March 2005
Hi all
Im wanting to remove the four audi circles on the back of my Audi 80. They seem to be glued on pretty stiff.
How do i remove the badge without scratching the paintwork, and also will it leave a mark after it is removed?
Cheers Read more
I bought a high mileage (181k) A4 1.8 saloon 2 weeks ago.
To pass it's MOT I swapped the spare wheel for the rear offside wheel, and paid the garage to free off the caliper on the same wheel to get the handbrake working.
The problem is that when the car hits a manhole or rough bit of road, it 'squirms' badly and jumps a little off line, on a long left-hand slip road it was most disconcerting.
The MOT had an 'advisory' that the rear offside wheel bearing needed adjusting.
Is rear wheel bearing replacement a DIY proposition or does it need a press?
Could the squirming indicate worn front wishbones? (I've seen the info in car-by-car breakdown). If so is it the upper or lower wishbones that wear?
There's also a bad vibration through the car at 60mph, so I'm beginning to suspect the spare wheel is out of balance.
Any advice gratefully received. Read more
I've ended up having 3 of the 4 links replaced at the front on the passenger side, the 2 lower ones and the rear upper one, plus an anti-roll bar link, plus the rear shocks. That's eradicated the 'squirming' on hitting a bump and cured the knocks from the front left, but there's still a faint knocking from the front right so guess that needs new lower links at some time. Still my £200 bargain car now stands me at £800 so think I'll just drive it for a while! Thanks for all the advice.
How does this work? When I look at car windows with double glazing I can't see anything different. Read more
If you ever want a job......
>>
What have you got?
lol
people like that scare me at night.
even in the day also!
After many years of company car driving I'm opting out and looking at buying a nearly-new car over the weekend.
I was all set to raid my savings and pay cash but was amazed that the dealers opening offer on finance was at 3.6% flat. Considering that my money (in my wife's name, 20% tax rate) in an Internet account that pays 3.8% after tax, I'm wondering if I'm missing something here??
I know there are some charges involved and the APR is higher than the flat rate but even using the Intelligent Finance ad on this site with APR 6.1% the payments are actually marginally lower.
Anyone any thoughts on this, and how low might the dealer go? Read more
Anyway boys, back to topic:
(oh oh ? some editing?s happened!)
JamesH ? I clicked on the AA link (as I did the Intelligent Finance that was there a few days ago) and bizarrely their website has the APR at 5.9%. Running my figures through it (borrowing £17800 over 3 yrs) it?s £3/mth cheaper than the dealer offered.
I originally asked: am I missing something (as borrowing seems as cheap as using savings)?
I believe the answer is that what I wasn?t considering is the ability to (hopefully) replace my savings. So, although I lose (assuming interest rates stay the same, and not compounding the interest) £2029 in savings interest vs paying £1944 in loan interest, if I paid cash I would gain savings interest by effectively paying back myself (interest free of course) at £494/mth. I can?t easily do the necessary compound interest calculation but I reckon I would earn something like £800 savings interest over 36 mths as I gradually repaid myself.
This means that paying cash only in fact loses me a bit over half the interest, and with the other loan charges makes self-funding around a grand cheaper.
I've got a Megane RT 1.6e with the 8v k7M engine (1998 vintage) which has started to kangaroo while accelerating in low gears, particularly so when pulling away in first. It is fine while cruising at a steady speed though. I recently changed the fuel filter which fixed a slightly different power delivery problem and it had been running perfectly since then. I'm beginning to suspect the cat may have gone, leaving me with a restricted exhaust. Does this sound feasible given the symptoms?
I'm try to sell the thing at the moment, and this happens - typical!!
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It turned out to be a split in the hose to the MAP sensor in the en d. So a 5 minutes fix, which is nice. A bit of a red herring was thrown by rattling sounds from the exhaust, which I initially feared was the cat breaking up. In the end it turned out to be the heatshield that surrounds the cat and partially come away so was rattling away. A quick bit of welding and its back together again.
I have a Renault Laguna 2.0L 16v 98 volvo lump NQ7 or N7Q, I have had the exhaust replaced after the cat secton, as it was blowing a little.The fuel consumption has gone out the roof,this was the case before the replacement exhaust. its doing something like low 20's. which is alarming. Does anyone know if its likely to be a sensor of sorts, or anyone had the same problem. Read more
I have a BMW220ci and I can hear a rattle undernesth when driving over bumps. The exhaust seems ok and I have checked the spare wheel and the other 4 wheels for security. The car is 3 years old, fully BM maintained and I have had it for 3 months.(35K on the clock)
Also when I take my foot off the accelerater and dip the clutch the engine revs are slow to drop especially in 1st gear (at traffic lights or at a fast pull away especially noticeable)
Also If I am crawling in traffic in 1st gear with the clutch slipping and the acceleraretor held at a constant point the revs go up and down slightly. Is this a clucth problem or engine management and are the problems linked?
BM have checked the engine management system and cleared the driving style memory but say its OK. I am on the verge of trading it in for a used MercE320 cos Im peed off with it. Any thoughts?
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I had an annoying rattle when I purchased my BMW 323i E46 secondhand. It turned out to be a broken rear coil spring. This is very common on this model (mentioned in HJ's whats good/bad on this model). The coil spring is tapered and at the bottom it fits into a cup and you cannot see if it is broken at the narrowist point (mine even passed the MOT like this). Eventually I took it to the Stealer and they diagnosed it straightaway. They said it can be caused by putting very heavy objects in the boot...fortunately the car was still under extended warranty and they replaced both rear springs while I waited FOC - took about 1.5 hours.
The noise sounded like something loose on the boot.
Regarding the other problems, the revs ARE slow to drop on this car - other owners have commented on this- is it excessive?
On mine the revs do go up and down slightly (peroidically) at idle when the A/C is on. Doesn't do it when the A/C is off, something to do with the engine management boosting the revs to drive the A/C I think, I'm not a mech so could be talking rubbish but I'm sure I read this in HJ letters sometime ago. Also just had Insp 2 at Independent BMW dealer and he said it was ok.
I am thinking about purchasing a sat nav for the car. I have looked at Tom Tom units at £400 in PC world and I know some of the PDA (Hand hled PC units) are quite good. I am soon starting a sales job which will mean I am on the road a lot looking for customers home business addresses
Does any body out there recommend one or have experience of them? Read more
I have a Navman PIN 300, bought from Dixons - £399. Works very well. It's a Mitac Mio 168 PDA with the Navman SmartST V3 software.
Hi, I'm hoping that someone who knows something about cars will be able to point me in the right direction.
We have been driving (and towards the end, bunny hopping and lane drifting) in a fifteen year old fiesta. Enough is enough! we need a new car!
We're going to have to get it on some kind of finance and I don't want to be paying for it in my old age so I guess around £5 - £6K is what we'll be looking at. I'm after a used car but not too old.
We have a dog and I am sick of her jumping on my lap in the back or trying to leap over and drive with my boyfriend - so I need a car with a big enough boot for a standard schnauzer. And lastly, we're not good enough at looking at cars to know instinctively if something is wrong so I'm going to have to go to a dealership. I live in London.
Right has anyone got any suggestions? What type of car I should look for within this price range? And anyone know any trustworthy dealers? As I'm completely clueless and I have NO idea what to look for.
*bangs head on computer desk* Read more
That does sound like a fantastic price. I'd be interesed to know where your getting that deal (only after you've bought it - just in case anyone else swoops in!)
Brian
Browse
heat from the rear if feasible for 15 mins, then you will lift most of the badge abd seal in one go.
if you car is old, been in too much sun, t/cut that pannel gently.