August 2006
Hi
I have just got rid of my Peugeot 407 to some unsuspecting new member of our sales team (Ha Ha) and taken the Saab Linear that was just handed back and need to ask a really non technical question about the stereo.
Well to be honest it is the worst stereo I have ever heard, it looks like they have left all the bass and tweeters out and just left the little mid range ones in for the basic stereo.
I do notice there is a space next to them in the rear shelf for what looks like 6x9's, just wandered if anyone had had any experince in upgrading the speakers on these models, i dont want to change the headunit because you lose display and steering wheel controls plus my phone is routed through it.
Hope you can help, other than that the car is brilliant, Its the 150 Tid which i believe is the JTD engine from Fiat, bit plasticcy inside but when you've been driving a 1.6 hdi the extra power is most welcoming!
Cheers Guys
Jon Read more
i know there is GSF and eurocar parts for parts for euro cars but is there a place/website for cars like hyundai,honda,kia etc Read more
I was thinking this over last night.
Since this ever so popular goverment seems to take exception to every car we want to buy and complains endlessly that we all buy the wrong cars, should the government put their money where their mouth is and design and build a 'peoples car' that meets all their wishes for us the motorist?
Herr H wasnt a nice fella its true, but his idea for a Peoples Car, especially with the persecution of the motorist on account of our 'bad choices', is as relevant now as it was back then even if our reasons for needing such a car are somewhat different.
Id say something priced £3-5000, not so small it would be useless for a family, so about Fiesta sized, no toys but a design focussed on economy, emissions and green credentials.
Not suggesting it would be a fun car by any means, but one which would give people a real option to go green.
Its not like they havent got the cash to do this either and could create many jobs for all these immigrants they are so fond of inviting over here. Read more
I used a Daewoo Matiz for motorway use and it was fine even though it took a while to get up to speed, you get used to that unless you have male ego problems, so I wouldnt say that there are many cars that cant be taken on the motorway, it just depends on ones expectations.
I drive my Suzuki van on the motorway at 70. Not the most comfortable way to get around for sure, but its acceptable and if I bought a car for exceptionally low running costs, id accept a loss of comfort in the aim of economy. The sort of car im suggesting would want a great emphasis on economy and running costs, otherwise, it would present no real advantage over any other small diesel hatch.
The Fabia is a nice car, so if you used that as a benchmark to improve on, you would really want atleast 35% better economy and purchase price to make it worth sacrificing some of the big car feel.
Id happily pay 4 grand for a car with acceptable comfort but very high MPG and lightweight body.
The Citroen AX was a flimsy little car, but did produce some great economy figures and it wasnt so flimsy that it couldnt be used everyday and wasnt bad to drive either.
It comes down to having a car that first meets all the regulations and then presents an overwhelming cost advantage to offset the fact that its not the most fantastic car in the world to travel in, although lightweight cars are often fun as the lack of weight can help with handling.
Our local council has revealed this week that they made a loss of £41k on parking enforcement last financial year.
tinyurl.com/o6wnm
Enforcement expenditure was £1.16m, fine income was £1.12m. According to the council this is because the level of fines haven't been increased by the Government.
Personally I put it down to the fact that the wardens have done a good job and educated drivers not to park illegally and therefore are unable to issue so many tickets because the big bad motorists are avoiding the fine by not doing the crime. A success story you would think. But the motorists' reward for being good, law-abiding citizens and using the car parks, at not inconsiderable expense, looks like it will be........ increased car parking fees, yet again, to offset the loss! The council spokesman you may note ' would not be drawn on whether the council was looking into raising car park charges to meet the shortfall' Trust me, with our local politicians that's about as close to an admission we're likely to get! Read more
i worked out it would have been cheaper to give every motorist that broke the parking laws 37 pence if they just went away ...........and collected their bounty at the town hall,..........
...(probably have to bring a rats tail in or something to prove some kind of authenticity?)
I have a 2001 Astra automatic 1.6 8 valve. At 60 mph on a light throttle the tachometer shows 2,500 rpm.
