August 2004
Hi all,
A friend of mine bought a nearly new car from a well known franchised dealer networks approved used scheme about 2 years ago - it was about a year old at the time.
The warranty on this vehicle expired a few months ago (2-3), and recently the car developed a fault with the ECU. The dealer charged my friend £600 to replace the ECU, and the manufacturer contributed 20% of the cost.
There is probably nothing more to this, but as the now just over 3 year old car had average mileage and a full service history, I can't help thinking its very unreasonable for such an expensive fault to develop so soon. My friend also had to pay about £400 to have an air conditioning fault with the car repaired as well, and that was barely a month after the warranty ran out. In the last few months since the warranty expired on this very well maintained, average mileage recent model car, its cost almost £1000 in repair bills!
This got me thinking about the Sale of Goods Act which states that goods must be fit for purpose, or something like that, for a reasonable period of time.
Does this cover cars, and if so, what is a 'reasonable' period of time? Should my friend have expected more than a 20% contribution? Apparently, the fault seems quite common on this particular engine - a 1.8 - becuase my friends brother's car also had the same ECU fault, luckily within the warranty period.
Cheers. Read more
It has always amazed me how often I am following cars being driven at about 45mph on single carriageway A roads. It is often impossible to overtake these cars, due to the volume of traffic coming the other way, and so one is forced to follow them for mile after mile. It is particularly annoying, as there is usually no reason to prevent them from travelling a little faster (speed limits for example). With our auto C5, it means driving along in third gear, which leads to increased fuel consumption. Read more
Well - we have all the ingredients of a Friday afternoon here complete with the jokers...which reminds me - where's ND?
Adam
Can anyone help in telling me how to change the beam for driving abroad?
Car is a Focus RS allthough i'm 99% sure its got the same headlights as most of the later focus's. (not Xenon)
thanks in advance
Pete Read more
Hi,
I have managed to get in touch with Ford's Customer Helpline and they have faxed me a diagram of exactly where to block the headlight with tape.
I can't remember the telephone number now but I spoke to directory enquires and asked for a ford technical helpline number.
This is after visiting 2 main dealers who didn't have a clue!
Hi guys I could do with your assistance again. I have never had so much trouble with a car as with this one.
The car is now performing great but this time it is an alarm problem. On Saturday the alarm would not respond to the remote key fob. I thought it might be a battery fault so changed it in the key but that didn\'t help. It is not responding to the transmitter and,whilst the locks respond manually I am not sure that the alarm is being activated.
My questions are as follows,
Is the alarm linked to the engine management system? I am not getting any signal that there is any fault on the management system
Could the alarm be \'confused\' and if I was to disconnect the battery for a couple of seconds then reconnect it, would this reset the alarm?
Where is the alarm unit situated,the Heynes manual does not appear give any indication of this.
Alternatively, are there any basic tests I can do to check whether the fault is in the transmitter or alarm?
Does it have to go back to a Peugeot dealer (at great expense) to have it rectified or could a local specialist or auto electrician do the job?
At least I am learning a lot about Peugeot problems
Read more
Thanks for the advice on the alarm. Because of the bad weather, this weekend was the 1st chance I have had to look at it.I found a box just under and to the right of the glove compartment but could not find any loose connections.I could have a diagnostics check done but if there were the possibility that the alarm has packed up I would rather put the £70 towards a replacement rather than just to be told there is a fault.Are there independent operators around who could do a diagnostic check for a reasonable price? I will have another look at this later however I do need your advice on another problem.
On Friday we went to a wedding at York,which is about 2hrs drive away.The car ran smoothly until we got there.I had to make a right turn and as I was accelerating up a hill the engine just died.After a couple of secs it started again but the EMS light stayed on.We went into the service and when we left(about 90 mins later)the car started and the EMS light stayed off.We had no problems going to the reception and later we set off for the 2hr run home.Again no problems starting (no EMS light),a long run up the A1 at 70/80 mph and the car responded as you would expect,cruised well and overtook with no problems. As we came off the A1, turned left onto a minor road, dropped a gear and accelerated, it died again. After a couple of secs it fired up EMS light on) and we got home ok.
Over the weekend we didn’t go far and had no problems. This morning coming to work,(a journey of about 30 miles)the engine died 3 times all under the same circumstances,twice accelerating away from roundabouts and once after switching roads and accelerating again.
It appears to me that the problem occurs when the engine is running hot, i.e. at normal running temp. It seems fine if I am holding a standard pace but the second I drop the pace, change gear etc to accelerate then there is a distinct chance it will cut out. It doesn’t seem to occur when the engine is cold, but when cold it does not accelerate smoothly.
Could the alarm and accelerating problems be linked in some way, possibly through the immobiliser or can I treat these as 2 separate problems. I had thought of some sort of fuel starvation during acceleration but the thought of an EMS fault bothers me, as this could be very expensive.
FYI a new fuel pump was fitted to the tank about 6 weeks ago
What can i use to chock the wheels on my xantia, does anyone here buy something for the task or just use something from the home to do this job?
