for work. Its 6 years old and done 77k. Driving home tonight, I lost most of my brakes. It turns out one of the metal brake pipes at the rear of the van is rusted and bubbled and its got a hole in it!!

How long should pipes last?? No other vehicle I\'ve had, and I\'ve had a few bangers, has had this! Read more

matstro

I ordered the pipe from the Fiat dealer and it wasn't there in the morning! Further they couldn't tell me why it hadn't arrived so they ordered another one which didn't arrive this morning either. Again no reason could be given as to why no pipe!

So I gave up and paid a bit extra to the guy who fitted it tonight to make up a new section (should have done that anyway, sorry Aprilla!) Pipe made and fitted in one hour flat.

Is Fiat UK really as useless as they seem????

Gazza

I have a Blaupunkt head unit. I need to pull the unit out so I can plug in my cd changer. I do not have the extractor and I do not fancy buying one as I'll only use it once. Would you know if there are any home-made device that can pull out a radio? (Paper clips, wires, etc.)
Thanks, Gazza Read more

Mapmaker

Welding rod is about the right gauge. Bent into a U-shape it will do the job nicely for you. (Have a look at a radio that's not in the car first, so as to work out how the clips work; you'll find it much easier then!)

mab23


Regarding HJ's Top Car report today - the December 03 Crossfire that failed to even reach 20k...

Could one comment from Clarkson regarding the dog-squatting rear end really cause this, or is the car, if you excuse the pun, a real dog...?

Maybe people don't want to pay so much money for what is more or less a remodelled old-shape SLK with the wrong badge for snobby British buyers?

mike Read more

NowWheels

But she's Mrs S No Dosh, whereas I'm Mr A No Dosh.
My accountant tells me the A stands for Absolutely and the
S for Still, but only if the Inland Revenue are asking.


Lovely! My faith is restored :)

I bet you have fun choosing suitable initials for the next generation of the financially-challenged ...
jw edinburgh

Where is the best place to sell my wife's 1999 T reg Ford Focus. 1.6LX 5 door hatchback, 82000 miles, owned since new & full service history. Not in too bad condition. I was thinking auction, but not too keen on private selling.
Secondly, what is it worth?

JW Edinburgh Read more

DavidHM

Would an eBay sale be of interest to you?

I reckon the car's worth about £4k without air con and about £4,400 with in a private sale, probably about £600 or so less at auction.

If you have the chance, you could eBay it. That way, people don't call round (much) and waste your time, you have an idea of the buyer's trustworthiness, and people are generally accepting of getting a car that isn't new but is truly as described. Being honest about a car's bad points can actually be a moneymaker for you.

Otherwise, you could take the contrary approach and decide where you'd go if you wanted to buy a similar car - 5 years old, small hatchback, averageish mileage - and see what those dealers will give you for it.

jw edinburgh

I have chance to buy my company car, a Mondeo LX estate, TDCi 115bhp, 15 months old, 32k miles, 4 new tyres just fitted, 9 months road tax. I am the only driver since new and has been serviced at the correct intervals. I am not aware of any faults with it. The offer is £6600. Is this a good deal?

Any comments welcome.

JW Edinburgh Read more

peterb

"There's probably a more liquid market for cars than for wine."

LOL

Geffers

OTR UK price for this beauty is about £22k. Can anyone suggest an outlet in the UK which may be more competitive?
Thank you... Read more

Geffers

Many thanks for your comments. Obviously not the best time to go to the market place so I'll have to restrain my enthusiasm for a while, sniff sniff...

borasport20

A colleage of mine, having been to rally school yesterday, is full of the idea of buying a rally car.

A couple of years ago, when I too had money to waste (ha...), I would have pointed him to the small ads in Motoring News or C&CC.

It seems that C&CC isn't published any more, and I haven't seen Motoring News for a while either - where do they get advertised these days

p.s. - I suspect his budget is more likely to run to a MkII Escort than a Subaru :-)


--
just 'cos I know what I'm saying doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about

Read more

No Do$h

Find a Nova GTe, rip out the soundsystem, tinted glass, 17" alloys and neon lighting, then build a rally car from that. Will beat most things cars for the money.