November 2004
My father is moving back over here, he wants to know what is invovled in importing his current car (Ford Escape, or Maverick over here). Does it need to be modified in anyway to pass SVA test. All I can think of is headlight adjustment, being a fairly recent car it should pass emmissions??? Any advice would be gratefully accepted. Thanks in advance. Read more
My coolant light comes on when the Air Con is operating and the engine is warm. It will then stay lit for several miles even when Air is switched off.
While coolant light is on, switching the heated seats on causes the seat switch to flash.
Starting from cold with Air on it is OK until first restart of warm engine.
Starting off with Air off while engine is warm seems to avoid coolant light coming on.
Any clues out there?? Read more
Thanks.
The MB robbers tell me it is a fault in fan control unit and quote mega to fit new part which is of course out of stock.
I will have to live with fault for time being.
I'm not interested in MPVs, and having not seen one in the flesh yet, had no idea what an FR-V looked like beyond HJ's tiny photos in the recent road test report. (HJ and Stephen: I know it uses bandwidth, but please can we have road test photos clickable to something larger, if not full size?)
Anyway, having just watched 5th Gear, where the first view of the FR-V that I clocked was from the side, I was convinced that another one of Bangle's Mangled Wagons had come to blight society with its contrived design. What a complete dead ringer for an X3 sagging under a heavy load! Read more
Off on a slight tangent, but the same sort of thing......
I saw my first Seat Altea mini MPV today. In press photos the car looked strikingly different, if not altogether pretty. However, on the road the red example looked surprisingly bland and 'Japanesy'. Its VW Touran cousin, which is supposed to be the bland one, looks much crisper.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
my laguna has a habit of stalling, not always from cold and starts again easily enough. any ideas. prefer to tinker my self or is it a trip to the garage. Read more
thanks a lot for this info. will give it a go at the weekend. have found it doesnt stall if i nock it into nuetral when coming to junctions/traffic queues. not ideal but effective. thought myself it might be a fuelling problem, possibly the ECU needed checking. tanks again. - mick
My 1999 TDDI Focus suffers from bad vibration through the body (not through the steering) on acceleration, can anyone help ? Read more
That is strange. I only ask about the rev range because mine's started doing this. Admittedly mine's a petrol and I wouldn't really call it a vibration through the body but something is definitely vibrating at higher revs.
TimmyRaa mentions the cat in my post on this:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=27...0
See the earlier posts for the vibration.
I hope someone knows more and can help you.
--
Adam
I know there are a few people on this forum lucky enough to live in the glorious midlands, so thought I'd ask for some opinions on which of these journeys would be easiest/quickest.
Bearing in mind both journeys would be done in rush hour, and I hate the Birmingham New Road with a passion only reserved for that stupid Dixons ad where she taps on the perspex doing a phone order, when Dixons don't even DO phone ordering....grrr.
Anyway...
Journey 1: Wolverhampton to Worcester, probably on the A449 through Kiddermister as we live on that side of town, and the previously mentioned hatred of the New Road to get to the M5.
Journey 2: Wolverhampton to Solihull. I'm guessing this would have to involve the M6 somewhere - would it actually be easier to go up to the M6Toll junction at Cannock (about 15 minutes away from me) and go in that way... or would that just not work at all? Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to play the coins in the bucket game again.
I know potentially both journeys could take anything up to 2 hours if traffic is bad, just wondered which would be the least painful. Read more
Why not consider the train? There is a direct service from Wolves to Solihull, journey time of just 29 minutes in the peak ! If it's for commuting you can get all sorts of season tickets, which has got to be cheaper than using the car trying to cross Birmingham in the rush hours day after day.
Going to Worcester by train might not be so much fun as you would have to change at Smethwick or Birmingham New St / Snow Hill.
I am thinking about buying a car at auction.
It is from Australia. Not registered in the UK. No V5.
Described as having "duty-paid import documentation."
Has anyone got experience of importing a car. What papers should I be looking for? What do they look like? Is the duty VAT?
Also, how easy is registering a car with DVLA? It is a 1920s vehicle, so I would be looking for an age-related numberplate.
Read more
If you are buying from an auction in the UK the car should have reg docs from Aus and customs docs(C&E 389) for UK.Usually you need an MOT,not sure about a car from the 1920s though.Then fill out a V55,send into your local VRO and they will issue a reg No.Easy enough.
It's me again with another conundrum. Just bought one of the above and when I was driving it home in heavy traffic I noticed the accelerater peddle jolts slightly (more like a slow vibration) when I'm using the clutch. Fine when normal driving but when it's stop/start it happens. Doesn't appear to move when u look at it but I can feel it with my foot. Only other way I can describe it is when my old Vectra had ABS problems and I pressed the brake peddle it used to judder as the brakes came on/off. It's like that but only a slight movement. Don't know what it is ut would like to know
If I'm making any sense pls let me know, if not shoot me and I'll get a bus-pass instead. Read more
It might be a knackered electric fan bearing? It happened to me once, felt like a shudder through the accelerator pedal...
You'll know if it's that when the shudder stops, the car overheats in traffic and you find that the fuse is blown!
El Dingo.
The Human League kick off their 20 date xmas tour tomorrow night in Irvine, Scotland. I'll be travelling up leaving Manchester at about 3pm. Anyone any experience of the M6, M74 route I'll be taking, in particular what the rush hour traffic is going to be like around Kilmarnock and Irvine? Read more
Just got off the phone with a nissan one asking for a part I ordered weeks ago. I spoke to the same chap that I did before but he can't remember a thing and their computer system is so poor they can't search on any details such as customer address or vin number of vehicle! They can only search from numbers on the receipt, which I haven't got with me and I can't remember where I put it!
Almost as annoying as a fiat department where I ordered rear calipers and they sent me bendix instead of girling and then proceeding to send me the wrong type of suspension bolt... the old one had been cut off but the fitter didn't check the new one was correct before doing so...
Are all parts departments this useless or am I just unlucky?!
teabelly Read more
Where I live a Christmas gift would be appropriate practice. Any use?
Browse
If your father is coming over for good, and shipping a lot of stuff over, it might be worth while hiring a container and shipping the car as well. Have no intention of using it in the uk or putting it through SVI but selling it "as is". I bet you would get considerably more for it here than selling it in the US.