February 2005
Apologies if this has been done before but I had some time away from here. Is it me or does the NU advert appear just a little too often? And please, I do understand the revenue thingy only too well.
VBR......M. Read more
From news.bbc.co.uk
Double theft traps disabled woman
A disabled woman has been left housebound after her car and her wheelchair were stolen from outside her home in Arnold, Nottinghamshire.
Gina Elliot's specially adapted vehicle was taken from Shirley Drive on Sunday evening. Her wheelchair was inside.
The 20-year-old is a keen swimmer but needs the lightweight sports wheelchair to get about.
She says she is now trapped in her home, adding: "I'm housebound really. The thief has stolen my independence."
Ms Elliot told the BBC: "It's like my life line - it gets me everywhere and I've also lost my sports hi-tech wheelchair.
"Thank you for stealing my independence, thank you for stealing my life line, my pride and joy.
"Just please bring my chair back, that's all I want - please."
The chair, which was donated, cost £1,500.
The man who stole the car is described as young and wearing a hood.
"The man who stole the car is described as young and wearing a hood. " --- that's good to know, so Police only have about four million potential suspects
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Don't you believe it.
A correspondent of mine, who lives in Holland, has a disabled son.
His 'Family' vehicle, with all the modifications, was nicked a while back. I don't belive it was recovered.
His name is Thomas - I'll post this thread to him.
Hopefully he will reply here.
Thnx.
(PS - Hell has no pit deep enough for the thieving scum who do this kind of thing.)
SWMBO wants to replace her ageing Toyota. We already have a Renault Megane dci which we like very much and has been totally reliable. But as we've got one sensible car I would like something a bit naughty...about 200bhp should do the trick :-)
At the moment I am seriously tempted by the Megane 225 Sport since it is quite discreet and can be a five door. From the front and sides it doesn't look much different from any other Megane although the back is a bit different.
I've ruled out BMW's and Imprezza's as they're too flash for me and likely to get stolen or vandalised. I like the discreet nature of the Megane but are there any other cars I've overlooked? It must seat four adults and be five doors. Our local Renault dealer is excellent as well which is another factor in the decision.
The plan is SWMBO will have the dci and I will have the new car. Fair don't you all think? Read more
I'll balance Michael's suggestion above by adding the Mondeo ST TDCi to the possibilities.
Although the current Leon is due to be replaced soon, I think the current model would present a better ownership prospect than a Megane. If the Megane was up against the new Leon, even less of a contest!
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
Anyone know of a product which could be used to provide protection from scuffs, scratches etc. on a rear colour coded bumper?
I have an MPV and although we rarely use the tailgate for access to the rear seats, I can see minor damage becoming a problem sooner or later as we load/unload the car.
Also, given the inevitability of minor scrapes, dents etc. on what are very large/soft bumpers, has anyone got any tips for covering these up relatively unobtrusively without resorting to professional repairs?
A friend has used a large 'GB' sticker to good effect on his car for example.
I'd hate to have a repair done then find another scrape appears a couple of weeks later. Read more
Thanks all!
I had a session on this ten days ago, and several of you pointed me in the direction of the pollen filter (misaligned water shield or something). However, the water is coming in above the driver's pedals, and the pollen filter is on the passenger side. A fax to the Plymouth VW dealer eventually elicited a response from a mechanic who thinks he recognizes the problem. Apparently a £5 part - a plastic cover plate (?) at the bottom of the area where water collects under the driver-side windscreen wiper - is secured with a couple of screws and a bit of mastic. This plate can warp (WHY??) and bingo, your sixteen-grands' worth of Golf fills up with water. That's the good news. The bad news is that my dealer charges sixty-five pounds an hour for labour (yes, that's right), and replacing this £5 bit of misengineered plastic can take up to five hours. Of course, I expect the masks, pistols and three-cornered hats tend to get in the way and slow things down a bit ...
Any advance on £65 an hour? And more importantly, any useful advice for dealing with this problem more affordably?
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www.golfmk4.co.uk/index.htm
This site looks interesting, they have a "how to" on the wiper linkage sevice. At the minute its a "coming soon" but this should give good instructions if the others on there are anything to go by.
All you would need to do would be follow the wiper linkage service instructions and then carry on one stage further to the cover.
Hi all.
Hopefully someone can offer me some help. After a recent head gasket failure, which has now been fixed, my ECU light started flashing at me whilst I was drivng at motoway cruising speed, If i backed off the gas the light went out, this happend a couple of times so I took it back to the garage and the diagnostic machine said that it was a fault on the coil pack for cylinder 2.
I replaced the coil pack on Friday but on the motorway again this morning the ECU light started flashing at me again, there are no other symptoms no loss of power etc.
