December 2005
Due to my redundancy, I am in the position of being able to clear my car loan. Details of loan were
1 payment of £304.85
35 x £209.85
Final Payment £5440.00
Total payable £13089.60
So far, I have paid
1 x 304.95
17x 209.85 3567.45
Total 3872.40
If I keep the loan going, I have 13089.60 - 3872.40 = 9217.20 still to pay. However, if I settle this just now, the settlement figure I have been given is 8878.65.
So if I clear, I will save £338.55. I like the idea of not having a loan but is it worth it for £338.55? Could I put the £8878.65 anywhere that would give me more than £338 in interest between now and July 2007?
Or should I be thinking that as well as saving £338, then I could also accumulate interest on the £209.85 a month I am saving as well?
Re The final payment of £5440, alternative to this I can just hand the car back and not pay it. However I am sure my Scenic will be worth more than that, unless Renault do a Rover between now and then!
Is there anything that I am not thinking of that I should be?
If I don't clear this loan with the money, I will probably just be putting it into some sort of high interest account as I don't need it just now.
Any thoughts / advice would be appreciated.
[Mods, feel free to move this to IHAQ if you feel that it is not car related] Read more
On Sunday I will be heading from Scotland to a concert at the MEN Arena in Manchester.
I'll be heading down the M6 and M61, but from there I'm not sure where to go. I believe that the A56 is the road to take towards Victoria Station, but how do I get from the M61 onto the A56? From what I can see the M61 joins the M62 with no option to join any other road.
Also, are there any road works in the area that might delay our trip?
Thank in advance.
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Depends what time you arrive. Arrive between 17:30-19:30 and you will be guaranteed a spot in the Arena multi-storey itself, currently fixed at £5.50.
I was there last night for the Foo Fighters and use the car-park regular. The only down side is if you are not fleet of foot after the final encore, you will be delayed getting out. On the upside, your car will be exactly as you left it. I know plenty of people that have decided to save a few quid on parking only to spend it later on things like replacement glass and radios! :)
In John's Passat thread, people are recommending he spend 50-70 quid on a valet.
I'm curious - what does a 50 quid valet get you that a 5 quid one at the local car wash doesn't?
Are we talking steam cleaning of the seats and stuff?
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Lee
Its the one behind Rochdale Road (Back St George's Road) to
be exact). The one on Cheetham Hill (Big Benz) looks
good and lots of flashy motors there, but the job is
never as good. Just look for where the black cabs
go! Its always GACW.
Cheers Espada
I know where you mean now, your right about the black cabs, they have them going in and out all day.
I was thinking of the Great British Carwash on Dantzic St and Big Benz near the curry restaurant on C/Hill road. I'll give the Great american one a bash in January.
cheers fella,
Lee
Has been removed.
There were one or two allegations made in that thread that may or may not have been true.
Therefore forum rules apply, and I would be grateful if you could refrain from further discussion on the subject.
Thankyou. DD. Read more
Any idea how much i would be looking at for a new steering rack on a 2000 x reg Clio?
At MOT last month, an advisory was given "Slight play in the steering rack"
Its done 77k so far, and the mechanic said it could always have play or gradually get worse.
Whats more likely?
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Have a look under the bonnet. If it's hydraulic then there will be a fluid reservoir somewhere. Hydraulic systems make a distinctive noise as well
Electric ones (as on my Megane) are eerily silent.
For research purposes I am trying to identify which car models are assembled in the UK. Google has not been very helpful.
I am only interested in large scale production not specialist car manufacturers.
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Foden and ERF ??
Both still around according to their websites
Still around yes but alas
Foden owned by PACCAR= American
ERF owned by MAN= German
A couple of weeks ago I was at an Army training camp, on a training weekend with my cadets. I dropped another member of staff off at the accomodation, in an area I had never been to before.
It was a moonless night, and the area I was in was not lit, and it was pitch black.
As I was on the final manouvre of my turn in the road, straightening up to go back in the direction from which I came, a helicopter suddenly appeared in the headlights. It wasn't flying. It's been parked there for 20 years apparantly.
Next thing I know there is a thud, and I'm sitting in a stationary car, at an angle of about 30 degrees.
