July 2004
Having finally had enough of my Peugeot 405 GTX (2nd head gasket in 80,000 miles) and a new job 50 miles away from home I have decided that:-
1) Now is the time to stop spending £1500 on my next car.
2) Bite the bullet and go diesel.
I think I have made my mind up to go for a 2.0 TDCI 130bhp Mondeo hatch on a 03 or 53 plate, slighty confused at this point in what the real differences are between a Zetec or the Ghia X. One seems to quote 6 gears the other I guess is 5.
I assume the Zetec is a \"different\" diesel spec and the Ghia X is trim level?
But which one should I go for? Is there any real difference?
I am looking for some performance (assuming the 130 bhp will deliver) but if I choose to cruise hopefully will get some decent mpg.
Any advice from anyone would be most gratefully received Read more
OK, so I know that many, many people have been ripped off (me included years ago, fortunately I got it repaired under a warranty they offered) but I still feel a bit guilty about this and I was was wondering about the ethics/legalities of what I'll be doing...
I have a V6 Vectra that is actually in pretty damn good condition for a 4-year old car. Trouble is, it needs the coolant fluid topping up every week to 10 days as there is a slow leak. (Latest news on this is that a Masterfit tech reckons it'll be the heat exchanger and it'll cost well over £1,000+ to put right...)
Now it *could* just be a loose pipe or a leak, but the general consensus frommechanics is that it's probably head gasket or heat exchanger - both expensive to repair. I am just on the verge of changing car and, at the moment, I have the option of direct trade-in with dealer I'm getting next car from, selling to an "older car" dealer (it's a W reg) or selling privately.
I'm against the idea of selling privately as I don't like the idea of someone ending up with a car that I know is dodgy in at least one respect that I know about (even though it's good in many others) then finding out and sending their 2 big evil mates around to kneecap me for ripping them off! "What leak mate, I don't know what you're talking about!"
If I sell/trade-in to either of the dealers and they don't do the mechanical checks & inspections that reveal the possible problem (you can clearly see evidence of leaks when looking from under the car - I saw it when it was up on a ramp) is it "buyer beware" to them and just tough luck? Or do they have some comeback on me for not disclosing a problem?
Possible mitigating circumstances for my conscience are that the trade-in dealer is offering me only £3,700 (W reg V6 CDX Vectra Estate, 41K miles) against a "low" book value of £4,500 and the 2nd hand dealer is offering me only £4,00 for purchase... Read more
Oh, and did I mention that it's due its 40,000 mile service now (i.e. the cambelt change one...) ? Is £4,000 starting to look like a good price for my beloved Vectra Estate now...? (well, let's face it, £3,900...)
Can anybody make these work? I never get responses, and it would be most convenient if it were to be made to work...
Thanks. Read more
Glad you are hopefully sorted.
Re WindowsUpdate. It puts a small file on your system the first time you visit it - this may have become corrupted.
However, BigFix does the same job so all should be well.
Dear all
I am now fustratingly looking at replacing the hydraulic tappets for the second time on my V40 1.8i (mitshibishi GDI engine) with just 60k miles on the clock.
If you have suffered the same fault or have information on the cause peculiar to the GDI engine your help and views would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Read more
Hello.
Heres what happened to me. I test drived a Volvo V40i and bought the car which had done 111 k KM (about 70 000 miles). Whilst test driving there was no Tappet pinking noise.
The volvo dealer then did a sevice on the car, new brake shoes, oil change etc..
After this the Tappets started pinking, I took the car back to the garage a week later(1 year garanty after all). They told me it was a common problem with the Misubishi GDI engine, especially after an oil change and not a lot could be done about it, nevertheless they agreed to put new Hydaulic tappets in, but said it possibly wouldn´t change anything.
The noise has gotten quieter but still remains. If anyone has found anything out info would be appreciated
i know engine oil additives are regarded as rubbish...id like to know if any of the gear oil additives are any good?
ive re filled with redline syn oil , but if i can improove the shift or make the gearbox last longer then id like to try some
anyone reccomend anything?? the box seems okay,maybe a slight whine if im picky Read more
the linkage is fine...just a slight whine
Over the past few days my car has developed a knocking noise. This comes on mainly in first and second gear when accelerating away but not until the engine is up to full normal working temperature. It disappears as the engine accelerates and performance and fuel consumption do not seem to be affected.
The other symptom is that the car has recently been a bit hesitant and spluttering when starting from cold. I took it to my local Mercedes independent outlet who said that they thought that it could be a problem with one of the fuel injectors but they warned me that this could be fairly expensive to cure.
