March 2006
In response to an earlier thread about quality of diesel, I would point out that of all the super unleaded I have tried my A6 2.8Q performs better under Shell Optimax. Not only that, it's quieter and feels better. Too technical for me to explain. Read more
Well, I bought this 3 yr old Hyundai Elantra a few months ago. This is my second Hyundai since coming to the US. Very impressed so far. Yes it is a little dull and has a lot of grey plastic inside. But every morning it starts on the first crank, and in 10k miles I've put on it so far, hasn't missed a beat. I think they are almost up with the Japanese in terms of quality and reliability, and they are selling like hotcakes over here. Don't understand the UK dislike of these cars. Clarkson routinely rips into them, although he is not the only one. Is a nice interior and trendy badge really more important than reliability? Read more
For reasons related elsewhere, I have an 04 Ka Collection as a courtesy car. It's pleasant enough to drive but seems a more basic car than I expected. There's no manual in it, so to reduce the risk of danger/embarrassment, I wonder if anyone familiar with Kas would be able to answer the following questions.
- Is the speed of the windscreen wipers adjustable? I can only find two settings: a bit too fast and fairly intermittent.
- Is the car likely to have ABS? The owner of a brand new Ka tells me this is a recent addition. I find the braking to be far less keen than I'm used to (I'd been warned that this is a Ka trait) but I don't suppose that's any indication.
- Can the car be locked from the inside?
- Is the boot permanently locked? I can't find a way to leave it unlocked and it doesn't seem to unlock with the central locking. Not exactly important, just a bit odd.
- Is the steering wheel really not adjustable? The bonnet release is where I'd expect the catch for this to be.
- Is it likely to have power steering? Strange question I know, but I can't really tell. It seems heavy for a car with power steering and light for one without. On my own car it's very obvious because the wheel becomes hard to turn with the engine off.
If I gave the impression that I was whinging about the
car . . .
Don't worry - I don't imagine you did!
its a 2001 cdx d4d previa
72k, s/h, missed one service, and the 60k one isnt a toyota service
leather seating, good bodywork and cd changer and parking sensors.
parkers values it at around 12.5, what do you guys think? Read more
its a genuine uk car supplied by a uk dealer which
I have had since new.
I called it estima to catch more people when they search.
But you may also put people off by implying it's an import.
Anyone else driven mad by the incredible increase in these things in the middle of straight roads. Just as the road straightens out a whole line of the things have sprouted making everyone travel in convoy at the speed of the slowest.In combination with speed cameras it appears that overtaking is seen as anti social behaviour and to be prevented. Perhaps they will bring in the modern equivalent of a man with a red flag in front of cars. Come to think of it they have - speed cameras.
Cheers
Peter
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It's a shame, when John Prescott announced plans for £2Bn of road improvements a few years ago, he didn't tell the truth and inform people that the councils would have to bid for it for Marxist road-ruining projects. All councils (regardless of who runs them) ruin the roads to keep themselves in business.
I own a Motorcaravan based on the Ford Transit and am thinking of changing it for a newer model equipped with the Ford Durashift automatic transmission.
What I would like to know about is other peoples impressions of driving such a vehicle, for example, is the gear change smooth, how reliable has it been, any problems noticed when driving and especially how does it perform on really steep hill starts?
Any actual driving experiences would be most welcome.
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I had an early TDCi Mondeo with Durashift for a weeks trial, and it was pretty well as described. However I understand the software has been improved and they're somewhat better now?
Sorry if you've been through all this, but have you had the gearbox software updated.
Right here goes...
A week or so back i took my car into a garage to find the source of a problem. The problem was that when the engine was warm / hot, there was a noticable lack of power and when pulling away from a junction, the throttle response seemed laboured ie i pressed down on the accel' pedal and nothing much happened then the whole thing lurched forward back into life. Also there was stuttering when just floating along at 30mph. When i took it into the garage, he spent the best part of 45 mins messing around with his computer talking to the ecu and fiddling with the air flow sensor. He even done 3 road tests - one with me driving and him looking at live sensor readings. The only thing that came up was a small blip of a low voltage across the air flow meter. So after being told that the new meter would be £213 + vat + fitting, i gave him the 40 odd quid for the knowledge that it MIGHT be the airflow sensor.
