February 2005
With the dwindling amount of people smoking and the ones who do seem to flick ash out the window, why do car makers still fit ashtrays to nearly all cars?
A waste of time me thinks, i never use mine. Read more
I have just had a mailing from the local toyota dealer offering any toyota at wholesale price +£100 and I get £200 of free options.
They say they want to sell 100 cars in a week to meet some target. Is this some general promotion ?
Is it to be ignored ?
Is it actually worth something (ebay ?)
thanks to any toyota bods who look in . (Mr Haddock?)
Mark Read more
Hello Mr Magnusson,
Tonight my specialist subject will be cheap toyota's.
This weekend our retail guys have a new car sale on offering fairly big discounts (well bigger than they'd usually give!) So i'm guessing it's a toyota wide offer and your dealer is just packaging it differently to just a normal sale.
100 cars in a week is one hell of a target, not just selling the cars but doing the paperwork, getting the cars through the workshop etc.
Doubt it's worth selling on ebay as anyone who is looking for a cheap car will probably find a broker offering a similar price to the dealer.
I also have reservations about the price being quoted by the dealer actually being a wholesale price. Why not give the dealer a call ask him what percentage discount he will give you off a car then post the amount on here. I can then tell you if the dealer is telling porkie pies!
Once upon a time I was taught how to stop wipers making that vile scraunching noise on the windscreen.
Grab 'em where the arm meets the blade and give 'em a twist--direction depending on scrauch on the up or on the downstroke. dead simple.
However more and more cars have these fancy pants solid rubber blade things without the mass of wobbling bits of bent metal. grabbing them by the whatsits and squeezing does not have the desired effect.
Please what am I doing wrong ? the scraunching on anything but a very wet screen is driving me bonkers.
Thanks in advance. Read more
My Passat has got the fancy one piece rubbery Bosch blade and they are still prone to juddering.
I found that carefully twisting the actual wiper arm with an adjustable spanner improved things overall.
However juddering smearing etc. recurs whenever wax, road muck etc builds up.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
apparent crank shaft end float causing front pully to wear into timig belt and cover.anyone got experience in 2.1td cranks/thrust washers.I've always thought peugeot diesels bullet proof in the crank. Read more
my wife is expecting twins in the summer.
is an estate essential with all the stuff that goes with kids? if so any ideas for around £4k - ford focus estate? something japenese? don't care as long as it's reliable and doesn't handle like a bus.. Read more
I would suggest seriously that you look at rear leg room in whatever you are getting. Ive found that the space taken up by most child seats is huge. Even the baby rear facing jobs. Thats why the arrival of No 2 forced an upgrade from an A4 avant to a volvo V70. By the time the rear seats are taken up with child seat (check how long the rear seat belts are as well - some are rather short for fastening child seats in with. my f-i-l's saab 9-3 is poor in this respect) and the boot/estate area with a double buggy or two singles, you will find there is nowhere to put the shopping / dog / etc.
Estate every time.
My car lost most of its coolant - probably via the head gasket - the other night. RAC recovered it to my house as it was late and only a mile away. Unfortunately, my level of cover does not extend to recovery beyond a 10 mile radius. The only garage I trust to fix this properly is ~45 miles away. How best (cheapest) to recover this:
1. RAC can organise private recovery but obviously expect me to foot the bill;
2. Ring round private recovery firms for quotes;
3. Tow it myself.
Option 3 is excluded for reasons of safety. The route's round the s/w corner of the M25 and along the M4. I honestly don't fancy it.
Before I start phoning round Monday morning has anyone any experience or advice? Read more
I had a similar problem a few months ago. The Alfa 155 had a broken throtle cable and had been recovered to a local garage. Unfortunately, no suitable throttle cables available in UK. My local Alfa specialist, about 15 miles away, (not a main dealer) said he'd be able to fix it by cannibalising a broken Alfa 145. Cheapest recovery available was £100!
Borrowed a tow-bar and we towed it acrross with no trouble at all.
That's car manufacturer's web sites.
Do you want to know the dimensions od a Skoda ? Hard luck, the web site won't tell you. Nor does the model a guy at work has just bought appear.
Do you want to "configure" an Audi ? The second page tells you it's forgotten your details, start again. I can understand the "Compare with other makes" part not working but don't they want to sell these things (use both sides of the paper if necessary) ?
And that's just scratching the surface. Surely the web is one of the top ways of selling these days and relatively cheap. So why not keep your web pages in good working order and up to date ? My local garden machinery shop does. If he can afford to why can't VAG and friends ?
John
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I used the Audi website to search for second hand models and fully spec a car and had no problems. Remember other software running on your machine can upset websites. Our GIS system at work always crashes IE when I log out due to a conflict with Google toolbar.
I have often wondered when passing a travellers encampment with their newish expensive motor vehicles, how they get round the requirements of registering these vehicles and arranging insurance. I always thought the keeper had to have a fixed address on the log book (V5) and for assessing the car insurance.
Perhaps their human rights outway the legal requirements of the land.
Following on from this, is a person of 'no fixed abode' still able to own and be insured to drive a vehicle?
I await your replies before thinking of becoming of 'no fixed abode'. Read more
in bristol there is a park bench registered as a postal address albeit for a completely different reason something to do with healthcare for down and outs...honest...cheers...keo
Does anyone know who makes the automatic transmission used in the Mazda 3? I know the Mazda 6 uses a Ford box and by all accounts it is not a good transmission at all. Does the 3 use the same box? If so it is probably something I should avoid. Read more
Thanks for the info. I don't mind a JATCO box but wouldn't go near a Ford one.
I have got to the stage where I am finally thinking about replacing my 27 year old Holden Kingswood. I want power steering, auto and airconditioning which old faithful doesn't have. If I really stretch the funds I might be able to afford a new hatchback. I just have to work out whether it is worth the extra money to go for a new hatchback or whether to settle for a 2 year old 6 cylinder and have a bit of money left over. I will probably end up with a secondhand Holden Commodore but a new Mazda is tempting especially when I have had such a good run with the previous model. Depreciation isn't a huge factor in the considerations - it is less in Australia and anyway I keep my cars for at least ten years. Fuel costs don't really matter either. If they are too dear I can always get a gas conversion which will let me use LPG at 35cents a litre. (something like 15 GB pence).
i am looking at buying the above car but have one or two queries_
firstly - has anyone got any feedbacks ie what it is like to own
secondly - the car will be an import but is to full uk spec and unregisted how will this effect the resale price.
any information will be greatly appreciated
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All mkV Golfs are built in Germany.
I have one, a 1.6FSI SE and it is an excellent car.
Check out www.uk-mkivs.net/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=22 for more info.
The 2.0TDI seems to be the most popular model.
On the import make sure EVERYTHING is to UK spec. Unless you are making a BIG saving I would buy a UK car. Brokers like www.drivethedeal.co.uk offer UK cars at good prices so check them out too.
The great reviews of the GTI may have boosted the prices on all models in the range though.
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there is a well known law of physics that deals with "stuff" in cars.
Stuff will expand to fill all available holes and locations.