March 2006
For the Insurance experts out there, what on earth is Commercial Travelling. We have Class 2 business use on both of our cars (well all 3 at the moment!!), but it mentions about "Commercial Travelling", but I can't find what this means exactly - anyone give a simple version of what they are excluding please. Read more
Vehicle:
Golf Mk4 1400 S, 60k miles.
Symptoms:
Engine is chucking up oil into the air filter as well as leaving deposits of oil on the ground. Oil deposits are blackened despite a recent engine oil & filter replacement.
Engine starts OK and drives seemingly normal. No unusual noises either.
Anyone have a similar problem or input? Read more
Did the oil breather need to be replaced, or can it be repaired?
Hello.
Please can you tell me how to reset the service indicator on a 2004 Seat Arosa 1.0 litre.
Many thanks
John. Read more
Chirpy.
Your advice was spot on.
Many thanks
John
Good afternoon Chaps! (and ladies)
I took my gaffers BMW 330ci into kwik Fit for him to get two new rear tyres for the beast, they did the job then gave me the receipt as its charged to our company. I was amazed at the price!! £424 for two tyres, I know they are pretty big 255/45/18 but its seems very steep to me?? which leads me to the question... What type of profit are Kwik Fit, ATS, main dealers etc making from tyres? the mark up must be plenty!!
Thanks
Lee Read more
Most people don't have a clue about the cost of tyres
(or it's on the company) so, when their rubber need replacing,
names such as Kwik-Fit etc spring to mind because of constant
advertising campaigns.
That's the whole idea of advertising
I haven't been in one of their branches in years but have used their mobile service for my company cars for the last 7 or 8 years and always found them OK. Don't know about the cost but if my company's fleet department and leasing company allow it it can't be that expensive.
I do wonder sometimes what the difference is between their lease company prices and their public prices
Does anyone have any info. on the digital climate control system or offer any pointers?
I want to get into the CPU control program to reprogramme it, as it's totally useless ( on all the three vehicles in our family (2000, 2001 and 2003)so I assume it's just a crappy design and not a fault.
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I have seen the climate sensor report problems when doing diagnostics on a number of 407s and some 307s. On those models the sensor is in the dash around the glove box area and you can see the dust that accumulates in the little slots.
Can someone answer a question on the "manual" function of the BMW Steptronic gearbox?
In auto it is nice and smooth, but does tend to change up a little too quickly. I have a 3L diesel so it's nice to keep it down for a bit more fun.
In sport mode it also seems to change up a little too quickly, so I thought I'd give the "manual" a quick bash. The problem is that I am so used to the auto that I tend to forget to move the gear stick occasionally. However, it doesn't seem to matter.
As I pull up to a junction, if I forget, the box changes down for me. As I pull off and the revs climb, it changes up again. Pretty much in the same way as when in normal auto mode, except it seems to hold on to the lower gear a little longer and so gives that extra bit of oompf as it takes off.
I don't want to keep on doing that if I am going to kill the box, but it does seem to have the effect I like. I know the fix for this is to stop being lazy or forgetful and to drive it in manual and remember to use the stick. However, I just wondered if anyone had any idea if you are likely to damage anything driving it as an auto when in manual or if it is intended to do it anyway?
Any thoughts much appreciated. Many thanks.
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Hi Cheddar,
Thanks for that. I'd read somewhere that the Sport should change at max revs but it just seems to change over so quickly. I'll have to get it on a decent straight and try it out a few more times. I think some of it may be that it is a very different beastie from my 318 auto. You really had to give that some hoof before it would move off. Lifting off the pedal was almost as good as hitting the brakes.
Anyway, thanks for the input. Have a good one.
Could anyone please refresh my memory as to the address of the webpage on the DVLA website, where one can check the tax status of a vehicle by its registration number ?
Thank you. Read more
Thats the one. Thank you very much.
Rgds.
I own a manual 1998 punto SX60. I'm a girl - please be kind!!!!
1st - clutch is starting to make whining/dragging noise at the start of depressing the clutch pedal, on all gears. Any clues?
2nd - When the car is sitting idle in queues and my feet are nowhere near the pedals, the engine revs, almost to point that I think it's going to stall. No amount of mileage seems to make any difference - when hot or cold. Again, any clues? I think this has been a problem for years, but I've noticed it's been getting worse in the last month.
I spent about £550 in November (heater matrix for one, plus service/MOT etc etc), so if it's anything seems obvious and you might estimate how much I might have to spend at my local garage (not a Fiat dealer) I'd appreciate it alot.
Thanks! Read more
Ooh blimey - I better get it sorted out sooner rather than later. Or, I could scrap the car and use my vespa instead!!!!
Hi all,
As some of you may know, my GF's 318Ci is for sale (back in the classifieds for a more realistic £8k, in autotrader too). Anyway, I received an email thus:
"Hello,
I am really interested in buying the above mentioned car for( £9,000) from you and i will want you to get back to me asap to let me know if its still available.
I will appreciate if you can give me a call ASAP to disscuss the sale. 07024******.
I wait to ear from you.
Donald"
On calling the number, it rang as if in a foreign county (odd ringing tone, not UK)- very poor signal, managed to understand very little. Odd, as it looks like a UK mobile number?!
I was suspicious about this, given the message above- simply doesn't smell right to me, wanting to buy the car for the asking price, poor grammar (wrong use of 'will', 'ear from you'?) etc. I know about the people that offer to buy the car for more than it's worth to launder money, and then fleece you- is this a new form? Will I get a million pound phone bill??!
Any advice welcome!!
Cheers,
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner. Read more
>what is the best method of getting paid, apart from cash which is not practical for large amounts?
A telegraphic transfer, properly known as CHAPS - costs about £20, usually takes 2 hours. Cleared funds on arrival and unrecoverable by the sending bank, as they have to take the money from the sender's account first, so the sender has to have cash/overdraft agreement in place.
Has anyone got one of these cars ? I think they are a great little car but its only doing 37-39 mpg and vauxhall service said this is about right ...! Anybody any experience ?
It did 39mpg on a 160 mile round trip ...!
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I find these discussions on fuel consumption very interesting, as no car that I have ever owned had ever varied a great deal in its fuel consumption over the time I had them. The longest period I have ever owned a car is the soon be 12 year old Xantia 1.9 TD. The fuel consumption of this car has never been below 40 mpg and I can normally rely on around 600 miles per tank, the tank capacity being 65 litres, which I think is about 14.3 gallons.
The car does very little mileage now and it is mostly used for short journeys, but I can still bet on a minimum of 40 mpg. I have never really done any calculations on long trips, the car being used for a long time by my wife and myself for a combination of short and longish journeys. However, I would think it would be capable of high 40s on long journeys.
So, less than 40 mpg for a modern diesel in a smallish car sounds very poor to me.
Browse
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In your case it's not the commercial travellig aspect I'd be concerned about, but whether your covered for business use for 2 different business's. Otherwise, you would seem to only need Class 1 cover.