October 2006
What's the earliest you can (legally) display a new tax disc?
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L\'escargot. Read more
Noticed the car was a bit noisy last week , like the door wasn't shut properly. On closer inspection, I found the front passenger door way out of alignment and a number of marks in the paint where someone had obviously tried to lever open the door at the top . Is this a tried and tested way to break in to a vehicle ? - you'd certainly need a lot of force to gain entry - personally I'd break a side window for quick access... Read more
In Brussels last year I watched, from a cafe ,as the 'parking police' removed a whole line of vehicles by forcing a crack in top of door, inserting wedges and then using a sort of 'endoscope 'undid the handbrakes and towed the car onto a lorry.
Is that better than the 'crane' they use in London?
Just a thought which might just save some of you from learning a lesson the hard way as I did this afternoon.
I was checking tyre pressures on the Mercedes B-class at a filling station, having not done it for ages, and even at 13,900 miles the first service is apparently still 5000 miles away. One of the valves sheared and the tyre went flat. Nowhere in the wheel-changing kit was there a spanner or key to unlock the locking wheel nut, and I had to call Mercedes Assistance out.
I had fondly imagined that on a new car this would have been with the rest of the wheel-changing kit, but no. The Mercedes man had a good look and we couldn't see it anywhere.
So maybe those of who suffer from alloy wheels (one of the most stupid and unnecessary embellishments a car can have) should all have a look and make sure the key (a) exists) and (b) is somewhere we can find it. I suppose I was lucky that it was Sunday after church and not on the way to a business appointment, or miles from anywhere.
Fortunately SWMBO's Mini One and daughter's 1.3 Yaris have steel wheels - yippee.
One good thing - Humphries fitted a new valve free - not worth the hassle to do the paperwork. Read more
I thought garages had to maintain airlines. Don't weights and measures, or whatever they are now called, check these things? Same as they do the pumps on the forecourt?
Hi,
I am going to france on Friday Morning. Need to be in dover at 7am, so I thought a nice overnight run should avoid all the usual congestion.
Then someone said something about the A2 being closed overnight ?
Is there something I need to worry about or can I assume that setting off round midnight will get me there with lots of time to waste.
thanks
Mark Read more
And fuel in Luxembourg is cheaper still - or at least it was (for diesel) a few weeks ago when we drove across Europe.
I looked for studies/research in this area but haven't found anything. Does anyone know of any evidence or figures to support this? The gist is basically this:
It is commonly known that cars in the same category have got bigger over the past few years. For example, a 1980s Ford Escort hatchback was 4.013m long while a Focus II, Ford's current class competitor is 4.342m long (nearly 13" longer for the old timers ;-) ). Similarly an 80s Sierra hatchback was 4.419m long and the equivalent mondeo today is 4.731m long, an increase of approx. 12". (Figures unscientifically gathered from Parkers)
So presumably even if there were the same total number of cars on the road as there were 20 years ago, the increased size of modern cars would take up more road space and result in 'congestion'. Given that there are also many bigger cars on today's road - MPV and 4x4s than there were 20 years ago and there are actually more vehicles anyway. What effect on congestion can be attributed to bigger vehicles, not just more vehicles?
Do wake up at the back!
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The significant reason for "in-town" congestion getting worse recently (10 -15
years) is the now universal one-man operated bus with doors. They
are stationary at bus stops just so much longer than they
used to be and we all sit patiently behind them. It
might save the transport co. a few bob but it costs
the wider community so much more. Rant over.
That is such a good point, I never thought of that. You're absolutely right. It's more than 10-15 years though, the last time I saw a bus conductor round these parts was when I was a small child in the 1970s....
So if all these threatened taxes are imposed what will happen to the money collected? Cars are still going to emit gases, aircraft engines likewise. they aren't going tp be modified so what is the money going to be spent on? Why are we going to act if USA and China aren't? Seems pointless and expensive. Global warming is happening but opinion is divided as whether it is anything to do with CO2! V Depends which biased report you read!
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Just what does go on inside Government Minister's heads?
How much can I claim in expenses? How big will my pension be ? Can we fool them again ? Can we get away with more stealth taxes ?
Can we serve the public ? NO
This has previously cropped up in discussions where the moderators have insisted that posting of video clips should be non clickable (ie, by leaving off the http:// part of the link). Where a clickable link had been posted, it was subsequently edited and the http part was removed and a comment added by a moderator.
All this came about following a post edited by HJ a couple of years ago because a clickable video clip hampered the site server by being very popular and thus slowing the site down to a crawl whilst the redirecting took place from this site to the video clip location. There was also a *misunderstanding* that it added to HJ's bandwidth costs.
I have now had confirmation that this is not the case, so we will be relaxing the regulations on clickable video clips.
