November 2004
Hi!
Can anyone help with this problem?
Car -a 1997 Mondeo TD. Well maintained etc; Working fine and then go to start it again and nothing.AA called(lovely people) he said it could be immobilizer,so stuck between devil and deep blue sea.
He says "do the right thing and take it to main dealer" OH! Yes,we all know where that leads!It must be something fairly simple,any ideas? Is it simple or a wallet thrashing?
The Baldyman Read more
Does anyone know of any good products for repairing bodywork scratches (as opposed to just stone chips).
I have a couple of accidental scratches in the door of my wifes Focus, and didnt really want to get involved in any major spray work.
The scratches are not terminal, but are more than just scuffs. Read more
Go to a vehicle refinisher supplier (paint supplier) and get some rubbing compound - better than anything you will get in Halfords.
Is Signum only a long-wheel-based version of Vectra ? Same interior, only hatch + better equipment. I guess even the suspenion is the same. What about ride quality ?
Diesel is out of the question, 2.2 petrol is underpowered, 2.0T unrefined & noisy, so... 3.2 V6... hmm, thirsty... Read more
Quite right His Nibs, I have the 2.0T in my Vectra SRi. It's very smooth with loads of power delivery on tap. Excellent for blasting up the slip road onto motorways and overtaking. In sixth it cruises at very high speed, at low revs and in near silence - ideal if you do all your commute on the motorway like I do.
Sorry to all Mondeo II fans but it's a revelation compared to the Ford 1.8 Duratec HE lump in these respects.
If I were going for the Signum it would be the 2.0T in met black in Elite spec. Nice
Interesting that HJ mentions the poor ride quality of the Golf V in the new Focus road test.
I hadn't read this anywhere else (Autocar, Car, Whatcar) and I couldn't believe how bad it was when I recently tested a Golf GT TDi DSG. This wasn't a quick round the block trip, but a weekend in something I was keen to like. I checked the tyre pressures to make sure they weren't over inflated, but they were standard. Also, it was riding on 16'' wheels and not the more desirable 17''. Hate to think what the new GTI on 18 inchers will be like.
My conclusion was that I couldn't live with it - have a good drive in a Mk V Golf before you decide! Read more
I think the ride quality in my mkV Golf with sports suspension is excellent. It has 15" alloy wheels with Goodyear NCT tyres.
My last car was a MINI though so the Golf is much more comfortable.
The handling is excellent too. Very sure footed.
No, not me.
Setting off on an Irish Sea ferry-crossing this week, the near-empty passenger lounge was treated to a very loud-voiced woman talking into her mobile about her woes. (This wasn't eavesdropping: it would have been hard to find a place where she couldn't be heard)
Her car had broken down on the ferry, and couldn't be driven off on arrival. Apparently, it couldn't even be pushed off because it had locked the driver out, and nobody seemed to know how to tow it. This woman was not very pleased.
So she was returning on the ferry, with her car stuck where she had parked it on the car-deck, and was frantically trying to raise someone to rescue the thing on her return to Holyhead. She repeated in great frustration that it was a nearly-new Mercedes (I didn't catch which model), and she seemed to be under the impression that this was not quite the quality she had paid for. It seemed that she had also had some free-and-frank exchanges with the ferry company, who hadn't been thrilled to have their car deck blocked.
The final instalment as we headed out of mobile phone range was her calling her son to plead with him to get her a Ford Escort immediately, because at least it would work.
I was very tempted to go and talk to her to ask her the full story to post here, but decided instead that I would preseve my ears by escaping to the far end of the ship. Still not a great ad for a Merc ... Read more
All you needed for the full sitcom hit would have been a gangly male thrashing said Merc, within an inch of its life, with a branch.
My mum's 4½-year-old VW Polo 1.0 has clocked up 70,000 miles, and she is wondering about replacing it.
I have suggested that it's still fairly young and that she should hang onto it for another year or two, so I was wondering if backroomers have any suggestions?
She lives in a remote rural rea, so the miles have nearly all been clocked up on slowish A- and B-roads, usually at the 40-50mph. So it hasn't been flogged ... though she tends to drive in too high a gear for my liking, and I wonder whether that might have strained the engine a bit. Is there much life left in that engine?
The bodywork is pretty much perfect (no sign of any rust), though there do seem to be more rattles and groans that there used to be. Is this car likely to be heading into the big repair-bill territory soon, or should it be OK for another few years?
As for a replacement, she has been looking at the new Polo, but I've suggested that it's overpriced and she should consider a Skoda Fabia instead. If so, is there much to choose between the 55bhp and 65bhp versions of the 1.2 engine?
I know that the common wisdom is that the 1.0 litre in the old Polo is underpowered, but it's fine for her usage -- so something with that sort of level of oomph would do fine. Read more
Are there not some pretty good deals on base model Polos at the moment. I thought you could get one from £6995 which probably makes them no more expensive than a Fabia.
Not that there is anything wrong with a Fabia but if she is anything like my mum she only feels happy sticking to the same type of car.
I'm thinking of buying a new Mini Cooper 'S' but have heard rumours about a whole new set of engines about to be launched for all Mini variants.
I don't want to buy one then 5 minutes later find they've released the new engines.
Can anyone confirm this? If so, can you point me in the direction of websites / magazines where I can find more information etc.
Thanks in advance ! Read more
Thanks for the info. I've ordered one anyway, but it'll be almost 12-18 months given the current waiting list...!! Cheers.
Overturned petrol tanker.
Colin, in response to a later post in this thread I have deleated your other comments here. I fully appreciate that you may not have been armed with all the facts when you posted.
Hugo - BR Moderator
www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/travelinfo/m25.shtml
Read more
www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWACCIDEN...=
A little sensitivity please - the tanker driver was killed.
Thank you Trevor
I have deleated some of the comments in the opening thread, hence it is only fair to edit your post as well.
Hugo BR Moderator
Great read John but you don't state weather the new Focus gets the thumbs up or down? It seems that you have agreed with other pundits that the styling has failed but everything else seems ok, so what's the bottom line with you? (and maybe other backroomers?) Read more
Well, that's a rave review if ever I read one!
I'm personally not too fussed what the outside of a car looks like, unless it's weird of course! Once you are in it you can't see what it looks like, after all.
As far as car interiors are concerned, I think there is far too much concentration, by reviewers, on the visual appeal. As long as everything is clear, logical and works properly I can't see that it matters if the finish is grey, black or has lots of "bland" plastic.
--
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
Renault megane 1996 r reg keeps cutting out for no reason,happens quite alot had it in garage could not find any faults but it is still doing it sometimes anybody any ideas or had similar problems Read more
Thanks lads will try these suggestions
Browse
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'Then Nothing' are you telling up the car would not crank over or it cranked but would not start ?? Big difference. Peter