November 2005
I lose my company car in February and so will be back in the world of buying my own tax discs, tyres, fuel, etc.
My budget is £8k and ideally would like a car 3 years old with less than 40k miles on the clock. I also need a decent amount of space as I need to fit a pram and shopping in as well as accommodate the usual weekend trips to B&Q and Ikea.
Having trawled through Autotrader and HJ's CBCD I've come up with a short list and would appreciate your feedback:
Citroen C5 Estate 2.0i/2.2 HDi
Ford Mondeo 2.0i/2.0 TDCi Zetec-S/Ghia X
Honda Accord 2.0i SE Exec (old shape)
MG ZT+ 1.8t 160
Saab 9-5 2.0t
Vauxhall Omega 2.2i CD
I've briefly run the Mondeo and Rover 75 in the past and liked them. The Mondeo is a strong contender but is there anything else worth considering?
Many thanks,
PhilDS Read more
BBC news website today:
Meanwhile, the thick fog which has accompanied wintry conditions in some areas has prevented drivers on the M6 in Cumbria from being caught by speed cameras.
The county's safety camera partnership has reported that more than 150 vehicles were caught travelling at 70mph on Tuesday night in a section of contraflow near Tebay, where the temporary limit is 50mph.
However, the fog was so heavy that the cameras failed to even make out the shape of some of them.
Tee hee! No doubt this will disappear to the speeding/scamera thread in due course. Read more
Isn't it the flash that's the problem?, like running high beam in fog just gives a white glare. Funnily enough I was suggesting running up the local bypass on Monday to set them off, in a light-hearted way of course.
I fear I know the answer to this one.
When I bought the B it didn´t have the red key. Therefore I am being *exceedingly* careful with the keys I do have. Touch wood etc etc.
Briefly, is there any way to get a new red key through Fiat? Otherwise I will start contacting the previous owners.
Lesson learnt - check for a red key when buying an elderly Fiat... Read more
recently i had to get my scorpio key fob repaired. whilst at the shop i remember seeing them advertise for fiat red key and immobiliser replacement. the price was only around £50 - i remembere this because i thought ' why don't they do it for fords'.
the shop www.duplicut.co.uk 0121 354 1449
Read an article in the paper today about how as cars get bigger it is increasingly hard to park them in standard car park bays.
Also saw my first new Peugeot 407 today. Good looking vehicle but its a porker. Seems all new models are bigger than the old ones.
Fair enough but why I wonder? Are we getting bigger fatter? More perceived value for money? Anyone know? Read more
I thought it was just me. All French car parks are marked with bays that will just about take a Clio. Having the nose of your car (an Accord - I can remember when they seemed to be smaller than the present Civic) sticking out from a long line is quite useful when it comes to spotting it - but not when every other driver is manoeuvring in a tight space!
I know that this has been touched on a couple of years ago, but I think that it is worth touching on again. Is it a good idea to take the tyre pressures down 3 or 4 psi when it is very cold to aid traction. I have noticed that when my tyres (Michelin Premacy) are up to their recommended 31psi that the car does not feel quite so grippy in the cold / wet than if I reduce the pressures a bit. With the pressures down a bit it just feels a bit more solid under the same conditions. This might be a car thing (Mondeo new shape) - I don't know. What are other people's thoughts on this?
Yoby Read more
The nub (or hub, ha ha, as we are in Punland)
of the Mapmaker/Cheddar dispute seems to be what has the most
influence on tyre temperature - ambient air temperature, or friction and flexing of the rubber?
The point is that the manufacturers recommended figures allow for the frictional increase in temperature however they do not allow for the effect of a decrease or increase in ambient temperature. I.e. the pressures are supposed to be set when 'cold' at ambient temperature accordingly if the tyres are set to 30psi at an ambient of 20 deg they will increase in temperature when driven (for this example let's say by 10%) though this is accounted for when the recomended pressures are established, i.e. in this example the ideal pressure is actually 33psi, 30psi + 10%.
