May 2005
As the tailgate in my Fiesta Mk3 was rusted, I?ve bought a brand new tailgate (in primer) and fitted it to the car swapping, the lock, rear wiper and all the other bits with the exception of the glass which I have so far removed from the old tailgate but not yet fitted.
Is this something that is easy to do? I?m going to have to go and buy the rubber fitting fro my local ford dealer, but I?m unsure as to have a go myself or ask a windscreen company to fit it for me. Is this something the likes of Auto Glass etc would do?
Cheers
Paul
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While I have been visiting the back room for a while, this is the first time I have posted, so here goes...
As my name suggests, I currently have a Nissan Primera (X reg) and have had this car for 6 months. Before that, I had a Skoda Octavia estate. Despite the fact that everybody raves about Skodas, I got rid of it because there were just so many squeaks and rattles, and they seemed to come from all over the cabin. Unfortunately, while the Primera is better, it's not perfect - and I have resorted to WD40, blu-tac etc to minimise the squeaks. Is it just me, or have the production methods of modern cars slipped, and they all rattle?
My wife is threatening divorce, as she hates going out in a car with blu-tac stuck to the windows and smelling of WD40.
I would like some advice on what car to choose next. I know this may sound silly (and even a little obsessive), but my main criteria is extremely good internal build, so minimising the chances of the dreaded rattles.
I have up to £15k to spend on a new or second-hand car. I would like it to be reasonably prestigious and very well-specced, including leather interior, climate control, alloys etc. It also needs to be reasonably roomy.
I have been thinking about a Honda Accord, and most write-ups I have seen show these to be very good cars. But I am concerned by some of the feedback on carsurvey.org, which has quite a few comments criticising the Honda for slipping build quality and squeaks and rattles.
An alternative might be a Mazda 6, but I have seen comments on these saying the ride is harsh and they are noisy. Also, some would say they are a re-badged Ford Mondeo, so why pay more for the Mazda. Plus I will struggle to get a second hand car with leather.
I am very tempted by a Lexus IS200 SE (accept this would be 2yrs old, compared to 1yr for Honda or Mazda). The Lexus always seem to do very well in surveys, but will the ride be too harsh? (Another disadvantage of the Nissan is that I feel every bump in the road!) Also, not too keen on 20,000 mile service intervals - should the oil be changed more often than this? Plus I am concerned the Lexus will be dearer to run.
Lastly, I did think about a Rover 75 / ZT - obviously a lot cheaper, but I know these are supposed to have a good ride. But I would be worried about the warranty/parts supplies.
I apologise for the length of this post, but should be very grateful for views on which of the above cars are best. Can I minimise the chances of squeaks and rattles, or do I have to accept that all cars do this? As you can see, I do favour Japanese cars for their reliability, and this explains most of the cars listed above. Read more
£15k would put you into a BMW 530d but it would
be 3 years old and have a few miles under its
belt, but these have excellent build quality and should hold their
value fairly well.
I was just about to post exactly the same thing. Wonderful cars - if its too big, look at a 330d.
A friend of mine once told me that the gearbox can wear out quickly if you where to reverse out of your driveway first thing in the morning due to its coponents not being designed to do this when cold.
Have any of you backroomers heard of this before? I dont make a habit of this because i drive straight onto the road outside our house & i always reverse into parking spaces as my instructor taught me. :)
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-) Read more
For the older non synchromesh reverse gears, another difference is that reverse is usually selected via sliding mesh, as opposed to the gear being in constant mesh. If reverse gear were helically cut, as opposed to straight cur, it would not be possible to use sliding mesh.
To reduce casing loads, the reverse idler is usually on the side of the gearbox which tends to pull the idler in towards the gears, instead of pushing the idler out of the casing. It allows the use of a thinner casing in that area.
number_cruncher
Unless your lucky enough to be rich and able to own your dream car, what car would you buy if you won the lottery?
Won a tenner last night so it got me thinking.
Now i don't want any inpractical supercar nonsense a Mercedes E55 AMG would do me, also had penchant for the latest Jaguar XJ V8.. all with privacy glass of course!
