February 2005
Does anybody know if there are any UK birds that can imitate the sound of car alarms?
I thought I heard a car alarm keep going off this morning but when I went outside at lunch time there was nothing there!
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Yesterday I phoned my insurer to insure my new car. What a time consuming and frustrating process. When I first started using them (and I suppose I had better not mention their name) I found them to be perfectly fine. In the intervening period however they appear to relocated their call centre to India. I spoke to 4 people yesterday, all of whom were Indian so I assume they have gone off-shore to save money. The service is now appalling. I had to spell out nearly every word the chap had to write down, for example Avensis and Newcastle upon Tyne. And no, I don?t have a Newcastle accent! It took ages for the chap to understand what I wanted to do and even longer for him to do it. Surely I?m not the 1st person in the world wanting to transfer insurance to a new car and have the certificate sent to a car dealer? A very frustrating experience that has left me wondering if the car will be insured. The net result of this experience is that they will not be getting my custom when its renewal time. Price is not the only thing to consider when getting insurance and I have now lost confidence in them.
Rant over
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This thread is getting silly with lots of daft opinions being stated by people who know not of what they speak.
That I could live with.
However, IMO its getting dangerously close to descriminatory behaviour and getting a long way from motoring.
That I cannot live with.
Half a dozen notes deleted and thread locked.
I have 1996/7 Rover 820Si with valeo key fob. I want a spare fob. I don't mind paying for one but apparently this car has a rolling code which changes each time fob is used. Does this mean that a spare unused fob serves no useful purpose and cannot stay in sync with changing code even when coded.
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Thanks for info. I contacted remotekey and they gave me the necessary gen. Looks like I will pay dear for a spare fob! Nice money for the garage.
I took a short spin in the new Astra at the weekend, and was very disappointed with the driving position, particularly the steering wheel which was offset 2 inches to the left, leaving me feeling a bit twisted as I was driving.
Are there any new Astra owners out there, and if so are you comfortable over long journeys?
CF Read more
I'm not sure why Daisy, something to do with the translation to Right Hand Drive I guess. The worst case I've ever seen was in my old Renailt 19 16v, where the wheel lined up with my left leg
It's a good point about the airbag deployment, I'm sure there would be a reduction in the protective effect in the case of the Astra.
Has any come across or indead dealt with Micronet Showroom - an online showroom offering new and used vehicles at discount prices. I would welcome any feedback or genuine testimonials. Read more
I am locking this thread.
If you use the "Forum Search", which is over to the right underneath "New Account", then you will find other threads on the subject.
Many of our contributors feel unable to recommend Micronet.
Mark.
Here is one for all you New megane owners who like to be in the know, whilst driving down to a funeral in Wales two weeks ago I stopped at a motorway service station to both service myself and the fuel state. Deciding that since I refuelled the car I would reset the MPH/MPG/Mileage counter and made a mistake of pressing the start/stop button at the same time as the button to reset the mileage counter. The next thing is the whole dashboard counter lit up in pretty lights, the dials for the speed and rev counter, temp and the fuel status where doing their own thing. This must be one of the things that Renault dont tell you about but keep it for their engineers/mechanics.
The dials continued to do their own thing for a bit and since I had had no luck trying to stop it I decided to make for the nearest Renault garage to see if they had a handy hammer (Pun) or they could remedy it. During the drive, taken slowly, all appeared normal, apart from the fact that the lights and I think the stabilising system were not fully operational (I couldnt signal my intention to turn or anything)
About 5 miles outside Ross-on-wye the panel indicated 'check ok' or 'test ok', I cant remember the exact words now and everything reverted to normal. Im not sure whether the check is a complete system check and has to go through the whole routine or whether its on a time system but Its one to bear in mind. The next time I do it, I will make sure that im not driving from A to B.
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To start the test function on Goona 2 and I assume on Megane 2 (as they use a very similar central cpu and instrument pack) you press the trip computer function button and on the goona 2 insert the card at the same time, or if a three button hands free card - press the start stop button.
The instruments cycle step and the LCD displays all elements.
pressing the trip computer function button cycles the display through various functions including (but not in this order - this is from memory)
Litres left in tank, 4 fault codes stored, litres/mile being consumed and something else I cant remember.