However if this car is left overnight and the ambient temperature drops to 0 deg then the 'cold' tyre pressures will drop, even though they will still increase due to frictional effects when driven they will not reach the ideal of 33psi, hence the pressures should be reset to 30psi when 'cold' at this new colder ambient temperature.
To get back on track with the original point, if the driver perceives a benefit in having lower tyre pressures in a cold snap he may simply not want to reset the recomended pressures at the new colder ambient temperature.
i have a Vauxhall Calibra 1996 i had a problem with overheating then the next day it would not start there is no spark for it to turn over the only thing that is turning over are the cam belts could someone give me some idea of what could be wrong thanks ned
Read more
Don't under stand what you mean by'there is no spark for it to turn over'.Do you mean there is no spark at the plug when turning over with ignition on?Clarity helps people come up with an answer.
OK, so I know it's a 'premium' car, so I know that the servicing is never going to be cheap - around £380 for the service that's now due. However, today when I called the local dealer they've now introduced a new scam of charging £28.50 for the use of a loan car. Of course, I also have to provide insurance and fuel.
Is this unusal, or are all the dealers doing thing? I could fill a book with rants about Merc dealers (but won't, you've heard them all before), but this latest trick seems outragious considering the price I already pay for the service (2 hrs labour plus, say £80 in materials, so that's £150 an hour...)
All the local Merc dealers are owned by deleted, so doubtless they're all on the same scam, but as my commute is a 200ml round-trip, I'm sure I can find another dealer...
Pete
{If you're going to make acusations of scamming and being ripped off, I'd prefer that you keep names out of your posting, hence the deletion as it falls foul of our no name / shame policy. DD} Read more
Thanks for clearing that up RF.
Although technically I always held that opinion of him. This just
gave me an opportunity to voice it.
Oooooo! saucer of milk for Adam please!
;) JaB
Does anyone know if a set of wheels from a 5 series (225/50x16) will fit on a E46 3 series? Any advice gratefully recieved Read more
Check for yourself with this fitment guide:
www.rochfordtyres.co.uk/fitmentguide.asp
For the last couple of days around here we have had our first serious fog of the winter.
Today I drove to Reading-across country about 30 miles through Nettlebed .It's a bendy, undulating road,where visibility was about 200 metres most of the way.
In the return journey I must have encountered 200 plus other vehicles .By my rough estimate:
15% had no lights on at all-inclsuing 2 bicycles;
30% had on sidelights, of no use and no legal value;
20% had on foglights, which were not required by the conditions
And you know that through the winter this will be the experience.
It's a major road safety hazard which is either due to ignorance ( so they should be educated) or indifference/hostility towards other road users ( so they should be peanlised ).
How/when will this ever get better?
(Rant over) Read more
blow the expense - have 'em all. just don't switch them all on at once, you might annoy someone.
John
Citroen C15 injector pump failed..fuel getting to the pump and the solenoid is tested ok. It's a Lucas pump on a non turbo 1.9d. How hard is this to change and set up. I'm waiting for the manual to arrive, looks like the cambelt / engine mounting has to be removed to gain access, are there any problems setting it up when refitted, timing etc?Any advise would be most helpful as this is my first diesel, thanks Read more
there is or was a grubber rommet where the fuel line goes into the pump itself,check this hasnt gone into the body and stopped the flow.
Browse
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Someone mentioned the Accord as being well specced and reliable for the money. I have a 2.0 SE Exec as mentioned and would agree. It is a comfortable cruiser that has all the toys I could possibly need (although I added the CD multiplayer) and for the year I have had it is very reliable.
The only downside is its a little dull to look at and drive and fuel economy isn't great (about 30mpg for me - although my driving isn't very economical).
Unfortunately, I can't compare it with the other cars on the list as I haven't tried them - my only criteria were reliable, well equipped and comfortable on the motorway.