April 2006
Tuesday night's journey up the A1 was a classic. When I got a little way (northbound) up the motorway section which stretches from Alconbury to Peterborough the overhead gantry signs were showing "Congestion ahead". The time was 9:30 p.m. A bit further on they indicated a 50, then 40 mph speed limit. Then it was "Workforce in road". Then there was a sign the right-hand lane was closed. The it said "End". It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened.
What was actually happening on the road? Congestion? No. Roadworks? No. Any clue these might have happened recently? No. Any reasons for speed restrictions? No. Any reason for lane closure? No.
There was very little traffic, most of which completely ignored the signs. Can you blame them? Read more
Hi all,
thinking of booking a week over in the continent, taking a short driving holiday so taking the car.
What's the cheapest way to get from Blighty to Euroland? I really like the tunnel, don't know much about deals on ferries but am very flexible if it'll save me £££s
And what about booking two single journeys at special day rates rather than being fleeced for a week long booking? What are the pitfalls of this?
Thanks
Lee -- Without bills, magazines and junk mail, there is no mail Read more
SeaFrance are certainly keen for business. Booked a day trip for the car, but returning with a shed-on-wheels (to sell, not keep..) and it's £47.50 all in.
I know Ryton was originally a Rootes Group factory, but does anyone know when it was built? Read more
Presumably it is what was called as a 'shadow factory'? Several
car manufacturers moved into them post-war, possibly including Rover and Daimler
IIRC. I remember Ryton-on-Dunsmore used to be given as the address
for Humber - remember them?
I think the name Humber was used for the administration centre and engine/gearbox production facilities at (would you believe it!) Humber Road. The heading on the letter offering me a job at Ryton was Singer Cars Ltd.
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Just thougt I would mention this out of interest.
I see VW are starting to sell the Golf with the 1.4 Turbo Supercharged engine (yes 2 chargers - Turbo and Super) with engine outputs of 140 and 170 bhp.
It will be interesting to see how these sell against say a diesel as typical VW they are charging a premium - £16K and £18K respectively for a 1.4 golf - with a lot of power admittedly.
What do people think - will there be any reliability issues - I know Lancia have done this previously.
I remember the old saying that there is no substitute for CC's - or something like that.
I would be interested in peoples views. Read more
Sorry to hijack the thread ......but
SJB,
What effect have your modifications had on your fuel consumption?
The last time I posted on this subject was here www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=31...# The actual MPG was 29.1.
Using the extra available power of course drinks more fuel than in standard trim, but most time in any given journey is spent going with the flow on part throttle. It is in such unstressed mode that the economy gains associated with higher boost occur, so with my driving regime overall the car burns less fuel than before.
hi
i just got a renault scenic priv+ 1.9dci 2001 model (2weeks ago)
i noticed some slight jerking when driving today but only when i was doing a steady speed,dissapeared when accelerating.as this is my first non ford i didnt know if this is a normal thing with renault or something wrong.no warning lights showing up so i can only imagine that it would be mechanical.33k on clock i was kinda hopeing it would last longer than this
any ideas would be appreiciated
cheers Read more
It could do with a good clean out. This means driving it till it has warmed up, then accelerating the thing up through the gears a few times to nearly the red line. Then running it along for twenty minutes on the motorway at 4,500 revs.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
yes - sorry this old chestnut.
I would appreciate a word of advice from you trusted back roomers please.
I am usually in full agreement with the Servicing and oil change principles recomended by this site i.e if you want engine longevity then complete an interim oil change at 6 monthly intervals etc.
My wife drives a Corolla 1.4 VVTi and only does about 5K miles a year. The majority of these miles are completed on journeys when the car has time to warm up correctly and I would not consider them to be short stop start journesy with the engine always cold.
Do you think it is still worth completing the interim change ?
This would be due soon and the oil still looks really clean - will I be wasting my money.
A view from you would be appreciated.
Cheers
Read more
They get them from Unipart. I have persuaded them to use OEM filters supplied by me, which they are happy to do with "customer's own filter" marked on the invoice. They are understandably reluctant initially because of corporate liability worries, but a little reasoning is all I needed to apply. Now that I've gone back a dozen and more times, there's no problem.
