March 2005
i m after a picasso hdi and i want to get one with the tax band of £110 what reg date should i be looking after anyone? Read more
Are there really as many dodgy garages as some people try to make out? I would have thought that there were as many dodgy garages as there were GP's of the Harold Shipman type.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
Nearly all garages will be trying to maximise turnover and profit. Its a business after all. But like all business's they also need to rely on repeat trade and customer goodwill. Those that dont have a monopoly wont survive long by constantly ripping off customers.
So its a balance, do all you can to max the income, but dont drive your customers away. Sometimes they get it wrong.
(except main dealerships ;) )
A friends Daihatsu would appear to have had too much oil put in at service - not my work I hasten to add. Would this do any damage given that when I opened the bonnet the engine was covered in oil the oil filler cap was missing and you could see that the oil was practically coming out the top of the engine. I suspect that the filler cap was blown off by the oil pressure.
I checked the manual but there was surprisingly no mention of the consequences of overfill. I would be concerned about damage to oil seals and the catalyst. Any advice welcomed. Read more
>>I think that one of the main risks of overfilling is that the crankshaft big ends can dip in the oil and cause (a) churning of the oil, which can lead to foaming of the oil and (b) mechanical damage to bearings.
Biggest problem lies in piston on coming down.If the oil is filled to point it blocks the bottom of the cylinder.air presure will cause oil to push downward and outward.Knocking out oil seals. due to pressure..To put it simply.One or two cm overfill you may get away with.past this possible trouble!
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Steve
Could anyone tell me what kind of major items to expect to need replacing around the 50/60k mark on a 00-02 VW Polo GTi?
Cam belts etc?Suspension components?
How much are annual services generally & what is the mileage interval for major services?
Considering buying one but want to know how hard it will hit my wallet in the near future
Cheers
Ed Read more
Hi all,
A colleague at work has replaced his ZX 1.9D "M" avantage 144k with a Xsara and is looking to sell the ZX.
He's been pretty up front with what needs doing to it :
Brakes soft - fluid change?
Timing belt could do with replacement
Poor starting - glow plugs?
Needs tax, MOT due in July.
Suspension needs attention - brushes? shockers?
Now, I've always loved my ZXs and I reckon he'll not want too much money for the car, but there is a few quid to spend to put it right.
Does anyone have an idea of what it might cost to put right at an independent specialist? Or what the car is worth?
I'd really appreciate any input as altough I love cars, I'm really not that up on the clear-thinking decisions with them!
Thanks in advance
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time. Read more
>Mine (with 208k on the clock) does 44 mpg, more or less, like it always has.
I agree with that.
My old ZX TD from 95k to 150k always returned 45 mpg no matter how ethusiastic I got.
The wife's 8 year-old Fiesta is looking a bit tired.
I've boiled down the replacement options to a choice of either:
- Part-ex it against a brand new Panda 1.1 with air-con;
- Part-ex it against a a 3 year old (old shape) Fiesta 1.3 special edition (alloys, air-con, 20k miles).
The new Panda will cost me UK£5000 plus the old Fiesta as trade-in.
Buying the used Fiesta will cost me UK£4500.
Both are 5-door (essential for us). Got a good discount on the Panda, but the Ford dealer assures me (of course!) that the Fiesta is from a different segment and therefore a better car all-round...
Which would you choose?! Is a brand new car worth finding the extra £500 for?
(I'm in France, so there's no 05 reg snobbery here!) Read more
No contest....go for the Panda. I had several of the previous model and they were cheap to run and the engines were tough. They were sold as generators to the the third world appently (the engines that is)and and were run for years. Strangely the old Pandas were great in the snow and ice, I went past several stranded four by fours!
Run a Y2K Xantia 2.0Hdi estate. Various failures of rear screen heat and tailgate mounted lights traced to (fatigue?) breaks in cable cores inside wiring conduit between body and tailgate. Is this a known Xantia problem and are there any fixes?
TIA Read more
Because the problem is wire bending in one place: and once it bends in one place it will always bend there until it breaks.
it may be worth while - if there is room - to wind replacement wire round a pen/pencil /dowel to form a coil of wire which is more likely to stretch and bend over the whole length than in one place.
madf
Can anyone recommend a website where you can easily compare vehicle specifications e.g. Insurance group, fuel consumption, legroom etc without having to jump between pages? Read more
could anyone tell me how to bypass my keypad immobiliser
after light accident both lights stay on and the car wont start
garage want 100s new ecu new keypad etc without looking any help most gratefull
Read more
light frontal new wing& bumper both lights come on when code entered and stay on have checked wires for damage but cant see any breaks do you know where the fault diagnostic plug can be found
steve
In my tedious search for a CHEAP tow car for our 1300kg caravan, I'm looking for opinions on the Rover 800 series.
Anyone know anything about these cars??
They are certainly cheap, they have the weight. I'm thinking about the Vitesse hatch (200bhp turbo)which seems to cost anything from £500 upwards!
Comments on longetivity and repair costs welcomed. Only doing about 3000 miles PA max with this so fuel costs not an issue. Don't want to keep breaking down though and power is important.
Many thanks in advance for any help.................
Regards Read more
Just wanted to add my two-pennorth because I did a huge and very enjoyable mileage with a V6 Honda Legend coupe. It always had a brief tappet rattle when cold and I heard lots of ideas for solutions. The one that worked for me was 'just keep it serviced and don't listen for the first two minutes after start-up'!
I once tested an 800 two litre and was amazed at how i had to wring it's neck to make it go. I would repeat the advice above and look for a very late Honda-engined 827.
Browse
I just renewed the VED my '51 HDI, it was £115.