November 2006
My Volvo 240 SE (1992) has just failed its MOT. I don't understand all the failure points and I would welcome any more expert help.
(1) Offside front position lamp(s) not in good working order (function impaired) [1.1.4a]
As far as I can see, both headlamps are working perfectly. They come on whenever the car is on, and Hi-beam comes on whenever selected from the stalk.
Is this something to do with only being 'on' in a 'sidelight' mode? Is there another 'on' level between 'sidelight' and 'full beam'? The car has no separate 'sidelights' and there are only 3 wires going to the bulb, 1 of which is earth (black - continuity with engine block) and the other 2 are (presumably) 'on' and 'high' respectively.
(2) Rear position lamp switch faulty [1.1.2]
Same as for (1) above, they seem to work fine (though are on all the time)
(3) Rear fog lamp not in good working order (not working) [1.1.6b]
My car does not (apparently) have a rear fog lamp; so what's this all about?
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There was a thread recently, which I now can't find ,re general driving standards and a discussion about routinely making drivers retrain and retest.
I'm not sure whether that would be practical, but I do get very depressed about what I see.On a couple of fairly long M40/M25 journeys recently I saw a whole succession of near misses ( and I think people rarely realised they had been) , people joining the motorway while on the phone- then moving directly to lane 3- people tailgating vans at 75-80 with absolutely no view of the road ahead, people travelling in heavy traffic at 90+ , a guy flicking through the pages of a document while he drives...
Is this lack of technique? I wonder if the problem is more to do with people not seeing driving as an important activity , it's just what you do between work and home or between seeing your customers .So it's not important to be good at it , and as it's dead time anyway you might as well shoehorn in some other activity at the same time.
Fact is that for many of us it's the most important thing we do all day , as we are inevitably putting at risk the lives, wellbeing and property of others .
I don't know how we do it, but it seems to me that unless we wake people up to the profound responsibilities driving involves, we won't get anywhere. Read more
One of the main problems is drivers lack of experience of the effect of their actions. They were probably taught to keep a safe distance during instruction but let loose on the road, they move closer and closer to the car in front. This conditions the mind into assuming it's a safe scenario as the negative result is rarely seen.
If we have driving simulators and regular training with simulated "accidents", then drivers would be a lot more careful and considerate (imho). By demonstrating to drivers through a practical exercise that they *will* hit the car in front etc will drive home the need to practise what they were originally taught. Unfortunately the more often someone drives whilst on the phone etc with no disastrous outcome, the more they will assume there is no risk associated with their actions.
I?d like some input from you lot ? I?m stuck with a very expensive car that, while being exactly 100% what I want, is not what I now need, and is costing me an arm and a leg and preventing me buying a house.
At the time, a new car made sense for what I needed for my business. I was going to be doing 35k a year, and needed a car that would be utterly reliable apart from routine servicing. At that mileage, buying new or newish doesn't make a lot of difference to monthly costs, as if you buy at 50k miles, you need to pay the smaller sum off quicker before the car turns into a shed, so you don't really save. With CR diesels, you also have the nagging worry that the previous owner got rid after a slight mis-fuelling, or skimped on the oil changes etc.
I got a large estate as my boss/colleague was convinced that we needed one to transport the kit we?re using around the place. We don?t, as it happens, very annoying as a new Golf would have been £190 a month less, and would have done 10 mpg more.
Had I continued to have to drive the above miles, then the car would have been a bargain, the perfect choice, and would have had its costs covered by mileage.
As it is, I?m actually stuck in a bit of a s od of a situation.
Turns out that the partners we?re working with are not those that we expected. I?m doing far fewer miles, and a lot of the miles I?m now doing I can get to much more cheaply by taking the train. I?m a founder / owner / director, so despite it being financially detrimental to me, I have to take the option that saves the company money. So, of the £700 a month I?ve worked out it?s costing me, I maybe get £100 back.
The colleague who pressured me into getting the large car because the company needed it has washed his hands of it, rightly pointing out that it was my decision to get the car before all was 100% sorted. That is true, but my decision was going to save the company £100 a month on lease costs while getting a better car (end of line discount before facelift). I?m a bit bitter, but what can you do? It was my choice and my risk.
I?d welcome suggestions as to the sensible course of action now. I love the car, and it?s hugely useful to have the size at the weekends. But, I don?t need it.
I can?t extend the lease term or reduce the 35k/year mileage I don?t need, I?ve checked.
I could hand the car back, it might cost me £500, but I?d be out of the deal. But, that would mean no car, and I?ve paid £5818 already towards it, include another £500 and I would have poured more than £6k down the drain for no reason.