The steering wheel on my car is making an irritating squeal when I trun it either way almost like plastic rubbing on plastic.
It is only faint but irritating. Any ideas please? Read more
2002 32,000 miles Peter
How do i lubricate the contact area please?
I know this is a popluar topic but I need a quick refresher on the decision factors.
For £13k I can get either a Mondeo Ghia X 155 diesel or a Passat Highline 130. Both cars are available locally and the trade in offers similar. I will be starting a new contract on May 2nd and doing 40k miles p.a. so I want reliabilty and comfort and need to buy this weekend.
What does the team think?
Cheers
MPZ Read more
"on this thread alone loads of people have piped up." - Eh? I count 2 people complaining about unreliable VWs, one person complaining about two Fords that he's had and one person stating that a Ford Galaxy wasn't as well put together as a VW Sharan. Top Gear's customer satisfaction survey puts VW at 21st, and Ford at 25th. Audi is at 13. Our fleet manager states that in his experience VW and Ford reliability is on a par. I don't think that you have been especially lucky with your car, rather that serious reliability complaints from owners of most cars nowadays be it VAG, Ford, GM, PSA etc. are the exception and not the rule and those whose expectations where highest shout the loudest.
Adam nowadays there is no massive difference in any respect between cars in the same mainstream class, be it executive, supermini, family saloons etc. Such homogeneity is good in that one is unlikely to be lumbered with a dog but bad in that the ownership and driving experience is fairly similar across the class. To assert as fact that the Mondeo, Vectra, Passat, 407, Accord, Octavia or whatever as being vastly inferior, superior, twice, thrice or ten times the car as it's competitors would be fatuous and unlikely to be based on any real experience of all the cars in question. I've notched up a fair mileage in them all and whilst I have my favourites, in truth they are each better or worse in various respects and to a moderate degree. The OP will undoubtedly be as happy in his Mondeo, if indeed not marginally happier than he would have been in the Passat.
I've recently got hold of a big old 827 as a run about (Big and cheap). I've driven it about 1000 miles so far and it handles pretty well. It stops and pulls away in a straight line etc etc.
However on a couple of occasions when braking, it's felt as if the steering wheel is being pulled over to the left. However when I have then tried to get the car to do it again, the car has driven perfectly. It might be just that the wheel has been caught up in a rut in the road and just the low gearing on the steering wheel makes it seem more noticeable than in other cars. (827 steering has some stupidly high number of turns lock to lock).
I had the brakes checked by a garage and the pads are brand new and the discs are old but in good condition.
Any ideas? I was wondering whether it might be an air bubble in the system so that the right hand calliper is not going down or it might be sticking. It has only happened a few times and may not be a problem, but I thought I would pose the question as I would rather not find out the hard way.
Read more
Check the condition of the bushes in two places:
1. where the drag strut meets the subframe right at the front of the car (you'll need to remove the undertray). these bushes are especially weak - I've used poly bushes here on my Vitesse Sport.
2. the top suspension pivot. Waggle the arm back and forth - if you can discern ANY movement in the pivot points you need to rebuild the arm with new bushes. Not a difficult job but the bushes are a little pricey. Excess wear here causes the car to drag the left wheel on roundabouts and scrubs off the inner edge of the tyre.
It could be the first signs of caliper piston sticking or the pads sticking in the carrier. Fortunately the carrier can be removed from the car without disconnecting the hydraulic side - they can then be thoroughly cleaned on the bench along with the slider pins.
Check out the rear brakes as well as the front.
Hi All
My question is which year or reg can you get the 1.8T 190 BHP Quattro in the A4?
And now that you know that are they reliable/ good?
Thanks
PS I did check the car by car breakdown but it's a little confusing as to which A4 model that engine is on. Read more
A2B
Tech data seems to show the AJL engine as 132Kw or 180bhp. It's listed from 97-01 for the A4 but only 98-00 for the A4 quattro??
After 6-8 years; any hot engine's reliability is going to be mainly down to mileage, oil quality and style of usage. Choose carefully.
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