August 2004
I'm sure some people buy cars from a main dealer because of the extra benefit of the warranty. However its got me thinking.
Is it worth having these warranties in respect of the actual amount you spend to get it and maintain it, rather than the actual costs people have experienced with an out-of-warranty problem?
For example. Lets say you pay £1500 extra for a second hand main dealer car than the same car private. And the warranty also requires that you maintain the service history at a main dealer - perhaps £200 for an average service v £100 for an independent. Over 3 years this extra benefit of a warranty has cost £1800 more, plus maybe more on extra parts costs outside of the service that maybe required.
So, are the average cost of repairs that could be done under a warranty worth more than £1800?
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IMHO, the 1988-96 Cavaliers were among the best cars ever produced. In the firm I used to work, we had several, one achieved 215,000 miles on the same clutch and same engine before being sold. In 2001 I saw a 1988 SRi which I know had over 130,000 when we sold it in 1992 still motoring and looking very clean. In total we ran two SRis, a CDi and a V6, they did a total of over 500,000 company miles between them. The only faults I recall were a coil on one needed replacing and another one had something wrong with a relay somewhere which was fixed for about 80 pounds.
I bought that V6 for 1,500 pounds and in my opinion it was amazingly quick, comfortable and great handling. I now drive my wife's Lexus ES300 and would swap it for my old V6 in a heartbeat.
What happened to Vauxhall which made them replace such a great all-round motor (quick, economical, and very very reliable) with a piece of junk basket case like the Vectra?
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ISTR that What Car rated the Cavalier as best used buy a couple of years ago, head and shoulders above anything else.
I have just bought a Landcruiser D4D which unfortunately has had all the windows tinted (except the windscreen). The rear tints are quite dark and are useful in the sense that it is difficult to see what is in the load area. The front tints are lighter and you can see through from one side to the other. They do not appear to hinder my driving vision. I am aware that new legislation requires 75% visible light transmission on the front windows and just to be on the safe side I will probably have the front tints removed. My problem is that nobody seems to know where I can have them removed or how much it costs. Even my local Toyota dealer has no method of measuring the light transmission or can give me any idea where to go for help. Surely this is not a unique problem? Can anyone help? I am in Lancashire.
Thanks.
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"..half the cars on the road must be dodgy"
Which is probably why it will only get enforced in extreme cases. After all, if the chairman of the magistrates has a similar vehicle...
Apologies if you've already talked about this and I've missed it.
Just caught the latest Think! road safety advert, aimed at getting car drivers and motorbike riders to look out for eachother.
Starts off with a Corsa bean can being driven along a road. Check mirror, see motorbike "now you see him".
Check mirror, no bike "now you don't"
check mirror, see motorbike "now you see him.
Corsa bean can slows down, indicates (I think!) to turn right into a side road, checks mirror, no bike, so starts to turn. Then there's a crunch, motorbike is on the ground "now you don't"
Problem with this is, if the motorbike rider could see the car slowing down to turn right, what was he doing riding up the side of it? Even if you weren't sticking rigidly to the rules, and simply slowing down behind it, surely you'd undertake it on the other side, and not in the direction of the side road?
These Think! adverts are always so well intended, but go wrong at the last minute.
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"* Sitting in the driver's seat, lean to the left until your head just touches the side window."
Wow, that's some lean... ;)
Sorry.
VW has owned Seat and Skoda for some time now, and they have been using common engines / platforms / components for some time too.
What I'm wondering is whether the build quality of bodywork and interiors is consistent between these three brands. I've no reason to suppose it isn't, I've not made a comparison. Has anyone else any info?
Cheers, Sofa Spud Read more
Had a look at the Dekra web site.
Where is this league table of car faults situated. The index is enormous!
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
i ran my orig golf windscreen for like 8-9 years and only changed it because of slight gravel rash
sinse i had aftermarket/non genuine winscreens they seem to chip and crack often, ive had 4 replaced now
anyone notice theye poor quality Read more
All OEM ans OES windscreens comply to EC regulation 43 and BS857, its a piont of law that we can't fit a screen that doesn't comply with these regulations.
Another piont is that the OES screens are made on the same production line in the same factory at the same time as the OEM screens, the only difference is the Auto manufacturers logo.
(Glass-Tech)
A relative has received a recall notice from VW for an immediate suspension check on his 99my Passat.I have yet to recieve anything from VW for my 98my 1.8t sport Passat,can anybody enlighten me as to what this recall is about and whether my car should be included in this recall? Read more
It affects older Audi A4s and A6s too. VAG has had a number of recalls for front supension issues with these cars in the last 3 years. Got two letters from Audi myself this am.
I've long thought that writers of motoring adverts often come up with a load of twonk, just like they do for so much else, but it seems I'm not alone. My thoughts too, HJ.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3601818.stm Read more
>> I once bought an Amstrad Hi-Fi because it looked good
in
>> the advert.
>>
For £10.00 I'll delete that remark for you Tom.
:o)
>
Leave off, that's 1p more than the Hi-Fi cost!
Please can any Backroomer give me the benefit of their experience in the following circumstances.
A friend and his wife were driving in France and had reached a ?T? junction at which they had to turn right. The road to the left appeared to be clear so they commenced their turn. As they did so there was a tremendous bang....a motorcyclist had collided with their near-side wing!
The motorcyclist was taken to hospital. My friends were taken to the nearest Police Station. They were detained for several hours but after making a statement and paying 70euro, were allowed to go.
Eighteen months later they have received a summons to appear in Court in two weeks time to answer charges in relation to the accident.
The paperwork is, of course, in French so the first thing they have to do is to get it translated and then, I suppose, find an appropriate Lawyer...perhaps their Insurance Company or Motoring Organisation can help.
Any other suggestions, please?
I thought the rule in France was that one gives way to traffic joining from the right.
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The road with priority in France is signposted by a yellow diamond, crossed out if you enter, for example, a village where you no longer have priority. Much as I sympathise with your friend,(he obviously would not have pulled out had he seen the motorcyclist) he can't say "I didn't see him" and then say "I thought I had priority"!
I have a nigling problem with my dash board warning lights. About 1 in 20 times when I turn on the ignition that lights fail to work along with the fuel gauge. The Hi-beam indicator works fine sugesting the the issue is with the the 12v feed from the ignition switch. Each time I remove the dash everything, of course, works fine.
Any suggestions????
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Solved it. The problem was in the flexi connector on the rear of the instrument panel. I'd already logiced that the problem was with the 12v feed, having buzzed out the supply and satisfied myself that this was fine, I then buzzed out the 12v track form the connector to the first component (a transistor), sure enough the circuit was open. Some very fine soldering of a fly lead from the connector to the transistor solved the problem.
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Of course, to a large number of people the value of a warranty is high because it gives peace of mind. I know lots of people who will not consider owning a car that is more than 3 years old simply because of the "peace of mind" factor of having a manufacturer's warranty. In cold statistical terms, it is probably not worth the additional outlay however this does not take into account the human factors.
Ed.