July 2005
I am bored with the diesel estates which are needed to ferry the kids and dogs and do commuting.
What suggestions do the panel have for a 'toy' car.
For the sake of argument, I will say up to £5k, must be reasonably easy to work on/maintain. Shouldnt cost too much to run, but should still be reliable enough for a long weekend away without fear.
Any comments re: 944, Excel, mx5 or what else ?
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Going to be selling SWMBO's Vauxhall Corsa in the next few weeks. I've looked about on Autotrader but can't find the exact model to compare.
It's 1998 (S) with 54k, FSH, 7 months MOT and 11 month RFL. Red in colour and has faded a little, although I'll be dealing with that before selling along with the black trim. CD radio, sunroof, recent cambelt.
I was going to chuck it in for £1,750.
Is that fair, or a little optimistic?
Cheers,
Steve Read more
Part-exchange Price:
Excellent condition: (£1340 - 3dr) (£1390 - 5 dr)
Average condition: (£1165 - 3dr) (£1210 - 5 dr)
Below average condition: (£985 - 3dr) (£1025 - 5 dr)
Hi
I have been offered a Pug 406 in near-mint condition (considering the year) with 98k miles on the clock for a good price. The current owner reports one niggly problem... the PAS. Apparently it works fine but there is an intermittent problem at low speeds that results in heavier steering. The fluid levels are reportedly fine.
I was thinking it could either be related to the belt slipping or a worn motor. Does anyone know of any reported problems of this kind on these cars? Is it likely to be an expensive job... are there any tests I could do/places to check for leaks to confirm any problems?
Problem at the moment is that the car is too far away to check, and so I can only do it when I meet up with the seller in a few weeks.
All the best
FF. Read more
I have spoken to him again and he mentions that it is intermittent and only really happens when the car is a little warm
Any ideas?
TIA
Had wife's Clio MOT'd on Monday, on one hand I did not want it to fail, on the other hand I hoped that they would find anything that might require urgent attention, particularly if safety related.
They were pleasingly very thorough however it occured to me afterwards that they only took a cursory glance in the boot, perhaps the spare tyre is not covered by the MOT now that run-flat tyres etc are a legal alternative? Read more
2003 2 litre Focus Ghia. Steel spare......
Cost approx £30 c/w matching tyre. One reason I went for it was that the space-saver on a similar car caused an annoying mild activation of the traction control (even at a steady 30 mph)when fitted to the front. Presumably a small difference in the rolling radius compared to the full size tyre made the traction control detect that the two front wheels were rotating at different speeds. I later realised that one answer was to switch off the traction control but I was never satisfied with this solution.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
I have recently purchased a V reg Civic AeroDeck (Estate) and am considering having it converted to run on LPG
I would like to know if anyone has had their Civic converted to run on LPG.
Are Honda engines OK for Conversion??
Any Horror Stories relating to Honda Engines and LPG.
I changed from a 1.6RT Renault Scenic that had an old Gas conversion on it (Non Injection type)and had problems that were quite costly.
any information would be greatly appreciated
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{Acknowledgments to our ex-moderator Mark (RLBS) who first penned these words}
Updated 31/08/2006 Read more
Although Mark has hung up his moderators hat. It's worth keeping the following in mind - which, btw, was originally written by him.
"Swearing is not permitted on this site. Anybody surprised ? Anybody think that this is a bit of a change ? Perhaps this is new to someone ?
No ? Well then I am mystified.
Is anybody particularly offended by the letter "s" and thinks that using "$" instead purifies the word ? Perhaps "i" bothers you and "1" is somehow cleaner and less troublesome ? Maybe "@" stands for a better ideal than "a" ??
Or perhaps some people are confused and incapable of communication without dedicating some small part of their limited intellect to getting a word past the sweary thing by using special characters ?
Whichever it is, take note - its becoming a pain entering these notes simply to edit out a single word. In future at the first signs of weariness, boredom or frustration on the part of the particular moderator concerned, then out will come the delete button becauses its so much easier than the edit button (which we have and you don't - nyaah, nyaah).
And if you don't like it, if you think that "real men" swear, if you think that you're man enough to take some rough language and that limited swearing should be permitted, if you think that other people should be able to cope and that you should be able to use whatever language you want, then I have some bad news; I have tried to care. I have really really tried, in fact done my very best to care - but I don't."
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Looks like some of you need another reminder about the NO SWEARING rule this site has in place.
Deletion of a post by us moderators is far quicker than editing it, so if you wonder where your post has gone....
Persistent offenders may find they are no longer able to log in as their accounts have been disabled.
DD.
I seem to remember that a number of years ago Ford stated that by about the beginning of 2002 (IIRC) they would be fitting DAB digital car radios in all new Fords sold in the UK. It's now the second half of 2005 and no sign of this policy/promise being fulfilled. Anyone (especially Ford employees in the know) able to explain why ?
(Originally posted a few days ago but lost in the "Bermuda triangle" event) Read more
I would wager that satnav will become standard equipment before DAB radios do.
Hello,
I'd be grateful for advice. I need to drive from M62 jct 24 (just W of Leeds) to central Reading, to arrive for about 1230. What route is best?
What about the route home, departing Reading 1200-1300?
Thanks. Read more
The road mentioned by NoFM2R is the A4074 - it bypasses
Benson, Wallingford (thank the Lord) and Woodcote, and has some dangerous
bends after a long straight stretch betwen Crowmarsh and Reading.
Ah the 13 bends of death, I have fond memories of those on my 600 sports bike.
Coolant alarm suddenly went off on my 98 Audi A4 tdi (180k) today, so topped it up immediately - no obvious leaks etc, so I just put it down to not checking it often enough. 60 or so miles later, it went off again, so I checked under the car to find water dripping out pretty fast - although it was impossible to see where from due to the guard that covers most of the underside. Topped it up again, and a few miles later notice that the speedo has stopped working, as has the mileometer, and then the fuel gauge starts floating up and down. The car has an on-board comp, and the mileage range was going from 50 up to 200 and down again in the space of a few metres, obviously due to the fuel gauge's antics. So, before I go down to the garage tomorrow, does this sound partly like an engine management system problem? Any ideas? All the temp gauges are registering normal, and everything else seems fine. The only thing I have noticed recently is a slight hissing from the engine bay when I turn off, although I'd figured this was probably the a/c after use. Any advice appreciated... Read more
Underguard is pretty easy to get off, held on with scres only.
Try putting some radiator sealant in with your coolant - that should cure the leak.
Some TT's Golfs and Leons had a problerm with their instrument cluster, possibly yours is on its way out.
If the instruments played up only when the coolant strated to leak, then fix the leak and you may get lucky with yor instruments.
Browse
Browse through the 'classic cars' section on eBay. Lots of ideas there, both old and more modern. Cheap classic insurance (often under £100 pa), some tax exempt and most a doddle to work on. Suprisingly reliable too, just use it regularly and change the points every 6 months or fit electronic ignition. Buy the best you can from an enthusiast, maintain its condition and enjoy zero depreciation.