June 2005
My girlfriend was involved in an accident about a month ago, where a van has collided into the driver-side rear panel of her car and damaged the right-rear light cluster and the panel also. The location is the inter-section of Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane (Northbound). The other party is denying liability. As she has never deviated from her lane at all for the 160 metres before the accident and it was the other party who needs to get into her lane, she believe it is the other party's fault. There is a CCTV covering the accident spot and the road leading upto the accident spot so we are hoping to obtain the CCTV footage as evidence that the other party is at fault.
How and where would we be able to obtain this footage? (Police attended the accident but unfornately it happened so quickly that we both forgot to obtain a CAD number from them)
Many thanks,
Gazza Read more
Just bought a new Honda Accord Tourer. It wasn't until I got it home and looked at the rear indicators that I realised how pathetically dim they are. The lenses are very small and consist of yelow filters hiding behind the now fashionable all red plastic. In bright sunlight the rear indicators are almost invisible. The dealer is 'aware of the problem' but can do nothing. I presume that these indicators must have passed some sort of safety regulations. Moral, before buying a car check that the lighting has not been compromised by styling demands. Read more
The problem with many of these aftermarket 'silvered/Lexus IS200' style rear lights is that they are very poorly designed - I see so many of these which have very dim lighting due to poor reflector design. Many are not e-marked !
The cover story in yesterday's Motoring Telegraph contains the following comment:
In a car with airbags, the steering wheel should be held in the 9 - 3 position. If held at 10 - 2 and the airbag deploys, it could send your knuckles flying into your face at over 200 mph.
Never seen this mentioned before. (Given the article, a book extract, was illustrated with a LHD car supposedly in New York with UK registration plates, perhaps it shouldn't be taken too seriously.)
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If I recall correctly you can get a BMW pipe that is designed to snap off when hit by the airbag instead of being rammed down the driver's throat.
Hello
hopefully this will be an easy problem for all you technically minded peeps out there
When I press the 'snowflake' button on my dashboard it doesnt light up however when idleing the pitch in the engine noise changes - and looking under the bonnet the fan does actually start up when the A/C is switched on - but i'm not getting any lovely cool air
Does this ring any bells with anyone or is it a well known/easy cheap fault to look into ??
any help will be greatly appreciated
Bradders
{Reformatted text. There is no need to put a carriage return at the end of each sentence as the text will automatically word wrap to the next line. DD}
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I think the switch stops lighting up when the low pressure switch is actvated, ie the system has a leak and is empty of gas. But the fans continue to work though. Press the button and see if the compressor hub is turning, I suspect not.
Which is the best radio station for traffic reports?
Next Saturday, I shall be going oop North to Yorkshire (Yes, yes, I know, I shall be very careful) Which radio stations would BRers recommend to a simple Southerner to keep me out of traffic jams and other troubles?
To start the ball rolling, in the London area, I suggest 1152 am, - which I think, is or was, LBC (London Broadcasting Company) which has traffic reports every 10 minutes. 97.3 FM has the same reports every 30 minutes - the rest of the station's output is pretty dire. Read more
I usually find the traffic reports kick in on the radio(TP) when I have already been sitting in the jam for half an hour!!!
An accident (not uncommon) recently occurred in the remote mountainous N. Philippines when a bus laden with passengers careered into a ravine, killing 27.
The official accident report (they always do) gave the cause as the "bus losing its breaks" (sic). Now this means the bus line operator would have to have shouldered all the hospital costs and death payouts for the victims. Few if any except the main line operators have any sort of insurance.
Since all things are negotiable here, the public record later stated that it was "the driver losing control of his breaks", an entirely different scenario, whereby no one would get anything, except the driver, who would spend the rest of his life sleeping upright with floodwater up to his ankles in an overcrowded jail cell and eating rice with weevils.
But our driver must have been well-connected too, since a newspaper report two days ago announced that the conductor of the bus had now confessed (no doubt with some assistance) to "neglecting his daily duty of filling up the brakes with new fluid before each journey".
Further developments awaited.
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to "neglecting his
daily duty of filling up the brakes with new fluid before
each journey".
New brake fluid before each journey? That's some loss of fluid.
No air brakes over there? Air brakes are quite tolerant of leaks, and there's little evidence of same.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
{This thread is now closed - discussion continues in volume 2, which can be found using the following link:}
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=32906
DD.
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There is talk of the US GP being cancelled because Michelin say they cannot guarantee the safety of their tyres over a race distance following Ralf Shu's crash on Friday. Clearly erring on the side of caution is correct however it is likely that the outcome will be unfair on Bridgestone and their three teams, Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi:
1/ If the race is cancelled why should they be penalised because their rivals are not up to the job.
2/ If Michelin are allowed to give the teams alternative tyres (being flown in from France) how would this break in regs be interpreted.
I have two ideas:
a/ Let them race though allow tyre changes for all teams.
b/ Let them race with the altenative Michelins, so the fans and TV audiences have a spectacle to view though only Bridgstone cars can score points based on the position they finish the race. Read more
No, running more slowly is only what, for instance, Minardi do
at every race due to the limitations of their car. The
Michelin teams could have run more slowly due to the limitations
of the tyres perhaps by ensuring that 5th gear (out of
7) was used at turn 13 maybe with a slightly reduced
rev limit as well. This would not have contravened any regs.
It wouldn't have contravened any regulations in that you can bet your bottom dollar the FIA wouldn't have found fault with a solution it santioned.
But if you look carefully at their sporting regulations, teams running slowly, suddenly and in only one place could theoretically have been seen as: bringing the sport into disrepute; being deliberately uncompetitive; and of risking safety.
That wasn't the point, of course. They would also have looked stupid, which is exactly what some people wanted.
Fairly brief this one, is a brand new MGTF 115 for £11K good value compared with what they were selling for before the company folded?
I seem to remember that even after they folded the local dealers were selling one year old models for this price, but I have no idea what a new one would have cost.
The price is on the road including 2 year warranty.
Is it good value, bad value, or just about average?
Blue Read more
Not if you get HGF and need a new engine
madf
Anyone know how successful these cars are?
Neither the appearance nor price appeals.
Does Mrs M keep her 3 series compact forever,
or even buy a newer one now?
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Its nice to have you all agree with me!
I will be watching developments with interest.
If you can't get a Compact Mrs M wants a 330Ci next.....
:>( Tim
My girlfriend is due to change her car in the next few months. She currently has a Picasso 2.0 HDi SX. She is looking for a 5 door hatch with plenty of room for her and our daughter. It needs to be reliable and reasonably cheap to run - insure, service, fill up, etc. Style is not a major factor (she says). £5,000 is the budget. 2001 and newer would be great. She likes the Picasso's ride height but I reckon she could do with a bigger boot (will have to deal with baby no.2 eventually). Must have AC & CD.
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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A Mondeo has a huge boot - so does a Skoda Octavia.
If you go for a diesel, after a 2.0 HDI in the Picasso, you need the TDCI engine in the Mondeo if you can get it (I can't remember when it came in and so how cheap they can be), and the more powerful diesel engine in the Octavia.
Browse
pretty damn quick