Or maybe something American... Read more
I would take a sabbatical from work for as long as it took to build a GTM Libra kit car. It would have to be with the 2.5 kv6 engine.
Half the fun would be building it. The other half would be in supercar performance in something unique.
Hi all
My landlord has employed a team of builders to redo the landscape since last week. i stupidly left my new VW golf in the garage despite it being used for electrical access and also for those people to deposit their tools when they are finished. this morning to my horror i discovered that there is some fairly deep scratches on the rear wing just adjacent to where they have put the cement mixer.
what should i do? i am on reasonably good terms with my landlord and wouldn't want to sour the relationship. on the other hand i am simply annoyed that it may be difficult to get the scratch repaired such that you would not know that it was there. the colour is metallic silver, i wonder how much would the VW bodyshop charge?
many thanks for your opinions Read more
Personal approach initially.....before going into the world of litigation and reconstructions. (why did I say that ? There goes next year's holiday....!)
Hi my polo has developed an annoying surge, mainly at cruising speeds. No engine management lights show up and the car idles and drives fine otherwise.
I had a similar problem with a tdi golf some years ago which was traced to No3 injector, replaced at great cost to VW as I recall.
Can this be tested without substitution ? Any comments welcome. Read more
I have been babysitting a Seat Alhambra people carrier for 5 months (owners on long holiday). They are coming to collect it this pm but the battery is flat (surprise surprise) and I can't open the bonnet - the release won't work, and I don't want to break the cable by pulling too hard.
Any idea how to release it from underneath?
Any suggestions gratefully received..... Read more
Did you press the button in the front grill? You have the release mechanism in the drivers footwell, but to fully release the bonnet you have to press a button that is hidden in the grill (orange coloured on my Mark II Alhambra). I think it is to the right of the Seat grill badge.
David
Can anyone explain, looking at Honest johns car by car breakdown and looking at the vehicle recalls. Is there like a set time period where you can take your vehicle to be repaired under a recall notice or does it depend on manufacturer?
Scott Read more
I believe that if the manufacturer holds up their hands and shouts "We made a boo-boo..." then under law they're under obligation to try and fix the fault - which is the point of the "recall". Therefore I don't think they can have a time limit. But I could be wrong.
Has anybody out there have the system fitted to their Mini? I have road map Europe high 2005-1. Have had the car and system for a couple of months and found it very good. Went from where I live in Bognor to a restaurant in Southsea in Albert road, I know the way well, but thought I would try out the system. Problem is under Portsmouth as the town/city the only Albert road it recognises is one in Cosham (north of Portsmouth) tried entering Southsea in the town/city it does not recognise even Southsea. When I arrived Albert road clear as a bell on the screen and it is not a back street. Any advice welcome - many thanks.
Richard price
[Shouting amended. ie, changed UPPER CASE text to sentence case. DD} Read more
In discussion with someone recently, I was recommended to try BP Ultimate Diesel in my Passat V6 TDi. I stopped at a BP garage on Friday, in a bit of a rush, pulled up at the pumps, grabbed the "Ultimate" nozzle, and started to fill up. Imagine my delight to discover after about £25-worth that I was filling up with Ultimate UNLEADED! £250 of repair / car hire later, I'm mulling over whether it's me, or BP's naming convention. In my defence, I've been driving for 35 yrs and for the last 10, one of our two cars has been diesel, I always fill up both cars and have never made the cardinal error. It's not like I didn't know I needed diesel this time either. Why does BP need to share the "Ultimate" name across both diesel and petrol? Does Shell do Optimax Diesel, for example? Has anyone else fallen foul of this? Is there any likelihood BP might generously go someway towards my costs (probably two chances of this .... slim and fat, but worth asking). Read more
Yep, I told them where the badly coloured pump handle was to be found and have never heared from them since
I use Texaco & Shell forecourts now and have banned all my Chauffeurs from buying fuel at BP
>>for a further £60.
Got to be joking.Any decent mechanic can do it and in less time than I mentioned..
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Steve