October 2006
Circumstances have changed slightly (in that the fabled Coupe Cambelt change is closer, and likely to be more expensive than I thought) meaning I may need to change car sooner than I thought (within the next 6 months possibly). In turn, this means that I can't afford to buy any of the cars I had my eye on (Alfa 156 GTA, Volvo S60R, Volvo S40T5) as I don't really want to get any finance, and they're all £10k+
So, with the following criteria, what possible cars are there for me?
Price: £5-7k
4 or 5 door
Reasonably pacey. I'm not too into speed, but I reckon if it was a lot slower than the Coupe I'd find it irritating.
Stylish
A bit different
The only thing I've come up with so far on my own is the S60 again, but the T5. The reviews make out though that it wheelspins if you even glance at the accelerator, is this true?
So, any views of the S60T5, or any suggestions for other cars please.
Thanks on advance for any input. Read more
Slowly lost around 3 pints of coolant from my 100ps Passat over the past 6000 miles or so. 89,000 miles total.
No visible oil in coolant or vice versa. Almost impossible to see much else but no obvious leaks or overheating.
Is it a 'please take my credit card' job or can I check more myself?
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I wasna fu but just had plenty. Read more
Was the radiator. £105.97 plus two other bits at £5.85 and washer and plug all plus VAT.
With labour at £150 (2 hours?) mounted up to ~£316 IIRC in total. A lot of money, but I guess a difficult job with a lot of dismantling.
So watch out you Passat owners as 89,000 miles approach!
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
1995/6 Golf Gti 111,000 miles
Keeps threatening to cut out at the start of every journey.
Rather than letting it run for a few minutes before setting off, is there any way to make the Golf more reliable ?
Read more
Problems that have stopped my mk3 GTI AGG 140,000 miles are as follows:- Leaking plug leads. Cracked ignition coil, leaking in damp/wet weather. Cracked ignition switch. Failure of the engine speed impulse sensor, due to total failure of it's wire insulation at the sensor end, it crumbled off in my hands, leaving 3 bare copper wires. Relay No. 30 can suffer from dry joints on it's internal printed circuit.
If I was in your shoes, I would first check your coil on a damp dark night and then the engine speed sensor wiring insulation.
Best of luck, and when you find the cause please let us know what it was.
My 2004 Avensis generates a strange 'screeching' type of wind noise at motorway speeds. This is only if it is a breezy day and the noise isn't continuous rather more bursts of noise. Its really loud, not just the normal whoosing of air passing over the xar.
I've checked everything from door seals to wiper blades and all seem tight and in excellent condition, the wiper still has the spoiler on it as well.
Has anyone else had this problem with their Avensis, its really grating on a long journey. The car is going in to the main dealer for its service next month and I would like to know if its a fault or a characteristic! Read more
I've had a really good look around the windscreen and door seals and all seems very neat and tight. I'll try and move the wing mirror around the next time I drive it (its not my car!) and see if that makes any difference (it seems to me the noise is from drivers side lower windscreen area)
Otherwise, next month is service time and Mr Toyota can give me a hand!
Hi All,
I recently did a HPI check on a 05 UK reg. Mondeo Zetec TDci (Which i subsequently bought), and everything checked out ok. The car had 22.5k miles on the odometer, so I also called the previous owner who confirmed they had 21k miles on it when they sold it.
However, I'm intrigued by the NMR system in the UK - nothing of any equivalent exists in the Rep. Ireland.
How effective/accurate is this system? Is the HPI mileage verification system only as good as those who update it? How often are car details mileage updated on this system? Who updates these records, and is there a legal obligation on them to do so?
Just curious to know these things! Read more
As it's only voluntary it's likely to be abused.
Those with lower than average mileages will record their mileages. Those with higher than average mileages won't record them (or falsify the figure).
In reality the mileage register is worth no more than old type odometers, ie SFA.
Unless you can see a FULL service history, ie every single expense, then ignore mileage and go on condition.
It's Monday again and Saturday's Telegraph has reach rural France.
