April 2006
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
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
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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.
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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.
Anyone out there know where I can get some claybar at a resonable price. I bought some of the Meguires version but find that the spray will easily outlast the claybar, and do not want to waste money on buying excessive spray ?
Cheers Read more
Daft as it sounds, you are still legally allowed to use
a hosepipe to fill a bucket / watering can.
I wondered about that as I used my hose to bridge the gap between my tap and the screen wash bottle the other week. I figured I could certainly argue I was within the spirit of things.
It amazes me how manufacturers can charge what they do for some optional extra's.
I have just looked at the Honda web site for example and they charge £1400 for Bluetooth and Sat Nav in the accord.
Compared to a Tom Tom 700 at approx £350ish from some web sites - that is a saving of £1050 for a device that offers the same functionality.
Am I correct or am I missing something that you could help me with - who would pay the extra ? Read more
No-one is forcing you to buy these 'optional' extras.
Buy nearly-new and get them for free
I tried to find a nearly-new Focus with a factory fitted optional extra sunroof. Even asking my dealer to find one for me got me nowhere.
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L\'escargot.
friend has heart set on a charade. tested one, doens't mind the loud engine noise, says mpg makes up for it (and at 93p a litre - im not surprised) as does the space.
one problem - price
dealer wont shift much from 400 quid below list.
its well known after ringing some lads in the trade that you wouldn't even consider buying one new until the dealer had a grand knocked off.
so - anyone know the cheapest place to buy a new or nearly new daihatsu charade.
not bothered about spec or the gear box type.
no part ex - total one of cash payment no finance rubbish.
so - whos doing the best deals on them?
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£400 off sounds reasonable on a £6000-£7000 car that's well specced to begin with - but the market price is what you can get one for, not what somebody tells you it should be - can any of the trade mates tell you where to buy one for £1000 off?
Broadspeed are quoting 500-600 discount and 2 week delivery for UK dealer supplied cars.
Browse
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.