Could someone confirm that this fits in with lock up engaging in 4th gear. I'm really just trying to satisfy myself that the gearbox is operating OK.
Read more
Yes, but rmember that speed can be anything for 0-10% fast.
Also rev counter at 2-3000rpm can be out by a
couple of hundred rpm (they are usually fairly accurate around idle
by can be a bit inaccurate at higher rpm - there
is not requirement for them to be accurate).
Indeed, I was quite surprised when the estimate came out as close as it did!
Number_Cruncher
Hope this doesn't break any forum rules, but it's such a good deal i thought I'd share it.
Halfords are doing 5 litre cans of their own brand 5W/40 fully synthetic oil at half price (£15.99) at the moment. Meets Merc 227.3, VW 502.00/505.00 and BMW Longlife, and normally sells at £31.99
I was just about to pay £18.99 for some semi when I came across this, so bought it instead.
Cheers
DP Read more
I've used this Halford 5/40 synthetic oil in my previous Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec numerous times. The Ford dealer was happy to put it into the engine when it was service time as it fell within one of the recommended oil specs. The Focus ran fine on in and I had no engine problems whatsoever. The oil stayed cleaner for longer than the standard semi-synthetic 5/30 although Magnetec 5/30 semi-synthetic came close.
Just before holidays I noticed NS stop light filament had gone on my Passat (2002 Model).
Easy to get at the bulbs unlike front ones. Remove side cover in boot - undo indicator bulb holder, 1/4 turn twist- carefuly move the two retaining tags and then the whole bulb holder assembly comes away. Assembly is the reverse.
The bulb is 21W/4W and has the assymetric pins - so took me a while to find a garage selling them.
BUT the bulb next to the stop/tail one is identical and is wired up to use ONLY the tail bulb filament. Weird.
So I could have simply swapped the bulbs around and been OK.
The saloon may be the same.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty. Read more
Thanks for this, Excellent Advice, Bulbs Swapped, Problem solved!
Hi
Just wanting some advice. My car (VW passat) was taken in for its 50,000 mile service at a garage somewhere in Scotland a week ago Monday. They said it needed its radiator replaced, which was done on the Friday. The next day, it broke down and we had to have it towed back to the garage. On Monday last week when they opened they had a look over the car but needed some more time to give us an idea of what was wrong. They phoned us up at the end of last week saying that the water pump has seized causing the turning belt to break and the cylinder heads to malfunction - bill for repair: almost £2000
Now, I am very unhappy about this espically as the car was fine prior to service and for this to happen when it had just been in the garage the day before for the radiator replacement. The garage are accepting no responsibility. I contacted the SMTA (scottish motor tradings assoc) who say that there is a probable link with the work carried out and the faults now currently needing fixed. I just wanted to find out from you all if you think there is an association (and if so how do i show this in order to get the garage to pay for the costs) or has this happened by coincidence.
Your help is much appreciated
{garage name removed from both the posting and subject header and have generalised where you took it as was naming & shaming - DD} Read more
thanks for the advice - as to the reply stating that the 'cooling system was not probably bled of air' - is there any way to prove this?
thanks
Not sure how to work out what's happening with an insurance repair, and waht the consequences will be for me. I've enjoyed reading the posts for a while, and hope someone can work this out for me!
In February, I bought an 01/52 Range Rover for £17500 and insured with deleted - {removed as per the site no naming / shaming rule - DD}. A couple of weeks ago I had an accident - the car rolled onto its side, bounced back up, and ended up in the middle of the road. Obvious damage to bodywork, front of the car - lights, bumbers windscreen, side window, tyres came off wheels, likely suspension damage etc. We weren't sure if it was repairable so were waiting word from the insurer (the car is in their chosen bodyshop).
Yesterday I called the bodyshop to find out, and was told the repairs had been authorised and the parts brought in. Not long afterwards, I received an email and telephone call on the answering machine, from the insurer, advising me the car was a total loss and to forward documents etc.
