March 2006
I am trying to find out what a hall sender looks like for a 1985 (B reg?) Audi Coupe GT 1998cc (I think).
It's actually my mothers who lives in France (had the car from new!!) but it cuts out for no reason and starts ok a few minutes later. Various relays have been replaced by the local garages to no avail and after investigation by moi it may well be the hall sender (or sensor as some might know it). However, rather than go the expense of getting a brand new one (£200) and seeing if it works I ordered a 2nd hand one from a guy who specialises in Audi Coupes. He sent it to me but it was not what I was expecting but still sent it to france - only for Dad to email saying he thinks it's the wrong one. Before I go back to the Audi guy I just am trying to find out what it should look like!!
Many thanks if you can help.
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A small deep hole resulting from a stone has appeared on the windscreen. I do not have windscreen insurance. Can I fill it with epoxy resin? Or what is best? Regards, Mike. Read more
Thanks for the replies. The hole is very small but deep under the tax disc.Cheers, Mike.
On setting one, my heater fan makes an irritating chirpy squeaking noise. How viable is the idea of getting it out and greasing it a bit? Or am I likely to end up messing with some electric current and setting my dashboard on fire?
Car is a Fiat Coupe, although I'd guess that's irrelevant. {not neccessarily, as other owners may also have a similar squeak and could advise, hence why I've added it to the subject header - DD} Read more
Right. Cheers all. Touch wood, the light oiling seems to have helped a lot for now (it sometimes squeaks now on setting 1 only when turning left, which I can cope with) but if it gets worse again, I may try the ATF.
It now seems that Halfords no longer provide a cut-to-size service for door mirror glass replacement (as used a few years ago).
Does anyone know who can do this? Read more
When I was in the motor trade (few years ago) the local glazier would cut one for a couple of quid. Flat glass and not shatterproof, but it did the job.
I have been looking at the brand new Renault Megane 1.9DCi 130 Dynamique models for sale at £9999 (3dr) and £10999 (5dr) on www.motorpoint.co.uk, a saving of almost £5k against the UK list price.
I called Motorpoint to ask about the warranty and was told that the vehicles were built for the Cyprus market but would be covered by the manufacturers warranty. They could not be any more specific.
These models at UK dealers come with a 3 year / 60,000 mile warranty with 10,000 mile / 12 months service intervals.
Renault UK Customer Services tell me that because the vehicles were destined for Cyprus they would need to be serviced to that country's schedule, which is every 6000 miles or 12 months, and that the warranty would only be for 2 years / 25,000 miles.
I can understand why they are saying this in principle, it is obviously a method to try to discourage people from buying the imports in the first place. What I find annoying is that the car is to the same spec as the UK equivalent, yet they are able to make such a restrictive condition just because they feel like it.
What do others think on this? Read more
It is quite interesting that many goods sold in this country
(particularly electical/electronic goods) still only come with a one year warranty.
Yet, for example, digital cameras bought from France come with a
2 year warranty, when the same camera bought in the UK
has only a 1 year warranty. Sony were notorious for
offering only 90 day warranties on their digital cameras at one
time (in the US I think).
I thought I'd read some time ago that the EU were insisting on 2yr w'tees for everything.
However, warranty is 'in addition to your statutory rights' - and they, amongst other things, demand that the item should work for a reasonable period of time. Difficulty is with the timing, but with domestic appliances for example, it's generally considered to be 5yrs.
I've never understood why the same principle's don't appear to be applied to cars? Although, to be fair, when both rear springs broke on wife's 4 yr old Clio (and this was a 1998 car with a 1 yr w'tee) Renault replaced FOC after nothing more than a firm request.
I know from an earlier thread that late October to early November is the best time to buy at auction, but it will be a new car (Civic, Golf, Mazda3, Octavia). Would I be right in thinking no-one is buying a new car in summer? Or will the best time be early October?
I won't have a trade-in and I know the best places to look are HJ's "Week's Best Deals".
Ta.
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Stevie
Lakland 44-02 Sunburst Read more
Towards the end of the month?
Afternoon everyone
We picked up a brand new Nissan X-Trail last week. We got the 2.2 diesel version with a reported 37 mpg. However, on my rough calculations we are only getting approx 28mpg and yet we are driving very sedately at the moment.
I'm aware that on new cars, they are not fully economical and takes time for the engine to bed down before becoming more economical. However, this does seems to be a remarkable low fuel economy rate.
How many miles does diesel engines needs to cover before they become more economical? And when this occurs, can I expect an improvement of approx 10mpg?
Thanks.
PS - Apologies to those who has seen this post elsewhere!
SVM Read more
You have had the car for a week. YOu cant work out the average MPG in a weeks driving, it needs to be averaged over a 1000 miles. YOu dont mention what kind of driving you have been doing (urban, school run, motorway driving)
Dont treat this thing gently, they really need to be worked to get them run in and perform nicely later.
About 10k is right before you get any idea of what this thing is going to give you.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Just been offered an old Bmw 735 E32 1988 7 series for about £700. Tempted to buy it as a second car for a bit of fun, however the car by car breakdown doesn't seem too happy about these cars, suggesting I should get it checked out by a specialist before I part with any money.
All well a good if the car cost 10 times as much, but not at this price.
Other web sites have been a little more encouraging, basically saying that if you stick to using specialists, don't worry about every little thing (heated cup holders and the like) and as long as the engine and gearbox are in good working order and you check the obvious, the costs should be pretty low (as long as you ignore the oil well draining thirst).
Anybody got any thoughts on these cars?
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Near you there will be one or more independant BMW specialists.
These people know more than some BMW dealers,the one near me gets more calls from our local BMW dealer than he makes to them!
See if they can keep the thing running for a year whatever the electrics do,you might have to get secondhand parts for them to use.
But what a lovely,lovely car for the price of a long weekend in Paris.
Robin
Hi
I have a CARK91 nokia car kit... I need power... where is the best place to take it in the dash of a Peugeot 406?
Maybe a silly question, but would it be possible to simply attach a conventional cigarette lighter car charger to the end of the power cable?
Cheers. Read more
From the rear of the radio as you will have to connect the yellow to the radio mute,you can use either the switched or the unswitched feed.
Just been looking on this US site www.csgnetwork.com/oilchangecalc.html
at this progam for oil changes and came across this statement.
This program will calculate the calendar time of 90 days in the immediate past. If you have not had the oil and filter in your motor vehicle changed between that date and today, you are exceeding most manufacturers maintenance suggestions. The general guideline agreed upon by most manufacturers worldwide is 3000 miles (about 4800 kilometers) or 90 days, which ever comes first. Check your owners manual for specifications for your vehicle.
I know this is a US site and their cars usually do higher mileages than ours, but surely this is a slightly excessive regime. For the record I have my oil changed every 6,000 miles. Do the Americans use any of the extended service intervals with fully synthetic oils?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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It is like many aspects of life, deeply cultural. Our American friends thought all the light bulbs were blowing when we stayed with them, as we switched them off as we left the room.
I found it odd that 3 months was almost a religion. Mind you oil is very cheap and plently of Kwik fit type places do an oil change in the States for peanuts.
I think every 6,000 is fine, although talking to some mechanics at an independant, they refered to a BMW of an 'old boy' that had 3,000 mile changes. The inside they commented was like a sparkling jewel!
Browse
must be a yank site - IIRC the american audi 100 was named the 4000 and the audi 200 the 5000