December 2005
A silly season query for Sunday that might provide a bit of fun as well.
Has anyone come across unusual or strange motoring coincidences?
For instance, my Bora's registration number includes the number 289.
That's exactly the same number that a neighbour who lives right opposite has on his J-reg Rover 414.
According to my calculator the odds against this match are 998,001 to one (999x999).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by Read more
Think I had this on the wrong thread so here goes again!
I aim to buy a new car early next year and a UK internet dealer is offering my choice of spec. to order, being unregistered and supplied by a UK main dealer of the relevant marque with full manufacturers warranty at £2,043 below list even though the model in question is not on sale until January! My research with UK main dealers and other internet companies indicates that no discounts anywhere near that figure are on offer. The internet dealer offering the deal has a UK listed address and is an accredited member of Safebuy Assured;Trust UK and RMI which I understand are all organisations established to promote confidence in internet car purchasing. The offer is obviously very attractive but having no previous experience with internet car buying and before 'jumping in with both feet', I would appreciate any practical advise from you knowledgeable folk and any good or not so good experiences you may have had!
Read more
Well you were right Gromit, my wonderful bargain deal has evaporated! I rang the relevant internet dealer with my query about the car on offer on at least five occasions and on each occasion they promised to return my call and failed to do so (not a good sign!). They now state that the particular deal has been withdrawn by their supplier (quote) 'because the manufacturer does not like their cars being sold at such a discount'??? Looks like I will just have to go the 'three rounds' with my local franchised dealer and have the usual haggle debacle! At least that way I know I am on terra firma!
www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Daily_Edition/D...l
Sounds like the vultures are circling at the sight of red ink on the balance sheet.
Read more
www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?fakingitf.htm
Nissan Micra with Jaguar nose. Kind of ironic!
Can anyone advise the torx bit size for a ford zetec cam pulley bolt? The car is a 2000 W Mondeo 1.8 petrol.
Read more
I can't be sure, but I'm fairly certain it's a T50 - anybody confirm?
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
Yesterday L'escargot started a thread about the Hobbs gear box, but i sort of side traked the thread with Overdrives!Anyway
Perhaps someone may remember these, and enlighten me
As a young boy in the 60's we were friendly with & lived next door to an old boy, who had become disabled,so had decided to buy a automatic car. He bought a Hillman Minx (the rounded one before the arrow shape)
He had difficulty reversing it. My dad was frequently asked to reverse it onto his drive and take it for a service etc
This auto box was like no other i have seen since as it has some sort of a clutch & a column gear selector lever. My dad used to hate driving it as he would say it was like driving a car with no gears and did not feel in control
This was defiantly a automatic car and not something modified for the disabled
Anyone remember these... Does anyone have one? Read more
Hi there
Just located this link that really describes the transmission much better than I ever could....
Living in a rural(ish) part of Cambridgeshire, I'm bemused as to why many drivers don't bother with full beam on country roads at night.
This makes overtaking that bit more difficult, as the view of the road ahead is obviously not as good. These drivers often potter along at 45mph or so on a clear road - all the time on dipped beam.
I've occasionally pulled out, drawn level with the car in front then put on full beam to better see the road ahead. I guess this may come across as aggressive, but enables a quick decision to be made on whether to overtake or not.
In addition, using full beam on twisty roads makes the approach of an oncoming car fairly obvious, allowing drivers to 'dip' in good time. Quite often, an oncoming car on dipped beam will only become visible once it has rounded the bend, risking being dazzled by a car coming the other way (quite rightly) on full beam.
Maybe some drivers just aren't aware that full beam exists??? Read more
"Also when I'm driving in central France or Kosovo I can drive for miles without seeing another car so low beam is adequate and I have found wildlife is less likely to run out in front of the car. However back in the UK I am more prone to using full beam."
I don't get it - where there is no traffic you stay on low beam (why not full beam?). But in UK where there is loads of traffic you use full beam? Surely other way round?
Phil
Hopefully people here don't object to this "what car should I buy...." thread.
I've visited a couple of car auctions over the last couple of weeks, and I think I'm ready to take the plunge with about £6k. I thinking of a 3 yr old Golf or an Audi A3 (I think I can get one of these for about £6500). Don't know much about cars, so are these good choices for the money. Is there anything else I should consider (perhaps a Seat Leon?)?
Really can't stretch my budget to much more than 6 - 6.5k Read more
I think a Volvo is a bit big for me, unless they offer a lot better performance/equipment to their small counterparts. 70k to 100k also sounds like a bit too high on the mileage as well, although I imagine these cars do run and run if well serviced!
