February 2005
Having been passed on a straight stretch of dual carriageway by a new BMW645 on Friday (A446 Coleshill in case he is reading), and then passed him on the next roundabout as he struggled to steer on handed whilst talking on mobile phone, why do these people fail to see the benefit in spending £100-200 on a car kit when they have just spent so much more on their car! Read more
I have just bought a 2nd had Toyota Avensis from a Toyota dealership. When we were discussing the car with the sales lady we were at pains to discover whether it was an ex-hire car or not. We have been sold such a car in the past without knowing it so were cautious this time. She promised us the car was from Toyota and had probably been a rep?s car. The V5 confirmed the previous owner as Toyota GB.
When I got home on Friday with the car I found a Hertz document referring to my car (reg number) along with a date of hire. Pretty clear evidence that it was previously a hire vehicle. So, I called the dealer and spoke to the sales manager. He was apologetic, sympathetic and surprised that such a thing could have happened (V5 says Toyota but rented out by Hertz) He then offered us the chance to swap the car for a different one under the exchange scheme. Very fair.
So, now to the point:
Is an ex-hire car likely to be less reliable than an ?ordinary? car and should we exchange it? Is the aggravation worth the benefit? We probably would have bought the car even if we had known its provenance but with a bit more trepidation. However, last night a bit fell off on the motorway. There is a plastic panel under the car which I think is there to prevent stones etc hitting the radiator. This came away from the front of the car, turned through about 110 degrees and began to scrape along the road, thereby making a terrible noise. I managed to push it back into place and the dealer has promised to put it right. The bottom of the bumper is quite ragged and looks like it has been grounded or hit a speed bump. I am now thinking that rather than having had one or 2 drivers (spouses) as we first thought this car has had many drivers and has been thrashed.
Any advice?
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If I may quote the hire car mantra:
"No kerb too high, no fuel too cheap"
Having said that, if the price was right and it passed a thorough check, I would buy one.
I have a Volvo S80 2.4, 2000 with 132K on the clock..for the past 3 months I have been having a problem with the engine cutting out. This normally happens when I slow down, say coming to a set of traffic lights, or pedestrian crossing or when I hit the brakes suddenly.
Sometimes the car behaves normally like there is nothing wrong I could drive it for days without cutting out, but sometimes it cuts out.
I have also noticed that sometimes the idling struggles a bit even when the car is not moving. I can see the rave counter drop down almost to 0 and then it picks up again.I have also noticed that when the engine is idling there is a click sound that happens sporadically especially when the rave counter is very low.
The first time this cutting out problem happened I took the car to the dealer. They ran a diagnostic check on it and they told me that the car was fine, they didnt find any errors on the computer. They actually told me i was being too picky because cars do that sometimes..(cutting out)
Does someone have a Volvo S80 or has anyne experienced similar problems. Any advice. Read more
i like the idea of a rave counter especially in a volvo...cheers...keo
I've found a 1.6 vvti t3 corolla (02)estate for just under £5k. The only 'problem' being that it has done 94k miles. With a FTSH is it a good buy? don't do a high mileage and would plan to keep it for 3-4 years.. Read more
Cambelt on a VVTi engine ? Isn't it a chain.
My Dads had two Corolla's and nothings gone wrong, amazing cars but the local dealers aren't very good. Not that it makes any difference but where is the estate made ? as its got the same front as the Australian Corolla's.
The car is going into Lookers Nissan in Camden, London, tomorrow morning, for a diagnosis. As some BRer might recall, the emission is still high and the car cut out twice last week, both on me and on my girlfriened while exiting an motorway when we lifted off the throttle. It was not very nice to have no power-assistance to the brakes and steering when exiting motorway.
Nissan say they will charge £84 + VAT so I'll wait and see how it goes.
Does that sounds right? Any other ideas before I let Nissan loose on my car?
Sorry for such a late post.
Many thanks,
Gazza Read more
Gazza
I believe the lambda sensor WILL be faulty. Get a replacement part from your dealer (or a US dealer like Courtesy Nissan - will be cheaper) or you can buy an aftermarket part cheaply from the likes of Fuel Systems UK or www.lambdasensor.co.uk/
Watch out for the knock sensor code though. I gather that the QX ECU will nearly always give a knock sensor error code, even if its not faulty - there is a lot of information about this on the US Maxima forum. The knock sensor is quite cheap from the US dealers (even with air mail) but I suspect it will be expensive in the UK. Just try ringing your local Bosch agent for a price or maybe see if a breaker will take one off a write-off QX for a few quid.
Personally I would just replace the lambda sensor to get you through the emissions test and then sort out the knock sensor later. BTW - check your own fault codes on the ECU - don't pay the dealer to do it for you, its dead easy.
Replace the lambda sensor, reset the ECU and take it for a run and then re-check for the knock sensor code.