There was a 3 foot culvert at the edge of the road, and I had managed to drive into it.
pics here, if you want a laugh
i25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/phoenixdacat/snafu0...g
i25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/phoenixdacat/snafu0...g
i25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/phoenixdacat/snafu0...g
There was no shortage of Army & RAF guys prepared to pitch up and offer suggestions as to how to get it out. I declined the use of a tank, or helicopter, and went with the AA. It was pulled out with no trouble at all. The only hassle was with having to get back in to fasten the seatbelt and depress the clutch in order to start the car, and then press the footbrake to release the electronic parking brake :-(
I guess I was very lucky, as there are just two small dents in the body work, which dent masters should be able to deal with.
The car was only 4 weeks old. I've had 4 cars from new, and each has had an incident withing the first month. The first 3 were caused by others, but this was definately my own fault.
Had I had to claim on insurance, can you imagine the claim "a helicopter suddenly appeared out of nowhere. No, it wasn't flying. It's not flown for 20 years. It's just there as a static display."
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Shame no pics of the offending vehicle ?
Regulars will notice that I have been desperately searching for a car the last week after mine was written off.
To cut a long story short went to a local auction i.e Mannheims Colchester, bought a 51 Reg 1.9TDI 130ps with 52k miles on the clock from a fleet auction was owned by Macdonalds Restaurants/lease from Arval.
Last serviced 20 k miles back.Smelly interiors and a bit scruffy.Duh,did I make a wrong decision??Looks cheap compared to the regular price,or is it??
Any independant that I can take this car to,what would your opinion be on servicing , whether to get it serviced by a VW dealer(lots of horror stories on this forum!) or any independant.
Anything I should watch out for at this stage ie 52 k miles.
Thanks for any opinions.
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Impulse buying anything is not generally a good idea.
--
L\'escargot.
Yesterday I had my car's windscreen replaced. I now cannot adjust the rear view mirror to a position that I can see the whole of the rear window.
Car is a 54 Reg Primera with rain sensor and auto dipping mirror.
The fitter returned today, (full marks for coming back next day)took the cover off and I noticed that one side of the mirror is slightly lower than the other side. I even measured it with a tape measure to be sure.
What to do?? Fitter says all is fine, but I disagree. The mirror is clipped onto the screen, so does this mean the screen could have been manufactured faulty, fitted faulty or is there something else that may be wrong?
I consider I am reasonable in insisting in a replacement fitting. Am I?
Readers comments welcome.
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id imagine the clip part thats on the screen must be positioned wrong..although id have thought the mirror would have plenty of ajustment to compensate
look in the corners of the window and compare to the other glass...you wil probably find its not a genuine nissan glass like the others, i think you can insist on having a genuine one fitted...i once had 3 golf screens chip badly on after another, i insisted on a vw glass and its fine now..these pattern part ones are made cheaper so theres more profit for the glass fitters
Hi All,
I've been unfortunate enough to come across probably the most anti-motorist local government in the world. You can probably guess which one it is.
My car ended up removed to a car pound, and I had to pay £200 for it to be released (this includes £50 for the ticket).
The reason: parking in a residents only bay.
I made a genuine mistake. I never intended to park in a residential bay, but there are some confusing signs there. I was sure the bay was not operational at the time (at nearly 6pm on a Sunday), but I was wrong. My mistake, should've double-checked.
Anyway, I went back there and noticed that there are no signs on entrances to CPZ, apart from one entrance road. And even there, it indicates that the zone is not operational on Sundays. However, about 3 yards away there is a small one near a parking bay showing different time.
I wonder, can I appeal on the grounds of incorrect signage? As I understand CPZ must have a sign on both sides of every entrance road. And surely, declaring one period of operation on entrance sign and then having different period on bay signs is confusing enough.
What do you people think?
P.S. Presumably, I have nothing to lose, as in the case of clamping/removal one has to pay all fees for the car to be released and appeal afterwards for a refund. Am I wrong anywhere?
P.S.P.S. Had I just received the ticket, I would've probably just accepted my mistake and learned the lesson. However, having to pay this much for my first ever parking offence is a bit over the top.
Thanks in advance
Kostic
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Over 60% of appeals are successful SFAIK
www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/IveReceived/challengePC...p
Give it a try
Browse
Thanks for all your thoughts guys. Looking at the figures, it doesn't look too much to be gained either way. In answer to some of the queries, paying the loan off wouldn't be using all my redundancy and as for my mortgage, I don't want to do anything with that till my endowment compensation claim is dealt with!
I think I am leaning towards the idea of clearing the loan as there is something , probably old fashioned nowadays, that says to me that where possible, try and be loan and debt free!
Many thanks again, I will read and ponder over your advice for the next dew days.