I just wondered if any of you would like to comment on my recent experience with my local Honda dealer. By way of background info? I have a Honda Jazz, 54 reg (Sept?), which I have owned from new. It was recently ready for its 25,000 mile service. At the same time It was booked in for some minor body work repairs, approx? £800, paid for by a third party insurer. All of this work was booked with the original supplying dealer, giving them about three weeks notice. A courtesy car was requested at this time. This is the second new Jazz that that I have had from this dealer.
All went well when I arrived to hand the car over. I then went to car park to collect the courtesy car. This was a ?51?reg Honda Accord, in a somewhat forlorn state of appearance. As I drove away I spotted that the radio needed a code inputting so returned to the service desk. They told me that they did not have the code and a new radio was on order.Great, I thought, I would be in the car for about 450 miles with no radio.
I then filled the car up for my travels and went home. It was at home that I spotted that the tax disc was due to expire at midnight that night. I was a bit concerned about getting pulled by the BiB so called the dealer. I also mentioned about the car not having any AA cover in place ;quite important as I travel 70 miles to work at night on the motorway. The dealer said they would give me a call back. I was asked to return the car and they would change it for me plus reimburse me for the £37 of petrol that I had put in the Accord. All went reasonably well, except a twenty minute wait while fuel (£20) was put in the new car. I was given to understand that the remaining £17 re? fuel would be knocked of the bill but it was not
I?m sorry for the long post but does this seem indicative of a fall in main dealer standards or am I just expecting too much when my trade was worth over £1300 to the dealership.
Thanks a lot
Read more
Most main dealers are dreadful at worst and faintly disappointing at best. Some are actually good. This seems to be the thrust of everyone's experiences I've read lately. The level of dishonesty and carelessness from dealers in this thread and others just echoes my own experiences.
The answer? Don't use main dealers! Ever! You don't have to any more, so why go to them? Find a decent independent specialist - stamps from him in the book are worth just as much to me as the main dealer's, as they are to most buyers.
I'd be surprised if I ever use a main dealer again. If we all stopped using them, and told all our friends / colleagues / family the same, they would go out of business or change their ways. You don't even need them to buy the new car from these days. Boycott them. Say no to £100 ph labour, rubbish service and lying from people in suits.
Anyone know how much these things have cost so far? and who is responsible for them?. Like a lot of things they could be useful if used correctly.
Unfortunately it appears they mostly don't seem to be, and are used to display inane nanny state messages about taking a brake or keeping left. Often they are "accidentally" left displaying old news like fog when morning fog has long gone, or queues / delays from the previous Friday nights rush "3" hours early on Saturday morning.
Would it really be that hard to pay someone to permanently monitor & reset them considering how much they must have cost to install?
Also why are they never used, (or at least I've never heard them used), for amber alerts like in the USA? Read more
I think you're all being very cynical. These signs often display information that is relevant to your journey.
Like when you're driving past Watford, and it says "M1 severe delays..." and then underneath you read, "...J29 - 30"
Some of us live in the frozen north and when coming from Dover ,as fast as possible through darn sarf, the messages are very useful. Especially if you live in Chesterfield.
We've got a crooked spire you know.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
Thanks again to everyone for their advice after my previous post.
I just have another question; can anybody suggest a good product for cleaning and maintaining the leather seats in my car. At the moment they're all in pretty good condition, and I'd like to keep them that way! (The one thing I'm scared of is applying something that'll make the seats look "shiny", I prefer the more natural look)
I've had a look in Halfords, and have seen various Mer, Turtlewax(with/without glycerin), Autoglym, Meiguar and Halfords cleaners, amongst others. I couldn't really tell the difference between them, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks in advance. Read more
I am going to put this down, as this is what i do to the cream leather in my ja; which apart from a little wear to the drivers bolster and a scratch mark from a child's nail is about as good as new. I clean the leather with a damp nail brush with a cheap hand soap on it, rubbing in circular motions, and then wipe of the excess with a dry cloth. Following this, i use a connoly hide food. I do this once every three years, and the amount of dirt that is lifted off is amazing.
I am probably going to be told how much damage i am doing, but its worked for me, and the leather still is in better nick than a lot of other jags i have driven, so i will probably keep doing it.
Browse
My parents bought a 1 year old Xantia in 1994 with reg L719 WDL. 3 years later, my Dad bought an AX, reg L919 WDL. Caused some confusion when he sold the AX to my sister and changed his insurance over to the Xantia....
My sister drives my Grandad's old car E843 DEO, and for a while I used to see E842 DEO every morning going the other way - and I live 200 miles from where they were registered.
Given the vast number of cars on the roads, the probabilities of these must be stupendously low. So why haven't I won the lottery...??????
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....