August 2006
I used to love monster trucks 20 years or so ago. I remember the first Big Foot which was a genuine pick-up modified to take those five foot tyres. Fantastic.
I was just watching the Big Foot feature on Vroom Vroom - what a load of rubbish. All they are now is a scaffolding frame work with a huge engine in the middle and a fragile "truck-shaped" plastic shell bolted on top. They are more "building site" than "monster truck".
I want my money back. Read more
Does anyone know were there are any garages who just do MOTs and nothing else? It alwaya annoyes me when you take your car to a garage and they tell you your car has failed and it just so happens they can put it right for you, oh and by the way they have already done you a quote, how nice of them. They have got you over a barrel every time, it just seems to me to be legal blackmail by the garages. By the way i live in Lincoln.
Regards
Mick Read more
Oldman, that's about right. Wait till they've settled down a bit, and can replace theory with practice.
We get our van's tested at a long established 'trade place'. These guys glide through an MOT making you think that they're not that interested, but they miss absolutely nothing ! And they're more likely to advise a debateable item than fail it. That's common sense and experience for you.
HGV testers are pretty much the same, and if 'your' tester is a bit unsure about something, he'll ask another tester for an opinion, and they'll invite the vehicle presenter into the discussion. Nothing that the presenter says will change a decision, but at least he knows why a decision has been made.
I still say that for consistent, sensible and impartial testing, older blokes in long established premises are the best bet.
Hi,
Need your help folks, I am thinking of buying a Street Ka from Motorpoint, its a Uk car and is £6300 for a 2003 reg with 25K miles.
Is this a good deal ? as it seems much cheaper than any of the other street kas around same age / miles in other garages.
Also how much should I expect to get off the top price ?
thanks Read more
Robcars, I am offended by no one on here so do please contribute to this thread by all meanseven if your view is diametricaly opposed to mine.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Hi all,
Advice would be welcomed over a little potential problem/dilemma as follows:-
I have recently sold my (deceased) mother in laws's old Nissan Micra (vintage 1990) which had been 'sorned' and garaged for the last 4 years. I advertised it on E Bay with the intention of giving the proceeds to the local church.
It reached the princely sum of £60 but I gave an honest and frank descrption of the car including the above and that it did not possess an MOT and that is probably needed new brake discs (at least). I also advised that it would be best 'trailered away' as it needed a service. The car sold (unseen) to a woman who sent me a cheque some 2 weeks ago, which has now cleared.
She has now contacted me to request to collect it tomorrow (23/8/06) with a friend from Liverpool and has intimated that she intends to drive it away untaxed/uninsured (perhaps),un-MOT'd and 'sorned'.
I have changed the ownership details on the V5 today and photocopied the completed form (for my own benefit) to the address which she gave me which was ''Woolwich Barracks', London..
My dilemma is, and I like to think that I am responsible and law abiding, what should I do if, despite my advice to the contrary, she still drives this care away tomorrow. I feel that without a mechanical check it would be dangerous to do this.
What would you do ??? Any comments and/or advice would be appreciated please
With thanks
Ian
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Don't forget to leave them positive feedback!
'Tow back 'and 'cash back' also spring to mind,well mine anyway.Sorry Ian.
Looking around some leasing sites I have noticed that a new Audi A6 2.0 Tdi is available for lease for less than the equivalent A4. I was recently looking at either a BMW 520d or an A6 2.0 Tdi and now I'm wondering is there something wrong with the new A6? Read more
I think that sums it up well Martin.
Hi all,
I had a new Cat Converter installed a month ago....recently whilst driving I'm getting a droning sound coming from under the car, not speed related but around 2000rpm...could it be a badly re-assembled exhaust system once the cat's been installed (the cat is right in the centre of the car). If its not that any ideas what else it could be...??
Cheers
Richard Read more
Just been out to the car jacked it up (handy as its the first time ive done that...) and yes there is friction on the driver side rear !!
Anyone knows the costs to get it repaired ??
Thanks
Richard
I'm thinking of getting an older car that's, reliable, comfortable/fast to drive and a cut above the norm. The models that stand out are the Mercedes 190E 2.6i and the BMW 325i E30. Which would others recommend or is there an alternative?
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P.P.S. Online service manuals:
mb.braingears.com/
You might remember my post in the technical section about broken springs on a P-reg Astra. Well, it turns out that they were broken (oops), but we took the car into our local independent who changed them at substantially less than the 200 pounds each quoted by the Vaux. dealer.
While it was in, the garage found that the oil cooler was leaking (we knew it had an oil leak soon after buying it, but just topped it up until it could be fitted into the garage), and replaced that too with our permission.
