February 2006
On Saturday afternoon I decided it was time to wash both our cars. They are parked on the road alongside my house with my wife's car in front of mine. I washed and then dried my car with a chamois. I then washed my wife's car. When I came out of my side gate with the bucket with a chamois in it I saw three 14 year olds (2 boys and a girl) walking in the road (its the entrance to a large cul de sac), the girl and one boy stopped and kissed whilst the the other boy walked close to my car's drivers side. I heard a feint noise that I could not register as to its origin, but sounded like a scratching noise.
I started drying my wife's car and when I dried the drivers side I notice a new scratch across 3 panels. I felt sure it was not there when I washed it a few minutes earlier. I then looked at my car and found a scratch at the same height across 3 panels. It looks like a craft knife has been used as the cut is very crisp.
This group of 3 youngsters all live within several hundred yards, as I have seen them arround many times before. I do not know their names or where they live, but with a bit of checking I could easily find out. The area I live in has over 750 homes built in the 1970's in a rural setting bounded on all sides by sites of Special Scientific Interest.
I went in the house and told my wife the bad news about the cars. To put it mildly I was furious. My wife then phoned the local community officer (LCO) and left a message on the answering machine, and I then reported the damaged to the local police and received a crime number. We have had dealings with the LCO before over vandalism and theft and know there is a thick file against a number of local youngsters, but they are missing the final bit of proof - hopefully I can now provide it.
My wife's car has been damaged on the drivers side in the recent past with other deliberate scratches and a broken door mirror. I shall be filling the scratch on my car with a fine brush to stop any rust starting. When my wife obtains some retouch paint I will fill her scratches as well. In neither case do I think it is worth claiming on insurance due to the excess and as both cars are R-reg.
I know what I would like to do to these toe rags, but I doubt if I will have any direct contact. I hope they suffer a stiff punishment under the law and they are forced to pay for respraying both driver's sides of our cars (I can but hope).
What do you think should be either suitable punishment or what you would like to do to them?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Have a go at:
www.letstorquebhp.com/calculator.asp
Not far off for my current car, but amusingly rejects most older stuff on the grounds of puny power outputs...
Obviously can't take wind resistance into account, but how realistic do you think its figures are? Read more
Put in the details of my Accord Tourer and it says:
Power at Flywheel (BHP) : 140
Weight without Driver (KG) : 1602
Power to Weight Ratio (BHP Per Ton) : 88.79
Invalid Entry : Power to Weight Ratio must be between 95 and 700 BHP/Ton
According to Honda the kerbweight is 1602kg and ps is 140.
am i allowed to legally,, put my 7 yr old daughter into the front seat???
she always had a booster seat...as they arnt at the right height till they are much taller..
she also has the added protection of front air bags,side air bags, seat air bags,,and front A pillar airbags...
so i think she is better off in the front rather than the rear..
but legally,is she allowed in the front??
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www.storme.co.uk Read more
I am surprised that so many backroomers don't know the law
on carrying children in a car. There must be a minimum
of four, all in the back and standing on the seat
while at least one hangs out of a window. The driver
must be using a mobile at all times and never drop
more than three feet from the bumper of the car in
front.
Tom, I'm sorry to hear that you are taking such a lax view of the law. The truly law-abiding know that in addition to the kid hanging out the window, one must be standing with his head sticking out of the sunroof.
(It's no good saying "I got no sunroof" -- get one fitted!)
The term 'handling' is bandied about by many of us and yet I am not sure that that it means the same thing to all of us. The quote below is from the 'hire cars in the USA' thread that is currently running:
"Handling not great though, I had to keep correcting the steering whilst on the Interstate to stop it wandering across the road. I previously thought Cadillacs only did that because the owners are all 90 years old."
Whilst I may well be wrong that is not my definition of handling. The most potent car I have driven for any distance was some years ago in a newish Porsche 911 on some old Autobahns in Germany and it constantly needed steering correction. To a lesser extent the Gtis I have owned were more sensitive to road camber than cooking family saloons.
I have always thought that handling was the ability to remain stable and easy to control when cornering at speed - turn-in etc. Having said that the older Porsche 911 was notorious for swapping ends suddenly when the roadholding limit was reached. So did that car have poor handling?
So what is your definition of handling as opposed to roadholding?
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I don?t really know anything about handling but after years of
driving modern Peugeot 605s, a couple of years ago I drove
a Morris Ital from Liverpool to Manchester. Taught me a lot
about not handling. Difficult to keep straight and true under any
conditions and lethal under heavy braking (motorways). A very stressful journey.
How did people manage?
I?d quite like to have a pop in a few other
cars, Morris Minor, Anglia maybe or a Mark I and II
Cortina, Allegro, Chevette, Viva. Cars that I rode in as a
little boy - just so I can get a feel for
how far we?ve come...
You got it BBD. Why so many today haven't a clue about handling, just spoilt. Have to do handbrake turns and 'lay rubber' -ugh - to have a bit of fun they think. Poor thin stuff. And hardly anyone interested in what modern cars can really do: eat up the miles very quickly and very safely with minimal fatigue. They'd rather complain about feeling intimidated on the motorway and wonder whether to sneak on people for doing 80.
