September 2006
As a driver who wears glasses, I was following the thread about variable focus lenses with interest. Why has it disappeared - or is my eyesight so poor that I can't find it? ; - )
Is the problem the use of tradenames? Read more
I have three young children. Youngest being 4 and the eldest 11. My son is always nagging that i should buy one of the new lamborghini. I tell him it's impractical because it only has two seats and there is four of us.
which exotic car can you recommend that not only seat four comfortably but have a wow factor with the kids.
it is nice to have this info handy for when i win the lottery. ;-) Read more
I would buy three cars if I were you - honestly.
Touareg 5.0 diesel V10 (to ferry the children)
Bentley Flying Spur
Aston Martin DB9
Together, they can all be bought for just over £250000, but what is the problems when you have millions.
Deepak
My wife is putting her A6 on eBay soon. 98 R reg, 1.8T, 145000 miles. FSH, mainly Audi but 2 more recent specialist services. Interior excellent, 7 months MOT, recent decent tyres all round. Has the smaller size alloys which were reconned about 2 yrs ago and now starting to look slightly tatty. A few stone chips and a couple of scrapes to the bumper. Small area of rust re-appearing by front wheel arch base, probably from previous bad repair ( 10p sized, we had it fixed before for about £150) Small ding with small paint crack on rear. ABS and hand brake warning lights come on for a second or two sometimes. Silver with air-con and electric sunroof. Anyone care to guess what it might fetch? Read more
Mr Woody,
Forgetting the fact you don't need such a big car again, and forgetting fuel consumption, would you buy one again?
I bought a Fiat Punto from british car auction and found that the engine is leaking a bit of oil , vehicle gettting too hot even if i just drive 4 miles. I am a first time buyer and have not got enough money to handle the repair cost of mechanics please guide me what to do to have minimum loss or is worth repair.
Really a bad experience from auctions
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Might not be as bad as you think - my Megane recently had the symptoms of a head gasket failure, i.e. overheating, lots of bubbles in the overflow tank etc. The breakdown service agreed with me. However, when I got it back to my friendly local garage, it turned out be a simple combination of stuck thermostat and faulty radiator cap which meant the system wasn't properly sealed. Had it been the gasket, it would have written the car off. As it was it cost £127 to include the cost of diagnosis, and I've had no trouble since.
I suggest you get a proper diagnosis before you panic.
hello,
has anyone bought a new toyota aygo - what your thoughts good /bad
do you know of any garages doing a good deal on them ? Read more
I test drove one at the weekend as we are considering one as a 2nd car and wanted to be as economical and sensible as possible. I liked it, modern styling, 60 odd mpg, group 1 insurance ( 1yr free insurance on offer, plus 3 yrs free servicing) The base model is only available in red but we're seriously considering it to replace an 8yr old Audi A6 which now only does local journeys and is starting to cost money in repairs. The Aygo retains its value well too, only downside a slightly hard ride. Didn't feel too small either, but boot is tiny, with a high lip.
Had my 2.0l / '99Focus' oil changed at a "rapid fit" place. checked the oil it is over the max mark on the dipstick by about 4mm, will this cause any damage, i need to travel about 25 miles to get back to the "rapid fit" place to get it drained will this do any harm?
cheers
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The oil pump puts oil under pressure through the galleries in
the crankshaft through the oil way in the shells.
Except on engines with splash lubrication. I had an old prewar Ford engine that had speciall scoops on the big ends, to dip into the oil and splash it around inside the crankcase.
I'd also observe that the recommended oil level cannot be all that critical. A car climbing an alpine pass has to have an engine rated for constant running under heavy load at a considerable angle. The downhill bearing might be a lot lower than the uphill.
I am part exchanging one of my cars on wednesday, or that what was going to happen.
The dealer called me after having done the deal to say my car was showing that there was outstanding finance. The finance having been arranged in March this year. I have owned the car since last November and paid cash, for which I have a handwritten signed receipt from the previous private owner.
