September 2006
IE, brand new or pre reg:
Mini size.
I'm looking to buy a car for my 17 year old niece as a present for here uni run from her rented accommodation.
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I have been looking for a secondhand car for my youngest son to buy. He has been saving up hard and was very keen to get his first car. I saw a car on the verge just round the corner from where we live and it was being sold by a person my wife knows. The local vet. The price was quite good and we got the car mechanically examined. The report was ok but before we paid over the cheque we did a check if there was anything owed. There was. The lady selling it was quite indignant. How did we expect her to pay off the car if we didn't give her the money first. We had wasted her time. No mention of our time and the cost of the inspection.
The moral is don't be influenced by how respectable or well known the vendor is. Check if there is anything owing before you do anything else. We nearly got taken. I was totally amazed by what I thought was a respectable professional person in our small town trying something like that. Read more
make sure you check the engine and chassis number from the car...... and that they are the same on the log book (form V5).......
although in theory the engine could have been changed..albeit it should have been updated with DVLA, but often isn't....... but that might be a reason why you wouldn't want it I suppose, depending on it's age.
it would be very easy to have the V5 of a severely damaged car (that will be binned), steal another similar one, then sell you the stolen one using the legitimate V5....... and if you're buying it at the side of the road, you don't know who you're dealing with do you?
This morning I went to my local filling station and was surprised to see a single decker bus on the forecourt. It was angled so it blocked the lanes between both sets of pumps. I thought this was very unusual, buit then I was told it could not move it as it had a flat battery.
What other unusual things have you seen happening on a forecourt?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I used to love those filling stations that offered both loos and the mixture for 2-stroke engines - the signs appeared as "2-stroke Toilets".
There was a lovely sign I saw in a village on the west coast of Scotland:
P
Free
Toilets......
Last time I stopped at the Oxford services on the M40 there was a splendid sign in the gents that said 'Welcome Break apologises for the self-service nature of the facilities'. I'd love to know what it is that Welcome Break does for gentlemen at other service stations that you have to do for yourself at Oxford.
Next Thursday I'm going to Leeds with some work colleagues from the Harlow / Hertfordshire area. We don't want to go in seperate cars so we'd like to meet up somewhere just off the M11/A14/A1 where we can dump a couple of cars for the day and travel up in one.
Does anyone have any ideas of a suitable place, that preferably don't involve paying large sums in parking fees?
thanks
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Soupytwist ! Read more
"I've done that in places near airports successfully, for up to a week."
People in the Essex village of Takeley (next to Stansted airport) are getting very annoyed with people doing exactly that. Especially when the parkers ring a taxi to come and get them, say I'm at number 10 Acacia Avenue and the cab driver rings the doorbell rather than pickup the person standing on the pavement with a suitcase.
Also, none of us live in a particularly convenient location given the route we need to take.
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Soupytwist !
So the MD of Toyota UK says that new car sales are slower than manufacturers thought and there are some good deals to be had (although he did say this wasn't going to apply to Toyota as they have low stocks anyway).
So what manufacturers are offering crazy deals on new cars?
Is this not the case toward the month or quarter end when a dealer wants to meet targets? Or have manufacturers really been over producing and now they are left with huge stockpiles they want to shift? Read more
Folks,
I am new to this forum and looking for some help. I bought a car on the afternoon of the 30th June. It was untaxed by the garage as they advised me to get it taxed over the weekend and I would not 'lose' a month of tax. I had no chance to tax it on the Friday, because of work. I went to tax it on the saturday maorning and forgot my insurance certificate, and couldn;t make it back before the PO was closed (this part is not relevant, I just want people to understand that I tried). That afternoon, my wife spotted some police officers examinignt he car in the road. she wnet out and they pointed out the lack of tax disc. She explained and the policeman left a card with her, saying that we would not be fined but to tax it first thing on monday. I immediately tried to tax it online but was unable due to the engine size (?!?). So I went first thing on the monday and taxed it. Yesterday (29th September) I received a £149 fine for this offence.
