May 2005
To whom it may concern.
It was far easier to delete your thread than edit out all the swearing.
It's not as though it hasn't been mentioned umpteen times before.
DD. Read more
Son's Cheekycento is dying (slowly) through age rather than neglect and i've been looking at replacements. Bear in mind he pays £120/m for insurance on it (19yr old, driving about 9 months). (Note HE pays not WE pay)
Vauxhall are doing Corsa SXi 1.2 brand new, no deposit (paid by dealer & Vauxhall) £159 a month over 39months with a MGFV of about £3k, all @ 0% interest. Also comes with 1yrs free insurance.
He tells me that the insurance doesnt really go up for a Corsa instead of a Cheekycento, so year 2's insurance looks manageable. (Will double check on this though)
Can anyone offer any wisdom over this deal, to me it seems like a no brainer.
Tony
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Hi all - I have a C5 Hdi 2.2 auto estate with 16,500 miles on the clock, occasionally, when pulling away hard from stationary onto a main road or onto a roundabout there is a slight "clunk" like noise from under the bonnet, almost as if the engine mountings are loose.
Is it normal? Or should I get it checked out?
Many thanks, Jon.
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Followed an HGV on M8 yesterday morning and noticed that it was overtaking all the other HGVs. I got alongside it and reckon it was doing between 70-75mph.
Part of me wanted to phone the police and notify them - if it did not have a limiter on it was it illegal? The wagon, although RHD and GB plates did not have any company markings on it. My mind went silly, convinced myself it could be full of illegals, or drugs or whatever.
Then I thought, I wouldn't go phoning the police for anyone else speeding on the motorway unless it was very dangerous.
Not knowing anything about limiters, are these something that can be easily bypassed albeit a tacho would catch you out? Or would it take a fair bit of effort to bypass this, in which case if you have done this does it mean that you were probably breaking many more, more serious laws?
I have to say it was a breath of fresh air seeing one lorry overtaking another and pulling away into the distance rather than the usual 1 mile long overtaking manoeuvre! Read more
So a Volvo the other day with a 610 bhp badge on the side!
I'm possibly looking to replace my Mondeo with a new Astra Sport Hatch.
I've been looking around at internet brokers who seem to be able to offer it a lot cheaper than list price. Basically the model I want I can't really afford unless I go this route. I'm after the 1.9 CDTi version. Any recommendations for a broker?
So my question is, what are the chances of a Vauxhall dealer matching the price? And what are they likely to say if I want to part ex my Mondeo.
Also what do you reckon is the best model, the SRi or the Design. I'll be adding a couple of options to both (metallic paint, upgrade stereo, cruise and maybe leather). I intnd to keep the car for quite a while. I know there are dynamically better cars outr there, but I had the sport haatch for the 3 day test drive and really liked it, so my mind is all but made up.
Cheers! Read more
Thanks for the advice. I have to admit, the Design looks like the slightly better package to me; the model I test drover was a SXi which was good enough, but the Design has the half leather seats which I've also tried and like.
I agree about the Focus, it is a good car (and probably has the better interior than the Astra) but looks wise it's no competition for the Astra.
I had a Mk2 Astra some time ago and really liked it, it was a good car. I've had 2 more Vauxhalls since, a Cavalier and an Omega Elite, both of which gave me no end of trouble, especially the Omega. I can forgive Vauxhall for this in light of the new Astra; I figure I can't possibly go wrong with a new un.....
I have a reconditioned engine to be fitted in to my Ford Fiesta which a mate is doing for me. He says that I need a 'service kit' I know nothing about cars, what is it and where can I get it? Read more
generally a service kit is an air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, oil filter, gallon or so of oil and possibly a set of HT leads. Depending on the age you might want a new dizzy cap and rotor arm.
