March 2006
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could maybe give me an answer on the tracking on my vectra.
It is a Y reg 1.8 LS petrol and has done 165000 miles.
I changed two tyres last year and asked them to put the new ones on the back and move the two old back ones to the front and check the tracking at the same time. After they had finished the steering wheel was off centre. So I took it back and the guy adjusted it again but when I drove it, it was still off to the left but not as much. Couldn't be done with the grief and lived with it.
This year I have done the same thing with the tyres because the front ones needed changing. I thought i'd ask them to do the tracking again. He said it was out and adjusted it. Now the steering wheel is out pointing to the right!
I don't want to sound picky but its just annoying.
What can you say when you ask for the tracking to be done and not sound awkward?
Moreover, Is there anything wrong with the car that could make the tracking difficult to allign correctly?
At the M.O.T. they said that there was slight free play in the steering. Could this be related?
Or, are the fitters that are doing the work just having a laugh?
These were two different garages by the way.
Someone said the steering rack might need changing. How can I tell if this is the case?
Thanks any help you can give us.
Mark
Read more
Hello
I live in London and wanted to know of any good salvage places where i would be able to purchase cars to fix up and sell on.
Thanks for any Help given in advance.
Cheers
Read more
The dealers are in there they get the pick and whats left is chaff ,they know whats good and whats bad .I looked at nearly new 75 and thought that would be an easy repair till a friend showed me an almost invisible crease line on the floor pan.Beware.
hi all,as i started my 97 diesel fiesta up just now and the airbag light on dash keeps flasing 4 times intermitently even when driving ! im a bit worried does anyone know why ? or how to solve it ? or if there is a prob what simple things i can check before getting stung by a garage ?? many thanks
Read more
yeah, the end joint where it joins the pretensioner under the seat has broken as it must of been caught against something under my seat as it moved forward ! mamy thanks all !!!
I promise this is going to be the last "What's car X like?" thread from me until I'm actively out buying a car. It's only because you're all so knowledgable that I ask! Thanks to you, I've discounted endless cars!
I was doing my monthly habit of thinking the other day and I realised, I'm going to have to modify my car critera a bit rather than settle for something because it's a saloon. I'd still have a Ghia X V6 Mondeo with the kit on but at the moment the cloest one is 250 miles away. Assuming things don't change in between now and September (if they do I'll start looking at them again) I've changed my mind slightly.
Of course, being me it has to be off the wall. And we've gone from Ford Mondeo to...
...Honda Accord.....Coupe?
They seem to have the power I need (3.0) and I've always liked the look of them. The back is very NSX looking (always a good thing) but obviously it's only 2 doors. The only thing is, I love the look of them as they're quite big but they're perhaps a little girly. I wouldn't really care if you all said "They're superb cars". I have a horrible feeling that they'd be rather sterile to drive despite having a big block and I realise that this is more than likely unfair.
So, thoughts?
Next thought was....and you're going to laugh here. Mitsubishi FTO. I know! These are 2.0 V6's and I'm sure I read a while ago Aprilia praising the MIVAC engines. They're fairly small and I realise I've gone from family car to fun car but I'm just weighing up all the options. I don't have kids or anything so I don't NEED so many doors and I'm just wondering whether it's best I get the silly car business out of my system before I turn 30, have a house, wife, kids, dogs etc etc.
So - advice please!
I'd like to extend a further apology at keep flitting from car to car and asking all these questions but I seriously have discounted cars from my list because of what people have said on here so you'd be doing me a massive favour!
Thanks again,
Adam
Read more
Yeah but with my Dad, it is his money!!! ;-)
kidding, kidding!!
Chevrolet have just reduced their car prices until 31st March.
Matiz 0.8S now £5295 reduced from £6095
Kalos 1.4SX now £7645 reduced from £8995
Lancetti SW 1.6SX £8995 reduced from £11095
Tacuma 1.6SX £8995 reduced from £10995
For full details go to www.chevrolet.co.uk/offers/march_markdown.htm
I am not sure if these are discontinued models or does it mean Chevy cars are not selling very well?
