My car was overfilled with engine oil at a service last week so I decided to remove the excess (about 0.4 litre) by the siphonic action method via the dipstick tube. It took about 3 hours ~ talk about watching paint dry! ~ using a length of 6 mm o.d. 3 mm i.d. PVC tube. There must be a quicker way. Is it possible to buy a suction pump that will do the job? It would have to be reasonably cheap because it would only get used once in a blue moon.

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L\'escargot. Read more

Am buying first secondhand car (I know - bless!) and have rightly or wrongly settled on a Ford Focus. Max budget is £4k, and I have to buy in next 2 days for various reasons. Have seen loads now and it's come down to 2 alternatives:

Focus Zetec, 2000, 2 prev owners (originally from NI, so sort of an import)), 60k miles, reasonable condition but with some rust on the inside, which worries me, £3900.

or... Focus Ghia, metallic blue, 2001, 1 previous owner (big leasing company), 62k mileage, really good internal condition, £3850. (Although reckon I could get it down a wee bit more).

Otherwise they're pretty comparable - both have air con, rad/cass (although Zetec the guy says he'd put in a CD), would be MOTd new, 3 month warranty, the odd scratch, FSH and drive well.

I personally prefer the Ghia but am I making a big mistake in terms of potential resale/driveability/running costs?

Would welcome any (helpful) thoughts!

Cheers
Daisy Read more

I bought a car from a main dealer which was sold to me as a 1 previous owner vehicle.

The log book has come through and it shows 2 previous owners.

I've give the details to the dealer and am waiting for the response.

Assuming they make a refund of part of the asking price, what is a ballpark figure that the additional owner makes?

Thanks

Mike Read more

This question stems from another forum I frequent where several people have had expensive bills where their handbrake has failed and the car has run away and crashed into something. (no comments about worn rachets please - save that for the other forum post)

Does anyone bother leaving their car in gear anymore, or do they soley rely on the handbrake?

Even before the days of owning an auto (and leaving it in P), I always left my car in first gear when parked up; regardless of whether on a flat level surface or a hill.
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I seem to have problems finding MOT testers who know how to assess play in wheel bearings. I'm talking about common adjustable taper bearings .Not many people seem to know that there should be a noticeable amount of play in a properly adjusted wheel hub as this allows for expansion of parts due to heat transferred from brake components.

I have an engineering background and have been working on mine and others cars for over 25 years and have several times come up against testers who insist that wheel bearings that are properly adjusted are too slack.

In the past I've never made a fuss - sometimes I've let them play around and set them how they think just so as to get the car through with little fuss, other times if other stuff has been required I've just nipped them up a bit to get them through the test and then adjusted them properly afterwards.

One occasion on my own car I adjusted them a bit tight to get through with no problems and forgot to slacken them later, - and managed to ruin the bearings on the next long run that I did. Surely this creates a situation that is more dangerous than a slack bearing?

Now today I've just had my car fail an MOT retest on this same issue. After the original retest I did the same as usual - adjust them just as tight as I can to still be safe, yet the tester is still not satisified has refuesed an MOT and has gone on holiday for the next week - by which time the Tax will have run out!

Understandably I'm a bit fed up. Can anyone tell me what chance I have of getting a satisfactory appeal? and does anyone know where I can find the relevant MOT standards to argue my case?

Cheers Rob. Read more