I have two cars 53 punto 8v and a 52 premacy, both mine from new. Problems with Fiat dealer, none, problem with Mazda car in garage since tuesday, leaking water after rain onto front passenger floor.Up to one inch in depth. This is the 3rd time it has been back. Left for two days because car was to be taken to another Mazda dealer, same company to get their expert with over 15 yrs experience, he will sort it out. Will definately ring you Thusday to update. No call. Went in lunchtime today. Car there, thought good they have done it. no way. Receptionist looks at my paperwork goes away, comes back, the part will be in later, we will ring you. I said why hasnt the car gone to ---. No they havnt got anyone who does water leaks. our -- man will do it,you shouldnt have been told that, the mazda man here is new. Now 1753hrs, garage closed. I have a courtesy car A Ford ka. Do these people not realise that we all live complicated lives. We have two border collies, one started life as a farm dog, cannot stand the lead, tongue goes black. Has to be taken into the country. no dogs allowed in courtesy cars. Have our grandson 20 months. i have an iso child car seat for the premacy. im fairly certain ka does not. A long letter of complaint is going to mazda on monday. my question, yes there is one. Surely all major dealers have a mechanic who can sort a leak out. i dont like to be lied to.This is the second premacy i have had and had nothing but praise until my dealership merged with another make.Since then the service has not been good.At least my wife will stop shouting at me now i have put my complaing head on.I am not a natural complainer but i was getting serious earache. Read more
Hi all,
I'm just about to get the Mini and have sorted out the classic insurance (thanks to a useful thread on here!).
Now need to organise breakdown cover, but I notice that most of them now have different terms on the "relay" type product -
If we can't fix your car at the roadside we'll take you to a garage. If they can't fix it by the end of the day, THEN we'll take you to your destination
Not much good to me, looks like a very wasted day.
Does anyone know of a service that will try at the roadside, failing that will get you & the car to your destination? Green Flag, The AA and RAC all seem to work in the same way now.
Oh, and I don't want to have to pay shed loads for the cover.
Thanks,
Lee
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time. Read more
I dunno why we bother . . . but glad you got it sorted.
I am having a problem with a few things on my Vectra and would be grateful for any input/advice
My computer display has a "hotspot" on it.The Dealer agreed to change it under Warranty.4 x times now I have had the car in and the wrong unit has been fitted.The Sri has a multi-function display, the one that gets fitted is a basic unit i.e. time,date but does not display trip,average speed etc.I have been told by the Dealer that they are giving Vauxhall the part number from my original unit, but they are supplying the wrong unit, but say that the unit supplied is for the part number from my unit.This is over the course of 6 weeks now.Has anyone had this issue?
If I put my air con "on" for a while and then turn it "off" the smell in my car is terrible.Smells "stale", like dirty socks or manure.It takes ages to go away.
Lastly, if I turn my stereo up quite high, the sound starts to breakdown, cutting in and out. At first I thought it may have been the CD, but with the volume lower it plays fine. Read more
going to look at a second hand car at a garage was wondering when they buy the cars do they get it hpi checked or should i get it hpi before i buy
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1. Yes, the garage will HPI all cars as a matter of course, nearly all of the time. With a trade account an HPI check is very cheap.
2. Of course, the question is whether you should take the seller's word for it. You wouldn't trust a seller's surveyor if buying a house, but a house is obviously a much more expensive purchase than a car and it's a question of risk/reward.
With that in mind, if it's a banger, it's probably not worth spending £40 to find out that the £400 Cavalier was written off by insurers in 1996 if it drives okay now. However I wouldn't dream of spending £10k on a three year old 3 Series, for example, without checking the car's history on HPI.
shoot me down in flames by all means but if finances are the main concern wouldn't it make more sense to buy something 2/3yrs old saving a good few grand on new & using some of the savings to cover insurance costs ?
A 2/3yr old low insurance rated KA, Fiesta, Clio etc would probably be just as good & work out much cheaper overall - worth bearing in mind too that as a 19yr old the statistics reckon he's a fair chance of having an accident in the next couple of years so spending loads on a new motor is a slight risk ??
- nothing personal obviously just statistics !!