I am hoping that the dealer can discuss with HPI on Monday and get confirmation that this is an error.
Is this something that anyone else has had happen. If so was it quickly corrected and what if anything did you have to do?
Thanks.
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Well it is good news for the OP and he is the one we are concerned with here! He's been lucky - other people have to take their chances!
can anyone tell me whether i can change my 1.4 cvh engine for a 1.6 zeta engine frome a 94 injection from a car?
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Should also add that 1.6 cvh gave 96 bhp. to 90bhp on 1.6 zetec-power was restricted to give better emissions.
Hi guys
I am posting this on behalf of my brother in law who has a problem with a Ford diesel Mondeo that is rapidly spiraling out of control. He is becoming depressed about it so I am trying to get some information to help him.
The story is that at the start of this year he purchased an exactly three year old Mondeo diesel, 2 litres. The car was purchased from a small scale car supermarket and was an ex lease car with a full Ford service history and nothing untoward in the documentation. He also bought a 12 month warranty with it (not from Ford). The car has done about 60thousand miles.
After 4-6 weeks it started to run badly and he took it back to the dealer who invoked the warranty. Some software was updated and a small part replaced and it was returned to him. After a month the problem resufaced. The problem was said to be an 'injector fault'. After keeping the car for three weeks whilst they replaced parts it was returned to him. The warranty company paid for this repair.
It then ran ok for another 2-3 months but then started to misbehave again. Basically it sometimes loses all power and sometimes there is no throttle response - sometimes there is. He has a long commute and this is clearly dangerous.
He took the car to a Ford dealer who kept the car for a week and couldn't locate the problem. It was then sent to a diesel specialist who have stated that it needs a new fuel pump and several other items at a cost of 'more than £1000'. They also say that they cannot 100% guarantee that this will fix it becasue they say that diesel Fords are quirky and there could be additional work required.
He has contacted the dealer who state that because he has had the car more than six months, and it is a different fault to the original one, they are not liable.
The warranty company say there is a limit to how much they will pay out and he has reached that limit with the previous repairs, so they are washing their hands of it.
He has approached Ford (because it has always been serviced by Fords) but they say that it is out of warranty and therefore entirely his problem.
So the questions for the experts in the backrooms are-
1. Is it right that the dealer has no liability after 6 months, even though the fault is very similar to one that occured after just a few weeks following purchase.
2. Is it right that the warranty company can restrict their payout, I believe it is something like £700 that they have paid out.
3. Do you think that replacing the fuel pump is likely to correct this fault.
My brother in law borrowed money to buy the car and may now have to borrow again for these repairs. He is also struggling to get to work, which is causing major family problems.
Cheers.
Ashley. Read more
I agree with a lot of the comments posted recently... my girlfriend's Clio DCi is an absolute pig to drive in traffic, it lurches forward, then stops dead and nearly stalls (just with light throttle movement), then when you need some heavy acceleration absolutely nothing happens for a good second! It also runs as rough as hell when cold, but apparently all this is normal.
The old Pug 205D it replaced smoked a bit on a cold start, but ran fine, had good throttle response and was a lot easier and more pleasant to drive. Economy is the only factor where the Renault wins, and as the engine design is nearly 20 years newer, this is perhaps to be expected. CR is one step forward, 2 steps back IMO. I'm dreading any fuel system problems which might arise in future, £1000 for a new Delphi pump doesn't sound appealing.
Well come on, who's driven it..?
Is it really the answer all our prayers..? A car that delivers power like a diesel with less lag,
less noise, no 'anvil' over the front wheels and respectable economy...
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Excellent point and I have had a similar weekends experience of the GTi some time ago and really enjoyed it. In many ways the smaller GT is less 'hard edged' and for everyday driving maybe more user friendly.
I had great trouble , for the first few days when getting varifocals.just thinking about ,that they write on door mirrors, objects may be nearer than they seem, could be warning given to varifoals. just to add some coal to the fire.