I recently bought a pair of photochromic prescription-lens spectacles, and I was disappointed to find that they don't darken when I'm in my car. I've since discovered that they react to UV light, and that the glass of car windows blocks UV light. I wish that I'd known this before I ordered them. They are not as versatile as I had hoped/expected, because I still have to carry conventional prescription-lens sunglasses in my car.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=28...4
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pmh (was peter)
I was going to post this eariler in the week but considered it pointless; following events in the early hours of this moring I changed my mind.
In the last few days I have seen some of the most foolish / dangerous behaviour on the roads some involving motorists and other road users.
1 - Started on Thursday morning - I was sat in a stationery queue of rush hour traffic when a man wearing a suit passed me on a unicycle.... (I kid you not!) Got me thinking, surely that is neither safe nor legal. Dont think they have brakes for one thing.
2 - On the same afternoon I witnessed a middle aged guy attempting to start his car from another using jump leads while sitting next to a petrol pump on the forecourt of a supermarket filling station. When one of the staff pointed out the foolishness of this and told him not to use the leads on the forecourt, he let rip with a torrent of expletives and scared the life out of the poor girl.
3 - On Thursday night I was driving through the city at closing time when a young bloke who had obviously more alcohol in him than common sense decided he would run headlong towards oncoming traffic with both arms outstretched in a similar fasion to a primary school kid impersonating an aeroplane. There was much screaching of tyres and this fool missed being wiped out by about 8 - 10 feet as the driver of the on coming vehilce did not react as soon as (s)he might have. He dived towards the pavement where he thought it would be amusing to roll around acting like the car had actually hit him, as his mates cheered and aplauded. Made me so angry to think of the consequences for the other motorist had (s)he hit him, I wanted to go over and pound him into the ground just for his sheer stupidity - tough love or road rage - i'm not sure which!
4 - I was driving home in the early hours of this morning in fair conditions (slightly damp well lit road, no traffic with good night viz) when I saw a car which had left the road on a straight stretch reducing a 20ft long wooden D-rail fence to matchsticks. Myself and another passing motorist stopped at the scene to find a seriously wrote off car with a fatally wrote off teenage driver - no further comment as cause has yet to bed determined.
There is still no real point to this post, but I cant help but replay all these events over in my head. I've concluded the first 3 road users are just too stupid to be allowed to use public roads. As for number 4 - my thoughts have been for his family today.
Take care out there,
Leon Read more
Thanks for your concern chaps.... I am fine - just took a few days to clear my head. To close off this thread - there were no witnesses to the accident and no other vehicles involved. Police have made appeals for information, the media have reported that the car was caught by high winds. There were no tyre marks up to the point where the car left the road, so any of many theories could be applied.
The smashed up fence has been repaired and the only evidence of a fatality is a small bunch of red flowers attached to the fence.
This is not the first fatal RTA i have encountered up close, but as I get a bit older I tend to think a bit more deeply about the shockwave effect to the friends, family, colleagues and community.
Once again, thanks for your concern...
Leon
Why do so many car drivers lean their body into a bend, instead of remaining upright? If they were driving a two-wheeler I could understand it, but not when they are driving a car.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
Could this be attributable to piles at all?
I've had cause to remove and replace the battery several times this week, airflow are out of stock and I'm taking the battery off to charge it indoors. Each time I reset the alarm it seems to do different things, this time whenever I use the indicator the hazard warning lights come on, both green arrows on the dashboard and all indicators on the outside. Any ideas? I've closed the bonnet, got into the car, pressed the switch to the right of the steering, as I turned the ignition on, I put the code in and the car started, but with headlights and hazards on. I switched off and tried again, and then got out and locked and unlocked the doors with key fob, but the indicator problem remains. I've left the alarm disabled while this is going on, in case that's got something to do with it. Read more
It's dry around the passenger seat base, so I bought a new battery. Everything worked fine after that, the alarm reset first time with the key in the ignition and the sensor button pressed. I'll have to check it's charging though, there's a squeak when it's idling that sounds like a dry bearing so I don't know if the alternator is on it's way out as well.
Anyone been on the higher Dartmouth ferry? Done it a few times.
"how does it work" says Junior RF - Papa explains
"What happens if it breaks away from its chains?"
"Will never happen" says Papa smugly
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4261933.stm
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Brilliant Stevie !
Would make an interesting insurance claim - almost a mini Tricolor sinking.
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Sad to say I've seen this loads of times .I'll bet he spent several grand on options , even on his paint, but won't spend £50 on getting hands-free.The law is being blatantly ignored .A couple of days ago a woman driving a Discovery down a steep ,muddy country lane towards me came was headed for me for at least a hundred yards while she fiddled with her phone then finally looked up and swerved .
There is no comparison with using a radio.
Listen to phone-in programmes on the radio-especially Talksport .Notice how often the caller, or even texter , is introduced as "on the M1 , or M6" - I don't believe they are always calls from passengers.
Re keeping the phone anchored- for years now I have been using a simple, cheap method - a magnetic disk, which is secured to a dash or console surface with an adhesive strip , plus a metal strip on the back of the phone, also secured by adhesive, the whole thing is about £4.99 from Carphone Warehouse and has worked perfectly .