However, please note:- If the clip redirects to a site where the content also contains adult related, or other material that could be deemed offensive, then PLEASE use your discretion and make the clip non clickable and include a disclaimer in your post informing so.
Please be also aware that I understand that many employers are now implementing systems that restrict the viewing of videos, online radio listening, and the like. So bear the following in mind when posting a clickable video clip. If someone who browses the BackRoom at work were to unintentionally click on that link, a report could get logged to their IT department. I'm sure you wouldn't want your clickable video clip to cause someone to be disiplined, or worse given the sack - so as I have previously said, PLEASE use your discretion.
Finally, clips will as always be scrutinised by the moderators, and if anything inappropriate is posted (whether clickable or not), it will more than likely be removed without notice.
DD.
ps, I will leave this thread open for discussion (for now), but I *can't* imagine that there is that much to discuss, other than the few pedantic comments of "see, I told you so"
pps, no doubt the occasional inept or ignorant backroomer will carry on just as before - leaving a moderator to have to tidy up behind them ;o)
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This is the video refered to in the last few posts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm_iYtMumcY {LL, that one definately needs making non clickable. Backroomers, view at your own discretion - DD}
Cruising along M62 today, SWMBO asked exactly where in Manchester was the location that the "Manchester 7 miles" referred to?
I think the mileposts on old pre-motorway roads gave distances to the parish church of the next town, does anyone know what the current system is? Read more
Maybe 874 is what it says in the signposts at each end.
Indeed. see the links below
(Google & 874 miles gets 92K hits)
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/johnogroats/johnogr...l
www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/United_Kingdom/En...m
Has anyone any experience of the true MPG figures for the current range of Audi A4 convertables?
I am looking to change my company car and have had good quotes for the 2litre turbo and the 3.2 fsi multitronic.
If the MPG rates are realistic (as per Audi) there may be only a £12 per month differential for the 3.2 because of the mileage rate of 15ppm for the 2l or 19.5ppm for the 3.2l
Thanks Read more
Thanks.
The Quattro is out of my budget, especially when considering the poorer MPG.
The 3.2 comes with some nice touches such as the satnav and 6 disc changer.
When you say struggle, do you mean it looses grip (wheelspin etc) or is it not as powerful as the 2l turbo?
Thanks
In the search for a car for my wife we have just had one of these for the weekend. In a word it was brilliant! It was a sport model 1.0 petrol with 5 doors. It will be the second car and will be used for her commute and picking our daughter up from nursery. Basic requirements are cheap to run, has 5 doors but is small enough to fit on our rear patio which is at 90 degress to the drive.
Toyota are offering 48 hour test drives (the paperwork actually says 72) so we had one. My wife has had two smarts and her comment was 'this is what the smart forfour shoud have been'. It seats four with plenty of legroom in the rear and even with the passenger seat forward to accommodate a baby seat I had plenty of room in the front. The boot is small, but the car is only 3.4m long. It was well specced with aircon (extra cost), electric windows, remote central locking, CD player with 6 speakers and MP3 input.
I wondered how well it would go, but the 1.0 is very free revving and in urban traffic keeps up very well. On the motorway it did in excess of the speed limit with no sign of struggle, although it gets a bit noisy in the cabin after 65 or so, but the three pot thrum is reminiscent of the smart.
All in all a car that's been built to a price, you can see where money has been saved (a few exposed bolt heads, lots of metal inside, basic rear view mirror, no passenger window switch on drivers side etc), but it doesn't feel cheap and is well bolted together. The doors have a satisfying thud when closed.
The car had done just over 200 miles so was probably still on it's first 35 litres of fuel and the guage was showing not quite half empty - so the 50 mpg+ seems easily achievable. Tax is just £40 a year.
She is going to look at a few other options, but for the budget an ex demo one of these seems to tick all the boxes.
I'm comparing this with the Citroen and Pug alternatives, but they appear to be cheaper as the spec is different. My wife also prefers the look of the Toyota and the dealership experience was very good.
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I considered a C1 recently (prefer its looks to Aygo and 107 personally), but in the end bought a Smart four two because:
1. Wanted a small car for town use for only me, so 2 seats suffice.
2. The automated gearchange on the Smart is brilliant around town. Forget the road tests, the flappy paddles and 3-cylinder hum make it real fun.
3. I still amaze myself at the parking spaces and u-turns I can now do - I have forgotten what a 3-point turn is.
4. I prefer to buy used to avoid depreciation. Very few used C1/Aygo/107s around at the moment with AC. For the price of a C1 with AC I got a low mileage Smart Brabus with leather, alloys, AC, glass roof, etc.
But its best I don't dwell on the ride comfort of the Smart, especially over those infernal speed humps.
Browse
I renewed my tax on-line, only reason for doing so was i couldn't find my documents and they check them electronically. Problem solved...cheers...Keo