October 2006
In a bit of a dilemma. Time to ditch the Jeep as it's getting a bit expensive on repairs (not to mention diesel). I need an automatic diesel towcar that'll drag 1500 Kg of caravan across France and across rally fields. As our income is now fixed it'll have to last a goodly time.
I know the Kia Sorento was last year's towcar of the year and is still a class winner but I'm attracted to the Santa Fe, it's £1k cheaper and the 5 year warranty is good news. I'm not put off by the foot activated parking brake either as I've had Citroen XMs in the past. HJ's car-by-car breakdown is helpful but the Caravan Club Tow Car of the Year mentions the Santa Fe parking brake not holding on a 17% hill and some "instability" towing.
Then there's the question of old Sorento versus new Sorento. Arrgh!
Anyone got any contributions to the debate please?
--
Terry
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Hey, got up this morning to find the passenger footwell actually soaking with wetness. What is the likely cause? There's no sunroof, so it's not a issue I'm familiar with (previous ZX had a leaky sunroof)... Read more
When I changed the filter on my Focus, I re-sealed it with silicone (bathroom type) sealant. No problems, and to my surprise the cover came off easily at next filter change time. So why bother with buying new seals, which seem a bit iffy anyway?
Pete Mansell
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6086668.stm
"More bus lanes should be continued across local authority boundaries,"
"These must be policed rigorously to stop car drivers ignoring the law, "
Happy days? Read more
I caught lots of buses in London (not much choice really), where I found them to be reasonable, although fairly uncomfortable, and on one of the rides (admittedly the night bus) a fight erupted upstairs, some guy came down with blood pouring from his face follwed by a *huge* cockney bloke who threatened to "chew his nose off", to say I was glad to get off is an understatement. I also found the threat a bit bizzare, I've never heard anyone threaten to "chew" an extremity off someone before, is it a Southern thing? :-)
Anyway, that night bus reminded me that whilst buses might be a good idea in London, they are still nasty horrible things full of nasty horrible people (yes there are some exceptions) that I pay good money not to mix with, in the North-East they are infrequent and unreliable as well as been in competition with a much quieter road network that allows for people to commute into the heart of the city centre by car without too much trouble.
I will never leave my car at home in favour of a bus until the day private motoring is banned (which probably signal the end of the UK economy anyway), although I do whole-heartedly support the global "car-free Friday" initiative that ran recently where companies encouraged employees to ditch the cars as a token gesture on a one-off day. I support this as in theory it should make it easier for me to park at work, in practice however my employers reckon we saved just 16 car journeys (based on auditing of the car park over 3 weeks) out of a staff of over 1,600, hardly a blistering success :-)
Blue
I have an 04 espace 1.9dci. when ,i think, the fuel peddle is in a certain position or maybe the car is on a certain inclinr, the engine appears to miss, but never stalls. It has been in to the main dealer on numerous occasions and they cannot rectify it. They have fitted a new potentiomater to the fuel peddle and changed the fuel filter. Any sggestions or anyone else got the same problem?
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You love them to much really.
Bought the new mk 3 galaxy last week, base model lx i.8 tdci engine.
So far impressions have been all good, very peppy engine, sharp brakes and very slick gearbox.
Inside room is also cavernous, have been a few less than favourable comments about its appearance..........................any thoughts anyone?
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The new Galaxy is a real looker.
Has anyone tried connecting their laptop to the cars onboard diagnostic port?
I was reading another thread and it got me wondering.
Can anyone advise what hardware and software could be needed to attach a laptop with usb (no serial port) to a Renault?
Thanks Read more
ie. Renault may use
one of the reserved codes to indicate "Washer nozzle blocked" while
Jaguar may use exactly the same code to indicate "Driver's seat
weight limit exceeded - do Prescott check".
What is the OBD code for "Lara Croft not recognised" or "VAG ECU not compatible with iTunes" or "meddling geek trying to wipe Renault EPROMS" ?
;-)
I have seen a 1999 Renault Laguna RT 1.9 TD estate on ebay that looks absolutely mint. It has only covered 54,000 miles from new, with no service history unfortunately but all previous MOT's to substantiate the mileage. I have spoken to the vendor, who seems genuine enough, and he has a good, albeit low, feedback score. I don't know why but I did an HPI check on the car today and it has come back that the car was a category D write off in August 1999, i.e. when it was just 5 months old. The seller has told me he knew nothing about the cars history and will speak to me tomorrow after he has spoken to the chap he bought it from (he does a bit of buying and selling cars on ebay by the looks of it). I have said to him that I need to check with my insurers tomorrow to see what their view (and premium) will be in light of this. Should I forget about this car now and start looking for another? Or would the car still be a good buy if the price was right (and if so, what is a good price?) TIA, Mark. Read more
Now it's ended: cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&it...1
£1,850.
Seems like a lot to me.
On 2 occasions my 2000 w reg diesel est lost all power and the coil light flashed, this occurred at low speed, 5 - 10 mph. It started again first time. i've had it checked at my local garage on the diagnostic machine, but could find no fault. i then took it to a Ford garage and put it on their machine, again no faults detected. this problem only occurred twice in the space of 24 hours, and has never missed a beat since, any ideas? the Ford garage did suggest fuel pump 'may' be the problem, but at £1200 to replace, i'd like to think not! I would have thought that if that was causing it i would have had more problems since, to date 5 weeks have passed without a hiccup.
Can't believe it is connected but around the same time the drivers electric window only works when it feels like it. although it works more of the time than it fails. Look forward to your replies because it has me stumped! Read more
thanks for the advice, i'll give it a look, had never heard of it until you said.
cheers
On Saturday did a 25 mile journey and there was quite a bit of smoke coming from around the os front wheel, clutch had gone so had a new one fitted yesterday. Went to france today and coming back on the M1 we were stuck in a lot of traffic so start/stop alot, then we noticed the burning smell again and saw a little smoke, later realised the os front brake is sticking, car is heavy to pull away so I went to a slight hill when we got home and car barely rolled! when we pulled on the drive hudcap is very hot and ns hudcap is cold. Car has had new front brakes fitted in the summer by vhall, vhall didn't do the clutch yesterday, would the brakes be anything to do with the clutch being changed? or was the burning on saturday to do with the brakes and not the clutch? (pressure plate had gone on clutch) car seems to be a bit juddery.
Thanks
Julie Read more
Thanks all. Its the caliper, its being replaced today.
Can anyone help me.... i can't remove the heater fan /motor from my 1998 Audi A4 1.8 se..i can get to it (it's behind the glovebox) but when i undo all the screws it comes loose but will not come out .....Help Read more
I recently changed the motor on my wife's 2000 reg Tdi and I assume they are the same.
You may have to remove the curved bracket above the motor - 3 bolts, one at the front and one at the back.
You don't need to remove the whole housing - just undo the four screws holding motor to housing and break the sealant bond (its only silicone selant) and it should come out with a little juggling.
PM me if you need advice on a replacement motor.
I had taken mine apart a couple of times to try and repair so when I changed the motor, because I knew what i was doung it took me 40 mins - start to finish
Let us know how you get on.
Browse
Glad to be of service!
Hope you are as pleased with yours as we have been with ours.