February 2005
One may think that the days of interiors with bits of un-covered metal surfaces are long gone. Ehhhmmm... No way.
Nowadays even fully loaded Signum 3.2 V6 comes with scary, body-colour-coded bits of metal around the B-pillars (door surroundings). Same applies to many more, like Citroen C4, Vectra or Skoda Superb (upper class wanna-be hehe).
My Corolla ?02 (top-specs ?Sol?, current model, sedan, made in Turkey) has ?em covered with nice bulletproof black-matte plastic (very Audi-like hehe). My nephew has the same model, same year, same specs, same Turkish wonder (though with an autobox ? that?s the only difference) and... green ?strips? around not only ?B?, but also ?A? pillars.
People do notice such things. It?s OK in cheap cars, but not in expensive ones. Looks nasty especially when in contrast with bright body colours, like red or yellow. Ah, BTW ? the new Passat (coming soon) has those un-covered too ;)
Read more
i posted a problem yesterday regarding the oil light on our Clio - well today the engine has begun to turn on us!
The engine sounds a bit noisy , especially when reving at around 2500 rpm. It doesn't sound to healthy - I thought it may be the gearbox but it sounds as though it is coming from the engine.
The oil light has been flickering as we change gear more today, particularly when the engine is disengaged. When idling the car is noisier than normal then it gets worse when we rev. Please help!!!!!
Rich
Read more
Please keep us posted as to what is found wrong..It may be of interest to others..
--
Steve
Bought some of this on holiday near Bath. Mpg seems to have improved noticeably.
Is this the ordinary stuff that HJ recommends?
Pity there are no Shell garages handy round here (NE Derbyshire).
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty. Read more
There is a Shell garage on the A6175 Heath Road between the Junction 29 roundabout on the M1 and Holmewood. Not sure if they sell Pura Diesel though.
I've read HJ's guide to buying at auction. Having done a quick cross check between the reported selling prices and 'typical' dealer/trade/private/px etc in Parkers, the auction prices seem incredibly cheap - savings of 30-40% easily achievable.
Am I missing something here? Why would I ever go to a dealer again....presumably they (auctioneers) allow punters the opportunity to crawl over the car (inside and out)and check the paperwork etc.
Where's the risk? Any other hints/tips on auction buying?
Thanks,
Squeeky Read more
I did visit Blackbushe about two weeks ago. There were quite a few lease cars up for sale, one or two examples of the model I'm interestd in. I expect to go to about ~£10k. A lot of money to risk but what I'm after would probably forecourt for £13.5 - £15k. The ex lease are I guess the most likely source and probably contribute a little towards risk reduction. I like the idea of using a buyer, I'll give Joe Dowd a call.
Incidentally, although my company no longer offers company cars (we now get an allowance) I am aware that the existing cars are offered to the employee before going off to auction at the end of the lease period.
Thanks
Squeeky
I'll be looking for a car soon (as soon as I sell mine) and wanted one in the cheaper tax and to run bracket (1.4 or under). Being 5ft 11" and 14 stone a micra is not going to do the job.
Anyone got any suggestion on a medium size car in this bracket?
(What's a good car to get, what's not).
If you had £1,000 to get this sort of car, what would it be?
Any help is very much appreciated. Read more
>>I'm 6ft 5 and about 16 stone
I have to say I've always admired cars with boots. I think they look so much better than hatches and I can't understand why anybody would take the mickey out of someone so big with such good taste.
As I believe the PC brigade calls such aberrations.
Non-bikers may click on by.
Oh, the shame.
For Tom Shaw and JBJ: '99 Kawa Vulcan 750 cc. Got it at a fire sale price from a chap who had to leave the country in a hurry ;+) Not bad but the engine is a bit puny at that size compared with the Harleys and one wouldn't dare show up on a metric bike at The Manila Mad Dogs MC Tuesday night run............not if one valued one's standing in the community, that is. First thing I need to do is rip off the mufflers and get some open drag pipes from Mr Vance and Mr Hines so it sounds a bit more like the business. Right now it has a rather apologetic and very well-mannered Japanese exhaust note. Can't have that.
