August 2005
Am I the only driver who considers most motorcyclists bad mannered and bad drivers?
I live in Bournemouth and there seems to be an increasing number of motorcyclists who:-
- While overtaking a slow moving queue of traffic, will push into the queue willy nilly despite no space available. The poor motorist has then to brake and make space rather than hit the motorcyclist.
- While waiting at traffic lights, pull alongside the leading car. When the lights change they cut across into the path of the car not realising that the car is also pulling away at the lights. A very interesting manouver.
- Young lads/lasses with restricted speed scooters travelling at the restricted speed, 27 MPH, smack in the middle of the lane and will not pull over to allow ordinary powered vehicles to pass.
- Rush up to speed cameras at the speed limit + 15 mph, then slam on their brakes to the speed limit - 10 mph almost causing the following vehicles to plough into the back of them.
It seems to me that the death and injury figures of motorcyclists would be much higher if the ordinary motorists did not have to compensate for their boorish and thoughtless driving. Read more
With reference to a Q & A in last week's HJ Telegraph column from someone planning to drive to North Africa, what would be the physical effect of using leaded petrol in a catalysed vehicle? At some point the active material in the cat is presumably neutralised or destroyed and it has to be replaced to meet the MoT test, but are there any side effects such as bad running or confusion for the ECU once the damage is done? Might it not also be cheaper if possible to remove the cat before travelling (replace it on return) or does that give the ECU brain damage? Read more
A blocked EGR valve should not cause any running problems-it will increase emissions(NOX)slightly and actually improve part-throttle performance(it does not operate at at wide-open throttle.
Just returned from spending the best part of month on a touring holiday in Spain. Thanks to all of those who gave advice before I went.
Had a very very nice time. Very uneventful - didn't get peeped at once and no near misses! Driving in the cities (Barcelona, tarragona, Girona) was not too bad - less 'road rage' than in the UK in fact. Coastal roads were busy (esp. since beginning of August) but driving was not too bad. The weak point is roundabouts (Spanish don't seem to indicate or necessarily use the correct lane).
I had my TomTom GPS (latest maps) with me and found quite a few mapping errors, especially in the small towns - so *make sure you take a good map, as well as GPS*.
Had a Hertz rental car. I actually booked a C-Macx/Zafira/Scenic (6 months ago) but they could only manage a Focus estate ("take it or leave it") when I actually arrived at Barcelona airport - not very happy about that (have 3 children and miniMPV's are better for them). Not a bad car; handles well and quite comfortable but the 1.6 petrol engine felt underpowered with 5 on board.
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Aprilla,
I would have a good moan at them. Sounds like below standard service by what is a large multinational. State that you are a regular customer.
BCN is pretty poor in this respect, probably the worst and I go there at least once a year ! As Growler says never been good, service seems stuck at about 20 years ago which isn't good enough.
Have got a vectra at the moment and myself and hubby cannot agree on a car has anyone any suggestions. I want smaller car but big enough to fit buggy in boot, 1.4 engine and is going to last us at least 5 years. The last car was 4 years old and has cost us a small fortune on garage bills, which we don't want to happen again. Read more
boderek,
I bought a Corolla 1.4 VVTi GS 12 months ago from a Toyota dealer and have never regretted it. My sister has a 1.4 Focus and having used both I'm pleased with my decision. The Focus is a good car if overhyped and appears quite basic and not as well built. The Corolla has every option under the sun and my local Toyota dealer seemed desperate to get rid of it, cutting approximately 15 per cent off the asking price. I think it was because the old model isn't as marketable as the new one. I bought it for £4100 on a W plate. The Focus cost nearer £6500 on a T plate from a Ford dealer six months earlier. I have now moved and my new local dealer has bent over backwards to accommodate me, removing a stone caught in the wheel and serviced it with courtesy that I've never experienced at a car dealership. Moreover it only needs a full service every 20,000 and returns 48+MPG. If you want something reliable, cheap to run, for £5k you can only buy Japanese; Nissan Almera, Mazda 323, both of which have 1.5s. My money would be on the Toyota though. When I was looking for mine I missed a couple that seemed to be disposed of at the auctions, mine had been on the forecourt for two or three months.
You should have a look on their used car search at www.toyota.co.uk.
Best of Luck,
DZM
The Speedometer in my car shows 10% faster than actual road speed when compared to the portable GPS.
So 60mph on dial is actually 56mph, 70 is 63.
This HAS been discussed in many threads here, and I HAVE read all of them. I've started this one though because I'm asking:
Is it likely the mileometer is ALSO inaccurate?