Thanks for your help.
gav425
1997 Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 114,000 Read more
Thanks for all the help today. Great advise, did not get to do the job as by the time i got my things together here in Plymouth was very wet indeed. will try again tomorrow.
Thanks again.
gav425
1997 Citroen Xantia 1.9TD 114,000
Evening!
Been doing a bit of research into this, since being driven into has recently made me a little bit more well off. Thought it might be fitting (although the crash was in no way my fault, before you start) to spend a small amount of it in getting my advanced driving licence.
It looks like if I pay £65 to join the cardigan clad, bovril drinking Institute of Advanced Motorists, the fees are all inclusive for the under 25 membership and the test.
Questions though...
1. What is Sparkle?! I guess it's all about making progress, driving at the speed limit when the road is clear etc etc. My problem with this is that I'm a bit of a Sunday driver when it comes to country lanes, where the speed limit may *be* 60mph, but I'm damn well not going to drive at 60mph because country lanes scare me! Maybe that doesn't make any sense?
2. Observed Drives? I don't take criticism well at all, so just wondered what these were like and what actually qualifies someone to be an observer?
3. If I pay the £65 and pass, am I likely to get this amount back in the shape of an insurance discount for having the advanced licence, or is there actually very little point in having it in the eyes of the insurance?
4. How long does it all take, on average, and is it case of training to pass the test or training to be a better driver?
Thank you!
Read more
Well, I've read this thread for a while now and thought I'd add my twopenneth. I passed my IAM car test about 2 months ago. I found the preparation difficult, not least because of all the bad habits picked up over 25 years driving.
Why did I do it? I passed the IAM motor cycle test way back when punk was young and I honestly believe it saved my life. I cleaned up my act and survived as a biker into my 40s. It gave me standard to aspire to. I don't think I would have made 30 if I'd carried on as I was.
It doesn't really matter whether RoSPA is better or worse - what counts is that you're taking steps to improve you own driving, whatever your starting point. That's all that matters.
... and who knows, you might even enjoy the experience.
Im interested in the VW Touran and would welcome any replies about the vehicle both bad and of cause good? Does anybody know the service costs etc, i can afford the 1.6 petrol. Is the 1.6fsi better than the normal 1.6? Read more
I stand corrected, there is a greater choice than when I was purchasing.
Have a good look round pete, I'm sure if you find the right one for you.
Good luck
Joe
Well I thought JaB would be here with this first.
Anyone care to comment on today\'s report in which Alfa has moved up the reliability scale whilst VAG, BMW and Merc have hit the bottom? Read more
Aprilla,
"Frankly, I would still trust the reliability of an old 190E over that of a modern C-Class."
I usually enjoy reading your posts a lot and found you comment very interesting as it is very close to a dilema I currently have.
Could you clarify whether you feel you would trust an old 190 (with 6-figure mileage and wear & tear etc) more than a modern c-class, or only if there was a new equivalent of a 190.
My dilema is a wanting a/c in a large estate, and I am thinking of getting another w124 with a/c as our current one seems so good, but my brain says something like a newish mondeo has to be much better value and should be more reliable (... a test drive confirms it is far less serene). The idea of having a/c installed doesn't appeal too much on the basis that is has a fair chance of converting a car that works perfectly too rattly/unreliable etc. and we want to keep it whatever.
Any thoughts would be appreciated
I'm thinking of getting a 4 year old Vito to tow a 1300 kg caravan. Theres three diesel engines available as far as I can see; 108/ 110/ 112 (or the 115 on the new one)
Given these engines are common rail and turbo, I'm assuming theres more than enough power for the job with the 110 and 112.
Anyone got any experience with towing with one of these or indeed experiences of Vito ownership generally? I know the weight ratio is ok, its just whether its quick enough with the van on the back!
Any advice gratefully received............
Read more
Hi,
not much in it really, the VW does have a touch more body roll
but the vw tdi engine doesent have as narrow torque band.
Most importantly the VW brakes actually stop the vehicle Ive had serveral hairy moments with the Merc.
Iraq has the potential to produce huge amounts of oil if their is investment.
Saudi can increase supply.
The market is tight at the moment, but the increase in price is disproportionate with the "decline" in supply.
Iraq is very interesting to the Americans as now they have taken over the country they can control and profit from oil going to Russia and China. The Russians signed a deal with Saddam not long before the invasion worth $40bn over 10 years while the, ahem, "sanctions" were in place.
Also, as prices rises more and more oil fields will become viable. Saudi oil is often wonderfully cheap as it just flows from the ground they dont even have to pump it, so can be produced for as little as $10 a barrel. I think it wont be too long before oil prices are back down to $30 a barrel. Read more
no no. we were all going to die from sunburn due to the CFCs in our fridges.
Yoou shouldn't jest about bird flu though. Just because it hasn't been in the papers recently doesn't mean that a) its not out there and b) we are safe from it.
Browse
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Which brand are you thinking of, Aprilia? As I've also found ECU faults to be suprisingly common - 2 in the family of my friends (Both same engine but in different cars), and one from someone else I know..