September 2005
I understand that an MOT certificate is valid for a full 12 months no matter what happens, but does that mean a car is road legal if it develops faults that would fail the test?
In my case it's relatively minor - the washer motor doesn't work. It's been suggested to me that the legal requirement is only to have a clear screen. Is that right? Read more
Another current thread recommends tuning to a radio station to get traffic updates.
I've always found these virtually useless as they appear to be rather out of date. Where do they get their info? (I'm convinced that the old Capital Flying Eye was nothing of the sort - it was a man in a studio with some aircraft background noises!) Read more
I had the radio on with TA set to distance and while on the M5 stuck in a jam involving 4 cars I had 4 traffic reports from bbc local radio stations including Bristol, Hereford and worcester, Wales, and in welsh. which is a great help if I wasn't already stuck.
on the way home I got informed on an accident on the A30 in cornwall near Bodmin eastwards where a car had hit the central barriers, only just happened so light traffic not even a police car although as I passed one was ariving on the scene.
I have been offered a W Reg (2000) Rover 75 Classic CDT SE (BMW engine) by a friend for £4k. It has only done 46k miles and has a FSH. I have driven the car and it is in excellent condition - spotless inside and almost as good outside. I like the car a lot - it seems like a lot of car for not a lot of money - good fuel consumption to boot. My only concern is, you've guessed, about the future availability of spares although I understand reliability should not be an issue. Advice gratefully received - should I buy it? Read more
A colleague in work has just sold her Silver Rover 75 Club SE 18 months old and 12000 miles to another colleague for £4900. The car is kept very very clean. She was offered £4600 as a trade in against a new Jaguar X type by a large dealership in Belfast. She bought the car new and I hate to think what she has lost in depreciation.
My 1998 2.0 petrol automatic Nissan Primera had been good as gold from when I bought it last april on 26k miles to this summer. It now has 56k miles. Recently, though It has had a real problems which a host of franchises, independent and specialist garages have been unable to locate. Basically the car pulls to the left under normal driving. At motorway speeds, the steering goes dangerously light, and the car veers both left and right. On country roads, the car is an absolute nightmare.
I have dunlop 200e tyres fitted, all new in the last year. Balancing, tracking, tyre pressures have been checked. No cv joint or ball joint issues can be found. Noone can see a problem with suspension.
To add to all this the car has intermittently been making strange noises, usually after a couple of tight corners. There is a noise from the front right (I think) wheel, not unlike the noise your exhaust would make if it was dragging on the floor, which of course it isn't!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can anyone help! The car used to be beautiful to drive, but none of the six garages it has been to can find the problem, and only two of them said the car definitely had a problem. I don't want to have to part-ex it, but that may be my only option! Any advice hugely appreciated!
Chris. Read more
I reckon this is a problem with the power steering. It could be either too much pressure from the pump (relief valve stuck) or a fault in the rack valving. Can't say without the opportunity to inspect. Get someone local to look at it.
Reconditioned racks cost less than £100. If you need a pump you should be able to get yours reconditioned or one from a breakers for a modest price.
At a friends wedding yesterday. On leaving it, notice a silver Ferrari in the car park. Me and my 2 friends (all rather inebriated) go over and have a look. The owner appears from behind us, sees us drooling over his car, and comes over, opens the doors and says "go in, sit in the drivers seat".
Well you don't wait for him to change his mind do you. So there I am , sitting in a Ferrari, my boyhood (and current) dreams coming true. He starts the engine for me and tells me to rev it up.
I did. What a fabulous unbelievable sound from that engine!! Its undescribable, just fantastic!
SWMBO took some photos (well we still hadn't taken any pictures of the bride yet!)
Not sure what type of Ferrari it was, I do know it was soft top, 02 Reg and had paddle gearchange controls!
What a feeling it was to finally achieve a dream! Woke up this morning to a load of texts on my phone. On checking, I realised I had texted everyone in my phone to tell them! Even woke my 7 year old son at half one this morning to tell him!!!
I am still on a high 24 hours later because of that engine noise!
(No doubt I could have been in a bit of bother sitting revving up a car in a private car park whilst drunk but when you are realising one of your dreams, you don't think about these things)
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Me and my 2 friends (all rather inebriated)....
So there I am , sitting in a Ferrari, my boyhood (and current) dreams
coming true. He starts the engine for me and tells me to rev it up. I did.....
Lucky for you the boys in blue weren't around ;o)
A Ferrari in Silver? Nope, doesn't do anything for me. Has to be in red or yellow for it to be a proper Ferrari, IMHO.
I noticed in July's AutoExpress that 44,000 VW Tourans were being recalled due to problems with the clutch overheating. This only affected models built in 2004 and 2005 with the 2.0 diesel engine.
