June 2005
my vectra diesel has become uneconomical and i wish to replace it with a smaller car which is economical and RELIABLE i have a budget of approx £4000, annual mlg 12000mls any suggestions
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How many of us listen to Johnny Walker on radio 2 on our drives home? I do, and particularly enjoy his "cruising" feature (3 great driving tracks chosen by a listener, and played after the 6 o' clock news.)
I know JW reads HJ's column in the Telegraph.
If we could come up with a backroom cruising, I bet he would play it. How about a poll? Read more
1/ The Happy Wanderer.
2/ Delaney had a Donkey.
3/ Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
Hi, ive recently bought a 2.0dti vectra and im a bit concerned about ultra low sulphur derv harmingby way of not lubricating the pump, ive been using shell derv, is this ok and will their new extra be any better when we get it darn sarf ( only oop norf at the moment apparently ) Thanks Read more
IMHO BP Ultimate has a similar smell to Millers, reckon it might contain similar additives. However my Mondeo TDCi runs best, I think, on Shell.
As we're mostly petrol-heads on here, a car is probably our favourite mode of transport (nod to the bikers here too) but is there something that would get you out of your car and onto *shudder* public transport?
Petrol at £10 a gallon? Road tax at £500 a year? Black boxes inside so you get automated speeding tickets?
I've chosen / been forced to ditch the car for getting to work for 2 reasons:
1. Traffic is too heavy getting into London, driving a car there is insane if you work fairly normal hours.
2. It's £80 a month to park at the railway station which is quite a lot to pay to have my radio nicked and find a new scratch on it every so often. Cycle parking is free and I don't care if my £20 bike gets damaged.
Do you now use an alternative to the car, or are you close to changing? What would push you over the edge? Read more
I took a taxi last night, or rather 2 o clock this morning from a bar near Warsaw airport to my house. It was 11 miles and it cost £3.66. There were millions of them too, I didn?t have to stagger around trying to flag down a pig-ugly black cab with a light on. He seemed to realise that as a taxi driver, it was his job to take me where I wanted to go, which he happily did without tutting, complaining, rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath because he?d rather be at home watching Eastenders. I hated black cabs, absolutely hated them. Is there any other country in the world where a taxi driver will actually say to you "Sorry mate I?m not going that way"
I have this car, what should the standard wheels be, I have 17" alloys fitted with 225/45/17 tyres. Should it effect my Insurance?? Read more
As standard the Classic came with 15 inch steel rims with wheel trims. Yes it will effect your insurance as it will be more of a target for thieves due to the alloys being desirable.
I've just looked at a "for sale" house and in the garage was a pristine cream-coloured 1974 E-type that the owner claimed had only done 14000 miles. Just out of idle curiosity, how much might it be worth?
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
In the early 1980s I was friendly with a Skoda dealer who was wealthy! and owned one of the last E-type convertibles made. It was a V12 and was a creamy yellow colour.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Having been surrounded by three of them on the M1 this morning, it set me wondering and now I just have to know!
How is the container fastened to the lorry?
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And in case that wasn't clear;
There is a pin that comes up from the truck through a hole in a metal box at the corners and in the middle of the container. The hole is actually a slot and the pin has a bar on it so that once its through it twists and thus locks. Most of the stability comes from the sheer weight of the container.
A lot of smaller trucks have them as well, but because the load doesn't look like a container you don't realise. Look for long rectangular tubes down the side - these are actually the legs that drop down allowing the truck to drive out from under the box.
Hi there
This symptom has only just appeared on my wife's Corsa so, while she is booking it into a garage anyway, I thought I might as well see if there's a known fault or anything.
It's the 1.2 16v engine, and has started making a slightly worrying clunking noise. This is quite a rapidly repeating noise, and the rate changes with the revs.
I've had a very quick look under the bonnet and the noise doesn't seem to be coming from the engine itself, but from the left of it, down below the alternator belt.
Can anyone give any suggestions as to causes? And, more importantly, is she safe to drive it the 10 miles back home after work today? Read more
The spring you describe is indeed there, and it was my first thjought for what the problem might be, but it's all very tight.
Water pump bearing failure has been diagnosed now, and a replacement pump is being fitted tomorrow.
Read an interesting article on A-express website, basically says that 1 in 4 deaths caused by dangerous driving are the fault of the under 20's & the safety body "BRAKE" wants to introduce certain limits on this age group.
h**p://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/57161/teen_clampdown_call.html
Personally think that with the ever increasingly powerful cars available these days certain limitations are probably a good idea, although I also think that anyone buying a "very high performance" car should have to take some type of "speed awareness" course, not just under 20's. Read more
Not too long after passing my test I demolished a length of cotswold stone wall in a Saab 96 2 stroke (own fault, re-enacting the Monte!). I had just got used to the freedom and independance of car ownership. The 4 weeks or so of having to go back to pathetic public transport made me determined never, through my own actions, to be in that position again. Perhaps a short period of enforced abstinence would help.
Hi,
I remember someone posting here in the last 15 months or so, words of advice on buying and selling privately, and in particular recall advice on drawing up a simple contract/receipt (whatever you want to call it) when selling a car privately.
SWMBO has a buyer for her car, and I have been searching the forums, with no luck, for the info on what to write on the receipt.
Help! Please :) Read more
Thanks. That rings a bell!
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I have had a Mazda 323 for 6 years now. Great car. For someone looking for something smaller than a Vectra it fits the bill without being so much smaller as to be a bit of a shock to the system. The 323 has a reasonable amount of rear legroom and a decent size boot. In addition the roof line is more like a station wagon than the usual hatchback resulting in a useful increase in space.