November 2006
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find anything! My daughter has received a NIP and can't believe that she was where the notice says she was at the time it states, so she wants to ask for a photo.
Please can someone advise what the correct proceedure is for asking for a copy of the photographic evidence as she has to provide driver information by 08/12/06. Read more
I'm coming to the end of my company car lease and have the chance to buy the car I've been driving around in for the last 4 years. I can buy it at £4950 - is this a reasonable price? I tend to think it is but would welcome input from others.
It's a Skoda Octavia Elegance estate 1.9 diesel (110bhp) done 74,000 miles and on a 52 plate.
Thanks
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Soupytwist ! Read more
Judging by dealers' ads on AutoTrader that appears pretty much a retail price.
But at least you know its history.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Yesterday I repaired a burst pipe on my Steering servo feed pipe that had deposited the contents of the header tank all over the engine. After completion and running the car a short while I bathed the whole engine bay in gunk and left it 20 mins or so then carefully washed it all off after covering the dizy and throttle body. After doing this I restarted the car no probs and moved it to clean the drive OK. Later I went out to take it for a run but it completely refused to start. I check for water and found the Hall effect sensor connector was wet so dried and tried again, no go but a smell of fuel. Flooded I thought. Left it over night and sure enough it started this morning after a bit of hesitation it fired on all 4 and took it a run but it was a bit lumpy and rough. If I sit with the revs at 2600 ish every 4 seconds ithe revs drop to 2400 and it keeps doing this. On load I can not detect it doing this. The car is now very warm so I have left it to dry out futher. However it has crossed my mind that this dipping of revs could be the O2 sensor backing the mixture off in a cyclic fashion due to contamination. It was well flooded but cleared quickly enough this morning. Any ideas or welcome. Regards Peter Read more
My first port of call would be to check if your ignition coil eht turret has cracked (internaly), mine had and left me stranded in a drive through carwash and other inopportune places.
With the sun setting earlier and earlier, we're all doing a lot more night-driving - an experience which, to me at least, feels just the same as daytime-driving, except the sky's a different colour. I can still see perfectly adequately, and drive at the maximum safe speed for each road I'm on, whether lit or unlit.
I'm amazed just how many people don't seem to be able to do it though. I frequently see cars on unlit roads with only their sidelights on, and some drivers who think 40mph is the maximum safe speed at night, to the annoyance of anyone who needs to get home for tea. The group of drivers who feel it necessary to drive around with their main beam melting my eyeballs is also a cause for concern - do they not realise what that blue light on the dashboard is telling them?
Anyone else experienced this, or is it a phenomenon specific to County Durham & Teesside? When I was learning to drive, most of my lessons were in the dark - I'm fast beginning to wonder if people should have to complete some night-driving before they're allowed their pink piece of plastic. Any thoughts? Read more
To go slightly off topic, this subject has reminded me of
my first car, a 1949 Prefect, which I am sure had
only one twin filament headlamp bulb on the offside with a
single filament on the nearside, can't now remember whether the single
was dip or main.
Single would have been main, only one light illuminated - if that is the correct word!! - when dipped.
A car I drove early in my career was a Ford V8 Pilot, 6V lighting system, two glow worms could have made a better job of illuminating the road.
I remember driving down to the Winchester area at night in heavy rain. The lights only lit about 5 - 10 yards ahead. On the old Winchester by-pass I was driving straight ahead until I encountered the central hedge, altering course and then going straight until I met the nearside hedge! Etc. Etc. Very dodgy, fortunately little or no other traffic. I was very late arriving.
Hi, I have been reading the info that some members have left in the past on similar problems, non of which appear to of had any luck in solving the faults, and was wondering does anyone have any recent info which could help with the fault on my car?
Occasionally it will crank but not start, this is rectified by locking and unlocking the car again.Although it does only feel as if it starts on two cylinders most of the time.
It sometimes suffers from a loss of power as it reaches the 3000rpm mark. Other times it may just do what i can only describe a cough and then be ok again.
Last week i lost power and then the glow plug light started to flash, the car lost almost all power, and then stopped completely,after this it started again and has been fine since.
Many thanks
Sean b
Read more
I can see you have 3 problems here:
The starting problem can be one of two things: Camshaft position sensor or dual-mass flywheel gone.
The loss of power I had exactly like yours...at 3 - 3.5k rpm. They found a snapped MAF sensor wire to the accelerator potentiometer and changed it...it was fine for just a few months and problem returned. On Tuesday I'm taking it to an independent specialist and keep you posted.
The glow plug light indicates injectors playing up.
Just now I'm seeing how long ago you posted...by this time you either solved the problems or sold it :)
{Weblink to an article in The Times removed and replaced with
www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,1959481,00.h...l & www.theherald.co.uk/news/75555.shtml - DD}
I prefer yearly MOTs as I do not beleive that some people will get problems fixed until the MOT. Read more
How come we have to come into line with European vehicle testing schedules?
