October 2004
Anyone happen to know if the recent drop in new car sales applied to Golfs? I'll be talking with a salesman on Monday and it would help to know how strong my negotiating position is.
Thanks.
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Evening all,
I have a friend who owns a Peugeot 406 - nothing special - just a basic petrol model. (Not that well up on diesels). Anyway, he showed me a 'cool feature' today. When he pushed the remote button, the car unlocked and the lights came on - proper headlights and tailights that is. The car never did this before as a) I've seen it before and b) it's only a P reg 406. He reckons he did this himself but I have serious doubts.
Dad occasionally comes home in an E320 CDI which does this complete with fog lamps and folding mirrors, which, on a Merc looks pretty good but with a 406, I'm sceptical.
How difficult is this job? I can see benefits when it's very dark - not least in our driveway - and especially on a dark carpark. I suppose it's an offshoot of the interior lights illuminating when you push UNLOCK (which mine do anyway). I would never pay to have it done but it sounds like a good DIY project if it were that easy.
Cheers
** I would like to note - I am not a boy racer - I don't want blue neons, I don't want DJ Letsblowoureardrums playing through the stereo - I'm jsut curious.
--
Adam Read more
I'm sure it could be done with a little bit of wiring - as it is, the indicators come on for about 2 seconds when the doors are locked so most of the circuitry is already there I'm sure and I don't doubt it could be reconfigured if you wanted to.
(I remember a garage managing to wire up my mate's Escort's brakelights to the headlights so every time he braked to get through a tight gap it looked as though he was flashing the oncoming traffic to let them through...)
I often wonder if we can get our vehicle count down from 3 to 2 or even 1, and release some of the money tied up in them and reduce insurance, running costs etc. But for the reasons outlined below it would be difficult.
Me - for pleasure - needs to fit 4 people, plenty of space, safe to drive and manual 4 x 4 is preferable as I do plenty of rural driving, and tow heavily laden trailers.
The wife - needs the exact opposite (typical!). Won't drive it if she has to think of changing gears, and it needs to be small. Fitting all of us in it is not that much of an issue, though it is handy. Give her something the size of the Discovery and she will run a mile - one mile further than she would drive it!
Then there's me - work - needs to fit and store all my stuff in so that I effectively have a mobile tool shed, plus space for materials etc I need to collect and carry.
The Discovery is a functional vehicle, that after visting Scotland the week the A9 in Perth got closed when the whether was terrible, I swore I would never be without! It fits all the family in with comfort. I am 6'4" and need to put the seat right back, still leaving plenty of legroom for the children. It is also a great towing vehicle. However it is also big, slightly clunky, cannot fit my tools in long term and, worst of all for the wife - MANUAL!
So SWMBO drives a very nice Nissan Almera 1.6 auto. It holds the road nicely, runs well and she can drive to work in it and take the children to wherever they need to go, but when I drive it it's too small and we're back to the drivers seat needing to go right back. And to top it all the boot is even smaller, so fitting tools and materials in there - well it's simply a non starter! Further more she confesses that she would like to go smaller when she changes the car!
Thirdly, we have the van. Yes I am alias - WHITE VAN MAN - coming to a contraflow near you with attitude! This LWB Nissan Primastar is great for my work. I can fit all my tools and materials in there. What doesn't go in the van will fit on top. However, to use it as a family car I would have to remove my tools from it every time I took the family out. That would mean I am bound to forget something next time I'm on the job and I would have to reload everything almost each day. Plus I can only fit 2 passengers in it, not 3 (Wife and 2 children).
So to go from 3 vehicles to 1, we need a 4 wheel drive van that I can fit all my tools, materials (inc 8 x 4 sheets of plasterboard), family, luggage, seat 4 people minimum plus children's friends and be the size of a Nissan Micra but is actually a coach!
Boy, if ever anyone makes that vehicle I would love to see it!
Close comers are:
Mitsibushi L200 etc - 4x4 yes, van - erm well.... small car NO Auto - Perhaps but - what am I thinking of!
Large Renault grande espace etc - 4x4 - you can get them I know - auto - poss, all my tools and materials - er no, not with the family in the car. Would the wife drive it? Hahahahahaha!!!! Er no I don't think so.
OK lets go smaller - renault scenic etc - good family car - small enough - the wife will say not really - auto yes, tools in the back - no not with the family to an even greater degree. 4x4 - you can get them I know.
To be fair, it may be more feasable to go from 3 cars to 2 and keep the van.
Only SWMBO wants nothing bigger than she has and I don't want anything smaller than the Land Rover. I think that would become a stalemate!
So if anyone can help me with a large 4 x 4 manual the size of a ford focus and automatic, we may be onto a winner!
The thing is that together they may only do 12000 miles this year!
Heaven help when the children start driving!
Do any other backroomers need such motoring extremes as I do? Read more
"I keep some 10 to 12 power tools, 20 plus boxes of screws, 2 large toolboxes, about 2 to 3 smaller ones, buckets of plasterers and mortar working tools, spirit levels, some commonly needed spares for plumbing, electrical, minor roof repairs..... sorry if I've lost everyone but you get the picture. Oh, I forgot, my ladder that sits on top."
