June 2006
Some bird poo has marked the paint on my car, despite it only being on there for less than 24 hours. I have tried cleaning it and using MER polish but it's marked. It's hardly noticably but if it had been on there for longer then it might be really bad.
So be warned, if a bird deposits yesterday's dinner on your paint, clean it off quickly. Read more
I have a renault scenic 1.9 dynamique which has nearly 20k miles on the clock. All four tyres are now needing replacement. To replace the existing Dunlops is going to cost me £301. Michelin are £391. Is it worth paying the premium for the better brand? Am I likely to get more miles out of them? I`m keeping this car for at least another two years which will probably be beyond the life span of any tyres I get. Read more
Thanks for all that info. I`m tending towards the Michelin Tyres but I will have to check out the exact model/spec
I have a 2001 peugeot 406 2l petrol glx estate. when i returned from a long journey of about 350 miles my fuel guage was reading empty and the low fuel light was on the trip computer stated i had about 30 miles left in the tank. whilst driving to refuel the vehicle the guage showed 1/4 full tripo showed 150 miles range left ?. I have refuelled the vehicle 22 litres of fuel guage now reads 3/4 full trip reads 350 miles range ?? any ideas re this thanks. Read more
Haynes manual explains dashboard removal clearly.
About half an hour if you're competent. You need to remove the panel on the side of the dash, by the driver's door and remove a retainer screw, otherwise the right hand heater vent won't fit back in properly as you'll snap it out when you remove the dash.
Incidentally Lee, the instrument panelts are different for the later cars than the earlier ones - if you've not had one of these out for eight years then it'll have a different setup from those you've worked on.
A bit of a strange one this, but when using the central locking feature of a 1997 MK2 Mondeo it locks and then unlocks again within one second of locking. This happens if using the remote which is the radio wave type rather than infa red or the key it does not seem to make any change to the situation. When the locking is engaged you can see the internal handle go inwards is if it is locked but then it pops out again into the unlocked position. I have tried opening all doors and the boot and closing them and then trying again but the problem still occurs. Has anyone seen these symptoms before? Read more
Bingo! The liberal squirt of WD 40 into the n/s keyhole has (it appears) done the trick. The effect was by no means instantaneous - at first I thought my efforts were to no avail, but 3 days later, the central locking is working again. I suppose the best preventative measure would be to use the key in the n/s door a little more frequently.
I have a Polo 1998 that is displaying "service miles" - anyone know how to reset this? Read more
That did the trick. Cheers
Every so often I see reg plates with 3 numbers, a letter D then 3 numbers e.g. 111 D 111.
Any ideas what they are? I don't think they are Diplomatic plates as I gather they use the characters CD. Read more
The first three figures identify the country or organisation and the last three identify the vehicle within the country or organisations' series.
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansr...l
My hon. Friend raises an interesting point. She is right. We have other plates in this country. For example, the diplomatic corps, who are a noble and trustworthy body of people, display a D in the middle of their number plate. Any other drivers using the road know full well to steer clear of a car with a diplomatic number plate because if they have an accident with it their rights as citizens of this country will be severely reduced. It is a well-established principle that certain classes of road user must identify their presence for the safety of other road users. One could wish to bring a number of other groups into such a category, to the point where most road users would have to display a sign on their car identifying themselves for the benefit of others.
Hi guys, I'm wondering if we buy this car is going to be a problem or not when we come to sell it.
The story goes.... The private seller is selling his car which is an import via Motorpoint. He is selling at UK forecourt price. Many months a go I heard that one of my friend have also imported a Golf TDI and made considerable savings, but when he came to part part exchange his car at the local VW dealer. The dealer found out that it was an import, and instantly deducted £3000 off the value. (The dealer checked it from the computerised system).
I'm worried that if we buy at the UK price, we will loose out when we sell it off at a later date. Is this true ? Any experience from you guys sellers/buyers of import cars are appreciated.
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You are missing the point about VAG "imports". There is generally no difference except if the car is one that was built for another RHD market like Cyprus.
Any car that left the VW or Audi factory with right hand drive and a mph speedo was generally built to "UK" spec. Until 3-4 years ago factory cars had a one year warranty and the UK importer added his own two year warranty so UK vehicles had 3 year cover.
Since then, 2 years became the norm and the UK franchisee only had to add one year of his own (did prices come down to reflect his lower cost?)
I have a lot of experience importing VAG brands and when I had customers who wanted to deviate from the UK spec for some reason, VAG refused to supply cars that were built differently from those shipped to VAG UK, so buyers have some protection by this in that they can almost be sure their used import is identical to an import.
There were some odd differences though. UK dealers charged for polished alloy mirrors on some sporty Audi's yet it was a free option out of the factory. They charge more for electric rear windows on the old A4, yet it was standard out of the factory and removed for "UK spec".
Once the vehicle is 3 years old, the whole import thing can be disregarded, the car is out of warranty whoever supplied it and it would only be the main agents still trying to protect their interests by talking down the value of a 3 year old car.
Importing died when the Euro gained strength from 1.65 to 1.42 and the savings were lost. UK dealers like to give other reasons but the government is very keen on a 1.35-1.40 exchange for us to enter the Euro, so the big savings are unlikely to return, hence the free market for sellers with a 2-3 year old "import".
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Thanks for all the replies. I am going shopping tomorrow in Bath so will have a look around all on my own - a treat.
{Although this thread is now closed, please continue with any questions in the next volume - DD}
Spoke to the people who are sorting out my new car today. It's going to be a factory order so I was asking for a delivery date as I'm going away in July. They said "Don't worry, it will be on the boat before the factory shuts down for the summer in August".
Call me nosey but...
Do all car factories close for the summer?
Do they make extra cars during the rest of the year to balance this out?
Are the workers forced to take their holidays in August rather than in the rest of the year?
Doesn't really make sense to me, and I'm intrigued! (Well, it takes my mind off picturing my little car all alone on the big boat and then the big scary transporter... and the fact that selling Polo is merely weeks away now :( )
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An awful lot of employees worked the shutdown-but for the contractors,cash-in-hand.
The CBCB says
<< Either replace front pads at 18,000 - 20,000 miles or expect to have to replace discs every 25,000 miles. >>
Why is this? Read more
I've got a feeling that the BR Website software removes things that are placed between quote marks; I believe this matter has come up previously.
Correct, but I've sorted it now.
I believe the moderators use this facility.
Not always. DD.
Browse
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>>>Just as well my car has a glass roof...
I recall one glorious summer's day driving down a tree-lined road, stopping for the lights, and having a large bird make its daily deposit RIGHT through the sunroof, onto my head and down my shoulder...
delightful.
On a serious note, a mixture of bicarb of soda and warm water, soaked into a rag or spnge, and left on top of the offending muck to soak, works wonders.
The acidity in the guano is reduced, and the muck softens.
The bicarb also acts as a gentle abrasive.