April 2004
We have a 1986 nissan cherry with 41000 miles on it the car is mint, but today we went to go out in the car but when you put the car into gear evan reverse you get a grinding noise and no movement at all.
Any ideas !!!!!!!
stuart Read more
A mate is looking for a first car for his 21 year old daughter - Somerset area.
Any ideas of a good runabout with low insurance in the £2000 area?
Matt35 Read more
If nothing else, it sounds quite painful.
I'd love to agree with the Midget suggestion above, but were they really any good, or was it all just 'cult'?
Mind you, you only live once, and it would probably be very cool, in a flying cap and goggles kind of way. At least till the first time it broke down on her (on the way home from picking it up then)
Oh, and aren't they ridiculously expensive anyway?
When I got home on Friday I noticed the wheel clamp on my caravan was somewhat buckled. Jemmy had been used to attempt removal - we decided overnight Thursday as SWMBO'd been in all daylight hours and it was okay on Thursday morning. Luckily the wheel clamp held out (there are many other countermeasures in place but the culprits hadn't got round to finding them).
Anyway, I phoned Surrey's finest at 6:15pm. I realised nothing much could be done but thought they might like to know some ne'er-do-well was in the area trying to relieve honest hard-working citizens of their property. And I wanted a crime number so if the miscreant tried again I had all lines of defence covered with the insurance company. I told call centre person someone had tried to steal my caravan.
"What do you mean, steal?" was the answer.
"Er, take it without my permission?. The wheel clamp has been jemmied."
"Someone will call you back, we work 24/7 here, what time are you avaiable?"
Up till about 11:30 pm.
Anyway, lightning-quick they called me back - at 5pm the following evening (Saturday).
"What exactly happened? All I've got here is criminal damage to a wheel clamp."
I explained again.
"What does the wheel clamp look like?"
I described it - "much the same as a police wheel clamp I'd imagine".
"Oh, there's nothing much we can do but if there are jemmy marks on the clamp the SOCO might be interesed - they like that sort of thing".
Surprise, surprise, Sunday morning sees visit of SOCO. As I thought nothing much of interest to her though. I'd saved the bent bits and my dabs would have been all over it and it seems jemmy marks aren't all that interesting to them.
I can't help thinking this whole policing business could be organised better!
I'm down the cost of 1 new wheel clamp but I still have my caravan. I've called the makers of the wheel clamp to thank them for having such a robust product and they're sending me a replacement for the bent arm. That'll give me a spare for if they try again!
I feel better now I've got that off my chest.
Terry
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand" Read more
Good one Stonk.
I don't tow a 'van in the UK - mine is stored in France - but I was very often held up by vehicles that dawdled along, and thus held up miles of traffic behind. The same would happen on motorways, where people seemed to object to being overtaken by a caravanner. They would then overtake and deliberately slow down to less than 45 mph.
The other problem on single carriageways was those who refused to overtake, even when I slowed down and signalled with my left indicator. The majority of drivers welcomed this and would toot their horn and wave as they passed.
Interestingly, I've never experienced problems when towing in France. Drivers seem to accept caravans more readily and act accordingly.
I will be looking for a Toyota Celica 2.0 GT or Ford Puma 1.7i in the next couple of months.
I will either be purchasing privately or possible from a auction.
I live in the Herefordshire area and was wondering if anyone know's of any good auctions within a sensible traveling distance that would likely have these sorts of cars ?
I have between £5,000 and £6,000 to spend.
I have purchased a vehicle from a auction before (Land Rover Discovery 3.9 v8i from Brightwells in Leominster so have a reasonable idea what it's all about)
Could anyone give me a rough idea what I would expect to get for this sort of money by auction ? Read more
It should be cheaper to buy at auction. Supposedly prices at auction vary between Below average and Private Good sale prices.
(Parkers guide prices that is).
In reality some makes and models fetch somewhat less than that although some small popular makes usually do fetch book money.
Also if buying privately refer to Honest John's car buying advice. Also advise to do a HPI or experian check. Also see my notes under the thread 'Vehicle Mileage Check'.If you buy at auction these checks for VCar, Finance etc will be done automatically on all cars over £1000 although bear in mind mileage data is not available on all cars, so look for vehicles where mileage is warranted.
