November 2004
#1
Vauxhall Cavalier, 1.6, J reg, 144K miles, brown-silver eczema paint, saloon, T&T->April05, exhaust looks OK, some nasty rust
on brake pipes where they pass under clips, tyres thin-ish,
been standing 2 months, runs OK after a minute or two, slightly
crusty around wheel arches, slightly grubby and worn interior.
Has been owned by a home mechanic. £300
#2
Fiat Punto 55, 1.0, N reg, 103K miles, maroon sort of colour,
3 door hatch, tax->endJan05, MOT->endAug05, new-ish exhaust
and cat, tyres 1/2 worn, no real rust, many small dings as if
doors opened into posts, in use daily, leaky sun-roof taped
shut, broken bonnet pull (use pliers), leaky "rocker box"
gasket with oil plastered over front of engine, slight grating
noise when reversing, inside worn but not too grubby. £300.
I want an "old banger" for a run-around until I can get a
bargain for a bit more, possibly it will have to make one
trip to Cornwall, return, 270 miles each way.
Which would you choose? Why? Read more
Just purcahsed a 1996 Rover 111 for an eldery relative.
Tidy, but Obvious it needed a good service at least, as ran a bit rough, and then started having probs starting.
Garage said service not sorted faults, and diagonsed ECU faults, so replaced. However , now when it runs its smooth, but about 1 in 10 times it will not start, and but seems to do if left for a few hours.
Any ideas
Read more
cheers guys
DL- thats exactly what my garage man said ( its not you is it ?)
he's got it at moment - as little point in me saying "it won't work" without him being able to look at it.
+ Think he's not convinced the new ECU is working correctly
=================================================================
{this is a continuation from a question asked by Mark in Volume 30. see
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=26339&...e
for details of the original question posed. DD}
=================================================================
The issue is that it does nto detect the dial-up service from a mobile phone. Whether or not it has its own phone switched on, its own SIM card installed or anything else.
> sorry for being a moron.
You shouldn't apologise over something like that, the other moderators never do. Read more
Just a small point. Sony labels Firewire as iLink. It also has two versions - four and six pin, the latter being powered.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
I will be changing my car soon and I'm looking to combine the best qualities of my last 2 cars - the build quality and refinement of my BMW 523i and the ride comfort of a C5 HDi 2.2. I would a refined, comfortable and reliable 5 seater with at least 450 litres luggage space.
I can spend up to about GBP20k and would prefer to buy nearly new, to soften the depreciation. It will be a private purchase so BIK is not a consideration
I tried the new 5 series yesterday and it didn't do much for me. Reading through magazine road tests, the cars that are rated highest tend to have sharp handling and firm suspension - which isn't what I'm looking for.
I would appreciate your recommendations of cars to try out.
Thanks
FR Read more
Thanks for a challening post - I've always enjoyed benefiting from others' depreciation.
From what I've read, the Mondeo is quite firm and sporting in its handling, however I saw that the Vectra 1.8 is the What Car choice of used car of the year. Apparently it's much suspension is much softer than the Mondeo.
The biggest element of cost is depreciation, and the less you spend on a car, the less you'll lose on depreciation.
F R
Something you might be interested that I found it. Virgincars ........... About 1 year ago Virgincars ...................sold out to Derrick Cook of DC Cook (a car supermarket in the north of England, ....................................). Their website is run under a sister company called ?motor solutions? at motorsolutions.co.uk who also own Makro cars, dc cook web site and many other smaller web sites internal to companies, including no less than the police intranet. Virgin cars is no longer anything to do with the trusted household name of Richard Branson. Derrick Cook ................................. ....................... look at the similarity in the way all these web sites work. Now search this web site for news items on DC cook ...................................................................................... I would not buy a car from this company.
troublesome bits taken out. Mark Read more
Hardly a surprise -
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=26...9
posted nearly a fortnight ago
In a survey involving 48 cars "73% of services were unsatisfactory . . . 67% failed to pick up faults . . . 23% carried out unnecessary work . . . membership of the garage industry's trade body, the Retail Industry Motor Federation (RMI), offered no guarantee of a good service"
Conclusion: "What a hopeless industry." Read more
Customers booking their car in for a manufacturers recommended service should be careful to check exactly what they're paying for. My employer recently purchased a small fleet of ' Premium' vans with a 3yr 100,000 mile warranty, subject to main dealer servicing. As these vans were subject to our independent 'in house' safety checks, it was soon discovered that they were being returned from servicing with empty screenwasher bottles, blown bulbs, incorrect tyre pressures, various oil leaks etc etc. When questioned, the dealer said that the items in question weren't part of the service that the vehicle had been booked in for. On checking the service schedules - we found that he was right, they'd done no more or less than the specified service. When asked about the faults that should have been repaired under warranty, he told us "we don't LOOK for warranty work, you know - you have to report a fault". We now have an arrangement whereby all servicing and inspection is carried out 'in house', and the dealer, albeit reluctantly, carries out the warranty work.
At the risk of becoming boring, I'd like to repeat a question that was unanswered when it was part of an earlier thread.
I'm considering buying a used car that has only done 1200 miles in 16 months. How harmful to the mechanical parts would the long period(s) of idleness have been?
The car is good price, but I feel that the above issue is one on which I need guidance before I commit myself.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
Bought wife's Clio 3 years ago with 4k on the clock, it was 3 years old at the time. Has been fine since, now done nearly 30k.
Hi,
I have a horrible droning noise coming from the front of my Austin Maxi auto. I suspect a wheel bearing from the following:
In a straight line it drones.
On a right-hand bend it drones.
On a left-hand bend it goes quiet(er).
Question is: Which side? Anything else to consider? (bar scrapping it!)
Cheers in advance,
Rich
Read more
Let's hope the car is still on the road. For that matter, let's hope the OP is still on the road too!
Think this gets the "oldest resurrected post of the weeeeeeeek" sung in a Harry Hill sort of way.
I worked just outside Camberley about 14 years ago and used to frequent that isolated pub on Friday lunchtimes. Crossing the road to it was always a sobering experience! Now long gone unfortunately.
Browse
Personally, I agree with the others here.
£300 can get you a better set of wheels that you'll be able to pass on at no loss in a few months time.
Other than that, out of the two you've mentioned, haggle the prices down to a couple of hundred at the absolut max.
OB, did you by chance tell both these owners you've got £300 to spend?
Hugo