November 2005
Did anyone else catch that bit on TV recently where no less than Jonathan Miller, playing a bit-part as a doctor, was looking at a magazine featuring a Ferrari that was not a Testarossa while pronouncing the name "testarosa" and uttering the ridiculous 0-60 figure of 2.2 seconds? Dear oh dear, and the polymath Miller too.
Oi'll get me anorak . . . Read more
Well,
Just booked a rental car for use while in Arizona for a couple of days. Got a rate of $14.97 per day from Travelocity. Cant beat that but I understand that they usually get you on the insurances/CDW etc. Fortunately my US issued credit cards cover me for all that nonsense if I use the card to pay for the car. Cant remember if UK credit cards will give the same protection? I never had more than a Switch card till I came here. Read more
If you have American Express travel insurance you're usually covered on US hire cars to a similar level to a US credit card.
I often have to drive home very late at night on ungritted country roads. I don't really like snow chains, but I have heard you can now get 'auto socks' a kind of woolly thing you put over your tyres to give more grip on packed snow and ice (honest!). Has anyone tried these? Do they work? Read more
These are they:
www.autosock.com/default.aspx
but I've no idea if they are effective!
Help please with a problem on my brother's 9000 2ltr ecoBosch LH injection. It started with a slightly higher idle than normal(1100) after a run . When later cold started it revved at 1500rpm and the revs then increased to around 2000 : it now does this every time when cold started. Once warm it behaves normally but sometimes occasionally jumps up to 2000 ish. I've cleaned the idle control valve for him but no good. Any ideas he hates to hear his car run so fast when cold!
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Alfaboy, try going to www.saabscene.com/saabforum/postlist.php/Cat/0/Boa...9 , it's a specialist Saab forum. You might pick up some ideas there. It's not a problem I've come across.
Hi, I've currently hiring a renault megane 1.6v, however with the recent bad weather i've been using my screen wash quite abit whilst travelling. The thing is i need to refill this but for the life of me i cannot find the bonnet release handle/button anywhere i the car, i thought it would be under the steering column, but nowt...can anyone help.... Read more
Assuming it's the current big bum Megane - indeed it is in the passenger footwell. When you pull it, a plastic thingy springs out of the front grill, you need to pull this when you raise the bonnet.
Voila!
Screenwash is on the left hand side.
Mrs Steptoe parked the MR outside her friend's house last week, as she often does, straight road, facing right way, visible for about ¼ mile, 30mph zone, under a street lamp. On investigating somewhat of a commotion outside she found that a Ford Fusion had cannoned the MR up the kerb and into a car displayed on the adjacent garage forecourt, driver nowhere to be seen. When the police arrived they extricated a female from the pub next door, questioned and breathalysed her.
I chatted informally to one of the attending PC's a couple of days later, he said she had been drinking but was not over the limit. As there were no injuries ( the Fusion was, of course, air-bagged ) and both parties had insurance, they were taking no action, it was just another 'accident'.
The damage would have written off a new car, never mind a 16 year old MR so I am naturally mad as hell. The idiot can just go down to the nearest Ford dealership, whilst I am unlikely to get another cherished FSH MR for the price I will be offered, so I intend to hammer her financially. Her insurance company have admitted full liability on her behalf, little else they could do in the circumstances, so of course I have scope to negotiate on the price for the car. I am now looking at uninsured losses and would welcome anybody's thought on what I could claim. My thoughts so far include a 'nominal' daily charge for the inconvenience of having an undriveable vehicle obstructing my driveway whilst awaiting the insurance assessment ( Mrs Steptoe elected to have the car recovered here, presumably because this happens with the all breakdowns! ) and a substantial sum for the time and expense involved in sourcing another runabout. Could I legitimately claim for storing it on my own property, a garage of course, would levy a charge automatically? Anything else I could claim?
Finally should I send the bill for uninsured losses directly to the idiot, 'uninsured' implying my insurance company would not wish to know?
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One mans junk is another mans treasure Read more
To finally dot the i's and cross the t's on this one??
Liverpool and Victoria were fairly helpful all the way through, they offered £595 backed up by an immediate cheque sent very soon after the MR was collected.
Bearing in mind the advice from the Backroom I replied suitably and politely and was rewarded by another £160; again the cheque was despatched poste-haste, presumably in the hope that the sight of the actual cash would mollify me. In fact, though I could probably squeezed another few pounds out of them I left it at that.
