"they will fit FOC"

Not surprised really - I'm sure it's the same setup as I described above so it's only a 2 minute job - mind you I suppose they could have tried charging 15mins labour at £65per hour + VAT.

Incidentally, I don't think it's an MOT failure point is it? I'm sure mine went through MOT with the exact same problem before I finally got round to fixing it.

I went in a 54 reg old shape a few months ago and was surprised how noisy the diesel was. Hearing what other passengers were saying was difficult.

I am a student at Warwick University studying Manufacturing and Management Engineering. With regard to Nickdm's comments about Ryton I'm afraid I have to agree with him. As part of the course I have been round the BMW Engine Plant at Hams Hall, I've also been round the PSA Ryton Plant.

Internally there is a huge difference in how these two operate. Every single one of the "best practice" procedures for operations management was in place at BMW. Not one worker was standing idle, workers are on flexi time so if they make the target before the end of the day they can leave early, but equally if more demand is there they stay later. All stock control was accurate down to the last bolt, and when asked what the scrap rate for the plant was, it was somewhat less than 1% total of every unit in. They have scrapped 2700 units in total out of 385,000 units produced at the time of the visit. That is efficient production. (Normal scrap rates even in better companies are nearer the 5-8% mark and higher in non modernised industries). BMW's workers also get paid more per year than you'd expect for a factory worker.

At Ryton the situation was different, production generally was fairly efficient, and most let downs were due to suppliers. The main thing though was in order to keep the plant running efficently the lines operate 24/7. If the line stops for reason of a contractor (it did whilst I was there due to hydraulic maintenance being needed) then that contractor gets billed £10,000 PER MINUTE until the line starts again. Scrap rates were higher, I can't remember the exact figure but mainly due to supplier faults. Things like stock control and stock movement though was all done by staff while BMW's plant runs on automated stock control and intelligent vehicles that know when to pick stock up and set stock down. Both plants are impressive, but the BMW plant is significantly more impressive as an example of how a factory should be. Workers at BMW seemed to have more pride in their work, and the factory as a whole was cleaner and brighter.

I feel sorry for the people working at Longbridge, they will suffer undoutedly from Rover going into administration. I fully expect to see a huge knock on effect on the economy in the West Midlands too, but keeping a plant online that's losing money for the sake of keeping people in work won't work and in the end only makes the world poorer. What of the government puts £100m into MGR, with 6000 workers there, you could say that the workers funded £11m of that from their income tax alone in a year. Why prolong the death throwes? You wouldn't expect a sales person who loses £77m a year to stay employed, why should Rover get special treatment just because it was once state owned?

Don't bother unless you like unqualified moonkeys bodging your car. They used to be Apple car centres and featured on Watchdog and another undercover programme (cannot remember the name now). my friend had to take his Passat to our local Nationwide as the warranty company instructed,to have the crankshaft oil seal replaced as it had dumped most of the oil in his drive. With Passats,the front of the car has to come off to do this so hardly a five minute job. They completed this in 2 hours! My friend drove home and guess what? The engine dumped its oil again. When I examined the car for him I found that they had squirted copious amounts of bathroom sealant all around.

It took complaints to the warranty company and an engineers report before they put it right.

Stay well clear.
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\"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do\"

I may be wrong, but when I read the "Motors" section of the Scottish Daily Record or the Scottish Sun, there always seems to be a high proportion of Renault adverts from Arnold Clark, Reg Vardy and Parks. Always "appear" to have great deals, 0% finance and lots of ex demonstrators which I suppose will have helped boost the registrations!