Next thing i done was to get a new sensor, at a proper price. Went on ebay and found a new one, brand new in box at £75 with a 30k mile Bosch warranty. Bought it and took it a friend's friend - a mechanic in a hire truck business. Started the engine and the engine light came on and stayed on. Went to take it for a drive to see if it would clear and the whole engine died just outside the forecourt of the truck place on a busy main road. Smashing. Popped the bonnet and found it was installed the wrong way so i released the clips and turned it round. Restarted the engine and the engine warning light went out. The engine ran much smoother and performance was down - i thought this was maybe just the ecu needing to adjust itself to the new sensor. Driving home from the place (a good hour or so drive) performance was down all the way, possibly due to a 40mph head wind so i didnt let it bother me but i decided to go out of my way to drive through a busy town centre to see if the stuttering was still there. Sure enough it was but much MUCH worse. After the first hesitation from the throttle, it all spiralled from there and the stuttering while at a steady speed is now happening at all speeds rather than just floating around town.
Being a year 2000, i cant get the ecu to reveal it's secrets by shorting the two pins so it'll have to go to a garage as i dont have a code reader. Could this problem just be a simple case of the computer needing reset or could it be something more sinister?
-David Read more
I've checked up and it is genuine although it doesn't look it from looking at it. On the outside case it has the Durchfluss branding with a Bosch part number but the sensor inside is Bosch branded with serial numbers etc.
As for the car...it is performing as it was before the new sensor. This leads me to believe my problem had nothing to do with the air flow meter in the first place.
I collected my new Picasso 1.6HDi 92 Desire this afternoon straight from a main dealer.
Bought through www.drivethedeal.com at a discount of over £5.5k on the list price, (but standard discount is actually £3.4k, so I only really saved £2.1k!) and a free £250 Garmin c320 thrown in ( but on back order) and half a tank of diesel.
I started the process on monday afternoon, so less than 4 days from placing order to delivery. And that includes the car coming from Citroen allocated stock in my color of choice.
I would have no hesitation in recomending the broker - ask for Laurence and mention the hj site.
I just hope the car is as good as the delivery process. Time will tell and I will keep people updated on its progress. Initial reaction is of a competent and comfortable performer, possibly lacking character, but lets see what happens as it loosens up a bit.
If anybody wants the BX (see classifieds) I am open to offers.
--
pmh (was peter)
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P/ex price was reasonable - obviously less than dealer trade in, but the cost to change was lower. We did have one of these "try us last, we'll have the best price" ones and he didn't offer as much.
Hi,
After waiting three months, I have today received a letter from Bromley Council, regarding the parking ticket which was registered against my car on November 24th last year.
(www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=37528 )
At the time, I fully took DVD's advice, and am delighted to say that the council has now cancelled my PCN. In their words, which I am sure are not true but still delightful none-the-less,
'Blur blur blur, On receipt of your letter the case was referred to a parking inspector in order that the location could be visited and the restrictions checked. As a result of this inspection, it has been established that the PCN was issued incorrectly. The contractors responsible for parking enforcement have been duly advised and have now cancelled the charge. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience you have been caused.'
So, I just want to say a huge thank you to DVD, and others who advised on the issue. I think the advice I got from DVD must have been spot on, because I have read many similar cases in the local papers lately where people who contest a fine get nowhere.
Thanks again.
HF Read more
Delighted to hear that HF.
dvd
Engine won't start on cold damp days, no other problems at any other time. Not a sniff of potential HGF woes on this one and I intend to keep a close eye on coolant/rad/hoses/etc after learning my lesson with the last Rover!
Fuel pump kicks in, engine turns fine, just doesn't fire. A liberal dose of wd40 around the distributor cap and exposed ht connectors followed by 10 minutes wait usually cures it. Having searched the forum there are several stories reporting similar problems, the recommended solution usually appears to be one or more of the following:
1. renew ht leads
2. renew spark plugs
3. renew dizzy cap
4. renew rotor arm
Ours is getting 3 and 4 done tomorrow by our mechanic friend who suggests these are most likely to cure the fault. Does anyone have an opinion on whether there is a genuine design fault in one or more components on these cars which is likely to cause wet starting problems? I've known other breeds suffer from similar faults, but seemingly not as commonly as Rover.
Thanks,
Ed. Read more
Distributor caps and rotor arms have quite a hard life. One of the few mechanical parts in 'modern' electrics. By now it will have operated several million times. At 83K replacing is a good idea anyway. Often distributor caps can look OK but have very fine imperfections that wet atmoshere will expose. On hot summer days they can tolerate less than perfect conditions. Probably best to replace both parts every 40K anyway. Usually only £20 for most cars. Classic case of a little over-protective maintanance paying dividends in an older car.
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Some passing historical interest, though.