July 2006
Hello everyone,
As a complete novice, just hoping for a quick bit of help.
I have been researching the car-by-car breakdown on this website, and have read through many of Sir Honest John's articles in the telegraph, where he recommends changing the ATF on the multitronic gearboxes at 40,000 miles, and every 2 years (I may have misunderstood this, but this is what I understand).
The thing I am not sure about, is it necessary to have this done on one of the basic Tiptronic gearboxes (roughly 1999 year car), every 2 years? I have read that on these gearboxes, they are "sealed for life". Again, I am not entirely sure if this is exactly correct.
Also, presuming that the car hasn't had the ATF changed - does that mean a lot of problems (The car has a Full Audi Service History, and is on 60k)?
Many thanks in advance to you all in advance.
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Can someon give me a quick lokdown on which Merc etates are best in terms of reliablty etc..
I understand that after 96 they became the W10 ? Are these good in general?
when did the w11 come out 2003? Are these better my budget is £10 thousand.
The engine i seek is the one in the 320 cdi.
One last question. Is there nay way to easily check if there is a glow plug problem or one likely to occur?
If there is a glow plug problem do they just stop right away or just not start up correctly?
thanks Read more
For those who may be interested, from the Wikipedia page
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes_Benz
you can see details at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W210
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W211
Im thinking about buying a Fiat Panda although prob a pre-reg one, not brand new. Anyhow, I saw in one of the magazines that they reckon you can get one for £4700 ish, yet none of my local dealers think its impossible and infact the used ones ive found of the same model are dearer than that, so whats going on?
Secondly, have Fiat sorted out reliability now or are they still churning out woefully fragile cars? Anyone one own and can tell me what they are like to live with? Read more
Well this months Top Gear magazine reckons in its target price bit, that you can get a 1.1 Active for £4790 which is for a UK supplied car.
There's an option for me to buy a Volvo S60 2.0T auto or 2.4T SE auto, both 53-pate with 100k on the clock. I have read through the car-by-car breakdown and the previous posts of potential issues. I'm interested to hear from those who owns a higher-mileage S60 or knows about repairing high-mileage S60 on following subjects.
1) What have been repaired on your car? How much are the repair costs?
2) What's the fuel economy like between the 2.0 and 2.4? I use the car in central London and I heard that the 2.4 is significantly more thirsty in traffic.
3) Is the auto-box reliable?
4) As the 2.0 is only 20hp less than the 2.4, is the 2.0 similar to drive to the 2.4?
Thank you very much.
Regards, Gazza Read more
My mate has an S60 2.0T S manual on a 51 plate which he bought two years ago with 82k on the clock.
It's needed two services (one major including cambelt) which were £200 and £400 respectively at Volvo main dealers.
We replaced the front discs and pads recently (about £50 for parts from GSF) and nothing unusual or difficult about the job.
Car has been faultless. Now on 103k and still drives beautifully. He gets about 32 mpg in day to day use - a bit more on a run and a bit less in town. Even the 2.0 has some real punch though (180 bhp). Build and material quality of the car is fantastic - matches any Audi, Merc or BMW I've ever looked at.
Doesn't answer all your questions, but hope it's useful.
Cheers
DP
The air conditioning cooling fan on our 306 is past its sell-by date. I've stripped it down, but they are not designed to be repaired, even though I have managed to get a few more weeks out of it! The bearings have collapsed and although it still works, its very noisy and makes the car sound like its about to expire!
Does anyone know if they are available for a realistic price from anywhere? It is identical to the regular cooling fan motor.
Thanks in anticipation. Read more
Try - www.eurocarparts.net
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Fullchat
Whilst searching around I just happened upon an ABI insurance group search tool.
www.abi.org.uk/carinsurance/search.asp
Martin
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I wondered if anyone knew of any specific rules relating to loads in estate cars. My query is this: i need to take a load of kit to a customer, which all come in fairly large boxes. In my accord tourer, i can get two boxes side by side and two on top of each other. The weight of the boxes is quite low.
When i have loaded all the kit in, i will be unable to view anything out of rear windows,- back or side.
I know this is fine in a van, because they dont have side or rear windows, but is this legal in an estate?
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There was a time when you only got the drivers side mirror as standard, passenger was an extra (Ford especially) unless you were buying an estate when you got both. Presumably for just this eventuality.
I would support Gordon's comment - allow yourself plenty of time to put the net up - it is a challenge!
Pretty much a novice when it comes to cars, but I have had an MG TF for over 4 years with 60k on the clock and am looking to upgrade to a bmw 318i SE. The monthly rates for contract hire are attractive, but is it really worth not having an asset to sell at the end of 3/4/5 years?
Cheers Read more
contract hire is usually shown without vat for business, coz they can claim half back.
Contract hire for companies is actually a lot cheaper than for individuals, even though the rate may be the same, because the money YOU pay has already had tax taken off. IAlso consider, f its a business hire, you will have BIK to take into account.
One thing to watch for is the higher initial deposit to provide lower rates.
And dont forget that the 10k pa is not a limit, you will be charged per mile over. Some rates are a lot higher than others, so check.
a website i have been looking at is www.lingscars.com , its a bit of an odd site, but does seem to have some good deals.
Oh, and renault megane hard top cabriolets seem too cheap to be true - guess no one wants one!
Does anyone know anything about a new FIAT 500? They had a concept at the Motorshow in Brum a couple of years back and the www.fiat.it site has some confusing marketing about the return of the 500 - mostly people pulling faces for some reason.
I'd be very interested in getting one if they did come back - does anyone know any specific details of what's happening?! Think it might well rival the MINI for cuteness, or it should do anyway!
Lee -- There\'s no place like 127.0.0.1 Read more
Well, new-er anyway.
My parents are finding, that due to their ages, insurance is more difficult to get a quote. My Father is 84 and my Mother is 80 and they drive a new Civic. Currently they are insured with Saga, which runs out in about 3 weeks time. Saga are happy to continue their insurance, but naturally my parents want the best deal.
They have a maximum no claims bonus and have had no accidents for over 20 years. They have tried Confused, but it crashed on them before any quotes were offered.
Are there any specialist insurance companies or brokers that deal with older drivers that you can recommend?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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My Brother in Law is just coming up to 80 and a couple of weeks ago he was telling me a long story about looking round Insurance Companies for the best quote.
He goes around the houses a little bit when he's telling a story and I often switch off a little but I do remember him saying that when he spoke to his own present insurer, the advisor said that if you stop with us we will always offer you cover, but if you leave us our policy is that we would not quote you again in the future.
He also said check any other quotes you receive and ask them what their policy is on this matter.
Sounded sensible.......
Browse
Wow, thank you very much to you all for your replies.
As you probably guessed, I'm a complete novice and only picked this information up by researching wtih this website. The main reason why I thought I needed to ask about this, was because a friend of mine has an auto Nissan Primera that is now on roughly 190k, and he says he has never changed the ATF on his car. Its fully maintained according to him with major/minor services. He says his car runs smoothly??? In fact, this "friend" said that as long as the gearbox is still running it should be ok, and if it ever gets lumpy, just to change the fluid then. Clearly he's of the "if it aint broke don't fix it" variety, but surely this isn't right, especially after listening to your advice?
Whilst on the topic of the A6, are there any other major things that need maintaing? The only thing I know that needs changing (apart from the standard items like Oil, brake fluid etc.) is the cambelt and waterpump etc, and that's every 4 years/60k isn't it?
Again, thank you very much to you all.