November 2004
Hi all,
For a while I've had an odd vibration in my car and various things have not cured it. I decided to take it to a garage to get them to find out what was wrong, and then give me a quote to fix it.
I found one garage in the yellow pages who advertised that they offered 'free estimates'. I called, and asked how much they would charge to have a look and quote me for a repair if they found anything, the woman said this would be free.
So, I booked it in and took it there today. Left the car with them, popped off to a lecture, and then came back to find they had indeed found the fault. Turns out that apparently the inside rim on my two front wheels is buckled. He showed me the problem, and I was satisfied this was wrong. He also told me that when I had the wishbone replaced a while back the garage had put the bolt in and not done something, and that he'd sorted that. Very nice, but I had no idea he was going to do that.
I was then charged £58 for 2 hours labour. I queried this, saying I was told that a quote would be free, but was told the car had been in the workshop while they had a look to see what was wrong, etc etc, and that they can't quote for the work as the wheels need replacing, blah blah.
I did explain again what I was told, and also pointed out that nobody called to ask if they could expend several hours labour by taking bits off and looking in their workshop. There is also the small matter of quite why it took 2 hours to find 2 buckled wheels (I don't dispute they spent 2 hours on the car, though).
This all fell on deaf ears and I left, having paid the £58.
Did I do the right thing? Were they right? Can they charge me 2 hours labour becuase they spent 2 hours looking at my car even though their yellow pages advert says 'free estimates' and I was told there would be no charge to look at the car?
I doubt there is anything I can do now, is there?
FWIW I was satisfied with their diagnosis.. Read more
I know the subject of cycle carriers has been covered before however, a couple of specifics I am looking for.
I have the new shape Scenic and want to carry 4 bikes. Options seem to be
1. Roof mounted
Pros - could possibly do this quite cheaply with the aid of ebay etc. However cons are trying to lift 4 bikes over my head onto the roof of my car without causing damage to me or the car.
2. Tow bar mounted
Pros - I feel these are a lot stronger and you can also get ones that swivel out of the way to allow access to the hatch. However, at this moment in time, I do not have a towbar though am seriously considering getting one as my dad has a trailer which I would probably use more; trips to dump etc if I had a towbar. (He also has a caravan which I might use)
3. This is the main point, I can't help but think a trailer mounted cycle carrier system would be a good idea. Bikes could stay on this in my garage (help storing) and I could just hook it up within seconds. However, does such a thing exist? I have searched the web and cannot see them. "Cycle" and "trailer" brings up these wee trailers that you pull behind your bike!
Money would be a major factor in all this.
(FWIW, I just wouldn't consider a rear window type arrangement. I just do not think door hinges are made for these and that, together with lack of boot access and safety would put me off it) Read more
cheers bobby always nice to know how you got on. glad it worked out, i am always carrying bikes and your idea may be used by me in the back of my next seasons van, under a false floor so i can still use the van for everything else...cheers...keo.
The mirror heating element of my VW passat does not work. I want to remove glass to test and replace if necessary. Is it easy to remove without breaking glass and/or what is best method. Thanks Read more
done this on a 91 golf and would assume a passat of similar age is the same.
move the mirror so its pointing down and inwards, then with a small screwdriver release the two small clips (visible behind the glass on the top-outside of the mirror) over the mount and carefully prise the "peg" free of the hole in the mount.
then move the mirror to point out and do the same for the top-inside.
now you've got the top off and the bottom should be easy
take your time though and don't use too much force as you can damge the pivots in the mechanism (or crack the glass of course)
I've got no problem with regular servicing, otherwise I'd have posted this to the other thread. I have a 97 Mercedes C class, which I have serviced at an independent specialist. They charge £152.50 + vat for a major service. So far, so just about ok. I have a problem with the price they charge me for the parts they use, all plus vat:
5 litres of Shell Helix Plus: £32.95
1 wiper blade: £20.18
Pollen filter: £20.43
Screen wash: £4.50
This looks to me like a rip off. Why should I pay over twice the Halford's price for the same oil? £7 extra for the same wiper blade?
What do BR's think the garage would say if I supplied my own parts? Do any of you do this, given that most garages operate the same scam on engine oil? What has the response been? Just like to check before I try this dodge next time... Read more
And you work for? A main dealer! Thanks for the advice!