I called this morning to see what was happening, and was assured it was a total loss. So I called the bodyshop again, who were equally insistent repairs were authorised. Back to insurer, who by now have decided that with a value of between £14K and £16K, and repair costs at about £8000, it was borderline, but they have decided to do it on a contract repair basis - if it goes over £9000, it is the bodyshop cost, not theirs. They said it was Category D, hence borderline. I expressed concern at the Category D rating, pointing out that this is publicly available and will affect the car value. I was told that if they paid out, they would only pay out to the cost of the repairs - up to £9000. Left it there. I called the dealer who sold me the car (large independent 4x4 specialist), and they said if it was category D, it wasn't 'worth a carrot' on resale and that they wouldn't get in it anyway if it was their car once repaired. They then said they'd probably give me £1500 or so if I sold it and that I should insist on it being written off.
Back to insurer, pointing out the problems with the category D. Much shorter 'phone call - they've reviewed it, and decided it was a total loss, so proceed with handing in documents etc. Simple! Then I get back from doing the shopping, to find a new message on the answering machine, and a new email. The car is not a total loss, it is repairable and will be done on a contract repair basis as stated. I call again for clarification and they insist this is now their position, but that it would not be shown as a category D, hence will not affect resale. I don't have this in writing though, remember - only on their presumably recorded call system.
Ideally, I want this written off - I have no experience of repairs like this, but the damage made me uncomfortable (the repairer is a large independent, not a Land Rover Approved. However, they clearly have a relationship with some LR repairers - when I called my local Land Rover Approved repairer to discuss them inspecting the car after repair, they said they couldn't - they have a business relationship with this repairer!).
Obviously, if it is category D and the resale value is destroyed, I'd rather take the £9000 and buy a new car.
I'm currently waiting to hear from the claims handler, and I've asked for the engineer details also. In the meanwhile, I said I didn't want work to continue on the car.
Should I shut up and wait for the car, and assume the repairs will be done to an acceptable and safe standard? Should I try and insist they pay out the £9000 for the repairs to me instead and write off the car? Should I argue more for a total write-off at the value they stated originally - somewhere between £14K and £16K?
Thanks. Read more
Few misunderstandings above, I think.
Car only becomes a 'Cat D' on payout to you. If a car is repaired by an insurer then it doesn't appear on the register. Thus a 1-day-old car can be serverly damaged and be repaired by an insurer but not appear on the register at all. A lot of private punters think that if a car doesn't come up on HPI then its not been damaged - that's not the case at all. If you go ahead with insurance repair then Cat 'A, B C etc is not really an issue for you.
An inspection by a main agent is not really the best way to go - they will probably just ask a local bodyshop. I would definitely use Autolign for this (www.autoligninspections.co.uk ) they have a few bases around the UK and will also come out to you. They are the people with most experience in looking at severly damaged/repaired vehicles.
My brother has been working in Kuwait as a teacher for some months now. He started a blog on The Onion to share his thoughts and experiences, which I think contains some excellent writing (but then I would say that, wouldn't I?). Anyway, although it's mainly written as a socio-political satire, this particular edition is motoring-related so I thought I would reproduce it on here.
"Jim Crow is alive and well and driving an SUV".
As to whether it is true or not I cannot say, but a friend of mine gave me the interesting, if rather unnerving, information that you are more likely to die through being a regular driver in Kuwait than being a coalition military person in Iraq. I suppose that would very much depend on where you end up being stationed - a guy I know whose son is in the north says it's pretty safe, but then his son is kept on base, not doing combat stuff. It's hard enough normally assessing whether people tell the truth or not even with regard to sharing a restaurant bill, so any well-disciplined military chap worth his salt who is asked by his parents if everything is OK, is hardly going to answer by screaming "OH MY GOD, IT'S SO HORRIBLE, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
Well, in any case, to move on to the theme of the post, I would have to say, this country is missing out on a massive tourist potential. For all the adrenaline-junkies who find parachuting & rock-climbing have palled as attractions, verily, I say unto you, come to the Gulf, not simply for the risky politics and high salaries, driving here has to be seen to be believed. It's the ultimate action sport. It's Mad Max in nighties. It's Too Fast, Too Furious, Too Late to see the lamp-post.