Only the Japs would make a V-Twin that looked like an air-cooled engine then hook up a liquid cooling system with a fan to boot. As for fuel injection, that's voodoo material. No carb? Chain drive? Rear drum brake? That's more retro than any Harley. Not to mention more bits to go wrong. When I parked it up in the car port this a.m. I swear I could hear our two Harleys sniffing with disdain. Somehow I felt guilty of infidelity. My partner also seems to feel I've the side down somehow. She hasn't spoken to me since breakfast. There is still the matter of the undisposed-of '69 Mustang, of course, something of a sore point.
But it'll do fine for trips to the mall, as long as I disguise myself heavily.
OK, I'm done now, nurse. Can I have my cocoa please?
+
Read more
>>>>>>Move it on for a profit? ;)
Expect to see it in the For Sale Section of www.motorcyclephilippines.com any day now.
Jesus, I got so much c**p last night in the pub, and have already been threatened with confiscation of my club colours.
Found this link from another site:
www.chapmanbmw.com/weeklyad.htm
So that's £130 for the 3 Series (and note it's a 325, not a 318) and £180 for the X3.
OK, there's no VAT over there, and the prices are without tax, which I *think* you have to pay in one lump up front, around $5K?, but still stunning prices. Read more
I know plenty of people in the UK who've bought (or helped to buy) their kid a new car - difference in the UK is it's usually a Fiesta, Clio etc. In the US a Mustang probably doesn't cost much more, and it'll come with a huge (to our minds) engine as standard.
Also, the average US skilled/professional family has a higher standard of living than in the UK, and much more disposable income, so these purchases are easier for them.
my niece has a Citroen Saxo 51 plate (1.2 or 1.4) that the idle speed just decided to become erratic. It can surge from normal idle (950rpm) to as much as 2000 rpm at times. I remember some old Rovers had this problem which was the connector to the temp sensor on the engine was bad. Anyone out there who can shed some light on this problem?
Your divine guidance is, as always appreciated.
--
These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am... Read more
had similar issue, except car had just had new clutch and timing belt fitted, so was not looking for more costs.
So, my fix?. I looked at the throttle cable, and saw it was tight/ saw it was held in place by a spring clip, and basically moved it forward by 1 ring. This allowed the plunger to go to position A, and the ECU takeover throttle control (a quick clean with wd40 didn’t hurt)...
having just had another wallet crunching bill for £450 for a service from mercedes I've had enough. I'm about to change company cars and have seen Mondeo Ghia X hatchbacks(2.0 tdci - 6 speed) at motorpoint for under 16k. looks a nice car and very comfortable. Anyone got one and can give me an idea of running costs for service etc I'd be grateful. I've had two mercs and a saab and you might as well pin £20 notes to your clothes and let them pluvk them off as you walk into the dealer.
Cheers
Dominic Read more
thanks for these comments. I took a diesel zetec out for a test and was very impressed. 16k for a ghia x sounds a bargain. the company I work for has bought about 6 cars from motorpoint and had no problems.
Dominic
Hi
I was looking into buying a Honda accord here in the States. The prices for nearly new ones are ridiculous, they depreciate very slowly. I suppose its because every one wants them. Back in the UK, Japanese cars depreciate quite quickly, a two or three year old accord can be had for buttons because they are generally percieved as boring "old mens cars". So why the big difference? Is the French/Spanish/Italian competition thats available in the UK and not in the US the reason that Japanese cars aren't popular? Read more
I think you have got it there, Aprilia. Reliability seems to be the most important thing in the US. In the UK, the car magazines are always critical of bland styling and dull gray (grey?) plastics on the Japanese cars. That does not seem to be the case so much over here. However, I bought a used Audi A4 a few months ago and everyone has been telling me to get rid of it. Seems that even Audi is not reliable enough for the Yanks.....
Browse
.jpg)
Hmmm. Try this then:
bigjet.free.fr/forum/upload/smlinterior.jpg
bigjet.free.fr/forum/upload/smldials.jpg