July 2005
Mrsb has a 2 year old Yaris which is having its second service today.
Main Dealer said that an Aircon re-gas was "recommended every couple of year" at a cost of £99. As the car has been very lightly used (c. 8k miles in a mixture of local and M-Way trips) I declined until next year.
Have I been unwise?
Thanks for help
Peter Read more
Picked up a new Ford Fiesta Zetec 'climate' yesterday from our main Ford Dealers and am very pleased with it, however the ride felt a bit firm and so having driven home the 1.5 miles from the garage decided to check the tyre pressures. The tyres are 195/50 Bridgestones on R15 alloys wheels.
Using two types of pressure gauge, I ascertained that all tyres had been inflated to 41 p.s.i (2.8 bar approx.)!! I rummaged through the user's manual and discovered that, for this type of tyre size/model combination, the 'normal' pressures should be 29 p.s.i (Front) and 26 p.s.i (Rear).
Why do garages do this? Don't they know the correct pressures? I could not find any car within the Ford range that would necessitate having tyres inflated to those pressures.
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After using the pressure settings as recommended by Audi and having the first 4 tyres wear out after 13K miles, mainly due to wear on the inner and outer bands of the tyres, I added 2-3psi over the recommendation with the new tyres. Made it to 26K and the tyres had a least another 5K in them with much more even wear. If anything the handling was better.
Fat lot of good that did - at the very least I will need a new set of tyres after my accident!
The new advisory rates for company vehicle has just been revised to take into account higher fuel prices see here:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/cars/fuel_company_cars.htm (sorry cannot seem to do a link to web site).
however they have decided that the fuel rate for 2000cc is increased from previous rates given, but less than 2000cc the rate will remain the same.reason given is to reflect increase in fuel economy since 2001 of these smaller engined vehicles.Well does any one agree with this statement?
rustbucket (the original)
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I didn't think they'd changed either, funny that isn't it!
Not sure if this has been done before or not, but what the hell...
Reading through PoloGirl's thread earlier, there was a little bit of banter over Polo's gender (the car, not the girl).
To her, Polo is most definitely male.
Now my 10 year old unmodified Escort i have always addressed as female. Not sure why, really. Perhaps it's a bit of personification (or doggyfication):
Imagine Terry Wogan sitting by a fireplace in slippers calling his faithful old labrador (if he had one) "Good Old Girl".
As you can see, its not easy to explain why you may have attached a gender to your vehicle. What makes a car 'male'?
Is it a car with aggressive looks, big alloys, high power?
ie. Subaru Imprezza = Male?
Nissan Micra = Female? Read more
My car doesn't have the necessary body parts to qualify it as being either sex.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
I have a problem with the coolant indicator on my passat.
Most of the time it indicates 90 after everything has warmed up.
Sometimes it just sits at zero.
I have found 2 post in the history of the forum indicating that this is either the thermostat failing or the sensor. Looks like thermostat sticking to me.
My problem is I don't know where to locate these to replace them?
Can anyone guide me in the right direction?
Any advice much appreciated. Read more
Are all the hoses associated with the circulation of the coolant warm or hot to the touch when the car has been run for a while, regardless of what the temp gauge reads? If they are I suggest that it can't be the thermostat; sounds more like a dodgy electrical connectionto/from the temp sensor to me.
I noticed that the EC is making proposals to end car registration tax throughout the Union.
More money out of our pockets? See below.
"The EU executive Commission is proposing a restructure of EU car tax systems which would lead to the eventual abolition of car registration tax in the European Union.
The main aim of the Commission proposal for a directive is to remove existing tax obstacles to the transfer of passenger cars from one Member State to another.
It is also looking to ensure an environmental element to car taxation by restructuring the tax base of both registration taxes and annual circulation taxes so as to include elements directly related to carbon dioxide emissions of passenger cars.
