June 2005
Hello,
Girlfriend's clio has an intermittent fault which the garage can't help with.
It sometimes turns over but doesn't start (and doesn't with continued turning over). If the electrics are then turned off (ie key out of ignition) and the car re-started, it then starts first time as usual.
Suggestions? It has a new battery.
Thanks! Read more
I have leased from new a '52 Toyota RAV4 VX D4D (now 19000 miles).
The lease is up at the end of August and I'm wondering whether to buy it from them - what would a fair price be for it?
Also the car has accumulated a couple of scratches (not to metal) and other blemishes:-
How fussy can I expect the lease co. to be once they collect (assuming I don't buy)? Will I be billed for "tarting it up" to maximise their profit at resale?
In other words - What's "fair wear and tear" for a 3yr old car and would I be better off attending to these things before they come to collect?
If so any recommendations as to who to approach (West Yorks).
Thanks in advance
Andy Read more
Also depends on your agreed mileage.
If you agreed 12,000miles pa (36,000 miles over three years) and you have done only 19,000 miles there is a lot of extra profit in the car for the leasing company. So if you don't want to buy it, give it a good clean and hand it back.
Any comments from them about condition then tell them to give you back the extra profit less the repair costs.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
An as-yet inconclusive discussion has developed on the MB Club forum about whether or not copper grease should be used on wheel nuts. Any opinions?
Secondly, having checked the manuals for both my MBs I find that the recommended torque for wheel nuts is 110Nm on both of them, and the owner of a different model has reported the same figure; it's the same for my Golf. Is this pretty much standard or does it vary widely between marques and models? . . . and a few minutes later, courtesy of Google I find a useful tabulation of torques at:
tinyurl.com/eylmq
(The associated PDF file seems to me unavailable, so this link displays the HTML version, imperfectlyj
And the Haynes manual shows different ranges (not single numbers) for front and rear on my Capri 2.8i. Read more
The industry standard torque recommendations are for non lubricated nuts.
Check www.norbar.com/Calculators/Torque-Tension-Calculat...x...
O/s front parking bulb has blown. The car has HID lights and in the book it says remove the rubber cap and pull out the bulb to replace. Sounds easy, but space is somewhat confined. However I can reach the back of the bulb but it will not come out. It was difficult, but I managed to twist it but still won't budge.
Am I missing a trick? The back of my hand is already fairly bruised!!
Thanks Read more
I have a similar problem in the Vectra. I replaced a N/S headlight bulb a while back and it was flagged at a recent MOT as not being seated correctly and therefore would fail the headlight alignment test. Thankfully I must have passed the attitude test as he let me away with it.
I could not get it seated correctly given the space available, Haynes suggested removing the relay box and battery, but I could not have been hassled messing around with the alarm and radio codes etc etc so I removed the grill the indicator and enough of the headlight fixings to allow we to get my hand in through the wing. Sounds allot but was quite quick with a t-bar and small sockets.
Think outside the box.. or indeed outside the engine bay!! he he he
Hi all - Still flushed with success and gaining confidence Mrs V is on at me to get her that new motor. We've had a few test drives but I still think she should wait a while and have told her that she needs to consider the potential insurance costs which, although I'll be buying the car, she will have to pay in future.
At present, although she has only been driving about 2 years and passed her test just a few months ago, she gets a very good deal from a well known insurer who effectively match my full NCD (from another company) to her premium thereby reducing the cost substantially. This I'm told is just a gesture of goodwill which is not guaranteed.
Given the hassle I've had in the past getting quotes (the companies I've tried need the actual car's details first) the past, how best do I get a reasonable idea of what she might expect to pay for the small selection of cars which we're considering? How big a factor is the insurance grouping as to, say, the value of the cars?
According to Parker's her current car is grouped 4-6 (value £800) but the target cars are 6-7
and valued at around £4k.
I'm slightly concerned about getting onto her current company and asking them as doing so might make them less competitive in the future by say reconsidering or removing their current very generous offer.
Would a broker be a good bet to get some general idea as to what the insurance implications of the new car would be or are the days when you could get that sort of help long gone? Read more
Michael - yes you're right to an extent but the problem for her is, without going into our personal circumstances, that whilst I will be buying her he car SHE will be paying for the insurance etc. and needs to be sure she is willing/able to do so.
Thanks for the other feedback too guys.
I am probably going to get slated for saying this but as ID cards could well be on the way at a cost to the taxpayer of between 10-20billion pounds surely some of this money would of beenbetter spent making Rover a viable car producer, by clearing out the deadwood management, investing in new cars thus saving a few thousand jobs and some manafacturing industry in this country.
I know that in the real world EU regulations would prohibit this and that generally most people would hate to see their tax money go to Rover - but personally I would rather this than it wasted on ID cards.
Any thoughts on this ?? Read more
Invoking the time-honoured right of a moderator to lock a thread when it has no hope of staying on a motoring theme (and I sympathise with the anti-ID card views)
Thread locked.
No Do$h - Alfa-driving Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
Did anyone see the accident near Tolworth? Looked like some sort of 4x4 had rolled, it was laying on the banking upside down. Had the air ambulance out.
Traffic backed up for miles and miles, luckily I was heading back to Weybridge! Read more
Ah, I used it in the 1980's when there was not so much traffic but people still whizzed down the sliproads to join, maybe they took more care 20 to 30 years ago than people do now? I never saw an accident on this stretch in the 13 months I used it.
Prompted by the 2CV thread, wondered what car you learnt to drive in? My instructor's car was a red Datsun 100A (don't see many of those now). I passed in 1976 - 1st time of course!
Was n't allowed to practice in Dad's car (1976 Alfasud) so the Datsun was my only learner vehicle.
Read more
It was 1975 in a Mk1 escort in purple of all colours. Can't remember if it was a 1300E or not. Passed first time as with the bike test, (wow that's another story), and the instructor would not let me or any of his pupils drive home after the test. Toooo excited apparently. Happy happy days and ones that I long for! Life seems so mundane now. Compliance compliance and compliance.
Very BEST Regards as ever,
Martin D.
This isn't a personal advert for myself, so i am sticking it here but if the mods feel its appropriate they can move it.
I was in my local oxfam in amersham browsing at the books as you do, and there were Haynes manuals for the Type 3 volkswagen, and a workshop manual for a BMW 2002, together with a manual on how to tune a Ford 10 engine from 1954.
Don't know but they may be interest to someone on here. Read more
There's a chap who is often to be found at one of my local Car Boot Sales (Basildon, Essex) who has absolutely boxes and boxes of car manuals, mainly Haynes, but a few others, too.
We bought one off him for my Brother's Sierra; I think we paid £2.50 for it.
Lloyds pharmacies are flogging off a Halina digital camera at £9.99 with all the bits. Cheaper than a throwaway film camera, even if it is only a 640 x 480 pixel picture. Good enough for the purpose. The camera spec is at tinyurl.com/buo5e and the Home page has a branch finder. Read more
Oh -- and a car charger cord. You can make calls while charging. Just don't start the engine while charging the phone.
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Reply posted at www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=28...0 ("Clio Engine Turns But Wont Fire")