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Read more
A lot lower yet I think
{Prior to locking this thread, it was one of the longest threads in the history of the Backroom (260 replies to date 06 Aug 2006). It has grown so big that I've separated it to make easier loading and reading for people still on dial up)
Volume 1 of this thread can be found HERE
Volume 3 of this thread can be found HERE
DD.
=====================================================================
Just been given a delivery date of 12th April for my
CRD version and have started the 'countdown'. You are right about
the resemblance to the Rover P5 Commerdriver, thats one of the
unique aspects about the 300C...it has the ability to be brash
American 'bling' or sedate British exec depending on what mods etc
you carry out.
Hi Geordie1
I bet that you're really excited to have got a delivery date for your car, as you say counting down the days.
You mention making "mods" to your car. Have you considered changing the grill ? Whilst the original one looks very very good, there are some American aftermarket grills available to pesonalise your car. One of the best available is called the T-Rex, and is apparently the dogs dangly bits.
MTC Read more
Just for you 'BobbyG'.....
A 6 inch stretched version is due for launch stateside. You have in fact hit on one of the endearing styling features re long bonnet and shorter boot(which is biiiiiggggg!)
Rest assured...the style grows on you (no pun intended).
Geordie
Hi,
Have a very curious issue with power steering on AR147 2.0. After crusing (70mph or so ) for 20-30 mins I occasionally have experienced what feels like zero power steering when decelerating and steering-a very startling experience !! It only lasts a second or two and 'normal service resumes' - again, it's intermittent.
The fluid level goods and can't see any leaks anywhere
Anyone any ideas ? (besides taking it in to a rip-off Alfa garage that is !!)
Many thanks
Read more
Probably a sticking valve in the system. I once had this on a nearly-new Zafira that I was driving for the day. Very nasty when it happens.
Morning all,
This is something that has been bugging me for a quite a while now. I though the idea of having the letter at the beginning of the enumber plate to identify where you were from was a really good idea, but since it is actually relevant to where the car was registered and not where you live seems to defeat the object. I live in Sheffield, but my registration in AX, which is from East Anglia where my parents live and bought the car, and in Sheffield there is a huge number of cars that don't have the local YS or YP prefix. Whay also did they decide to go with some obscure method of assigning letter to counties?
In Germany, each city/landkreis has a logical prefix letter assigned to it (Frankfurt is F, Wurzburg is WU etc)cars are registered to where you live not where the car is from, so it is immediately obvious where someone is from. If you move, you have to re-register your car. The British version just seems overly complicated! Read more
By the way this subject is called "Autonumerology" something like that.
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
I've been watching a BMW 528 for nearly a year now on a local forecourt, it's that lovely light green, S reg and in good nick but no-one's buying. It started at 6295 and is now down to 4995 but the important thing is it never moves. Does there come a point where a car is so used to doing nothing that all the parts stop working? Could a car that's stood for a year be a reliable one or is is fatally damaged. Should I go in and offer £3000 for cash? Read more
It'll be fine with some new brake discs I'm sure.
Our old 3 series used to stand for up to 6 months and started on the turn of the key and drove straight off when the battery was reconnected, and that was with no prior prep.
Blue
My son was trying to sell his car through the usual papers, Autotrader etc but after 2 weeks no luck - of course one the car matching people called and he cold shouldered them.
However yesterday they called again and he said that if they were that good he would give them £500 instead of £89 if "their match" bought the car. This of course was refused by them but soon after they called back - made remarks that were wholly inappropriate, swore and then rung off. The "agent" then phoned his home and was "less than polite" to my son's girlfriend.
The website looks professional but the employees are obviously not. Read more
Better still, send the complaint to BT with a copy to the MD, so there's less opportunity for the recording of the call to go 'missing' when the tapes are stored away.
Regards,
- Gromit
You're getting to the extent of my knowledge on such things regarding changing steering racks. It may be that the pinion can be adjusted to reduce the play in the rack if this is the problem.
However it always used to be that steering racks wore more around the straight ahead driving position and less towards the extremes of lock. You could try this and see if the play is different in different positions of the rack.
Another possible source of play, other than a loose steering rack, is track rod ends but I think this normally gives tyre wear problems.
Anybody else out there with any knowledge/experience of this sort of problem?
Brian