Hope they don't get nicked! More and more craftsmen's vans seem to have a sign on the back saying "No tools are left in this vehicle overnight" - hope you have one! Come to think of it I could do with a new good quality hammer drill - but I think you live too far away!!!
Can anyone please help me. I am selling a car - Its only £400 and I have had two email enquiries about it from 2 different people. They are both foreigners who want to buy it and basically said they would buy it just from my description without even seeing it. The following is an email I have just received. I cant help thinking there is some kinda scam going on here. They want to know my name address and phone number. Does this sound a bit dodgy to anyone else?
The Email:
Hello,
Thanks for your mail response, i am okay with the condition and am okay with
the price of the 1991 VOLKSWAGEN POLO GT 3dr (£400), A client of mine is owning
me some funds in United Kingdom (£4000), I will instruct him to issue a cheque
for you, and as soon asthe cheque clear.
You will deduct the cost 1991 VOLKSWAGEN POLO GT 3dr (£400),and the remaining
balance will be Send to My Shipper via Western Union Money Tranfer for
immediately Shippng Arrangment of the 1991 VOLKSWAGEN POLO GT 3dr from your
location.
Do get back to me If this is okay by you with your information (Full Name,
Contact Address, Phone Number), so that i can forward it to my Client to issue
the cheque for you ASAP. Hope to hear from you
soonest.
This guy hasnt even seen it. Something aint quite right here. Read more
Now that grammar and spelling no longer seems to be taught at school I can see more people falling for this in the future - they won't be able to spot the mistakes.
(Motoring connection: I can spell VW)
I have a 2002 Golf TDI 130 with 11500 Mls owned from new.
The front tyres are Firestone Firehawk 195 x65 and both have almost 5mm of tread across the tyres, apart from the inside shoulders of both.Approx one and a half inches, confined to the shoulders, has worn considerably. This level of wear is confined to the inside shoulders only.Surely the Camber angle would have to be miles out to wear only this part of the tyre .
Pointed out to VW at first service but feedback was \"tyres legal,plenty of tread left.\"
I was not convinced so had the alignment checked by an independant.Camber,toe setting and castor all OK within spec.
No feathering and tyres are inflated to correct pressures.
Been back to VW who do not know what to suggest, only that perhaps my tyres are prone to wear like this!
Has anyone had a similar problem or any suggestions.
Limmo Read more
Just to add that I did e-mail Bridgestone/Firestone. They confirmed that tyres do not wear in the manner that mine have, without some outside mechanical influence.
As one of the previous replies suggested, the wheel alignment specifications set by manufacturers are set to give optimum vehicle performance and this may not give optimum tyre wear
characteristics.Bridgestone suggested that the alignment could be within vehicle spec, at the edge of the tolerance band and may therefor contribute to premature wear,double check alignment.
Still no feathering though if it is toe out!!
Thanks to all those who answered.
Just out of intrest is there anyway of finding out the number of
car registrations per year for the last five years to date? Read more
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) publish this sort of information.
www.smmt.co.uk
In a similar vein as to why are all MkIII Cavaliers white with rusty rear arches why is it that all Peugeot 309s I see never have hubcaps, either OE or aftermarket - do they just fall off?
Perhaps former/current owners could comment!
Marc Read more
I also remember my dad had a 505 that the wheel
nuts actually held the trim in place.
Same on a Xantia.
My wifes volvo 480 failed its mot due to a faulty steerung rack. I had it done by a local chap but he had to remove the steering wheel to align it. Low and behold the SRS light comes on and he says he cannot fix that as only Volvo have the gizmo to do the job..
Volvo in Basingstoke say it will take under an hour...first attempt fails....second attempt fails....now they say 4 to 5 hours strip the electrics to get to the loom. This seems excessive to me...what do the team think? Read more
If no joy here, try the appropriate forum at www.volvospy.com, a site frequented by a number of Volvo trained workshop guys.
I've just bought a 96 (N Reg) Golf VR6 and had a slight problem on 2 occasions, both have been on wet mornings.
After firing her up everything seems ok but the revs will drop and then the car cuts out. This will go on for a few minutes or so and then everything will be ok. This morining everything fired up ok but when i got onto the main road and put my foot down there was hardly any power there and it cut out again. Fired her up again and everything was ok.
I've owned the car a week now and this has happened on Monday and now today but everything else is perfect.. any suggestions?
Cheers Read more
Might want to read this...
chris.quietlife.net/passat/coilpack.html
I removed my coil pack but found it was a sealed unit, so I cannot disassemble it as described above. However, I did use 'J.B. Weld' to seal around the edges, hopefully that will help. Otherwise I will replace it.
Cheers! M2
My Nissan Maxima QX should use 10-40 oil, but I can only find Mobil 1 in 0-40 grade
Will this be safe or should I stick with 10-40 ?
Cheers
Stan Read more
0W-40 will be OK, especially in winter. Using Mobil 1 is a bit of overkill in the QX though, you'd be fine with a cheaper 10W-40 synthetic (e.g. Total-Elf or GM, from Vauxhall dealers). Halfords do a 5W-40 synthetic which would also be OK.
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My daughter and her husband recently experienced the full force of 165mph winds when Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman island......
Currently back home for a short spell to recover from what they describe as a truly terrifying experience.
Re new car sales - my understanding is that most dealerships sell on average six times as many used cars as new ones and at a much healthier profit margin.