December 2004
My wife and I are considering a short holiday in Greece (mainland, probably Peloponnese) in early April, hiring a car and motoring about. Have any backroomers experience of driving in Greece? In particular -
1) Any advice on driving in Greece?
2) Any advice on car hire in Greece?
3) Any advice on where we might base ourselves? We'd be looking for a pleasant, quiet, interesting spot.
Thanks. Read more
The heater control valve is bust - apparently common, and I have been told it's a really easy, quick job - about 10 minutes worth - by a mechanic pal. However when asking local garages they are claiming between one and two hours, saying the anti-freeze needs changing as well. Being told it will cost about £70 - if I buy the part.
Can anyone verify?? Read more
The brake pad warning light on my '92 BMW 518 has just come on. Can anyone tell me (roughly) how many more miles I can drive it before I must get new pads. Read more
But you
could ignore the warning until the brakes start making a noise
indicating metal-metal contact ....
and then you will have to buy new disks as well as pads.
Hi
I had a discussion with some friends a while back about the best way to use an auto in heavy traffic with respect to the least wear and tear on the box itself. 1 of them said its best to leave it in drive all the time as putting it into neutral a lot wears out the actuators, another couple thought it best to put it in neutral if you're stationary for a long time as leaving it in drive heated up the torque converter and could shorten its life. Is either of them right?
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I like to switch it to 'winter' mode and set it in 2nd gear. That way it isn't constantly changing up and down from 1st to 2nd.
Just need to remember to switch it back before needing some acceleration, eg. pulling out onto a junction.
Ok so I travel about 15k miles pa mostly on motorways and am looking for the ideal car to chew up the miles for me, budget ~£10k, hoping to buy ex-fleet at auction.
Cars I have in mind are:
3 series
volvo S60
A4
Passat
Freelander (???)
Audi TT (??)
Key requirements are that it's an auto.
Doing my spreadsheet calculations, it looks like diesel is the way to go (assuming 10mpg gap between diesel and petrol this equates to about a £500 saving pa in fuel costs)
Question is, how can I quantify the difference in servicing costs between the 2 engine types? I've heard on here that diesels cost more to service, but how much more - £100? £200? £500?
Assume it's about £200 difference, this means that getting a petrol would cost me net £300 more in running costs pa - i.e. not much difference. So do I go more for the free-revving, smoother characteristics of a petrol, or the torquey grunt of a derv?
So many questions... I've owned both diesel and petrol cars in the past, and perhaps prefer petrol (nicer engine noise when pushed / quieter idling) but also appreciate saving money....
Cheers! Rich
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Hi HJ; you are right. There was a post from Aprilia a few weeks ago with the details why a diesel auto was less economical than its manual version that the petrol equivalent and it was all down to torque, which is of course the reason people by diesels!
Having said that our Trajet Diesel auto is fine and certainly about 20% more economical than the petrol auto belonging toa friend of ours who has a similar driving regime. The only problem is that it is very slow and sluggish when cold. Is that a diesel or auto issue? or a combination?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Do people need to be re-educated in the use of their fog lamps, the amount of times that I have been blinded by some plonker driving with his fog lamps on, even though visibility isnt reduced by climatic conditions !!!! Being a member of one of the emergency services (Not police) I am shocked at the number of drivers who mis-use their fog lamps. Do we need for these drivers to be given on the spot fines to make them obey the rules for other drivers ??? Read more
I agree completely with the point about foglights being used in non-foggy conditions - they are indeed completely unnecessary. I do disagree with the headlights bit though. I use mine (dipped) 24 hours a day even on sunny days for reasons of increased visibility (perfectly legal as I understand it). Amazingly, some people still feel the need to 'flash' me for it...
Very sorry if this has been discussed before.......
Do the drivers of foreign registered cars caught speeding by the UK revenue cameras receive a ticket back home in France or wherever ?
Or can they belt around sticking up two fingers...so to speak.
(Actually most of them that hit the motorway at night in the rain only a minute after getting off the ferry at Portsmouth seem pretty intimidated judging by the way they try to keep out of everyone's way :) ) Read more
Re "UK citizens were a defined race that could be targeted", well I know there have been court cases where scots, welsh and irish have been identified as such, not sure about english but that couldnt be that far off ? in which case there are 4 subsets that are being treated unfairly ?
now where is the commission for racial equality when u need it ?
The radio has 'lost' it's RDS and TA functions. I.e. there is no radio station name displayed or in memory and there are no traffic announcements interrupting the quizes. Pressing the RDS or TA button doesn't do anything. I have removed the radio completely for an hour and re-connected it. The fault is still there. Apart from the loss of these functions, the radio works fine. Any suggestions apart from sending it away for serious diagnostics and dosh?
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Thanks for that suggestion. I have noticed the mobile phone causing more interference on FM than I would expect and 5 Live, an AM station can be pretty awful. I checked the aerial/radio connection when I disconnected the power that was ok so I'll look at the aerial end.
80-odd year old chap who lives near me called me today. His 2003 Polo 1.4 was running terrible (missing, no power). 'EPC' and 'Emissions' fault lights were on.
The car is only a year old and had just been serviced by the VW dealer (25 miles away).
I checked the engine over and found that the oil filler cap was loose. Presumably after the service they had put it back on and not tightened it properly. It must have sealed well enough when he drove home, but on starting the car this morning it moved a bit and was letting air in.
Anyway, fitting the cap properly returned engine operation to normal and the 'EPC' light went out. Unfortunately the 'Emissions' light is staying on.
Anyone know how to reset this lamp without a 50-mile round trip to the dealer? Will it reset after it senses a period of normal running with correct cat operation? Read more
No Dynamic, that is to reset the service interval reminder.
You're right. My only excuse is that I didn't read the post properly and it was late.
Im unable to open the glovebox on my polo (1196 CL), one of the buttons on the front of the lock seems to have stuck. Dont really want to force it.
Anybody got any ideas.
Cheers Read more
i think you might have to force it try using two plastic cards to protect trim use a screwdriver in between and prise you will break something but hopefully only the catch which can be replaced cheap enough...sorry...keo
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The Greek word for tyre is "Elasto". Believe you me I've had to buy a few!!
Along with a full check of the bodywork check the tyres for damage. Some of their roads are well rough and as per normal customers do not treat their hire cars as they would their own.
If you suffer a puncture due to someone elses abuse and it is unrepairable you pay for a new tyre.
Also make sure there is a servicable spare, jack and brace. Some areas are somewhat remote if you get the wanderlust.
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