September 2006
Hi all, I have a 1994 P106 diesel which makes a "knocking" sound when turning - this started quite some time ago but seems to have got worse recently. It's just passed an MOT without problems but I'm worried that this may be a safety issue - can anyone advise the likely source of the noise and whether it's worth fixing on a car of this age?
All advice gratefully received! Read more
Good morning all.
I'm new to this forum and would appreciate a little advice on a small matter. I'm sure this chestnut has been dealt with on a previous thread. I'll try and start somewhere at the beginning.
I bought a 02 Astra Envoy from Yes Car Credit (I know, but I have a few glitches on my credit file) in November 2005. The deposit was paid and the agreement set up. The first payment was due to be deducted on 24 Dec but because their system didnt recognise mt bank account number, it never went through.... anyway, many phonecalls and penalty payments later I decided to let them have the car back in March 06.
I never heard from them for 6 weeks until receiving a letter from their solicitors threatening court action......I ignored it, thinking the car is here let them take it!
a week later I receive a county court summons... the interesting thing is, the summons mentions nothing about the car, instead saying I was advanced a sum of money by the finance company. I replied to the summons making an offer of payment. After 8 weeks I heard nothing. I have since moved house and took the car with me, registered it at my new address and am waiting to see what happens
I know the car is not legally mine, but the judgement failed to mention the car, nor did the finance company request the court to order me to return it.
I would like to know what is likely to happen with the car... are they likely to come and take it i'm still using it at present until its taken. Any advice would be appreciated
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Globalcon, if you enjoy getting in a whole heap of bother with people that have no sense of humour, thus adding to the other difficulties that you're having, then by all means sell the car now.
Seriously, don't go there if there remains uncertainty over who actually owns it. I have to deal with the repo arms of various finance houses in a professional capacity and "nice" isn't an adjective that applies.
I would echo what other people have said about considering petitioning for your own bankruptcy. These guys are the Gov't department who deal with such matters in their initial stages:
www.insolvency.gov.uk
The advice on there is pretty sound. Also, most reputable firms of insolvency practitioners will give a free initial consultation if you want advice. Many advertise in the Yellow Pages.
Be warned, though, that there are firms out there who will offer to get you out of trouble by means of getting you to enter into an individual voluntary arrangement in which you agree to pay £xxx per month for a period of up to five years; they will tell you that this is always preferable to bankruptcy but that may not be correct in your circumstances.
I'm replacing my current car and have been thinking about going for a Mk1 Focus (prob. 2002/3 115ps TDCi Zetec estate in particular) and was wondering whether any of these have Isofix child seat fixings. None of those I've seen so far have had it and there seem to be a miniscule number that mention it in Autotrader (3 in the entire country of any type of Mk1 Focus, although I guess it's not the first thing people are going to put in their ads).
1) Anyone out there ever seen one with Isofix (beginning to wonder whether those that came up in the search were mistakes)?
2) Is this an across-the-range option that apparently very few people went for or is it only on certain models/ages?
3) Is it possible to retrofit Isofix to a Mk1 Focus (think I can guess the answer to that one!!)? Read more
Stupid Ford!
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Funny they;ve been allowed to keep the word Camp as well. Private Eye do joke (and probably the final resting place for the Nation's sense of humour)
Dear All,
I am driving Renault Scenic RXE 2.0 (1998). I just replaced my remote keys' batteries. Unfortunately the remote central locking don't work at all, even the immobilizer. My car can not be started now. Can anyone help me how to reset or deactivate the immobilizer OR start the car! Many thanks!
John Read more
Your keys have probably gone out of synch. You need someone with a "clip" or a clip clone (the "clip" is the renault handheld diag tool) to resynch your keys to the car.,
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
So, I picked up my shiny new car yesterday, complete with 12 mths RAC cover.
Simple task for today - phone breakdown provider for my previous car and cancel the old policy, expecting a decent refund as it only commenced on 15 July....