The car was bought from a dealer in the Leeds area two months ago for 1250 pounds. I test drove it and it seemed fine, and I didn't spot the oil leak as you can't spot the source till it's on a ramp. It had a full MOT put on it when we bought it. The car was taken straight down to Devon, you see, so we wouldn't have been able to get it back up for them to fix it anyway.
The combined work cost nearly 800 pounds, and I was wondering if it's worth dropping into the dealer we bought it from to see if they'd be prepared to make a contribution. If they refused, would it be worthing bringing a case in the small claims court, or is it "bought as seen"? We have a formal invoice for it the car (ie, it wasn't bought for cash but on a credit card).
Ta very much!
David. Read more
When I bought the Mondeo (from a "car supermarket" in the South) the things (two biggish, four minor) I asked to be sorted, which I was assured would be picked up and corrected in the "101 point check" that the car had not at the time been through, had been completely ignored.
Got some of them done the next day (with a courtesy car provided), and gave up on the rest when they just stopped answering my phone calls or e-mails.
Didn't have the time or inclination to pursue it.
This place was a 50 mile trek from my house, and I totally agree about buying a car locally in future. As it turns out, 14 months later the car has been great, but don't ever believe dealers when they tell you they'll sort problems out. In future I will ask for money off and the car "as is".
Cheers
DP
There's lot of news today about the latest attempt at a viable electric car. This one is called the Tesla Roadster:
tinyurl.com/m6v3l
tinyurl.com/hmokw
To summarise, it has a range of 250 miles (when new), does 0-60 in four seconds and can hit 130mph. It's made by Lotus (on behalf of the American company that invented it) here in the UK, in Norfolk. It will sell in the US for $100,000 a car. Obviously, costs could come down considerably if mass marketed.
Sounds great on paper doesn't it? They claim a life span of 125,000 miles before the batteries are worn out. Not so bad, eh?
However, when you do the maths it doesn't make any sense to me at all. The ultimate life of 125,000 miles is based on the typical 500 charge cycles multiplied by the 250 mile range, i.e. they have assumed you will always do the maximum range before re-charging, never a partial charge.
In the real world, this isn't going to happen, and in any case, isn't 500 charge cycles less than 2 years of daily use before the battery is worn out?
No doubt, like the lithium-ion batteries in mobiles phones and laptops, the battery range is likely to diminish over time, such that the actual range could be much less than 250 miles towards the end of the cars life.
Quote:
"Li-Ion batteries lose their capacity with every charge/discharge cycle. The slope is such that after about 100 charges the effective capacity is reduced to about 75%-85% of the original."
It doesn't even help if you don't use the car much:
"Li-Ion batteries stored for any time irreversibly lose capacity. The clock starts from the time the cell is made, and runs whether the battery is used or not. It loses approximately 10%/year."
From:
tinyurl.com/ms8fa
That's a loss of 25 miles a year on range, even without taking charge cycle degradation into account...
So, is it back to the drawing board, or has the internal combustion engine finally met its match? Is this technology likely to remain a play thing for the rich few or will it make it into our daily commute one day in the form of a Tesla Focus or a Tesla 3-series?
Opinions please... Read more
>>Whatever the technology, it will still be taxed here.>>
Energy is already taxed - just another lump sum for a certain Scottish gentleman.
Got two kids to look after now....
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
I am disillusioned in my current job, been for an interview for a job that has better hours but £6k less pay. However it comes with a company car, either a Focus or Astra.
Now I have never had a company car so unsure of rules so if anyone has any links, info etc then I would appreciate it. I asked at the interview what the company "rules" were on the car and was told that all business mileage is covered and you would pay for any private mileage, but he didn't say what the payment was.
I am thinking, ok, £6k less, but Gordon Brown would take £1.5k of that anyway. It probably costs me about £1k on fuel to get to work so as a gross amount, say rough £1.25k on my salary. That doesn't include wear and tear, servicing, ins etc.
But I am totally ignorant to how much it would "cost" me to have a company car. Is there a standard cost per mile for personal use? Does "creative bookeeping" restrict personal miles?
Any info gratefully received, I am off to work now but will try and search the forum whenever I can to see if there are any similar threads.
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Many thanks for all your help and replies. Got a phone call today to say that I had not been successful with the interview so at this stage I do not need to worry about company car implications. However I now have a better understanding of what is involved if any futire jobs include a company car.
On the bright side, it means I don't need to contemplate selling my vrS!
Browse
But then it wouldn't be a Facsimilie either would it?
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"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do"