Hi
I have found a buyer for my car and have had permission from the DVLA to swop my personal plate off the car and have received the amended MOT and change of tax disc. The problem is that the DVLA says that it may take 4 to 8 weeks to return the VC5, and that I should not sell or dispose of the car until the document is in my possession. What possible issues might arise if I let the new owner have the car now and deal with the VC5 when it arrives. Needless to say he won't wait 4 - 8 weeks. Read more

Hi all,

I took my mate to pick his new car up yesterday and naturally, came a scenic route back. Because of this, I asked a fair bit of the brakes.

I was coming down the East Lancs road (big straight dual carriageway) and had to brake fairly hard when someone cut me up. When this happened, I noticed a groaning from the brakes. Quite loud too.

When I got out, I could smell what I can only assume to be brakes!

The car was left for a few hours and it had cooled down a lot by then. On the way home, I braked hard again (safely obviously) and couldn't replicate the sound. The brakes don't squeak and it wasn't all that long ago I had new discs and pads. I can get them to bite very hard too.

Whilst I don't sit on the brakes, I do ask a lot of them as my mate lives in a rural(ish) area and I can't help hammering it on the way there - it's almost like a track with chicanes and sweeping gradients. Even then though, I can't see that having eaten the pads down to the metal.

So, my question, if you haven't guessed already, is, what the hell was the groaning? Surely not the pads worn completely. Is it?

Many thanks,

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Hi,
I have 2000 Vectra and about once a week the inigition key sticks.
The steering lock is not on, the key goes in but will not turn.
It takes 1 / 2 mins of jiggling / pushing in / pulling out etc etc before whatever has jammed is cleared and the barrel will turn.
Do you have any ideas / tips ?
Do I need to replace the barrel ? If so, do I have to go to Vauxhall ?
Thank you, in advance,
yellow_stag Read more

My father had an accident which was the fault of the other driving. In trying to deal with the claim, he has only been offered £200 because of the low value of the car.

Now the car has a scratch all the way from the rear to the front and the mirror was ripped off following a minor scrape with the vehicle in question.

The insurance company also dealt with the claim.

What is the best next step for him? Should he voice his concern by letter and how should the letter be worded.

Any advice would be brilliant.

Thanks in advance

Greg Read more

The Fiesta is holding out OK for my newly qualified 17yo. The car has been "in the family" since it was a year old, it's basically sound and I've spent quite a bit on fixing stuff rather than letting it go... So I want to keep it not change it. It's got somewhere around 50k (genuine) miles on it now.

Now, to the point. It is starting to guzzle oil, like a pint or so per 200 miles (maybe less). It isn't dripping out underneath so it must be burning it. I haven't looked too hard yet but I hadn't noticed clouds of black smoke when daughter pulls away. During elder daughter's ownership, it was run pretty dry of oil once. There is no oil in water, no water in oil as far as I can tell - head gasket was done about 2 years ago (3 maybe).

What is the problem likely to be and how can I verify what it is?

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