June 2005
Has the cost of car insurance suddenly dropped? Last year I paid about £550 (was the best quote at the time) this year I've paid just over £250. I still live in the same place the only difference is another years NCD, from 2 to 3 years and same car and cover. Any one else experience this? Thanks.
Steve Read more
Many cars these days have a standard spec and a list of optional extras. With German cars, BMW, Merc, Porsche, no optional extras gets you a very agricultural vehicle so you end up adding bigger alloys, air con, metalic paint, leather et al.
Are these "factory fitted" options considered by insurance companies as "modifications".
I'm not talking about 12ft bat wing spoilers and 27 inch alloys the max power boys do. Just factory fitted stuff.
This scenario becomes more difficult to identify the options if you are buying 2nd hand. How would you know that the BMW you are looking to buy has lowered suspension and a Ltd Slip Diff. Read more
But what constitutes a modifcation?
Some brands of air filter are classed as a modifcation - others are not. Where is the line? Must you ring your insurer each time your car is serviced 'Yes it has a new air filter it isn't a Vauxhall one its a Halfords one'.
What about tyres? A decent set of tyres can make much more difference to the way a car handles than many 'modifications' - must you call your insurer if you select a different brand/make of tyre?
Fuel - 'Hello, I'd like to declare a modification - yes I filled my Jap spec Impreza Turbo with Optimax this morning, thus increasing its performance'...
It's far too blurred and most insurers just whack a lump on the premium regardless of whether there is any need, so knowing whether to call them about it or not can be quite difficult.
Was talking to a guy who worked on the railways his whole life and recently retired.
He recons there are now hundreads of disused lines running from the edges of London to the very centre.
So, why not concrete over the lines and create single track one way high speed private roads in to the centre, for an approriate fee of course.
I smell a business here... Read more
Some disused rail lines were taken over by the DLR which used them to route between Island Gardens and Tower Gateway. But that was ages ago. There are still some odd sections of rail track here and there which are barely used but these are away from the centre.
In fact there's now a shortage of rail track capacity coming into Central London and this will hamper the growth of rail services in the future unless trains can be made longer (not always possible because of platform restrictions) or become double-deck (also difficult because of loading guage and safety requirements).
Look at every mainline London station and you'll see that capacity is at a premium. Any spare paths at Paddington are taken up with the Heathrow service (now six trains an hour: 4 LHR Express plus 2 LHR Connect). And St Pancras, once threatened with closure because it was so little used, will be home to Eurostar in 2007.
www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news....5
I cant believe this story, in 10 years time, Atoc the Association of train operating companies, want us all to get back into our cars and drive instead of using trains. Why, well because they think that the trains will be so congested that they will have to introduce a congestion charge, so if all this talk about introducing congestion chargeing in towns and cities, and the government talking about introducing gps based charging because the roads are so congested and this is a way of making us use public transport then I can only deduce that ATOC want us to get back into ours cars. You couldn't make this stuff up!!
Can anyone please explain what is going on in this country, and why we cant have a single joined up well thought out transport policy? Read more
Er... but we already have peak time congestion charging its called 'peak hour fares'.>>
Precisely.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
The nearside front electric window does not respond to the buttons on either the driver's side or passenger's side. Any advice please? Read more
Dave
I am confused by the fuse card symbols. None of them resemble an electric window. I realise that this should be obvious too.
Regards
I have a couple of questions.
At present have a 04 Vectra 1.8LS with 16k miles, how muh is it worth approx in p/ex or privately ?
SWMBO wants to get an MPV with 7 seats.
Which would you buy for around 9k ?
I know I will have to go older, so running costs would need to be minimal etc.
Cheers Read more
Actually, despite recommending the Hyundai, I like the Doblo having driven one and found it roomy, comfy and fun!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Yet another investigation into garages has come out smelling of something less fragrant than roses: "Alarmingly, 36% of cars were returned with major faults - including brake failure - unrepaired."
Here's the link:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4111534.stm Read more
The franchisers (the brands) carefully isolate dealers by distance to reduce competition. So its snooze time for the dealers, with the predictable results. The dealers are the only customers the brands relate to: and they have to get the sales target, or else. Joe Publicas as an individual is just a milch kuhe: no influence at all, but gives a nice margin over corporate deals.
My 2001 TDi creaks like a comfy old rocking chair. The sound appears to come from the front wheel area, though to my amateur ear feels like it could be the suspension. Seems to be heat-related, often not occurring on short journeys but getting progressively louder and more frequent on longer distances. Hot weather also seems to exacerbate it. It's loudest when turning tight corners & especially when going over speed humps. At annual service a few weeks ago the dealership said it was due to worn-down tyres, which were replaced. But as soon as the recent warm weather hit, it was clear the problem was not fixed. It's booked in again at the dealer, but has anyone got any bright ideas? Read more
My 2001 TDi PD has just started to do this at 103,000 mls. As yours , only there when weather hot, and at end of long drive.
Is mainly suspension movement related, slight influence of steering. Its due an oil service soon, so I'll inspect in detail then.
Hi guys, I've been looking for an old car and was offered an H reg Vitara with about 140,000 miles on the clock for 200 quid. It has no MOT on it and it looks clean (I've only seen photos so far) but the seller tells me it has been reliable although there's "A few problems with the clutch".
If the clutch needed to be replaced on this what sort of money would I be looking at?? I was really looking for something smaller as a runabout, but I'm tempted by this hairdresser 4x4.
Should I avoid it like the plague or take a risk? Read more
"Ask yourself if it's "only the clutch" why has the current owner not done it? Perhaps he knows more than you about the car, and that other components are on the way out, such as the gearbox?"
Well there are people who can't be bothered to get the MOT done, for example when they have got a new car and then just want rid of the old one, but you never know who is genuine with that reason and who is trying to get rid of a car with a lot of problems. So I take your point and I'll avoid it.
The remote control key to my 1997 Mondeo Ghia hasn't had the battery changed since new. I imagined that the first sign of battery failure would be a gradual decrease in the range at which it would operate the lock. However, on Sunday, it suddenly stopped working - though the key will operate the lock/alarm as usual when used manually in the lock.
Any ideas what the normal life of a key battery might be?
Would it be usual for the battery to pack up suddenly? (Sunday was an incredibly hot day)
Could it be something other than the battery?
Are replacement batteries particularly special? The manual advises to see a Ford dealer - but is that so that he can charge £20 for a £2 battery.
Many thanks. Read more
Following up on this question - I took the remote control key to the battery stall [for watches, phones etc] on Bury market. The chap checked that I had a spare car key just in case there was a problem with the programme, then changed the batteries. The old batteries, when tested, were considerably below spec (well, they were nearly 8 years old). So, the batteries were the problem and the cost for the 2 replacements was £5.
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I've been off the road for a while, but places like the Post Office don't look too bad for insurance. Although everyone has been going on about Tesco and I found them expensive.