Not sure if the mods are happy with me using company names, if so they may delete.
Renewal quote. Admiral. £273.00. TFT no legal cover.
Best price. Axa. £194.80. Comp. including legal cover.
Deal done. Read more
Thank you Dalglish. Thank you.
afternoon all,
had a recurring prob for last year that i'm now fed up with!
offside light bulb keeps blowing the brakelight filament every couple of weeks, (other side is 5yrs old), i have checked all the connections,and the bulb seat and all appear clean,bright and sound. as i now have in excess of 20 one filament sidelight bulbs, i could use some advice as to the root cause please, anybody any ideas?
ta very much
billy Read more
Hi,
Possible problem (as I see it) with putting in LED replacements is that if you DO have some weird electrical problem, you're going to blow an expensive LED bulb instead.
I don't have any suggestion on the cause of the problem, though, sorry.
-Mark
Sounds a good idea so long as I have access to the codes but no-one else does....
Hi....... i'm new here and have searched for info and read a few of the oil related threads before launching in and posting a question.
I have just purchased a very abused BMW 325 TD 94 (L) 134,000 mls.
the oil is very black and has that gritty feel when rubbed between finger and thumb. i have no history on the car and this was reflected in the price i paid for it.. .. cheap as chips i hope.. .. as everthing works fine..
i want to bring this car back up to a loved and well maintained vehicle and want to do an oil/filter change before i drive it any distance and take it to a BMW service garage later in the year when i know everything is well and its worth spending money on.
to ensure the oil (5w 30 fully synthetic) i'm going to use has a good start i'm considering a full flush 1st (drain completely fill with flushing oil only).
if anyone has comments or advice on this i would appreciate any help here as this is my 1st Diesel powered vehicle. i understand the difference with disel / petrol engines and the loads on the oily bits are much higher here and i'm not sure if flushing is the safest way ahead.
paul..
PS. great forum came accross it by using google search.. Read more
Hi Bertj
All the above replies have been very helpful. i need the car this weekend and couldn't get it serviced by BMW in time. So this oil change is going to a be flush now instead of using flushing oil. thanks for all the tips and clearing that one up for me..
my question started as i had been told synth and mineral "react" causing problems. thats now cleared up.
its going in for a full inspection 2... which will address any problems and get it back on its maintenance / service periods. and the gearox oil brake and coolant will be change then.
i wanted to do this one myself so i could take it for a good run 1st without spending too much on top of what i paid for it. let this oil do the dirty work and then the service oil should have a cleaner engine to run around.
many thanks
paul.
My Scorpion alarm on my Audi 100 1993 makes no noise at all. Lights flash, but no noise. Any ideas (remote operated, also operates central locking, no idea if factory fitted)? (I haven't found the unit in the engine bay yet - there are so many complicated & exciting things like ABS that there are all sorts of things I haven't identified yet!) Read more
As you can also drive off with the warning lights flashing, I suspect that the mobiliser bit is sitting there as well!
I had a puncture a week ago. No big deal, got the "spare" on, then crept along to a local tyre place.
"No problem, looks like we can repair that OK". So they did the repair (puncture was in the tread of the tyre) and put it back on the wheel. However, when they reinflated it, the sidewall bulged alarmingly and, after discussion, I OK'd the fitting of a new tyre.
When I had the puncture I was travelling at about 50mph and the 'run flat' distance was no more than 200 yards. The people who repaired/replaced the tyre commented that they would not have put the sidewall problem down to run flat damage, as there was no visible weat/tear or damage inside the tyre. Their comment was that the tyre is possibly showing up some kind of manufacturing defect. Tyre pressures checked regularly, never had a problem.
Car is a Hyundai, 5 years/ unlimited mileage warranty (obviously NOT including tyres though), with just under 10,000 miles on the car and hence the tyre.
So..... is it worth me pushing this with the dealers with the aim of getting them to stump up some of the replacement cost on the grounds that the tyre was defective, or am I flogging a dead horse??
BR'ers expert opinions welcomed. Read more
I think it would be a total waste of your time..
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Thanks for your help, will let you know when the car is back to its normal self.
stuart