January 2006
My RAC renewal has come through, £111 for me and the boss. The AA are currently offering the same package, roadside and recovery, for £89 as partners are free under their current offer. I have been very pleased with their service on the very odd occasion when required, but was price checking on moneysavingexpert.com. On this site they mention Autoaid which comes in at £32.50 and includes home as well. The downside is that they use local garages rather than employ their own fleet and you have to pay on the day and then reclaim. I, and more importantly the boss, can live with the downsides. The discussion forum on the site gives positive feedback, I did a forum search but coul d not find any comments but I would be interested to hear of any views from HJers. The saving makes switching worthwhile but of course only if the service is satisfactory. When stuck on the side of a motorway in the pouring rain late at night £80 or so suddenly doesnt seem so much.
Thanks MGs Read more
Can anyone tell me if it is possible - or even advisable - to update the sat nav information on my system? Read more
Ok i can handle with ebay but i don't have the plug(harness and fuses which is different at qashqai) and the front panel where the screen goes.Do you know any dealer where can i send an email cause form nissan site they want a post code to find one...And i don't know anyone of ul postal codes
Will a car pass an MOT with 3 alloy wheels and an ordinary wheel?
Thanks for any answers. Read more
Wonder that the MOT dudes would say if you turned up driving on a (flat)
run-flat.
The car will pass, surprisingly. I did this on Friday (not delibaretly I might add, i only found out my tyre was flat the next day) and my car didn't fail it's MOT. It wasn't even mentioned on the report. Obviously I'm not sure whether this is legal, and I won't name the garage incase they have missed somethithey shoudl have picked up on. So my car is comlpletely road legal right now paperwork wise and yet only has three inflated tyres!
Good news:
Discovery passed its MOT with minimal work needed, so I won't be buying a newer vehicle yet, though I did see a very nice TDi 300 for sale but that's another story.....
Not so good news:
Although I handed the old/current MOT cert to the garage, who took it to another MOT testing station, the new MOT expiry date has NOT been backdated to 12 months after the old expiry date of 16th Feb.
Is this likely to be an error on the part of the tester or is backdating the MOT expiry date now not possible under the new system?
Thanks
H Read more
i dont like to come in on a finished thread but your garage has decided to use a different mot station now?
That tells me in spades that a big fall out has occured over the original tenner i mentioned between the garage that did your work and the mot station.
--
\"a little man in a big world/\"
Hi,
Can anyone tell me how the slave cylinder on a mondeo gets its feed for the fluid? I can only find one pipe and that goes directly from the slave cylinder to the clutch housing so that must be the feed to the clutch. Also there is only one master cylinder so does this feed both the brakes and clutch.
I am currently waiting for the delivery of a workshop manual, but in the meantime would value any help available.
Thanks biggrin Read more
Its to set the operating rod end-play. There should be
a little bit of free movement at the pedal before the
piston starts to move.
No pedal/rod adjustment on the MkIII, also the MkIII reservoir supplies clutch and brake m/cyls.
Anybody know exactly how to enter the radio code on a Jeep Grand Cherokee 1998? ( No handbook unfortunately) Thanks G.J.W Read more
For JEEP Radio Codes with a v serial us the guys in the link below as they cannot be calculated and the garage charges £35+ for them.
Just wondered if anyone has had their car tested at the local council garage. We had a leaflet saying the district council do MOT's at their workshop. They don't do repairs just tests and re-tests. I was reading that a lot of councils throughout the country do this and they are usually more reliable than garages as they have nothing to gain by inventing jobs that need doing. Read more
I have had MOTs on our two cars carried out at the local authority's workshop for the last 10 years or so. I have never disagreed with their comments. Also, they open very early or even work through the night which can be an advantage.
I'm in the market for a (2nd hand) mid-size 5 seater MPV and am seeking some advice on a "best buy". Annual mileage would be around 15K.
The main requirement is 3 "full size" rear seats with 3-point belts. Other than that the basic criteria is ...
decent reliability,
decent safety/crash worthiness,
decent fuel economy - doesn't have to be diesel, but 35+mpg (combined) would be great,
decent luggage space
.....and a switchable front passenger airbag would help.
Image and/or badge are not a concern, though value for money is ....budget is around £6-8k.
Current contenders/sample models are.... (though I haven't checked whether these all have 3 full size rear seats & belts)
Vauxhall Zafira - 2.0DTi or 1.8 Comfort/Elegance
Citroen Picasso - 2.0HDI or 1.8 Desire/Exclusive
Ford Focus C-Max - 1.6TDCi or 1.8 Zetec/Ghia
Nissan Almera Tino - 2.2Di or 1.8/2.0 SE
Toyota Corolla Verso - 2.0D4D or 1.8VVTi T3/T Spirit
Renault Scenic - 1.9DCi Dynamique/Privilege
Any advice and/or ownership experiences would be welcomed.
TIA.
P.S. Has to be a mid-size MPV - so Sharalaxibras, Trajdonas etc. are out as are estate cars.
Read more
Sounds good! I just bought a 03 plate one yesterday,pick it up monday..I've always had a thing for Renault 4's..This seems like the modern day equivalent.50MPG,group 3 insurance,very cheap parts,and as rugged as they come.Can't wait!
After much deliberation, I've decided to post this in discussion as I'll probably get posts on the merits of each tyre. However, feel free to move it mods if it isn't relevant.
I'm sure you remember ages ago I was saying how my car was losing grip and should I change the tyres as one was especially worn. I followed your advice and left it for a while. However, due to a combination of things, namely the front right tyre wearing more than I like, driving past a Police checkpoint more days than not, and this strange problem whereby if you dab or brake normally at high speeds, the wheel will shake violently (don't think it's the discs - it only does it at 80+) I've decided to replace both the fronts sometime this week.
Now the place I normally go to is this little backstreet place who have seen me right in the past but only sell Firestones. However, Mum is a member of Costco who I believe deal only in Michelin and I'm thinking it might be time for a change.
So, which would you get? The tyre size is 195/55/R15 and all factors will be taken into consideration!
Thanks for any help,
Adam
Read more
I think (but dont know) that the long life of rear tyres on ZXs (and 306s) is probably related to the passive rear wheel steer that they both have minimising scrub on the tyre in fast cornering.
What are the main factors affecting how long a cambelt will last? Obviously, how well it is made will be one factor, and luck may be another - but what about such things as driving style, frequency of oil changes, etc? Read more
Well - a lot of topics have been covered in this thread - but can I just say 'thanks' to those who responded to my original question.
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Many thanks indeed for the interesting and largely positive replies to my enquiry. I shall be signing up with autoaid very shortly. incidentally I can recommend the money saving site I mentioned, I saved over £120 on my insurance as a result of following the advice given there, and now another £80 or so - so how come I am not rich? Life is full of paradoxes.
Thanks! MGs