The Commission stresses that it only wishes to establish an EU structure for passenger car taxes. It is not looking to harmonise tax rates or oblige Member States to introduce new taxes.
The Commission's passenger car tax proposal contains three elements:
Abolition of car registration taxes over a transitional period of five to ten years. The Member States' revenues would not be affected if the gradual abolition of registration taxes is accompanied by a parallel increase of annual circulation taxes and, if necessary, other taxes. A gradual change would protect car owners from dramatic devaluations of their cars. The transitional period would also allow those Member States applying high registration taxes to make the necessary structural changes to their car tax systems.
A system whereby a Member State would be required to refund a portion of registration tax, pending its abolition, where a passenger car that is registered in that Member State is subsequently exported or permanently transferred to another Member State. This measure would aim both to prevent the double taxation that occurs at present and to make this kind of taxes fairer by relating them to the actual use of the car in the Member State concerned. A similar refund system would be introduced for annual circulation taxes.
The introduction of a CO2 element into the tax base of both annual circulation taxes and registration taxes. This would mean a tax differentiation on the basis of the number of grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometre by a car. By 31 December 2008, at least 25% of the total tax revenue from registration and annual circulation taxes should derive from the CO2 based element of the taxes and this figure should rise to 50% by 2010."
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Ok, firstly I dont want anyone to start telling me that the compact 4 cyl isnt a "proper BMW", I have bought the car and just need constructive advice please!!
I had the 8v GOLF Gti before this car and am amazed at how slow it seems to be compared to the Golf. The engine is bigger at 1.9, 16v and the body I wouldnt of thought is much heavier. However, despite this the BM is much slower to pull off and the third gear excelleration seems non existant pre 3500 revs. Even above this, there seems to be very little torque increase.. Is this normal for this model? (its the sports edition with the M package). The handling is excellent and it is a comfortable drive, but I am serisouly missing the power of the golf.
I was wondering what the best non chip mods would be to increase the BHP? its supposed to be 140 standard, but it feels more like 100 at the most. The obvious choices would be exhaust and air filter...?
Any thoughts or suggestions welcome (except: sell the car!)
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I should make sure the Catalytic converter is not partly blocked. That would reduce power, specially at higher revs. Happened to me.
(Headline changed by HJ for clarity, quite late, 20.00 on 8-5-05, so after some of the posts that sought to make this clearer.)
I like to go green and I have £7000 to spend.
I am thinking of importing a 3L car either A2 or Lupo,where should I start looking? Read more
Sound good, using veg oil will make sense but I don't think it will contribute to engine life isn't it? after all I want to run the 3L to the ground and keep it for at list 5 years.
Hi HJ,
I've been reading some of the archive posts relating to Cmax
Did you get your Cmax 2.0Tdci back in March? How is it holding up? I'm particularly interested in the fuel economy it is returning and the reliability.
TIA
Bob Read more
I agree. Very under rated vehicle with a surprising turn of sppeed. Now with 6000 miles plus I am averaging 46.7 mpg but started out under 40. I live on the border with the Irish Republic where diesel is 20% cheaper but is of poorer quality so i will be interested to see if HJs switch to BP or Shell has any marked effect. On my last Nissan Primera 2.2 DCi running om optimax (?) i could get over 70 miles more out of a tankful.
Hi,
My apologise as this is the second thread tonight, but what is the best way to dissolve mayonnaise in oil filler caps?
Before I've used white spirit, finding it much more effective than parrafin, but is there something better I could use.
Thinners to hand include meths, turps, IPA, petrol.
Thanks all.
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Mike Farrow Read more
This problem normally occurs where the engine only does short runs, where the engine does not get upto proper operating temperatures to remove any condensation from the oil. This usally happens where cars are used going to the schools, shopping and most of which they don't travel more than 5 miles in one direction.
Best to take it a long run at least once a week, you'll help your exhaust system too.
Thanks all
The service manager's non-verbal communications at collection time implied I'd done the right thing