If I settle, then the part I wasn?t told was the settlement figure is what remains of the entire cost of the deal, including the interest I would have paid over the whole term!!. I?m angry about that, so say the least, it verges on dishonesty that this wasn?t made plain to me, and I?ve read the small print and even now I wouldn?t spot that. Thus buying it on a longer-term loan would reduce my monthly payments, but I?d pay the interest twice over. Saying that, one reason I bought it when I did was that the entire deal costs were still about £200 lower than the list price of the car, so in some ways it?s not so bad.
Anyone have any thoughts as to a sensible course of action? I still need a car that can handle 20k a year without problems, but it doesn?t need to be larger than a golf, although the size I?ve got now would be good. I?m tempted to refinance the car I?ve got now, ignore the double interest, and buy a house. The reduced monthly payments would allow that, and house prices are going up by £2k a month around here in my price bracket. The gain there would dwarf my double interest payments.
Do people have any other ideas? Read more
"My gut feeling? No."
Exactly my feeling before buying any of the houses we have bought. Never thought we would get our money back. That includesa the terraced house in Manchester we bought for £7000 and sold 2 years later for £16,000. Luckily my wife overruled me and went ahead on all the purchases. Never missed out yet. Best thing we ever did was to buy a house for my 2 kids at university in Leeds 7 years ago for £60,000. ridiculous price - never get money back. Similar houses now selling for £180,000. Just helped son buy a house in Nottingham and daughter buy house in NE London for what seem to me incredible prices - but in 5 or 10 years time?? I doubt it. Maybe short-term falls in house prices - but if you intend to keep for 5- 10 years - go ahead. Motoring link - better spend your money on bricks and mortar - they don't depreciate like cars!
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Phil
I have just bought a primera-01 Y, 62K on clock. Would like some reassurance. I can hear some tappet type noise from engine. It is not terribly loud-old Laguna was like a sewing machine but what i'd like to know is how much tappet noise you can expect and at what mileage for this 2l sr20de engined cars? Thank you. Read more
Thanks for the advice. I'll be doing some investigation this weekend. It's prob nothing it's just a fairly light ticking/tappet type sound but i do worry. Thanks for the suggestion Mark, i'll check that too. Another thing-the accelerator pedal has slack before it works the throttle-couple of mil. Is it adjusted at pedal end or throttle body end? Regards ComponentPart
This motoring item was in the Travel section of the DT on Saturday
" Two years ago I wrote to you complaining that Insurance4carhire, which sells annual policies covering the collision-damage waiver (CDW) excess on rentals, had refused to renew my policy because I had reached the age of 75. I now notice that it has launched a new policy covering drivers up to 85. This is the first time I have heard of a company reversing its ageist policy. It is to be heartily congratulated.
This policy from Insurance4carhire (020 7012 6300, www.insurance4carhire.com/ ) is a must for anyone hiring a car for more than a week a year, and I am pleased to learn that there is now cover for older drivers, albeit for a slightly higher premium. The policy not only covers the hire company's CDW excess, which can be as high as £1,000, but also damage to tyres, windows and the underside of rental vehicles, items often excluded from the super-CDW top-up insurance sold by hire companies themselves.
Insurance4carhire's annual policy covering Europe costs £49 (£68.75 for those aged 75-84); Europe Plus, which also covers South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, costs £59 (£78.75 for people over 75)."
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The above is good news - now we need to find companies who will hire cars to over 70s - detalis please!
Further to the risk of a parking fine in the airport filling stations.
In case you missed this Item from HJ's Saturday pages
"Cameras have been fitted on both the upper and lower decks outside Gatwick Airport. Any vehicle pausing for more than three minutes is flashed and a penalty fine will arrive through the post." Read more
Is that pausing for 3 minutes or remaining on the deck ? What happens if I roll the car forward a foot or two after 2 minutes 50 seconds - does the clock start ticking again? If you get caught I'll bet it'll be tricky to get hold of the evidence!
Ok, anyone know much, or work for car insurance people?
Despite doing maintainance and helping people fixing them for years, and spending much of my youth working in halfords, hell, give me a scrapyard for a week and i could probably build one but i've avoided getting a car (i'm a bit of an eco-warrior) but needs must and now i need to for work. An im a few moths away from getting my lisence.
But i can't even guess vaguely at how much it will be as i know no-one with similar general circumstances and age etc.
No insurance companies will give me a quote without a lisence number, and i only want a ball park figure so i can stockpile that amount for when the time comes as i have to arrange a morgage as well.
Can anyone help with estimating my figure, roughly? or take a good educated guess based on experience or similar details?
I'm over 25, under 30
female
teacher
new driver (obvoiusly)
getting a 1.2 hatchback, either 6 or 4 years old depending on which one i get
will be removing the in car stereo, selling it, and replacing with an unstealable cassette version.
diesel
with imobiliser
in the middle band of resedential risk areas (aparently)
on street parking
and i need fully comp
I dont want to end up not being able to cover my new car. I know it will drop a lot after the first year but its the first year im interested in.
can anyone help? or am i fighting a lost cause?
