December 2005
On my frequent journeys on the M3 I have noticed that it has been reduced to 2 lanes. The inside lane has been banned from use and is never occupied , you can drive for miles and never see anyone in it yet the other two lanes are mayhem with nose to tail drivers flashing each other... presumably with seasons greetings. I have seen no road signs closing the inside lane or read anything in the papers..have other motorways been similarly effected? Read more
Just food for thought really - If you're buying a used car (from an independant dealer or privately) how do you know how well it has been looked after.
I know there's the obvious stuff, such as service history, and checking the items in the car-by-car breakdown, body condition etc.
Does the number of previous owners give an indication of how happy they've been with the car?
Is it worth appraising how many sets of tyres, brakes, clutches etc a car has been through given its mileage - to give some indication of how it's been driven?
If buying privately, would you make an appraisal of the owner's driving style / other car(s)- I suppose this could be easily moderated for the test drive?
Finally, do you reckon there's any mileage in "one lady owner" cars? Assuming that they are indeed one lady owner (and not "plus one 17 year old son" is the car likely to be in better nick? I guess I'm generalising, but although the women drivers I know are less likely to thrash a car, they're amongst the most likely to have little scrapes, dings, forget maintenance and ride the clutch / use it it as a brake.
Hope this isn't too much of a can of worms, any opinions? Read more
I always have a look at the make of tyres fitted.
If they're all the same and a good make, I consider
that a good sign. One remould or dodgy brand puts me
off. If htey scrimp on tyres, what about oil changes?
Not necessarily, they could have put a new cheapo tyre on to make it legal to sell and an oil change is far cheaper than a premium brand tyre.
I followed a lorry with one of these signs on the back this morning and wondered if anyone has phoned the number provided to comment on the driver's (lack of) ability. What were the results?
???????????????????
Time to get on with some work ???
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Erm,
The only time I ever phoned the Polis regarding another driver was as a result of observing a toe-rag=scally overtaking myself and a row of cars in front of me , all on a long fast sweeping bend. Potentially lethal....
While in a traffic Jam, the Glow Plug lamp flashed and "ENGINE WORKSHOP" came into view. Turned back from jam and drove home. All went out after 2 minutes. Ignore or action?
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Thanks, reassuring. I'll get it checked. Redser
Just getting a 405 with aircon fitted that (I guess) needs, at best, a re-gas. Appears to have been like this for some time. Will all the seals etc. need re-doing, and if so, I guess it's not really viable? Read more
A good aircon specialist will dry the system, fill it and leak check it. After the leak checks you will know how good or bad the news is. You may be lucky and with new gas and oil and a few O ring seals (about £70 to £100) and you may be back in good working order...
Hey guys,
Quick query. The service indicator on the 530d has just gone to one amber bar, and it now says 'Oil Service' when you start the car.
This is the fun thing about variable servicing, it's not possible to think 'It will need a service in 1000 miles, best get that fitted into the schedule'.
I am due to take the car on a trip this weekend of about 400 miles, and there is no time to take it to the dealer for its service before then.
How flexible are these indicators? Does the indicator mean QUICK! DRIVE TO THE DEALER RIGHT NOW! or does it mean 'Service due within x,000 miles'? The car is under BMW warranty and voiding it would be most undesireable. Read more
.>> Wouldn't if we didn't have to, a local specialist has quoted
£79.95 for the same job but the car is under BMW
warranty.
I thought that this was no longer the case, you're not restricted to using the manufacturers dealers any more are you?
Might be different for a premium car like a Beemer, so you can have the all important FBMWSH in the ad when you come to sell though
I wonder if anyone can advise me on the following...
Driving home tonight I had a last-minute change of mind at some traffic lights (further than I estimated away when they changed to amber plus conscious there was a camera on them) so I braked - harder than normal but not excessively hard. Got quite a surprise when the car veered left and tried to change ends - luckily I controlled it without too much trouble.
Now, I'm wondering what would cause this to happen? The wheel locked as it swerved but I didn't feel a skid so unlikely to be ice (temperature was showing above 0 anyway). I'm wondering if it could be related to an accident I was in a few months back. That was a straight-on hit but I'm not massively confident with the job the repairers did. The car doesn't noticable pull in normal driving but there is a bit of a judder at 70ish+ on the motorway.
Alternatively, a few years back the council put in some very bad speed bumps near me that you can't help but hit badly and at an angle (would be nice if they actually put them parallel to the kerbs and kept the ramp up to them angled rather than at 90 degrees..) and I wonder if maybe these have just worn out my suspension? That said, I braked harder trying to avoid the accident and the car didn't deviate from straight-on at all....
Any advice, suggestions on how I can get it checked out and things to try to determine the problem most appreciated! Read more
Probably was some substance on the road. Areas where vehicles regularly stop are heavily contaminated with noxious drippings from the undersides of vehicles. For a good example go and look at the stopping areas in your local bus station, if you have one - they are really vile.
Hi there, three days ago, i parked in my local supermarket car park. As i went to get out of the car, i noticed a trolley heading for the N/S rear door pretty quickly! despite efforts to get in and pull away very promptly the trolley hit my car door. There is now a huge dent in the door where the trolley hit. I went inside the store to complain about this. The woman behind the customer service desk explained that this happened all the time and that the supermarket would have to pay for the damage. The supermarket aparantly, dont lock their trolleys together so not to inconvenience the customer. I rang the supermarket the following day to find out who to complain to. after about 2 hours on the phone, they explained (in the most patronising way possible) that they wern't going to pay for my door to be repaired!!! I am wondering of i shoud take them to court??? any advice from someone is greatly appreciated,
The door is said to cost about £800 to repair
Thanks
{actual shop name substituted for the word supermarket. Can others who stumbled on this post before I edited it please NOT use the actual shop name either please - DD} Read more
should have kept quiet about about what I saw in new Supermarket car park, if I was an Ambulance chaser I'd have had them b y the trollies !
I'd have publiclly shredded their disclaimers.
Hi anyone out there know how to reset the service spanner on a mk3 micra, 1st told it had to go onto the machine, then had a word with a Nissan tech. who said bring it down, I'll do it for you now. I said i thought it had to go on the computer, no was the reply, I'll just do it outside. Any help would be appreaciated. Read more
As David Horn says.
That's the most common way to reset a service indicator on a wide range of cars.
I?ve been trying to find a 51/02-reg Mondeo Ghia X for 2-3 weeks now. Both Joe at auctioncarbuyer and I have been looking around and could not find one that?s in good/original condition and at book price. Now, I want a top spec car, with electric, heated (leather) seats, cd changer, auto-dimming mirrors and a 2-litre engine. I am looking at both the Mondeo Ghia X and Primera SVE/T-spec.
Would any of the BRer have any other suggestion for a 3-4 year-old, top-spec cars, launched in this millennium and cost less than £5,000?
Many thanks, G Read more
A Passat is a far better built car than any Mondeo.
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Build might be the only area in which a Passat compares to a Mondeo and even then Ford's recent reliability has been way ahead, however in all other respect the Mondeo is far superior.
Browse
I still reckon that a cunning nationwide resurfacing scheme would crack it:
* Lane 1 (left) super-smooth and quiet.
* Lane 2 (middle) normal.
* Lane 3 (right) rough and noisy.