January 2006
My wife's company car,a 2002 (02) Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 Auto Petrol is due for renewal. She has decided that for tax purposes it would be financially advantageous to take an increase in salary and buy her own car. She has the option to purchase the Mondeo which was leased through Godfrey Davis. It has approx 65k on the clock, full service history, leather all the toys and is finished in Black metallic. It has been and continues to be relatively problem free though there are a few scratches and stone chips and the alloys have a few dings commensurate with the mileage and use it gets. The car will be supplied with a 12 month warranty and they are asking for £4968.00 and have offered finance at 4.9% APR if we need it.
First thoughts are that this is reasonable and it will get my wife on the first rung of car ownership. Any views from the backroom would be much appreciated. Read more
I'm off to look at a Peugeot 607SE (3L V6) for about £5k. Can anyone here tell me how good they really are and what should I look out for?
Many thanks
Gareth Read more
I dont know why more people dont drive them!<<
They may be a dying breed but some people may still like the sound of a nice big petrol engine ;-)
My sept 2004 diesel golf refused to start this morning after being stood in the open since dec 30 .is this to be expected?
I have covered nearly 12000 miles from new , average 800 a month. A flat battery was diagnosed by VW assist and was restarted in seconds.have I a problem ?
rocbob
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The only time I ever bought a brand new car, its battery died within a month. Wouldn?t hold charge, they tested it and changed it - no problem.
Needed the windscreen replaced due to crack ('05 Picasso), in trying to source the correct version the supplier asked me if it was of the "acoustic repellent" type. I had no idea! They got me to check for a logo on the lower corner which should look like "an ear and a deflected arrow". Sure enough it was there.
I'd never heard of this before, presumably it is supposed to cut down wind noise? Read more
>>Basically it's an alteration to how the PVB interlayer of the windscreen is made, this reduces the dB into the car from outside.>>
Strikes me as wishful thinking - there are numerous sources for external noise to enter a vehicle.
Years ago we used to cut down some noise by putting thick carpet offcuts under the floor carpets.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
On holiday in France,I had just driven into a camping site when a man came over and asked me what I thought of the car I was diving.I was perfectly satisfied with my car,comfortable,ultra-reliable,good economy and performance,so I asked him why he was interested-he told me his neighbour had said never to buy one as they were no good.I showed him round the car and took him for a drive in it-he liked it,so I asked him if his neighbour had ever owned one.Yes,you've guessed the answer--NO!!
But then,again,two elderly aunts of my wife were considering getting a new car and asked for recommendations.I thought about it,thinking about their usage,size of garage and other requirements and suggested a couple of cars to look at.Some weeks later they turned up in a large sporty saloon(if they ever exceed 30mph-it would be a wonder).I asked why they bought it.
The answer-it was recommended by our milkman!! Read more
The Cherry Europe came first, then the ARNA, they were identical apart from badging - my Europe, my dad bought one of the first out (always was a bit mental that way), had the Alfa boss on the steering wheel - Alfa badges on everything under the hood, basically everything was badged Alfa apart from the front grille and the stick-ons on the hatch lid - I bought everything sparewise from the Alfa garage (the Nissan bits never broke)
Do you ever check that your dipped headlights do not dazzle the driver in front?
I find it very annoying to see my headlining lit up and light being directed from my mirror directly into my eyes. Even using the dipping feature of my mirror does not satisfy me as I cannot see much else than the offending vehicle as it reduces the light level considerably.
As my car is fitted with height adjustable headlamps, I try to make sure that my lights only occasionally cause a reflection from a car number plate. I think this is only being considerate.
Once I am on an open road I increase the level of the lights to get better visiblity. Adjustment is just under the speedo, just behind the wheel. I could also use the driving lights, but hardly ever do as it involves a stretch to hit the correct button to the left of the centre of the dashboard.
Do you have any pet ways of bringing to attention of other drivers that their headlights are set too high?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Surely every car has dim-dip.
Nope. Dim dip was dropped sometime around 1993. Dim dip was a system that let your dipped headlights illuminate at half brightness when only side lights were switched on in conjunction with the ignition.
It was to prevent you from driving on side lights only.
How bad are these cars? I see www.motorpoint.co.uk is flogging off a load at £3999. A flash of madness went through my brain as mrsmender could do with a runabout sometime this year... Will it stay nailed together for 5 years and about 30k miles?
Believe the engine is a peugeot built in India any one know which engine is it? I'm not serious at the moment just wondering if it's worth the risk Read more
Featured in the Telegraphs Sunday rival paper yesterday. The only good thing Mr Dawes had to say about it is the size of the boot! The car doesn't even have an NCAP rating and there are some out there which don't have ABS or power steering. Avoid
My gf wants a Puma. I think they look nice, and they handle well too I hear. However, she's youngish and it appears that the 1.4 is the only realistic one to insure. They are very difficult to find... but my question is any advice/positive or negative feedback about Pumas?
Thanks in advance people.
Steve Read more
Water drips from roof when you open door or boot. And I found getting in/out difficult due to low roof line.
Nice car otherwise. Watch for rust
madf
Hi guys,
Im going to have a bash at my rear brakes next with my friend who's done it before and is going to show me how to do them. He's got all the tools for the job but has suggested that sometime in the future I purchase my own big tool box with all the bits to go with it.... anyone got any suggestions on complete tool sets, what tool sets do you guys own? Good brands etc. I've looked at Argos and they have one for £70 that looks ok? looking to spend no more than £80/90.
any comments as always will be much appreciated.
Thanks
Lee
PS whens the N/West backroom meet?? :)
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Lost me there Neil?!
I've become increasingly aware recently of cars with at least one defective front light (and I don't mean those with fog lamps that won't switch off in clear visibility!), so going home last night (suburban Wolverhampton/Shropshire countryside) I did an inpromptu count. Of the next 100 cars that approached me on the opposite carriageway, 7 had defective front or side lights (that is bulbs blown, rather than being misdirected). 7% seems very high to me. Has anyone else tried this?
Incidentally, there was a higher proportion of blown bulbs in the town than in the countryside. Does this mean that the townies rely on stret lighting and don't notice defective bulbs so readily? Read more
My first too.
98 Mondeo Ghia X
God bless Ford, they removed them from the 99 onwards Ghia X's.
Browse
Yes, it is good value, you have had it from new, you know the history, it is warrantied, I would jump at it.