April 2006
Can someone explain the difference in these?
For example - looking at Omegas - the lower spec ones seem to have a two line display and the Elite's seem to have a full screen. What's the difference and what model has which?
Anyone know?
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Had a bit of a prang in my newish Nissan Primera resulting in a medium sized dent and scratch on one of the side panels. There seem to be a number of places in the yellow pages offering body works repair. Does anyone have a rough idea of how much i should expect to pay to get this sort of work done? I have never had to have had it done before so have no idea.
I could replce the entire side panel of course but would I be right in supposing Nissan would charge some sort of ridiculous amount of money for this?
Grateful for any advice thanks. Read more
you need to go to a few bodyshops for a quote .
Have you seen how much work is involved in removing a rear quarter on a modern car,you will find that a lot of cars will be financially written off if the damage is that bad.
We all know that you can have a number plate from a car in Northern Ireland transfered to a mainlan vehicle but I was just browing through a website that sells regristartion makes and found a plate HI followed by a number which originated in Tipperary. How did that get into the UK system?
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Agreed - but it was clear as day when, in 1988, the aforementioned tourists boarded an Irish-registered coach bearing an 87 plate.
Likewise, it was because the visitors wouldn't know the difference between, say, E, F and G reg that the coaches were re-registered in the UK. That, and the lower road taxes, of course!
Hi, just considering trading in my older 5 door Astra family car that seems to be falling to bits on me for something a bit more reliable. Its depreciated like a lead brick so on a bit of a budget seeing as its lost a third of its value in 7 months!
I'm faced with the dilemma - do I get myself another traditional 5 door mid sized car like people traditionally do when they have a baby to transport about and get another Astra, Focus etc. I would have to go for something a bit older, with quite possibly problems of its own.
Or do I go for a brand new small car - like a Fiesta or similar, obviously superminis are out - and sacrifice boot space and 5 doors for a nice shiny brand spanker with 3 years warranty?
Does anyone use a small car on a regular basis for a family car? I can fit my pram in my Astra boot and still arrange shopping around it - but most of the time I just bung it on my back seat anyway.
Whats the verdict - practicality or reliability? Read more
If a small hatchback can meet most of your family transport / shopping needs etc. then its usefulness can be extended by buying a small trailer (i.e. up to 750 kg. gross weight) for holidays or other occasions when you need more cargo space.
One does have to bear in mind the lower speed limits while towing but that would only be for a fraction of one's total mileage!
Should it be possible (with servo assistance) to push the brake pedal right down to the floor with a bit of effort? Was bored while sitting at traffic lights and gave the pedal a good shove, and distinctly felt it hit the stop.
Brakes feel as sharp as they ever did. Car is a Citroen Xsara. Can't remember ever changing the brake fluid as have had no problems with the brakes.
Have never put on the brakes as hard as I can before, so don't know if this is normal for the car. :) Read more
Under
grunting seat-bending pressure
I wouldn't recommend doing that. That's the way to break or permanently bend something ~ seat frame, brake pedal, master cylinder pushrod, etc etc. Car components don't have an unlimited strength.
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L\'escargot.
Hi there. I have a 1989 (G reg) Ford Sierra Ghia I which is misfiring & stalling badly - sometimes! Other times it runs beautifully. It's done over 150,000 miles, a lot of which has been in short trips (under 5 miles), so maybe I'm asking too much but does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? (It's not the ICV cos that was replaced recently to no effect - my garage doesn't seem to know what else to try).
BTW it's been adjusted to run on unleaded.
I love my car - please help me to fix it!! Read more
im a bit late on this but an 89 jelly mould could have either engine fitted depending when it was actually made
Hi, I posted a while ago about my lemon of an Astra - still having problems and waiting for another garage to hook my car up to a computer - hopefully they'll not just turn round and tell me computer says nothing wrong and they don't know what it is. Or just agree with whatever diagnosis I give them from the advice I get on here!
Temperature gauge is now soaring up into red regularly - I'm using water to top up my coolant which is disappearing. My oil is being used up too.
I just wanted to check - am I wasting my time and money getting a garage to check my coolant? Thats what my manual recommends - but as I'm capable of putting oil in my car, I wondered whether there was anything special that needed doing to the coolant other than just the correct amount of antifreeze added - as until my problem is solved its gonna cost me a fortune to get garages to do this for me and I'd much prefer to do myself.
It does mention that its pressurised while running - does this affect anything?