Has anyone got any ideas as to what could be wrong? If there was a problem with an HT lead or spark plug would my ECU light be flashing? I want to explore all posibiliteis before I go back to the garage and get charged £25 for him o tell me it's the same thing. Have had an expensive month and cant afford endless amounts of diagnostic checks. I have a horrible fear that I'm about to enter the world of replacing endless amounts of elctronic sensors
If the light is just flashing at me am i likely to be doing any damage. I wish thie thing would just misfire so I could actually pin the fault to the igntion system instead of constantly wondering if my car is going to make it to where it's going.
Cheers
Ross
P.S. Exhaust was recently replaced but fault did not show up until my head gasket failed Read more
Thanks for the advice Folks. think I'll try replacing the lambda sensor. Will keep you posted as to my progress.
I'm planning a long trip (nearly 4k miles) across Europe mid-March and was going to have the car serviced before we set off. It had a full service last summer at a main Vauxhall dealer, so it would normally be only due a small service this time round. The car is a 2000-X Zafira Elegance DTI.
Do I have to take it to a Vauxhall dealer or can I take it to a local garage that my friends recommend?
I think it probably needs 2 new tyres, a new cambelt? (it's reached 40k), an oil change plus whatever else they do.
Is there anything else I should ask for specifically on top of their normal service?
Thanks,
mustard. Read more
Hurray, you're right - it's a cam chain, so no need to change.
I just spoke to another MasterFit garage, and I've booked it in for a service there. Let's see if it's any better than the last one. They claim to be the biggest Vauxhall service centre is Europe - I don't know if that's good or bad.
I was browsing through What Car today and noticed the rather glossy advertisement for the Mondeo ST Tdci. Looking at the flashy photos, I noticed that the trip computer on the interior shots shows 17mpg. Whatever the reasons, doesn't give a good impression of it's economy. (Of course, only a sad case like me would notice this.) Read more
I remember looking through a Mini brocheure back in the 1970's. The Mini Clubman had a small dent in the nearside wing!
An item on the radio yesterday prefaced an report on speeding with the notion that it was responsible for "one third of fatal accidents". This is undoubtedly someone's opinion, but to hear it presented as undisputed fact was a bit unsettling. Does anyone know if it comes from a more reliable source than Government Spin HQ?
Incidentally, I just read HJ's piece on the new Audi A6 estate, which read well until he got to the bit about the cable-operated gearchange. What, like the Maxi? Tell me it isn't true... Read more
I think this claimed 30% stems from accident reports completed by Police Officers, and the cause of it is a fairly badly designed report form.
The person completing it has to select one major causal factor and two contributory factors. The options for contributory factors include things like excessive speed, mechanical defect, being under the influence of alcohol, etc.
Having decided on the major causal factor and perhaps one contributory factor, they tend to be at a loss in terms of what to put for the second contributory factor (or perhaps both). They tend to plump for excessive speed if none of the options apply - you can always justify choosing excessive speed on the grounds of "well if they were doing 5mph it probably wouldn't have happened".
The form doesn't really take account that they may be one major causal factor and no other contributory factors, or perhaps just one.
If anyone knows better, let us know.
Two incidents by the same instructor yesterday questioned his ability to actually teach driving.
Two lane road which goes in to a single carriageway with a forty limit. Just after the dual finishes there is a side road. I?m approaching the side road at around 40 ? a good way off, but at 40 mph you cover ground quickly. See car pull out of junction ? if this had been an experienced driver it would have needed some sharpish acceleration to leave the junction and prevent other vehciles having to slow considerably. I slowed to around 10 mph to allow learner to continue ? another driver could have been in to advanced road rage by now!!
Learner was obviously new to a car and oversteered from the junction and almost hit the kerb, then proceeded at 20 mph moving between the kerb and the white line. IMO instructor was wrong in allowing very inexperienced learner to leave the junction with fast moving traffic approaching.
Half a mile further on set of lights on red. Two lanes on approach, both for straight ahead. Inside lane has two HGVs, a number of cars, the learner then me. Outside lane has three cars. After the lights the double lanes end very quickly ? just enough time for one or two cars to get in front of an HGV.
Instructor advises learner to go in to outside lane. This would be fine for an experienced motorist, but for a new learner this will involve them filtering in between HGVs and plenty of other vehicles.
Lights change to green, first two cars get in front of HGVs ? second one just. Other car filters, then learner panics and slams on stopping in the middle of the road. This results in a van which was now behind the learner making a rapid undertaking manoeuvre to avoid a collision. Learner ends up indicating left to join traffic! Again IMO the instructor put the learner in to a situation she couldn?t cope with. If she had stayed in the inside lane she would have just flowed with the rest of the traffic. The lights stay on green for ages as they only serve a small industrial estate.
I know we all have to learn, but the experience can?t be made easy if your instructor continually advises you to drive like someone with years of experience and subsequently puts you in danger!
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Come on guys, you know I can't let this run. Sorry.