Mine seemed to fit the bill, so having heard nothing from VW, I rang my local dealership who hadn't heard of the recall, despite an estimated 2,500 Tourans being recalled in the UK. I waited a few more weeks and rang the VW UK recall telephone number who confirmed that my car should have been recalled.
I rang my local dealer and booked the car in for a clutch modification a fortnight ago. However, when I arrived, they denied any knowledge of the recall! I left the car with them whilst they fixed a service indicator problem (which wasn't reset properly during a previous service!) and asked them to contact VW. When I picked the car up, they finally agreed that the car did need a clutch modification and ordered the parts. Tomorrow, I am wasting yet more of my time taking the car in for a second visit.
I appreciate that we live in an information rich age where I can find out highly information within hours of the news occurring.
Unfortunately, all of contact with VW service seems to follow the same pattern: car booked in for service/repair, fault following repair, rebooked for second service to repair problems caused by the first service. This is my first (and I think last) VW and so far it has been to the garage 7 times in the last 6 months for one routine service, one sat nav failure and one (yet to be performed) clutch recall. This didn't happen to me in the 10 years I ran Nissan Primeras.
All of which is a great pity because I really enjoy driving my Touran, particular now I have changed to Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres which are far quieter than the original Dunlop SP01As. My 3 young children love travelling in the car and far preferred it to the Mondeo Estate that we hired on holiday.
Have I just had a run of bad luck or is this typical of VW servicing? Read more
Forgot.....I had a Golf.
Ken.
When I was in my teens (many years ago) I spent an extended holiday in Canada with my family, staying with relatives.
I seem to recall that Canadians had to buy new registration plates every year, like we do a tax disc and these plates displayed the car owners driver no as opposed to a vehicle registration no, as in the UK.
I recall the province of residency was also included. Your 'registration' no was therefore the same for life and gave no indication of the vehicle's age. There must have been some system for employees driving company vehicles but I can't recall what this was.
Unfortunately, I can't check whether my memory serves me correct or not, as my relations have long since deceased. I do however vividly recall the Canadian 'family' runabout - a 1966 Plymouth Fury with something like a 6.5 litre V8! (400 cubic inch)? under the hood. Quite a car compared to our UK runabout, a Ford Anglia 105e with a 998cc 4 cylinder rubber band under the bonnet. Damn 'hood' sounds so much more powerful than 'bonnet' I ask you!
Anyway, does anyone know if I recall this correctly or not - perhaps any Canadian back roomers can help - and if right or not, could such a system work in the UK? Just think, no one would know that you'd just bought that brand new BMW!!! Read more
Actually, it seems that the system today is you update your plates with a validation sticker annually.
tinyurl.com/axub3
Does any body have any thoughts on why MPG on my Multispace HDi should vary from 30 to 45 over a few months, not as a steady decrease but haphazardly? OK its a 2450 mile second car, 6 months old but is that it? Would good hard everyday driving sort it? Or is this a common HDi problem? Read more
I have the Peugeot version of this and it was disappointing from an economy point of view in the first 10,000 miles. Not petrol engine bad, but worse than I expected. Two years and twenty-odd thousand miles later it's delivering between 47 and 52 mpg on a normal run of A-roads and motorway. It does seem very susceptible to traffic and short trips though. That sort of thing can knock it back to 40-ish.
Incidentally I've used it this summer to tow a small (very, very small) caravan (an Eriba Puck), which is the same width and about the same height as the car. Sticking to the 60 limit on motorways it still managed in the high 40s. So I reckon aerodynamics has a lot to answer for.
I have a T reg 1.8 diesel, occaisionally during acceleration the engine hesitates, similar to missfire in a petrol engine. Looking through the rear view mirror there is signs of black smoke. The problem seems to occur at the same engine speed. Typically 25-30 mph in 3rd gear.
Has anyone any ideal what may be wrong.
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Could be an injector "hosing"-ie.sqirting not spraying.Go to a diesel specialist and enquire about having your injectors serviced.
Hi,
Am considering getting a 2.0 Focus Ghia (Manual, petrol, estate). Not the new shape - but about a year old.
Does anyone have any experience of the MPG I could expect to get. The Ford book says 32.8 - but whats it like in practice?
Thanks in anticipation.
Robert Read more
Thanks, DD, I didn't realise there had been a change from the Zetec. From the few references on the thread, can I infer that it is snake oil?
"Road legal", what does that mean?
It could well be "road legal", it would depend on the fault.
No idea, but it does not directly make your car "not road legal". Driving with a badly smeared screen that impairs visibility would be "illegal".