Sorry for being a bit dense when it comes to mechanical things - just trying to keep my pennies for myself not for garages getting money for nothing. Read more
Nice result indeed. Better than I've experienced in three warranty-years on different cars. Thanks for reporting back.
I am hoping to replace my wife's BMW with a new Passat and am finding it difficult to assess its value as a private sale. I don't really want to trade it in (probaly not possible anyway as I'll buy through a broker) and I think I have someone locally who is interested. So your views on the car's value would be gratefully recieved.
BMW 318i SE Touring 1998 S reg, metallic green, velour interior, sports suspension, Mtec steering wheel & gear knob, cargo net, heated locks, radio/cd, good condition (one or two small rust patches on front wheel arches),.. and 175,000 miles on the clock I am second owner. Full service history (non-BMW for last 40,000 miles) MOT until end of August. No known problems.
I have tried a couple of on-line valuations but these seemed a bit unrealistic, even when adjusted for mileage.
Cheers
Pat Read more
It is a diesel though. Try and reverse the thinking - what would you pay for your car if you wanted a run around? It's mileage and age override any extras, colour used to be wanted, now it is old hat - most likely buyer is an exporter/clocker/wannabee poser.
I sold on ebay recently and got double what I would have taken, fees are cheap as well, that would be my first port of call, you could have it on the market tonight. Autotrader is history IMHO.
I'm trying to work out the feasibility of building a motortrike with a diesel engine - I use biodiesel to fuel the two cars and I hate the idea of going back to petrol for the trike. I had been thinking of the old Merc 300D as the ideal engine, but it turns out that it would just be too long (front to rear) to mount between the rider and the front wheel without having a long horizontal extension on the handlebars.
Back to square one then. I don't really want an engine much below 65 bhp nor any which are especially harsh for an older diesel. However, newer diesels usually have MAFs and other electronic bits to cause maintenance problems - I think it's better to go for something simpler, which means I'm pretty much restricted to diesel engines pre-1998 or even earlier. An auto gearbox would be better so I won?t have to let go of one handlebar to change on a manual.
Based on information gleaned from the CBCB and Parker?s, here are some of the diesel cars/engines I'm trying to find out more about:
Audi 80 Mk1 1.6TD 80bhp (3speed auto?), 1986-1991
BMW 318 TDS 1.7 litre 90 bhp, 1991-1998
Citroen AX 1.5 D 58bhp, 1994-1997
Citroen BX 1.9 D 71 bhp auto, 1991-93
Fiat Tipo 1.9 TD 92 bhp, 1992-1995
Mercedes 190D 2.0 72bhp, 4-speed auto, 1983-1993
Mercedes C-Class C220D 2.2 94 bhp auto, 1993-2000
Nissan Primera 2.0 D 90 bhp auto, 1992-1996 (89 bhp 1996-1999)
Seat Arosa/VW Lupo 1.7 litre SDI 60 bhp, 1997 on
Volvo 440/460 1.9 TD 89 bhp (Renault engine!), 1994-97
VW Passat 80 bhp 1.6 TD, 1992-1993
VW Passat 75 bhp 1.9 TD, 1994-1997
There's a fair variety there but I'm trying to consider several possibilities. My preferred choices would still be the Merc engines. The dimensions of the engine are important in terms of fitting it in a trike frame. Is there a resource on the net that would provide this information? Can anyone advise about the relative simplicity of these c/f complex electronics etc? Any further advice or information on this subject generally is welcome and appreciated, as always.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ... Read more
An old Subaru engine,compact,balanced flat four,alloy construction.
They`ve been used in kit built helicopters before!!!
Hi,
I'm thinking of trading in my 2003 (53) Mitsubishi Carisma 1.9 DID. However Parkers says £4.6K & whatcar says £3.1K. What is a realistic trade in price?
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Depends on the trim. If it's Mirage Glass's quote
Excellent condition: £3520
Average condition: £3170
Below average condition: £2840
If it's Equippe
Excellent condition: £4760
Average condition: £4290
Below average condition: £3850
If it's Elegance
Excellent condition: £4960
Average condition: £4470
Below average condition: £4010
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[Nissan dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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Upon re-reading the link, it appears the OP took offence to the comment made by Juha Ritala - an RF-Design Engineer and subsequently removed his pictures from the photobucket host site.
Some of the other pictures that have been posted on that site however were lost with the server changes, IIRC.