(Old provider not named as I don't want to contravene the naming and shaming rule)
After a couple of conversations with the Mumbai/Delhi call centre of the provider I have been told that all I will get for cancellation is a voucher entitling me to a 20% discount next time I want to buy cover from them. Apparently this is made clear in the terms and conditions (may well be, I haven't looked yet), but that certainly contradicts what I was told over the phone when renewing in Jul 05 (didn't bother checking again this year).
To be honest, I am fuming over this - to be offered no refund on a 12 month policy cancelled after just 6 weeks is nothing short of disgraceful, in my opinion. An admin charge would be fine, a refund for 9 months would be fine, maybe even 6 months. But a 20% discount on future services is an insult - I have no desire to spend money with this company again, even if it was a 50% discount!
(Incidentally, I was told I could transfer the policy, free of charge, into another name - it was suggested I could hawk my lightly-used breakdown policy amongst friends and colleagues for a cash deal!)
So my questions:
- is this the 'industry standard' for breakdown companies?
- has anyone been told this, but subsequently been able to secure a fair refund after talking to the right person/department?
Cheers for any thoughts or comments you have....
Rich
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Pugugly...Could be wrong but I think you can get a refund on your annual Insurance policy for the remaining months.
A lot to be said for Direct debit payments. You are at least in control of that.
I am connected with a Motor Club. Recently the question was asked:- "Does anyone know how to change the polarity of a dynamo?"
Apparantly, it seems, if you touch one of the leads to earth while the dynamo is running, the polarity is reversed. Allegedly.
Does anyone has any ideas on this subject. I should point out that we are talking about 1930s - or thereabouts - cars. Read more
I can't find any reference for it at the moment, but it's my understanding/half remembered snippet, that
all the above was known about when the decision was made to make cars positive earth, and it wasn't
done just to increase sales.
The reasoning was to reduce electrolytic failures in the (moisture holding) cloth insulated wiring.
Several months ago driving along to work I heard a news story re 'Crash Ratings' for new cars and most, if not all car makers were allegedly fixing the results by ensuring that certain parts of the cars scored well.
EG: Comcentrating on parts of the car that scored the most points and not spending as much attention to the remanider of the car.
In the USA and you have demos at Walt Disney or one of the other them parks (can't remember which) where they show a crash bar fitted to the rear in addition to what we get in the uk.
Motor way crashes are leathal for those rear ended and its about time Euro Ncap was honest enough to start scoring points on these!!
Did anyone else see/read this story about car makers building cars to get the 5 stars but not concentrating on other possible accident scenarios?
(Edited your title, as I'm sure you didn't mean to shout. PG) Read more
Eggsactly it knocks huge holes in the big vs small argument.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Hi all,
I have just bought a BMW 530i Sport. My cars user handbook says that I should use 98 RON fuel, but that 95 RON fuel can be used.
Which do you recommend I use? If there is a proper reason for the use of 98 RON fuel then I will do so, but it seems most odd that the manual states 95 is perfectly acceptable if it would prefer you used 98.
I am currently using 95 RON fuel and am returning 37mpg on Motorway runs and 30mpg in mixed driving.
Whats the deal here?
Thanks! Read more
Shell have replaced Optimax with V-Power, everywhere I think (certainly everywhere I've been recently). Optimax was 98 RON and V-Power is 99 RON (91.9p hereabouts); Tesco Greenergy is 99 RON too, available at 88.9p around here (Herts).
my 406 1998 1.9td A/C (116000miles) is going into the garage next week to have work done on the radiator fans so the front of the car will be off. the radiator will also be being replaced as there is a leak that has been plugged by rad weld for a year. is their any other parts that are common failures or probably near the end of their life that would be worth changing while the mechanic has the car stripped down? Read more
The water pump on this engine can only be accessed by means of removing the timing belt. Best bet is to change it when the car is next due for a cambelt change and the pump itself is not expensive, about £30-40 I think.
Martin
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A knocking soun on reversing only may be the exhaust system - check for signs (rust/shiny surfaces) , It could also be a the lower engine mounting (altho may give noises in 1st - more likely)...
madf