They suggested that I use an additive in my fuel for a couple of fill ups to see if this might clean things up and overcome the problem (e.g. Wynns).
Does anyone have any theories about this problem, and if i go down the additives route what specific product is the most recommendable?
Thanks
Bob Read more
For anyone who may be interested - an update
I took the car into the local independent Merc outlet who have always serviced the car and given me excellent service.
They had the car for over 2 days, did all sorts of diagnostics test, and rang me to say that they could not find a fault. They suspect, as has been commented on here, that it is one of the injectors, but their electronic diagnostics do not show which one. They were talking of swapping them out one by one to see if they could cure the fault but they must have decided, at £250 plus VAT per injector, that this would be too time-consuming, and they told me that the existing injectors were completely bedded in and would be almost impossible to remove.
As a result they handed the car back to me in the same state.
To summarise:
1. The car is very difficult to start and needs about 10 seconds of key turning before the engine splutters into life. It misfires badly until it gets moving properly. This seems to be getting gradually worse.
2. It knocks badly at low revs but sounds normal when on the move.
3. Fuel consumption is fine and there does not seem to be excessive smpke from the exhaust
Any suggestions on what are the best options from here please (or alternative thoughts on what may be wrong)?
Thanks
Bob
Recently I have noticed that the steering wheel is not quite in line with the wheels (i.e steering wheel is "slightly" left of centre to travel in a straight line)
Up to recently tyre wear have been exactly even, but I have just noticed that the left tyre has less tread than the right (maybe a couple of mm difference) - tyre wear across an individual tyre is even.
Is this normal (i.e left tyre does more miles - roundabouts etc) or could there be a problem with tracking etc?
Read more
Sooty, you will have to be more convincing than that. Cars turn left as well as right on roundabouts, though I suppose if you habitually scream round them you might wear the left front more than the right. But what about all the normal left turns, which are tighter than normal right turns because of driving on the left?
Over the past few months, there has been an increase in the number of cobwebs that apear overnight inside the garage, to the extent that it is getting almost impossible to get into the car each morning without encountering at least one web inside the garage. Has anyone got any ideas how to stop this? A good cleanout with the broom at roof level, and down the upper part of the walls, has done little to impove matters.
Keep it sensible please! Read more
Nearly 17 years later .... must be some sad people with time to waste spamming like this.
Hi all - I'm one of those AA - motoring variant :) - members who hardly ever uses the service (touching wood now) and hence subsidises those who do :( Presently my cover costs about £85 for Roadside, Relay and Home Start (which is complimentary). I have 3 years Mazda European Assistance cover, however, which the dealer I bought my MPV from said was better than anything on the market. Is this true and is it, therefore, worth cancelling my AA cover until the Mazda cover expires?
I know there are many variations in what cover is offered by different organisations (e.g. the number of vehicle occupants which can be recovered) and don't want to be caught out if/when I do break down and need help. So has anyone got any comments on the relative merits of either the AA's or Mazda's breakdown service?
It's a complex matter so thanks in anticipation as always! Read more
Thanks all - IET not thinking of driving in Europe just yet but that may be a factor next year.
My question was really intended to identify key diffences in the scope of the cover offered by AA and Mazda. One of the main reasons I chose the AA all those years ago was that I was covered NOT the car. This is still useful since I reularly go out in Mrs V's car for which we have no breakdown cover as yet since we only use it locally and do so few miles.
I recently had an insurance job done on the car and it seems that a small tear in the sidewall has been repaired (seems to have been glued back - not sure whether it was me or the accident). I presume that this is safe as the repairers would have been more than happy to supply a new tyre, but any thoughts welcomed. Read more
On my trip to the supermarket today, I looked around at tyres,on the way to entrance, and was surprised at how many cars had either split, near limit,or close to bald tyres
Some on expensive cars as well!
Browse
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Hi, I have had my 02 Ghia X TDCi 130 from new now 77k miles, the suspension set up is basically the same on Zetec's and Ghia/Ghia X's though the Ghia X has 17" wheels, also sun roof, leather, CD changer, cruise control, trip computer etc etc.
Great handling, relaxed at slow speeds though really tightens up as you press on, goes like stink and regular 50 mpg, reckon 5 speed is better, the 6th ratio on the 6 speed is a bit to high so you can get bogged down in top at below 45 - 50mph where the 5 speed pulls like a train from 40 ish.
Re comment about the 130 being short on torque, infact it produces more torque than any other 2.0l diesel, a whopping 25% more torque than the 115.
Cruise control is great, seamlessly takes up drive, infinite control possible.
Re 04 models, even higher spec though dash material is not as nice, being leather effect all over where as mine has has a carbon effect pattern around the drivers area.