Morgann
{Moves from the IHAQ thread as the subject is car related - DD} Read more
Go to confused.com. No need for a reg, just choose the car you are considering. When done you can go back and simply change the car type as often as you like.
As soon as I fill up with either the old version of V-power or the latest product, the rotten egg smell goes from my Mazda6 Sport 5k. It seems to be worse on Sainsbury's petrol, better with normal Shell and goes with V-Power.
Any ideas how this can be? I assume its a good sign!
James Read more
Owned it since new!
I need another car but just don't know what to buy. My requirements are an automatic hatchback type car with a low boot sill and a flat boot floor as I need it to accomodate a small mobility scooter. I have a convertible SAAB 900 to sell (boo hoo) and to which I could add about £7/10,000 for the car. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a car snob and whilst for example, the Ford CMax looks ver y suitable I don' t know if I can bring myself to drive a Ford. I also have an predigistal dislike of Japanese cars. I'm making this hard for myself I know but if any of you knowledgeable guys have any suggestions they will be gratfully received. Read more
Thanks for suggestions. Hadnt thought of those and will look.
Ok, I've begnu to think that my Focus is just crazed. Having bought her new tyres, clutch and cambelt (we're at 110k miles), she decided today to claim overheating. Booked into garage later this week, she needs whatever is causing it fixed (which could be a leaky radiator or head gasket), a new pollen filter, fanbelt & tensioner, and new rear brakes. The gearbox is leaking too. I know she must sound like a bag of nails to most, but she appears and runs fine most of the time...
The question is, do I sell her (I've got an offer of £2,500 from a local garage, though he doesn't know of the new overheating issue), or do I fix everything and hope nothing else becomes a problem? I do love the way it drives on twisties and the motorway, the performance of the 1.6 suits me, the looks, the space and the equipment. I know I could never get the same again if I got rid, and would likely consider replacement with a 306 1.9Dturbo, or a Rover 2.0 TD (I figure I may as well go for a diesel car for the economy).
What would you do in my situation? Read more
The offer of 2.5k for the Focus is academic really as it wouldnt be fair to sell a faulty car. As it stands, if the radiator is duff then you've got 2.3K to play with. If its the head gasket - you've got 2K to play with.
Browse
Thank you for the answers.
When I was given the MOT refusal I went through the list with the tester. There were 8 points of failure, plus 3 advisories. I did my best to do an appreciation of each point but I was in 'information overload' and was not 100% successful in getting my head round what was involved in correcting every individual point.
I have now corrected points (2) and (3) as in my original post. I don't expect BRers to 'run round after me' but I am grateful for being pointed in the right direction so I don't bark up the wrong tree.
Thanks to BRers comments, I was able to examine the rear light cluster and establish that there was indeed 2 connections to the rear position light: one was to the 'position light filament', the other was to the 'fog light filament'; plus there was a 'negative earth' structural contact. I had 12 volts to one contact but 0 volts to the other (with dashboard foglamp switch on, illuminated, and feeding & sending 12 volts). I corrected this by cutting the original wire (which had obviously broken somewhere) and running a new wire across the car. Result: fog lamp passed at MOT re-test. I was about to buy & fit a whole new fog-lamp!
Unfortunately, the car failed its MOT retest on 2 points (so I'll have to pay a full fee next time, sob!) but I'm down from 8 points and that counts as progress in my book.
Please could a BRer offer simililar advice; I have already discussed the matter with the tester and at a Volvo dealer but neither was sure exacly what to do.
Point 1
The offside headlamp consists of
(1) An outer housing
(2) An inner reflector dish
(3) A bulb holder that pokes through the inner reflector dish (with a bulb in it)
(4) A rubber pad thing that covers the back of the bulb holder (with cable through the centre)
THIS HAS FAILED BECAUSE THE BULB-HOLDER AND INNER REFLECTOR DISH SWINGS FREELY UP & DOWN WITHIN THE OUTER HOUSING, IT IS ONLY RESTRAINED BY THE THE RUBBER BACKING PAD.
What do I have to do to correct this? The kerbside headlamp is OK but I can't see any significant difference between them. For example, do I have to buy a new housing or a new reflector or something else?
Point 2
Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid.
I'm not as worried about this because I think I know how to fix it: it's full of green slime which keeps blocking the jets. I've already tried to correct this by unblocking the jets and pipework which got it working. Unfortunately, another slug of slime came through during the re-test and blocked it again. I shall simply repeat the process but be a lot more thorough! Any comments would be welcome but I think this is a 'rubber gloves & elbow grease' job, systematically dismantle and thoroughly clean the whole system.