They also offered to recover Mrs S's uninsured losses and she was duly reimbursed her excess and the cost of the recovery to our house. Annoyingly my modest claim for storage/inconvenience was disregarded, just as No FM2R surmised. As I could not quantify a loss I had to accept this even though if we had elected to have the vehicle recovered to our local body shop, they would have, as a business, been able to make a successful claim.
So what did we spend this magnificent sum on? Well the MR had only ever been an impulse buy, a holiday romance sort of purchase, simply because it was suddenly available at the right price! A sensible replacement needed to accommodate Miss S; being a little embarrassed to enquire on here as to the best buy for ¾ K, I posed the question on a newsgroup. The suggestion of a Hyundai Accent Coupe checked out so well on the C by C breakdown that we bought one. The 'private' seller was quite obviously retailing his mates trade-ins, however in this price range I was buying on condition rather than service history and to date no problems have materialised except for Mrs. S's wistful glances at passing convertibles.
Inevitably I suppose, despite guaranteed NCB and a reduction in engine size to 1.3, Mrs. S's insurance premium has increased by 15%.
Thanks once again for all the advice and suggestions from the Backroom
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
Does anyone know how to resync a 2-button remote keyfob on a Daewoo lanos without taking it to a dealer?
Any help appreciated.
A Read more
As the Lanos is based on one of the older Vauxhall models (Astra IIRC), try this. Turn the key in the ignition until you get the dash lights, then press both buttons on the fob. If sucessful, the C/L should activate to confirm syncronisation.
Churchill Insurance have rated the worse 10 cartoon Drivers.
1 Dick Dastardly: criminal background always crashes (blames dog)
2 Homer Simpson: eats doughnuts at wheel, crashes a lot.
3 Fred Flinstone: Overloaded car with large brontasuarus rib
4 Cruella de Ville: criminal record for theft of puppies
5 Noddy: Illegal use as taxi and crushing big ears bike
6 Danger Mouse: why?
7 Inspector Gadget: failed to disclose modifications to car
8 Postman Pat: Carrying high value items
9 Scooby Doo: Why?
10 Mickey Mouse: Why?
Is this list right? who is missed off?
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family Read more
Has to be Homer during their escape from Florida.
Marge - Homer you're going to kill us all!
Homer - Or die trying!
He then proceeded to crash into a train!
Or the time he crashed into a statue in the park
Homer - Doh!
Marge - A Dear!
Lisa - A female Dear!
After a minor crash which left the bonnet of my Almera deformed and with barely a scratch on the back of the Peugeot 106 which I had bumped against, I was left thinking whether Japanese car panels are in some way weaker than the German/French counterparts.
After all the Almera is bigger in size and perhaps more sturdier,but I was proven otherwise!
After all German cars are supposed to be extra sturdily built, Renault cars are mostly 5 star NCAP and Volvos are said to be built like trucks and are supposed to be extra tough!
In buying a Japanese car, are we sacrificing safety for reliability and good performance?? Maybe not with the newer cars but those have prices upward of 10k,which are beyond my pocket!
After a painful back and neck following this minor accident, I have been thinking about the next car.
Budget of £8k-10k, with an extra reliability and extremely safe as well??
I have been thinking about the possibilities
Volvo-questions about reliability issues but otherwise perfect.
Honda Accord diesel-Too costly
Toyota Avensis diesel-same as above!
Any suggestions gratefully received, at all.
Thanks
John Read more
almera designed & built before almera=nissan
so
almera=nissan=japanese not french.
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
Hi,
Blasted french car. The SWIMBO loaded the boot with Sainsbury's finest and drove home to find the rear door no longer opened. Had to fish the shopping out through the hatch.
Anyway sounds like the solonoid in the door is firing (I assume they use one to unlock both locks) but the handle seems to be slipping off the lock mechanism and going limp when you try and open it. Of cource there is no other way to open the door even from the inside (good thing these guys dont build air craft) So does anyonw know how to open the door and get inside its inards to replace the lock?
D
2000 Espace (1.5 days with no faults so far) Read more
if only it was that easy. I was hoping for somthing jambed or it not shut properly. Gave is a good thump from inside and out no help. Nothing visibly out of place. I am sure its the mechanism as when you operate the handle you can feel it go all slack and not do anything. Different to when the car is locked its slack all the time.
BTW its the tail gate rear door (the 5th door) not the passenger rear doors.
Browse
uttering the ridiculous 0-60
Since Ferraris are Italian, was it 0-60 kph by any chance?
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L\'escargot.