March 2006
Hi all,
My GF is about to buy an X-plate Accord 2.0 SE sport. It has a radio cassette head unit, but no autochanger (although the head unit has controls for the changer). Obviously want to get hold of a cheap changer (ebay has several)- question is, are the connections universal, or are they manufacturer specific?
Ta in advance,
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner. Read more
I looked out at our car park earlier, there sitting very bright and proud is a Gold Ford Focus Saloon. Is Adam in London??? Cant believe that there are two of them!!
Read more
No Adam, the nice gold :-)
Owning a 17 year old silver Escort at least makes my car rare :-P
--------------
Mike Farrow
My parents are thinking of changing their car from a Honda Accord 1997 which they bought new. My Father is 83 and my Mother will be 80 shortly. My Father is now having difficulty walking and recently borrowed an electric scooter - which he loved. So he is now thinking of buying a light electric scooter to aid his mobility. The problem is the Accord has a high sill so it will mean changing the car as well.
As my Father rarely drives, leaving it to my Mother, so the choice of car must satisfy her needs. Being retired they still like to travel around England, Wales and Scotland, although their mileage is below average as there are many short local journeys.
Their requirements are it should be shorter, but no wider than the Accord (15' 4" x 5' 8"), have a low sill, 5 doors, good luggage area, look stylish and be a quality car. My Mother has already ruled out Focus, Astra, all French cars, and the Pruis.
At present the new Honda Civic is top of their list, with the Toyota Corolla and Honda Jazz there as well. I have also suggested the Volvo V50, Alfa 157, BMW 1 series and the VW Golf. What other cars do you think they should look at that would meet their needs?
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Read more
I agree that margins on new cars are tighter than in the past, but offers with large discounts should be available to all if there are no conditions.
The exact wording on the company's web site (directed from the Volvo site) directing customers to the discounts is
Don't Miss Our Fantastic Savings on New Volvo V50 Sportwagon's at ******.
Hurry our offer is only available for a limited period only. Dont miss out, click here for further details now.
On the pdf page they mention that the £2,210 discount was available on selected V50 models in stock. The cars were available for immediate delivery anywhere in the UK and there were no conditions mentioned on the page. There were certainly no conditions that refered to Volvo Finance being a requisite for the discount to apply.
Also on the Volvo website there is mention that there is 3 years free servicing on the V50, but upon checking the page, this page was part of the Volvo Finance part of the site and was probably only available with a finance package.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Hi quick question. Is a car weighing 1100 kg and has a 5 star rating just as strong and safe as car weighing 1600kg and too has a 5 star safety rating. Rgds, Kal Read more
Which give ratings that allow one to compare vehicles in different classes - unlike the NCAP star system. Big cars do indeed tend to do better than small ones.
See, for example
www.which.net/motoring/p10-15_car_safety.pdf
When I start up my mazda 6 (TS2 54 reg), and particularly turning the wheel in the early stages of driving, it makes a whining sound as if the power steering pump is labouring seriously, particularly when manoeuvering out of parking spaces. Is this likely to be just a case of topping up steering fluid, or something more critical?
Read more
My daughter has been quoted £1500 by a SW London main dealer for the replacement of the clutch on her Audi TT coupe 225. Anyone think this is slightly OTT? What alternatives are there in the Greater London area for getting this fairly exotic machinery properly cared for at a reasonable price? Read more
£110 an hour? The local Mercedes garage does it for just over £50 on older cars. I think Audi have just gone from my list of possible buyable cars!
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.
when the engine is running i am unable to engage reverse gear without crashing the gears. Read more
There are a number of driven plate faults which can cause this. Also there is the possibility of the driven plate not sliding along the splines of the input shaft correctly.
Pressure plates can fail so that they don't disengage fully all the way round - for example, if one or two of the fingers of the diaphragm spring break.
Slipping isn't the *only* reason ever to change a clutch.
Number_Cruncher
Does anyone know how to get glued-on decals off cars and/or glas without doing damage? I think there is supposed to be something to dissolve the glue.
Read more
If it is inside the heated back rear window it will need to be hot air and once the plastic layer is off (no sharp implements) careful use of WD40 in horizotal strokes to remove the sticky residue, followed by something like Autoglym Fast Glass over the whole area. It is worth removing rings & watches before you start.
Hello Fellow Backroomers.
Iam going to be changing the thermostat in my mondeo.
Is there any way to stop the water from going everywhere so i can put it back in the coolant bottle.
All help appreciated
Martin
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters Read more
Hi Nav3927
Thankyou for that tip i will try that.
The coolant is looking a bit murky,Reminds me i must clean out the fish bowl :)
Do you recommend i use Ford Antifreeze.
Martin
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
Browse
anybody can an in-car DAB radio? it makes so much sense with all the extra stations? but what is the reception like? which aftermarket ariel? would be better than an mp3 player ?