October 2004
**** Poll closed. See the Poll Forum for this weeks Poll. ****
This weeks poll, as suggested by Caveman is now available.
"When you stop for fuel, do you generally?"
Brim it,
Stop at the first click,
Stop at the nearest pound or 50p after the first click,
Other.
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I've been looking at used Volvo S60's. An approx. figure is between £13k and £14k for a 2002, 20T SE, Auto, with up to 20k on the clock.
These cars retailed at about £23k when new, so a £10k drop in 2 years seems heavy, but does this bode well for a used car i.e. will the depreciation curve now slow?
I bought new cars recently and the depreciation hurts, so next time I'm looking at used and these Volvo's seem to be a good deal.
Any thoughts? And any people got anything bad to say about the S60? Read more
Kenny P -
Condensation inside S60/V70/S80 headlamps is a known issue. Although my 2003 V70 headlamps don't suffer from it (yet?), those on my father's 1998 S80 have done so for the past four years. Beyond looking a little unsightly, the condensation hasn't caused any problems, and the headlamp reflectors are as pristine as new. The condensation dries out with use, which being a Volvo, means every time the car is driven unless the lamp switch is moved to the 'parking light' position. If your headlamps have no stone chips or breaks in the glass, this design issue is likely to be the cause.
Regarding the condensation, are you sure that the air conditioning / climate control (as appropriate) was switched on? If not, then the mist is likely to be condensation from in the system. Note however that with the climate control option (not sure about basic air con), the system is designed to run a fan and dry out a period of time after the car is parked to stop this happening. Having written all this, my V70 once misted up big time when brand new (I had to pull over and stop), but the problem has never returned. So, to conclude, I'd keep an eye on it and find a trend before jumping to any conclusion.
What do we do then???
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3701486.stm
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Wait till the bearded sandalled brigade wake up to the fact that the moon is gradually receding away from the earth. Since it's the moon's gravity that keeps us turning nicely and steadily in one plane, we shall start to wobble with Antarctica being on the Equator one year and Europe being on Antarctica the next. I know because I saw it on Discovery Channel.
Doomed, I tell you, we're all doomed.....
www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1256235,00....l
Some study has suggested that drivers should have to pay for any collision involving children regardless of fault. Isn't this going to lead to more stupid kids playing chicken, getting run over and suing drivers rather than just getting a good slap for being so stupid? Talk about reverse evolution!
I was taught to never, ever, ever step into the road without looking first. What are they teaching kids today? I see them all the time just wandering in the road, no regard for the fact there are moving vehicles around them. This (if it ever gets made law) is going to make the situation even worse. Since when have so many kids become so incompetant on their own that they can't even be trusted to cross a road?
Perhaps the law could be changed so that no child is allowed out unless accompanied by an adult as they clearly can't cope in an urban environment ;-)
teabelly Read more
The death rate per mile for a pedestrian is about 10x
that of a car driver. Much safer if we go by
car :-)
Time for 4-year-olds to get driving licenses? ;-)
Despite what it looks like, I think this is best suited to the discussion thread but if not, then by all means move it.
A couple of days ago, I drove into the drive and dad's car was in first. Because it was getting dark, I had the sidelights on but in the reflection, I could only see one. Sure enough, the left sidelight was out.
However, doing the same thing last night, they were both on! Despite this, I have decided to change both sidelight bulbs and the headlight bulbs.
Now. I saw a Mondeo MK2 drive past this morning when it was dark and it had almost Xenon type looking headlights - bright white - the entire road ahead of it looked, almost like daylight. They weren't given the age of the car but after seeing them, I did a search on t'internet. What are your opinions on the bulbs I should use?
I don't want the car looking like a boy racer's mode of transport (i.e. blue l.e.d.'s in the headlights) but having read some things, white (or at least brighter bulbs) seem to be great at night.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Should it matter, the car is a '99 Focus.
--
Adam Read more
In this case Mr Cat you are wrong; - I'm joining the Police!
I know I know - I'll just go now!
--
Adam
Has anybody else got one ?
There is a slight hesitation when leaving a standstill - almost as if the gearbox is taking time to spin up. After the pause its fine, but I wonder if that pause is normal or if its just mine.
Not knowing much about diesel automatics or little 1.9 engines, I haven't the faintest idea myself. Read more
Does the gearbox have 'Neutral Control' to help fuel efficiency and reduce torque converter heating when the vehicle has been stationery for more than a few seconds? i.e. does the gearbox slip in to neutral by releasing a clutch to disengage the torque converter or by another means such as reducing oil pressure?
My brother has a V70 D5 auto with Neutral Control, and if the car is stopped for more than the aforementioned few seconds, on pressing the accelerator there will be a slight pause before the car moves. If the car is stationery only briefly, pressing the accelerator results in the car moving immediately. In both cases idle speed and accelerator usage are the same so it has nowt to do with turbo boost and everything to do with NC.
anyone ever used these bulbs? the lights on my audi a6 are not that bright - ive tried various bulbs from osram etc. wondered if any of you guys had experience of using these. Apparently there not legal for road use.... Read more
On my mk2/3 Golfs, for a small improvement in headlight output, I have always fitted an extra earth (-) wire direct from the headlight backplate to the battery. An inline multimeter shows it carries about 1.5 amps.
Regards
GGH
Just returned from another Stansted Airport run and thought I'd warn any occasional M25/M11 users amongst you of the major roadworks which started there today and are due to last up to 10 weeks IIRC (judging by the one man, his dog and a garden rotivator set-up it could be longer however:()
At around 7.30 this morning the situation north of the Dartford Tunnel was very slow indeed right up as far as jcn 27. This added about 90mins to our journey so anyone heading in that general direction over the next few weeks beware and either find an alternative route or leave a good deal of extra time especially if you're wanting to catch a flight or on urgent business of some sort.
ps The queue for the M11 exit started several miles short of it and many drivers who were trying to turn off and didn't realise this were having great difficulties doing so. Read more
... the emissions are higher?
Where's that coat?
has anybody had any good or bad experiences of the rover 200 brm
my pal is going to look at one the is weekend.
being of course the 1.8 any thoughts on headgasket issues ?.
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Pezzer - my feelings exactly!
Whilst it hasn't got a bad boy bonnet and lexus lights it will have lead a hard life - you don't change the brakes, exhaust etc and then gently pootle round in it
If you're feeling brave, why not do a mock driving theory test.
www.dsa.gov.uk/mockpaper/theoryintro.htm
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You should try the ADI test - thats 100 questions!! As for the hazard perception test, thats in a different league completely.
Browse
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Same as Aurther picton - you need full litres to get the points!!
VB