Do I have any decent comeback, given the policeman said it was ok? Read more
not the blue ones though they are good ones (if you are a shareholder and sat on them through the blip)
Dad needs a new set of tyres for his Fabia vRS.
His local tyre guy (in SW France) is quoting him ?150 a corner for Michelins.
On Pneus24 they are offering Fulda Carat Extremo for ?78.20 delivered a corner - 49% off their RRP.
Does anyone (tyreexpert....) have any experiences of this brand/model, as it´s not one I´ve used before. I´m particularly interested in its wear rate, as the vRS is a bit of a tyre muncher.
Size is 205/45 R16 83W.
Thanks in advance,
Barchettaman Read more
Thanks TE.
As per the Touran Ad on the side ,,,, what does realigned model mean?
Thanks Read more
>>Pre aligned means the Aircon, and cruse control dont work, realigned means the aircon and crusie do work but now the headlights and, trip computer and central locking wont work.
TVM aren't you glad you drive a reliable VW! Or should it be "If only everything else was as unreliable as a VW"
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
my key card was lost/stolen for the renault laguna the insurance company required it to be towed away to a safe location , the tow truck could not get in to my drive and because the car was locked he dragged it aprox 10 mts and the dragged it round a corner WITH THE HANDBRAKE ON AND THE STEERING LOCK ON !! to enable him to tow it away , now the dealer is saying their is an electrical fault on the steering column and my ecu is faulty ( the car was running fine untill it was removed ) now the insurance co are saying they will not pay for the repairs , my question is could the damge to the steering /ecu have been caused by it being dragged ,the main dealer doing the work and the towing firm are saying not but obviously someting has caused the problem ANY IDEAS ( my insurance is fully comp )
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Its difficult to say without knowing all the circumstances and exactly what's wrong. However I would say that dragging the car could cause mechanical damage but would be extremely unlikely to cause damage to any electronics.
Hi
Some may have read my thread on the real/fake cop warning re speed.
I've just contributed to a thread where a member here was side swioed by a push biker at traffic lights as the biker jumped the lights.
A few weeks ago I was watching one of thsoe 'accident' 'Police Stop Cam Action' progs when they showed footage from cabs and cars which had cams installed to cut down insurance costs and settle cases quickly!
The hard drive cams run as you drive saving a certain amount and then delte and restart unless saved. The hard drive cams can have footage saved by a press of a button if a driver has seen bad driving or nearly in an accident. In the event of a front collison, the cam saves the footage itself and then the footage is used to determine who is at fualt.
I want one of these! Read more
They are currently in short supply in the UK, and the main push is selling to fleets of (probably white) van owners. However I happen to know that the company below is selling them, although the Website is yet to be updated! If you take the contact details and either ring or email them, they will respond to your enquiry.
www.hertsmeter.com/index.html
No personal involvement, just a trade connection.
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pmh (was peter)
Just thought I would post some figures for possible cars as I am in the same position except it is an 18 year old son the car is for.
I am still undecided as to whether a old / new car is the right way however for new cars here is what I have found so far:
Mitsubushi Colt CZ1 / Red 6000 - 6250 for pre reg 56 from a dealer or Colt Blue 6999 from broker www.simpledeal.co.uk
Seat Ibiza 1.2 Reference @ 6495 from Arnold Clark
Toyota Yaris @ 6999 from autobytel
Fiat Grande Punto 1.2 Active 56 pre reg @ 6499 from www.RegVardy.com
Fiesta Studio from 6180 / Style from under 6500 from various brokers
Suzuki Swifts appear to have no discounts and pre regs don't exist
Only other thing I have found which may be of interest is a method of reducing insurance costs by 50% (allegedly) from MoreThan @ www.morethandrivetime.com/index.html
If anyone can beat these prices / have corresponding deals on other relevant models, could I suggest they post here also?