We have it right with annual testing. Surely our "Government" should be pushing for the rest of Europe to come into line with us.
Its a safety thing - many people (rightly or wrongly) use the MoT as the only means of finding out whether their car is roadworthy or not.
If you regularly service your car, the annual MoT holds no fear - its merely a formality. If you don't, then you have no idea as to how un-safe your car is, until you get a red, grease stained note from the MoT station.
Mind you, two yearly testing in Europe does explain why you quite often see foreign vehicles on our roads with faulty lights.
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Colin-E
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I'm new to the whole car buying thing. I want to go to a main dealer as I feel more comfortable. The car I want is a Honda with a few options (alloy wheels, red met paint etc), and I want to buy used. My local dealer has said they can get any car from a UK Honda main dealer. I've seen one on the net at a dealer in Bournmouth (I live in Birmingham), But it's a 1k over parkers 'Franchised dealer' asking price.
I'm in the fortunate that I can pay cash, so I have some room to negotiate. but I'm wondering whether I'll have to, or whether it's advisable to go down to Bournmouth to negotiate a better deal. What are the advantages in sourcing the vehicle through a main dealer and what are the disadvantages? Read more
I can't be bothered with all the haggling. I just go to an auction and get an 18 month old ex fleet car. It is still on manufacturers warranty so that greatly reduces any risk.
I am looking for a largish 4x4 in the new year. It needs to have decent road performance as well as the usual credentials.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee takes my fancy, but when you read the owners' reviews on various websites, a large percentage of those who wrote in have had serious problems, usually with aircon and electronics, sometimes with more major problems such as transmissions and axles.
Is this car such a dog (there are, after all plenty of them around)? Or is it just that you are more likely to send in a review if you are steaming mad after getting a big bill from your garage, than you are if your car does its job faultlessly etc, etc.
Anyone out there with any experience (good or bad)? Read more
Thanks for this everyone.
I have ben spoiled for the last few years, have managed to buy low mileage, relatively new mainstream models (Ford, Skoda, Subaru) and, apart from the odd puncture, have not really had much to grumble about in terms of reliability.
Interestingly, your responses are in about the same ratio of good to bad as most of the reviews that I have read on the net.
Oddly however, if you read the mainstream website test drives, then the GC usually gets a reasonable write up and a couple even compliment build quality. Most of the caveats seem to be around fuel consumption and body roll at speed. Obviously the tester only has the car for a couple of weeks, but even so, most reviewers get some kind of a dig in at the Freelanders and Discoveries of this world, in terms of reliability and build quality.
Hi
I am seriously considering buying an original mini as a hobby to restore. I dont have much experience in restoring cars so I would mainly like something to tinker with at a weekend and hopefully drive occasionally.
I would ideally like something that isnt going to loose me too much money as I start to spend on it and ideally would like something more mechanically tired or light cosmetic rather than total restoration as I dont have any welding experience (although dont mind paying too much to get bits and bobs done)
What should I be looking for in terms of vintage and originality? - it will be a long term plan and not fixed up to sell on.
Even some of the worst sheds on ebay are going for silly money considering their condition!
Any advice would be great, even if I am pulled in line or have the idea knocked out of my head!! - no doubt SWMBO'd will do that at some point anyway!
I was hoping a budget of around £500 as an original purchase price - not bothered about what it costs afterwards as it will be as and when I have the time/money to do things, however would like to be driving it within 12 months if its not road legal at purchase.
Other than ebay, any other suggestions on sourcing a cheap mini?
Thanks in advance Read more
Just to update.
Thanks for everyones replys and advice. I think I will still go for a mini, however I am going to wait a while until I have more spare cash floating around and buy a cooper from 1997 onwards with the big arches and nice leather interior. Hoping these cars wont be suffering too much rot and will be easy to keep at bay if I buy one that has already been well looked after, although expect there will still be things that need doing to it for me to get my teeth into as well as some nice mods to think about. I would only really use it at weekends in nice weather so keeping it in good condition shouldnt be too difficult.
If I run into a cared for example of a Mk1 MG Metro Turbo beforehand I may change my mind, however they are like hens teeth and seem to be fetching very good money (shame as I had one at university and sent it packing to the scrappy because i couldnt afford the repairs at the time!)
Ford has just mortgaged itself to the tune of $18 Billion to enable funding of it's restructuring and new model programme.
The money raised is against all it's US properties/businesses.
It does not include Landrover, Jaguar and Aston although it does include stock in Volvo - suggesting that LR, Jaguar and Aston could still be sold.
Are they getting desperate or what ?
I dread to think what would happen if the restructring programme is not successful. Read more
No apology needed - excellent and informative post mk124
Browse
Wiltshire do this, when you get the NIP, there's a reference number on the letter, so you can log into their website, use the unique reference number and see various pictures....quality was pretty good and easy to establish who the driver was........this was from a scamera van, parked under a flyover, in the shade on a bright sunny day