Has anyone done a, for example, 100 mile run calculated by GPS or somesuch and compared it with the odometer?
If it's also out, then issues to be considered:
Service interval of 12,000 miles.. Could be done at an indicated 13,200?
Claiming Mileage from business/ government is inaccurate?
Calculated MPG figures would be optimistic?
When advertising Mileage on a car as "done 80,000 miles!" could mean "actally done 72,000 miles but shows 80 on clock" (Buyers benefit)or even "shows 88 on the clock on the clock, but has really done 80k" (Sellers advantage)
hmmm. Any thoughts? How to test the odo accurately? Read more
>Has anyone done a 100 mile run calculated by GPS or somesuch and compared it with the odometer?<
I have always assumed that the 100-metre posts on our motorways are fairly accurate (ignoring the possibility that the odd one is misplaced, which should be negligible over 50km). As I have reported before, Pug odometers read anything between 1 and 4 % over, in my experience. My current 306 (my first with a digital readout) reads +1.4%. Tyre size could have an effect, especially if a non-standard size is fitted; a new tyre could be about 2% 'bigger' than a nearly-bald one.
A friend regularly has problems with parents who are taking children to and from the nearby village school parking across his gateway, making it impossible for him to get his car into or out of his driveway. I?ve suggested that he copies what I?ve seen outside three houses that are opposite a rural school near me, which is white lines on the road across the ends of the driveways. The lines are about a foot out from the edge of the road and are in the shape of an H elongated sideways, and they appear to effectively deter inconsiderate parking. I?ve suggested that now is a good time to do it because the schools are on holiday and the paint would have more time to dry! However, said friend is dubious about his right to paint lines on the road. Is it an offence to paint lines on the road, and if so what would be the likely penalty ~ a fine, payment of cost of removal by the authorities etc.?
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature. Read more
If you live on a classified road (A, B or C) planning permission is required for a new access to the road (including dropped kerb). On other roads planning permission is not normally required for a residential access, unless its linked to some other form of development.
Consent is also required from the highway authority, assuming it is an adopted highway, otherwise the landowner.
I don't know about actually carrying out the work (and I haven't dealt directly with these types of planning applications for a little while so the rules may have changed slightly).
There will probably be details on the Council website, or you may find something at www.planningportal.gov.uk.
last topic I promise!!
Some fool (me) went and bent the drivers side wing mirror forwards when reversing out of the drive. It did pop back into place thankfully! Since then I've not been able to adjust these electric mirrors at all using the switch etc on the dashboard. Now I don't actually know if this fault was present before I bent the wing mirror forward, as I haven't had to adjust them since I first bought the car.
Any idea where I should be looking to fix this fault? What gets me is that I can't adjust either mirror at all.
Is it worthwhile trying a new switch to start with?
cheers
Marc Read more
cheers for the replies.
I've checked the fuse, and it's still intact (plus heater fan works, as you've said).
It's odd that both sides have stopped working. Could I have dislodged a wire when I bent the mirror forward, breaking the circuit?
I think I'll try a fresh switch first of all.
Another irritating problem....but this one is a little odd. The wipers work perfectly at normal speed and fast speed, but are useless when on 'intermittant wipe'. They go up - stop - down - stop - up - stop.... etc instead of the usual up - down - stop - up - down -stop.
This seemed to start happening out of nowhere, which makes it even more baffling.
Am I needing a new wiper motor maybe?
Any help would be great.
Marc Read more
my local scrappy is pretty reasonable and guarantees his parts (if it's faulty he replaces).
cheers for the advice
A bit of an irritating intermittant problem. The car will start fine for weeks, then it'll seem to labour more to start. When this happens the starter turns over very slowly, but then kicks in and starts. After a while it gives up kicking in completely and will only start with a bump start. Oddly it'll then go for another few weeks starting perfectly!
Does this sound like the starer motor itself is needing replaced? I replaced the battery a few months ago due to this same problem hoping it was a dead cell or something, but no joy (obviously!)
Any help would be great.
Marc Read more
cheers for that... a bit of a relief that I can replace the wire! Now I've just got to get the motor out to work on it.
Anyone else been charged an 'administration' fee of £14 by Peugeot insurance just to amend their address details after moving house? My other half changed hers yesterday and they've levied the charge to "cover administration." How much does it really cost to update a computer and then send out revised documents?!! Read more
£14 doesn't go far these days when you add up direct wages, materials and overheads. You can't expect owt for nowt.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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There are NO cameras on the Cat and Fiddle because Cheshire rely on 'high profile policing' in marked cars instead. Unless its a Sunday, obviously...