December 2005
The Astra has just clocked up 90k miles, and ideally I would like to get another 30k out of it before it gets scrapped. It´s a 1.8 16V on a V. CDX trim, all the bells and whistles, and we really like it.
Plus if it keeps going for another few years it means we can afford to keep the beautiful Barchetta.
With this in mind, I am changing the oil now every 3k, and the filter every 6k. Apart from the regular service things on the schedule, should I be doing anything more? The car is now being used for more short runs than I would like.
Any advice gratefully received! Many thanks.
Barchettaman Read more
Last night I flew back from Rotterdam, a city that looks after the motorist. A city where roadworks on motorways are carried out underneath a temporary bridge over which the traffic flows eliminating the need to cone off any lanes. A city in a country the size of Wales with 15 million inhabitants. A city in country that recognises that its economy would grind to a halt if its motorists were forced off the roads. A city in a country that invented the Gatso, but that's beside the point. In fact all this is beside the point.
Once I've landed in London City airport the next part of my journey is to get on the extortionately expensive City Airport Shuttle Bus which takes me to Liverpool Street and its handy connection to the central line. And whilst I was on the bus last night, for part of the journey to give me something to do I decided to count the cars I could see which had a broken headlight. In the two miles or so along Commercial Road in which I was doing this I saw twelve cars with defective lights, and this does not include those driving on just sidelights, or using their idiot-warning lights, another offence but once again beside the point.
Twelve cars. Twelve unroadworthy cars in 2 miles of road over a period of just a few minutes. If I was a traffic copper I could have doled out 36 points and hundreds of pounds in fines in no time at all. My boss would have been elated, the rest of the force would have been rolling around in a big bed of cash and I would have been promoted to sergeant before you could say "fixed penalty notice". But I wasn't a traffic copper and neither, it appeared, was anyone else on the road.
Thinking that this was probably some sort of anomaly and that there must be a weird bit of electrical freakery in the East End that causes bulbs to fail uncontrollably I decided to repeat the experiment when I got off the tube in West London. I decided to count the number of cars with one corner unlit between Haven Green and my flat, a distance of about half a mile and a walk of about ten minutes. This time the count was ten, and those were just corners I could see, ie two corners per car; the rear lights of cars in my direction and the headlights of oncoming cars. It is, therefore, probably safe to assume that there were somewhere in the region of twenty cars between Haven Green and my flat with a faulty light. Twenty unroadworthy cars. And I didn't even check their tyre tread or brake pads. Another sixty penalty points and another few hundred in fines, should a traffic copper have been present. Well, the traffic copper would have had to give a damn in the first place I suppose.
Changing a headlight bulb or a tail light bulb is not a difficult task. Checking that your headlights and tail lights are all working takes about five seconds. Why is it that people are being allowed to get away with such obvious defects on their vehicles? Where are all the coppers?
I'm not sure what I'm getting at. Congratulations, you've just wasted a few minutes of your life reading this, but take with you some consolation in the fact that I wasted a lot longer writing it. I think I just want to add my voice to the "it's not just speed that's an issue, stop concentrating solely on people doing 78mph on the motorway" crowd. For every light that's out there's also a bald tyre, a tailgater, an uninsured vehicle and a kid not wearing a seatbelt. And we don't have bald-tyre cameras yet.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts. Read more
The next time I have a headlight bulb go I will just switch on my sporty lights to compensate, like other drivers do!
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L\'escargot.
I have received a note from Subaru UK detailing a possible fault on the rear door handles of 'some' Legacy models of which my Outback may be one. Anyone who has a similar, used car may wish to contact their local dealer. Just a thought. The note does not mention year of manufacture nor is there a recall number. Read more
-AR-CoolC, Thanks for that, the recall note gave no details at all. Nowadays car manufacturers seem to believe that their customers have no interest in their products except price, colour and 0 to 60 times. Mind you they could be right, my daughter ran her car for ten days with the low oil pressure light on,she was going to ask the garage to look at it next service; due in January. Luckily it was a faulty pressure switch.
The "Daftest way to drain your battery" reminded me of an old aquaintance of mine who went out for a meal, as he pulled up in the car park he saw someone he knew so he got out of the car to say hello, three hours later he went back to the car and it was still idling away quite happily! Read more
Buy a Chevrolet Suburban and drive to the shops in it.