I read, with increasing disbelief, a letter to HJ from the owner of a Porsche Boxster that had very obviously suffered a failed head gasket yet the guy - whose choice of words shows clearly he has no technical knowledge - had gone on driving it with 'plumes of white smoke' pouring out, then taken it to a track day and totalled the engine! All this time his Porsche dealer had apparently been unable to follow the very simple clues that identify the problem.
My point is that having the money to buy a complicated piece of technology and pay for supposedly expert technical attention just isn't enough - surely people should expect to have to put some time into understanding what goes on under the bonnet?
Even writers in classic car magazines these days make throw-away remarks about 'the oily bits' while devoting pages to comparisons of the latest polish at 50 quid a tin.
Am I being unrealistic? Even when I was kid I wanted to find out how my toys actually worked... Read more
Part of this is caused by people becoming more wealthy. The kind of spoiled rich kid who buys a Porsche in his 20s for example has probably never owned an old car.
It should be part of every new car driver's education to own an old banger at some stage in their early driving. That way they'll get to know the basics of how to keep a car on the road, and the regular problems that you get on such vehicles.
It does take some doing though to destroy a Porker I must say.
My 405 TD is a good starter, but when warm the starter sometimes does not turn over at the first turn of the key. It always kicks in eventually, but only after the key has been turned a few times.
I'm guessing that the solenoid is on its way out? Read more
That's how I know, I was one for several years ;)
If you don't believe that doing anything about your co2 emissions is worthwhile, then I respect your opinion, and you can stop reading now.
If you do want to do something, then perhaps this is of interest.
This is not a recommendation per se - it's not a company I have used in any way (yet), and I have no connection with them. This is a simple Google result that I thought would be worth bringing to the attention of Backroomers.
You will find at this website (below) a calculator that will apparently show you approximately how much co2 your driving is generating per year. It also covers other areas such as houses and flights.
After you have entered your figures, it shows you how much co2 you are using annually for that activity - and then how much it costs to plant enough trees to offset it, giving you the chance to actually go ahead and make that planting happen.
I make no claims as to the veracity of the calculator, but for me, for example, it looks like £35 a year for my car and £90 for the house.
I for one am prepared to pay that sort of money annually (perhaps more, in fact, because I really like trees) to pay for enough trees to offset my co2 use. I would hope the figures include the co2 produced in actually getting the darned things planted too.
If you think this is stupid, that's fine. I thought it seemed quite attractive and there are enough drivers here that might find it interesting to follow this kind of philosophy, although of course you may not want to use this website to do so.
www.carbonneutral.com/shop/
Read more
I think all the "gonnas" may have given us the wrong
impression - dude!
nah, not american, just a lazy typist - man
Picked my car up from its service last week and was advised that I has some split boots (one a driveshaft and one on the steering rack).
Obviously I should get these sorted first before all of the grease gets out and second before a load of dirty salty water gets in. I guess there are a few options...
1) new from renault dealer
2) recon from somewhere or other
3) replacement boots
Given that the car is a 120,000 mile 1999 Renault Megane, only the terminally stupid would spend money on option 1.
What are the thoughts of those folk out ther who more about these things than I do???
Thanks in advance... Read more
Have a look here -
www.bailcast.com/srfit.htm
www.bailcast.com/cvfit.htm
www.bailcast.com/duragun.htm
Steve.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
Ford Escort problems - It is a 96 N 1.6 Zetec. Problem gradually getting worse. This problem is Hesitation/Loss of power on acceleration - flooring the accelerator pedal does seem to get through this. It is a intermittent problem but now getting worse. Over the course of this problem, have changed the Cat, Fuel filter, Fuel tank, Spark plugs and changed the Lambda Sensor. Without hooking it up for diagnosis, does anyone have any other idea what the problem could be or is diagnosis the only answer?
As this is only intermittent, would diagnosis pick it up? Read more
can't help you with finding a solution i'm afraid, but i had exact same problem, started just when engine was cold, but then did it all the time. was told it was just the zetec engine of 96/97, (mine was a p reg) apparently the newer ones didn't do it..
good luck sorting it out.
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Looking at threaded view, this seems to be referring to my original post, but I didn't say anything in that about having bought a car, so I'm a bit confused.
If you are asking me a question, could you be a bit more specific, so I know what to tell you?