This is a great part of the world to buy a sports car (I myself have my eye on a Porsche Carrera going for about 18000 USD - I do not know if this is a good price for ye Transatlantics, but it is most certainly a good price in Europe). BUT I beseech you, do not drive it here. Export it for when you get out. When you are here, buy a Land-Rover, or preferably a Humvee. Actually , no, buy a T-62.
Y'see, the average chappie here thinks that if God wishes him to ascend unto Paradise and collect the Virgins, then such will happen & there's nothing to be done about it. The frame of mind is one of submission to the will of Allah (Islam does not exactly mean 'peace', as some seem to think; a more accurate translation would seem to be 'submission'). Anyway, such philosophical Weltanschaung leads to chaps barrelling down the highway at speeds approaching those of light aircraft, despite the highway in question being packed with fellow road-users. Hence the burned-out carcasses of vehicles which daily build up on the Expressway. Often, one can come across such scenes when the corpse has not yet been disinterred from the wreck, the emergency services being more distracted by the need to smoke and take notes in a desultory and laborious manner.
"So what?" you mutter. "If they drive like that, let Allah sort 'em out."
And now the aspect that makes it so disgraceful. Now, the way it seems to work is, that natives drive big, powerful vehicles, that give you a pretty good chance of surviving even a bad pile-up. One sees more Hummers, GMCs, Pajeros than trees. The trouble is, these drivers seem to be emboldened by the knowledge that the odds are in their favour. Nor are they by any means all young guns suffering from an excess of testosterone. Burka-clad women are often to be seen throwing their automotive weight about in vehicles more powerful than those available to some armies.
Immigrants, however, who compose between half and two-thirds of the population in all Gulf states, are not merely unable to afford big SUVs - they ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BUY PICK-UP TRUCKS. The logic for this, apparently, is that were Egyptians and Bengalis to have pick-ups, this would enable them to set up their own businesses in construction & the trades. And this would never do. Such opportunities must be reserved for Natives.
So what do the immigrants drive? They drive the smaller, lighter, older vehicles that make up such weird wrecked sculptures. Taxi-drivers, overwhelmingly immigrants, are not generally permitted any vehicle larger than a modest saloon. My taxi-driver, Amir, is a Bangladeshi who overworks because he's smart enough to realise that if he ever wants to see his kids' faces before they hit their teens then he's got to put money aside. He is the source of some riveting information, (which usually proves accurate in subsequent check-ups with natives or expat Old Hands). Amir is a dangerous driver, as his customers' underwear can testify, but he doesn't speed. Speeding, you see, can bring on fines; but fines are generally only imposed on immigrants, natives being exempt unless they go well out of their way to pee off the police. Nice, huh?
I take taxis twice a day, so I have something of an interest in proceedings. But I would remind readers - these folk from Bangladesh, Egypt, India and so on, who drive the taxis and draw the water and clean the toilets and serve the burgers and man the callcentres and guard the compunds, are overwhelmingly the fellow-Muslims -brothers in the Umma, kindred - of the Arabs, yet they are treated worse than black Americans under segregation, worse, dare I say, than Arab citizens of Israel. And it's all perfectly legitimate. Nobody cares. If you bring it up in conversation, people look at you as if you are a mentally ill communist agitator suffering from sunstroke.
Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
I will return to this theme on a regular basis. I don't know what, if anything, I can do to stop it, but I can at least blow the whistle so you can hear.
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Mods, I haven't included a link to the blog for the time being - it's open to comments from anyone, and there are occasional sweary bits or mildly adult humour. However I'd like for anyone to be able to read it if they want. Alright to post the link?
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ... Read more
Andy, you have mail.
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Just to add to Oldman's comment - if you need a big item (e.g. £100+ part) then haggle a bit with the storeman and ring a few dealers - you can often get 10-15% off. I am on good terms with local Mitsi and Nissan dealers (no account with them) and they often just give me a discount without having to ask. There's a fair bit of 'fat' on some of those parts prices....