Help
Im about to choose a company car and I am looking at a BMW 330DieselSport on a 2003 plate or a Merc E Class 270Diesel Avant Garde on a 2003 plate. I love the drive on the e class but concerned at the complicated electrical problems I have heard about with the car. The 330 is a dream and flys like poo off a shovel with handling to match. The space is great on the merc but its a big car. Im torn what do I do??? Read more
If you had gone for a new merc (which I have)I got a free upgrade from the E220CDI to E270CDI, AND £2000 towards the purchase price from Mercedes AND negotiated a 4% dealer discount AND £300 worth of body care. That is through Mercedes (London)
Hi,
due to the arrival of 2nd child I need to swap my car. However at 6'4" (with long legs) I find that many supposedly large vehicles dont have any decent legroom in the back. With childseats fitted I cannot get into 'standard' sized cars.
I am looking at spending up to £10K, bmw 5 series doesnt have much space in the back, saab 9-5 seats are too small (literally a pain in the neck). My brother has a passat which is big enough but I find it uncomfortable, plus I hear a lot of horror stories, and Im not too impressed with the quality of my current A4
What should I go looking at ?
Is the volvo v70 a decent size ?
many thanks
Mark Read more
New Vectra Estate seems to be absolutely huge. IIRC lengthened wheelbase over saloon.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
My friend is looking to change her Corsa and wants to replace it with another car of similar small size. She'd like another 3 door with a bit more oomph (1.3/1.4) around about the £3000 mark. Reliability and looks are important. What options does she have regarding make/model.
She was quite interested in the Saxo but I've heard that they aren't the most reliable of makes. (Micra is out..."can't stand the look of it"). Any other suggestions??
Cheers
--
If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished Read more
why not approach it logically?
Engine size required
no of doors
max miles
equipment (CD/Aircon etc)
Insurance Group (Parkers Guide site has a list)
safety (see HJ guides)
reliability
Then servicing costs - may have to phone garages for that or read What Car.
Colour preference.
Narrow it down and then search in Autotrader.
Personally a Ford Fiesta 1.4 Ghia (1.6 would be over budget) goes well/is reliable/cheap to run and great fun to drive.. but yes and early Honda etc (but insurance?)
Approach it logically and then cross of what is not liked/unrelaible/expesnive and look for a good one of the list left.
(but who says car buying is logical?:-)
madf
Hi, Have a problem with my Audi A3 1.9 tdi se 2000. A couple of times this week the spedo/rev counter and other dash instruments have not been working but after about 10 mins driving they have come on. Thursday driving to work they did not come on at all and when I came to go home car would not start(tries for a second then stops). All other electrics lights, climate control etc are all ok. Greenflag could not find the fault and towed me home. Read more
Got car back Wednesday night, diagnostic did not come up with much, they reset the computer and all was ok. This morning starts ok but still no speedo, rev counter etc. Any further ideas?
"Tens of thousands of people will be killed – and hundreds of thousands injured, unnecessarily, if motor manufacturers fail to introduce long awaited design improvements immediately, it was revealed today (November 25th)"
www.euroncap.com/content/media/press_releases/nove...l Read more
Thanks for the link. It certainly makes chilling reading. I am pleased that my VW Touran has both a 5 star passenger protection and 3 star pedestrian protection.
Safety isn't sexy and not as exciting as scantily clad draped across the bonnets of cars with large engines.
However, the death and serious injury tolls on the roads of Europe are significant enough. I was a junior doctor in Casualty in 1988 and was very pleased that the law that made wearing seatbelts compulsory was introduced in 1986. This had an enormous impact on the number of patients needing facial stitching to repair the lacerations as their head had hit the windscreen so by the time I started work, very few patients needed suturing.
I imagine the NCAP proposals could have a similar effect if enacted. You can choose which car you travel in but you can't choose which car hits you if you are unfortunate to be the pedestrian victim of a road traffic accident.
Women often have the casting vote when buying cars these days so the answer could well be targetting a female constituency for whom safety may be a higher priority than 0-60 times.
Happened to be in Halfords this pm near the RipSpeed desk and noticed a poster for some kind of advanced driving course for youngsters (Max Drive I think it was).
It was captioned Drive like a God.
No wonder there are so many who think they are immortal...
I suppose I shouldn't question the tag line of what appears to be a very worthy idea... Read more
Motorcycle News were prone to articles entitled "How to Ride Like a God".
The accompanying missive then went on to demonstrate how to do wheelies, stoppies, burnouts, and circle roundabouts with your knee down.
The next step to following their advice was likely to have been a meeting with God.
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Well, what I actually expected was to have the car looked at for free, have them tell me whats wrong with it, and then presumably pay them to fix it. At least, thats what was explained to be the situation before I booked it in.
I doubt I'd have been able to fix anything myself!
Never mind :)