To set it all back to normal stop and remove the card (or exit the car if hands free)
Selecting a vehicle for night time driving, and a unit that will allow the owner/ Driver to
be able to respect the eyes on the oncoming motorists
Questions that are answered in the 5 point rating area
provide an area of discussions, of margins of vehicle safety standards you do the math
( think a lot about question # 6 when doing the survey)
1, Is the vehicle equipped with daytime running lamps? yes------- 5 no-------
2, do the Daytime running lamps operate in the low beam circuit? yes--------5 no-------
3, do the daytime running lamps operate at aprox 60% reduced brillance? yes--------5 no-------
4, do the Daytime running lamps extinguish with park brake applied ? yes-------5 no-------
5, If the answer to # 2 and # 3 are no, are there 2 additional lamps installed to operate the Daytime running lamp function ? yes----5 no----
6, Do the 2 additional Daytime running lamps extinguish at night time? yes------5 no------
7, are there fog lamps supplied on the unit yes---5 no-----
8, is there a illuminated on/off switch supplied so the fog lamps can be shut off when the weather is clear and to respect the eyes of oncomong drivers? yes------5 no------
9, can the fog lamps operate alone with the park lamps, tail lamps and marker lamps? (advantage in heavy fog) yes------5 no---------
10, Can the fog lamps operate with low beam operations? yes-----5 no--------
11, are the fog lamps switch restricted so that they cannot operate on high beam lamp operations yes-----5 no-----
12, Are additional driving lamps supplied on unit? ( personal choice) yes----- no------
13, is there an illuminated on/off switch supplied so these can be shut off ? yes----5 no------
14, are the driving lamps switch restricted to operate solely
with high beam operatons yes----5 no-----
15, are there more than 2 parking lamps supplied on the unit? yes---- no-------
16, if more than 2 park lamps are supplied,
are the 2 additional park lamps equipped with park lamps bulbs that do not exceed the national standard of 2 candlepower per lamp ? yes----5 no----
Total score yes--- no ----
BJ comments anticipated and apreciated
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Selecting a vehicle for night time driving, and a unit that will allow the owner/ Driver to
be able to respect the eyes on the oncoming motorists
1/ Do your main beams (and driving lamps if fitted)lance through the night and turn blackness into day and are under the control of the driver through the dip switch yes---5 no---0
2/ Do you have sufficient brain power to turn your dipped beams on when you feel it is required and therefore have no need for daytime running lights yes---5 no---0
3/ Do you have front fog lights fitted that turn on as and when you feel you want to use them yes---5 no---0
4/ Are your brake lights bright and visible and operated by the footbrake yes---5 no---0
5/ Are your rear fog lights bright and controled by a switch and brain yes---5 no---0
6/Do your lamps operate on electricity and therefore get measured in watts rather than being candles and therefore having to be lit with a flame(and possibly blowing out) yes---5 no---0
Hello!
Just today purchased a N reg (96) Peugeot 306 for myself.
It has central locking but the drivers side lock cannot be used due as it is damaged due to an attempted break-in.
Does anybody know how to fit a new lock? Is it worth doing ourselves or taking to a garage?
Any idea how pricey it can be as well? we have no idea here!
Any advice appreciated,
Thanks
Lynsey Read more
As long as you can remove the door card, locks are usually very easy. If you get a new lock, some makes can be reset by inserting your key and pullin/pusshing some part of the lock only exposed when off the car, and others you can get a locksmith to change to suit your key, unless the dealer can get a lock to match your key.
Good luck!
Just to give them their due, I have yet again had great treatment by my local Kwik-Fit.
A few days ago, I heard a bang when parked in my car, took a look but couldn't see anything wrong. Subsequently though, it was making a much more 'chuggy' sound than usual. It was worrying me, so popped into the local Kwik-Fit on Friday - they immediately diagnosed the fact that my exhaust was falling off, and sorted it out for me. Free of charge.
I just cannot fault them! I know so many of you don't like them, but I just think, if you compare their service with most (eg a plumber or electrician or whatever charging the earth just to 'take a look') then it cannot be matched.
Regards to all,
HF Read more
Kwik Fit is not a franchise. It is owned by CVC
Capital Partners a Large european investment house.
true, very true.
in fact inthe last 3 or 4 years, these types of private capital houses have bought out the likes of homebase and halfords and "the aa" from the original conglomerates (sainsburys and boots in the two cases mentioned) who were failing to run these oerations at their optimum. these companies were then turned round in to better organised and focussed operations. homebase was then sold off at a very good profit to gus-argos and halfords was floated on the stock market. as soon as kwik-fit has been overhauled, you can expect to see it being sold on. one area they have already taken action on is the revamp of the halfords web site. the old one was pulled off the ether for the 9 months or so that it took to hatch the new one.
Has anyone any experience/knowledge of the clutchless Multi Mode Transmission available in the Corolla 1.4 D-4D hatchback. I notice the economy figures are the same as for the ordinary manual gearbox, so it is obviously different from the tiptronic/auto transmissions found on many modern cars, yet it has a fully auto mode, as well as a tiptronic mode.
Are there any reports of any problems with it?
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Yes it is a clutchless manual with the clutch being operated electronically. I haven't driven one much but it did seem to be alot smoother than the smart car i had as a demo for a couple of weeks a few years ago.
Browse
Don't know about car alarms but there was a girl in our local pub who sounded like a MKI Cortina starter motor when she laughed.
Kevin...