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Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
My 70 ish parents have two old cars that are not worth a penny, they are thinking of spending approx £3-£5k on one car to replace both. It needs to be not too large otherwise my mother will not drive it though big enough to get my fairly fit dad's mountain bike in the back. My dad wants a car on which he can perform most of the service tasks, also parts should be reasonable priced and readily available. They are not fussed about air con though my dad likes to have a trip computer and outside temp gauge. Annual mileage is low so no real advantage in a diesel, my mum would only put petrol in it anyway!
I have though of a Focus estate though IIRC it would have to be a Ghia to get the computer and temp gauge. Perhaps a late pre 2002 Vectra estate, or a late pre 2000 Mondeo hatch (a Mondeo estate is too big), I like the '98 on Astra hatch, great petrol engines, though the estate is ugly. Perhaps a Scenic, Golf estate, any other ideas?
Regards. Read more
Thanks Hugo, what about parts costs, trip computer and outside temp gauge?, also as per Scenic is the engine less accessable than the average car due to MPV type design?
Regards.
Having a magnetic mount that says GPS stuck firmly to the top of my dash I was thinking of making a sign saying 'no satnav equipment left in vehicle'and leaving the glovebox open so 'they'can see in.Obviously along the lines of the 'no power tools....'signs on vans,but do they work or do the scrotes break in anyway.What does the team think? Read more
That was quick work (see msg just above a bit).
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/4578316.stm
(name obscured for mods)
Man jailed over sat nav kit theft
A man has been arrested, charged and jailed within two days of stealing a satellite navigation kit from an ambulance, police say.
Mr X, 19, of Hull, was jailed for four months by Beverley magistrates on Wednesday after admitting theft, burglary and possessing cannabis.
Lunchtime pondering...
Has the reverse angle windscreen (e.g. Anglia , Ami 6 ) since been repeated? and what about the hinged rear window on a Hillman Imp? Read more
Rover 75 tourer (not an estate or a shooting break but a tourer!)has higed rear window
A company director took his £32,000 sports car to be cleaned - and it quickly turned into a crumpled heap.
The car was being spruced up for a buyer, but the sale had now fallen through, he said.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4484212.stm
Read more
its the other mechanic locked in boot listening for suspension knock you should feel sorry for,hope you left some biscuits in there for him :~(
A colleague has just changed his wiper blades and the drivers side one keeps hitting the A pillar in windy conditions.
Unfortunately he didn't measure / compare the replacements with the original ones and isn't sure if they are correct or not.
The drivers side one is approx 6cm longer than the passenger side one. Should this be correct?
He hasn't got the pair the wrong way around as the drivers side one has the wind deflector on it.
He bought the replacements from Halfords, and from reading other posts on here, it wouldn't surprise me if they're the wrong ones, although their book says they're correct.
Can anyone confirm what length(s) they should be on an R reg Pug 306?
Read more
Ha, I'd've (Is that a real word? Discuss...) been as much use as a chocolate sump guard then, I had the number 21 at the back of my mind.
Glad it's sorted though.
Whenever I'm a passenger in someone else's car I can't help noticing their annoying habits. The one which really bugs me is when they apply the handbrake without pressing in the button and I have to listen to the click of every single notch on the ratchet.
What bugs you when you're a passenger?
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L\'escargot. Read more
I had to follow a car through some country roads recently (in New Zealand) They were travelling near the 100km/h speed limit, but whenever any kind of curve, even gentle ones, were encountered, on would go the brake lights. It seemed as if they had their left foot poised over the brake, ready at a moment's notice. Over here, there are reflectorised marker posts that indicate the direction and severity of corners. There is a white dotted centre line and (often) reflectorised cat's eye markers. Both sides of the road have a continuous white line. Every corner with a rating of less than 100k has a speed advisory reflectorised sign, thoughtfully installed by the Automobile Association. It couldn't be easier. There was almost no traffic on the road, so full beam was possible. Due to the twists and turns, I didn't want to roar past, but to see them braking for no reason, just out of habit, was particularly frustrating. SWMBO did remind me at the time that one of her brothers drives the same way, even in daylight. He seems to have no ability to judge the severity of a curve from its appearance, let alone determine a 'line' to follow. Over the years, I have managed to help SWMBO to use all the aids noted above, and her night driving is now very good. At the time, she said that it never occurred to her to use the marker posts for cornering, she hadn't realised what they were.
Browse
And what a load of expensive unnecessary advice! Nowadays, the cheapest synthetic oil every 10,000 miles should result in engine life of 200,000 miles if kept cooled and lubricated. Cars are usually scrapped long before that. Coolant does not need to be changed. And as for idling a cold engine before moving off - theoretical nonsense!