I was proceeding at the legal limit in the outside lane of the M3 in the usual stream leaving a safe distance awaiting my turn to overtake the middle lane traffic. Some white van man shot up on my inside....you can sense them before you see them...went past indicating right and pulled in front of me! This I am afraid instigated a very long flash of my headlights which seemed to somewhat upset the said white van man. This type of overtaking is becoming commonplace and is something to watch out for all the time. Read more
>>238: You should drive in the left-hand lane if the road ahead is clear..... Return to the left-hand lane once you have overtaken all the vehicles or if you are delaying traffic behind you.
The speeding driver behind might want you out of the way but you know that if you pulled over you'd be trapped behind a lorry doing 50 mph for miles. Who's right?
>>242: Do not overtake on the left or move to a lane on your left to overtake. In congested conditions, where adjacent lanes of traffic are moving at similar speeds, traffic in left-hand lanes may sometimes be moving faster than traffic to the right. In these conditions you may keep up with the traffic in your lane even if this means passing traffic in the lane to your right.
Yes - but we're not talking about such a situation, we're talking about busy but free-moving situations.
Many of the points of the highway code are not laws in themselves but disobeying them could lead to prosecution for dangerous or careless driving or infringement of other specific traffic laws.
There have been calls for legalising 'undertaking'. If this happenned and was included in the highway code and driver training, fair enough, we'd learn to cope like Americans do as it is legal there. Until then, leave well alone!!!!
HJ, are there any plans for a auto version? Read more
It was the top seller in W Europe in 2003 and 2004.
I doubt it ever was. Renault loves to play strange statistics but one about Megane being best seller in Europe is simply not true.
If you check any car sales statistics, Jato ones being probably easiest to access on the net, for the past 4 years month after month the three top selling cars in Western Europe were almost without exceptions VW Golf, Opel Astra and Ford Focus. And the ratios are usually whooping too, with Golf outselling Clio and Megane by at least 40% annual figures.
Among French makers Peugeot sold more 206 and 306s last year than Renault did Meganes. So I don't know how Renault makes those statistics, whether they force dealerships to pre-reg more cars than any other maker, or simply make them up as they go, but even if you were to look at a car park anywhere in Europe, you will never ever find one where fugly fat bum of Megane dominates over common hatch of Golfs or Focii.
can anyone help , have just had a second hand engine put in my vectra 2ltr and some of the dash lights stay on airbag ect ,some one told me that i need my ecu reset could this be true ,could i reset this thanks
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hi the other lights are ,airbag /traction control/engine managment ,the engine that was put in came from an omega all done by a good garage but they did not have a reset tool thanks
My heater/cooler fan only works on the highest setting, what would I need to get the fan working on all 4 settings ?
ta Read more
Cheers... I'll look at this in the week....is the resistor pack a renault only supply ? any idea of the cost ?
STOP.....Forget it. Too Much bad press regarding the Mondeo Auto.
I have bought......and I await criticism, cos I have already had it from all quarters........A 97 'P' Mercedes E320 Auto. I downloaded all of the bumpf from car by car breakdown and I told myself and SWMBO that I would not buy for many reasons, all listed in cxc breakdown.. Only going to see it as my mate had arranged it. Honest to God!
Well.......Got there and I looked and I looked and I struggled to find a fault. 54K. Hardly a mark. Needs tyres soon, but I have never bought a car that didn't. All the toys work although it is only an Elegance. Goes like you know what, (shovel!) and at the money I thought, Boy, (I dream), You are a long time in your box. Took it home provisionally to 'er indoors to expect a fight and she fell.
Well it is quite nice and if................
OK.....Now go for it..Tell me why I have cocked up
VVBR.............MD..............avec Merc' Read more
Front engine cross brace rust badly, under the rubber seals round the doors, the two trailing arms behind the gearbox (most comon TUV rust failure in Germany on E class, body marks look like a spyders web.The most annoying fault if you get it is the clock segmants fail and you have to replace the whole dashboard to repair.They have lost all there carisma in Germany even the taxi drivers are changing to Ford and Toyota due to DB's poor build quality and unreliability.
www.pcpro.co.uk/news/83218/microsoft-puts-windows-...l
is this wise with Italian wiring?
JH
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Browse
Update.
The police have been round to see me twice at the end of last week, so they are taking the matter very seriously. They have also been making some house to house enquiries.
Whilst I have been at work today there has been a major development. A close neighbour had the number plate of his BMW ripped off whilst it was parked on his drive. Unfortunately the incident was seen by the owner who went out and collared one of the trio. He is a very fit and tough young man, and not afraid of having a go. He managed with the help of another burly neighbour to detain all 3 of them. The police were called and arrested the youngster who damaged my cars. The tall youth and the girl were questioned and allowed to go on their way.
It was also interesting to be told that a Mercedes emblem was found in the hedge of the house next door. It seems this toe rag has been very active locally, hence the police interest. My wife heard the language he used and it was all F'ing and blinding, so I am glad I did not have to get directly involved.
I was prepared to be very patient about identifying this youth, but events have now meant that justice can now be done. Especially as there is now another witness who has detained this yob.
Just cannot wait to get home to hear the full story and see exactly what action the police are going to take.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.