September 2006
I am off to Tuscany in October to celebrate wife's 50th birthday. I want everything to go like clock-work and want to hire a nice car for the week from Pisa airport. Pitfalls? I hear of people coming back home to find their credit card ramped up with spurious extra charges.
I will obviously check vehicle carefully at pick up and ensure previous damage is noted before I drive off. I will also ensure it is inspected when I take it back.
But what about excess insurance. Can I pre buy it rather than use their (probably) exhorbitent insurance?
What insurance do I need to drive the car? What other problems have people had when they have hired cars abroad? Read more
Our C8 (2.0 hdi) has recently started playing up - the wife and I have noticed short, sharp drops of acceleration power. These never last more than a few seconds. Any ideas?
Read more
help ive just got a justy 1993 plate. ive got to get a rad for it as it is rotten. ive stoped the leaks, but it is still over heating - i cant get a manual? were is the water pump and thermostat? ive got no idea where to find them.
{Punctuation added to make easier reading - DD} Read more
back of engine got a soaking (2 weeks ago) when i removed scuttle drain to bypass matrix. car is now running on 4 cyclinders, 1 & 5 are not firing although they are sparking. i have replaced plugs and leads and leads are fitted correctly.
the only thing i can think of is that the injectors electrical connection has been damaged - but don't know where to start.
can someone please offer some advice on this engine, the injector configeration and parts? Read more
steering clunks when i turn on full lock. it does it in both directions.
any ideas? Read more
took car for a "pre MOT" to check out things etc etc.
advisory said:
nearside rear anti-rollbar linkage has slight playin ball joint.
the noise seems to be coming from front.
if it is anti roll bar bushes on front do you know how much it would cost to rectify?
Well I've finally bitten the bullet and made up my mind on my next car. The old base spec Legacy has been part-exed. I really wanted an Impreza STi Spec D with the prodrive pack but that is pushing £29k new and I don't do new, it hurts too much in the wallet. I'll wait a year or two until they appear at a year old or pre-reg'd. So I was thinking of another Legacy to tide me over and I was stunned to be able to get a 2006 3.0 Spec B manual, pre-reg at the end of March with 10 miles on the clock for £19k. They allowed me another £1000 for the old 123k mile Legacy, base spec, no aircon, which is around what they're going through eBay at, so I was happy with the cost to change of £18k. No doubt it'll depreciate quite badly but what the hell.
First impressions are of much better interior than the old one (not difficult I know), nice understated looks with not even a 'Spec B' or '3 litre' badge anywhere and promises to be stunning performance once it has been run-in, I'm limited to 4000 rpm at the moment.
Interestingly, all Subarus seem to have the first service at 1000 miles, with the owner just paying for the consumables. Turbos and 6 cylinder cars then every 10k or year and non-turbo 12k or year. Do any other makes still do this?
Hopefully it'll be as reliable as the old car but a lot more fun to drive.. Read more
I think they look very nice too!
04 reg Elite, 23k miles, auto, nice nick - Network Q - £8500. No trade in.
It goes like stink. The semi auto is fun. If I paid petrol I would be worried about the current consumption, but I will settle down in it soon and it should go Pmega-like (28 mpg I hope).
Network Q tried to sell me GAP insurance, additional 3 year warranty (it is still on manufactirers, plus has a year's Network Q) and tyre insurance.
The £99 tyre insurance covers for damage and punctures for two years. The tyres are similar to the Omega - £105+ a corner. Having only had two punctures in my driving career thjis seemed like a better bet for the insurers than for me.
However, having parked it with the front wheels at an angle today I notice that there is a gouge - not *that* deep - of about 3/4" across on one of the front tyres - middle of the tread. I'm wondering whether I can get the insruance retrospectively... :-) However initially I am going to talk to the salesman and suggest the car wasn't fully 114 point checked before delivery...
Off to Huddersfield tonight so first long run (if you exclude collection from Luton). Read more
That's my beef with Vectra's over Mondeos. The Vectra has this cliff of obviously metallised plastic on the dash which looks awful.
Just had to exchange my wife's faithful old Volvo 480 due to MOT failure (£800 needed in this and that and the clutch is going etc after 148,000 miles.) Swore I'd never get a new car but in the end a deal on a new Polo was so good inc 3 years warranty and servicing we went for it. Just hope SWMBO who had deep affection for the old car is going to be happy with the new one. Read more
alarm goes off on its own checked all door switches boot light and switch, bonnet switch but still does it. only happens once a day sometimes same time each day. also when it goes off should indicater lights flash as well horn going off as mine don't. any advice? Read more
if you are using the keyfob to lock/unlock-try using the key, as this bypasses the interior sensor which may be the cause of the problem??.
--
Steve
Has anyone taken out a Warranty Direct warranty on their car and actually made a claim? I'd like to know your experiences of making a claim, successful or otherwise, before I buy one @ £390. Read more
Covered broken suspensions spring & labour £180 when car was just out of warranty - he p[aid dealer and WD paid him in about 3/4 weeks.
Did not cover Lambda sensor & another sensor or other electrical (mis firing ) type problems.
Mechanical parts only and nothing to do with electronics/sensors or water leaks ((Split seam ion Bulkhead)
He gave up with the 3 yr old BMW having had it from new and bought a Lexus
Lexus has been faultless (bar brake disks - disks corroded but covered by warranty @ 2 yrs old)
>>and was a Honda Civic with less than 500k on the clock.<<
Presumably thats 500 k as in km - not 500 k as in thousand - although for a Honda it will probably still be like new with only 500K miles on the clock.
Sorry stuartli - not helpful I know but I couldn't resist - you will have no trouble picking at speeling mistakes with my inputs so feel free.