November 2006
Anyone have any experience of buying a car online? Savings seem huge (around £5000) and cars are UK spec supplied by a dealer.
Graeme Read more
see
www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2006/11/13/f...l
"Chief Inspector Nigel Brown who is in charge of traffic police for that particular part of the M1 told me it was an increasing problem for his officers and he was holding a meeting with the Crown Prosecution Service this week to find out ways to bring drivers to court who had not driven with care."
This has been covered on BBC1 / London TV today
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I have purchased a '95 Renault Clio 12.RL for my son. The heater / blower works fine in all areas apart from the front windscreen. When the switch is turned to windscreen, the blower is working except nothing is coming out of the front vents. The four speeds work fine and the other vents work fine apart from these. Is it possible there is a blockage or perhaps a broken linkage stopping the mechanism working. Has anyone any previous on this problem. Thanks Read more
The blower operates on all vents apart from the windscreen which is vital this time of year. If the switch is to 1 the screen vents work occasionally, if I turn the speed to 2 or 3, the blower responds but the air does not come out the screen vents. Obviously a fault but where do I begin to look.
I recently bought a '95 Renault Clio for my sons first car. The oil pressure gauge on the dashboard does not work. The previous owner stated it has never worked. It does not seem to be a problem but any ideas on how to get it working again. Read more
Thanks for the reply. I have tried the ignition and the needle definately does not move
If you want to hire a car at Stansted Airport, you now need to give a fingerprint.
The scheme being tested by Essex police and car hire firms, is not voluntary. Every car rental customer must take part.
No fingerprint, no car hire at Stansted airport
These are stored by the hire firms - and will be handed over to the police if the car is stolen or used for another crime.
Detective Sergeant Vic Murphy, from the CID team at Stansted Airport, says it's a response to criminal gangs targeting airport car hire firms - where cars are driven away using false passports, false licences and false credit cards.
Full details at:
tinyurl.com/ydzjxt
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Yes I remember the McKie case well. Unaware that it had come to a conclusion either, obviously fell of the media's radar.
I read the article linked to the original post. Whilst I accept the motive behind the actions beig taken, I have reservations, I would be interested to see the Data Protection statement of the the Company involved, basically I would like to see whether the taking and storage of fingerprint data is included.
I am reluctant to talk about cases I deal with on this site, but I will give an example of a recent case (that was never brought to Court) that we took on on behalf of a clued up client. He went to his local gin palace of physical prowess. To his shock he was asked for a facial photograph to be added to their database - an online check of their Data Protection statement showed that they did not register this intention, his initial approaches were ignored, ours weren't and he pocketed a good "apology" from them.
Hope the Hire Company guys read this...
Advice please! Should I buy a 1.9 diesel Scenic or a 1.9 diesel Touran? We really wanted a diesel auto, but can't find one for the money we've got (about 10k) Has anybody experience of owning and driving either or both of these two cars? I found the Scenic lively and spacious and the Touran a bit austere but very smooth. I'm going to have to pay a grand or two more for the Touran so I want it to be worth it. What do you reckon?
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They do sound just like my local VW Dealers in Cheshire which hardly makes the Renault vs VW argument any easier.
I know dealers make most of their money on servicing rather than selling cars but I thought there was supposed to be some European legislation that would allow independent garages access to all the top secret computer codes.
My dream would be to find a local garage that really cares about the quality of its work, charges a reasonable amount for servicing so that its mechanics are well paid and supply a decent size (Golf rather than Polo) courtesy car to keep me mobile. If Euro laws allowed them to do warranty work on all makes of cars, an efficient franchise could clean up the UK!
Right.... help appreciated.
I've had my A3 2.0TDI for about 3 months now, not done many miles (2,000) in it, but it's had a couple of good blasts. Now, according to my reckoning, if diesel is 89.9 pence per litre, and I am getting roughly 90 miles to a tenner.... doesn't that mean I am only getting 30mpg?
If so, I should have gone for the petrol!!!!!!
Cue people telling me I am getting 45mpg and it's a good job I did languages at Uni and not Maths. Read more
Have the Golf 2.0TDI DSG - long-term average (25,000km) = 48.9 mpg. Recent motorway/touring 2,500 km trip = 50.7 mpg. In the early days "S" mode can be tempting!
Can anyone offer advice on how I determine the type of CAN network used on a vehicle?
As I understand there are several different types.....any suggestions or web-sites?
thanks
Jimmy Read more
Assuming you manage to get the correct tool / device to connect you to the BUS, you will be able to read everything that there is to be read. There will be lots of data wizzing about containing parameters, status information various flags, speeds, temperatures etc.
It would look something like this....
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
FFEEFFEE AB 0A 00021
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
FFEEFFEE AB 0A CD 00 EE FF DD 1B 01411
A tool such as this (www.dgeinc.net/pdf/DGE CAN-Spy Datasheet.pdf ) will enable you to see what is going on.
The clever bit is the database that allows you to unstuff all of that garbage into information that is actually meaningful. That will tell you that enging speed, for example, is located on Message ID 4B0 and is shared across bytes 2 and 3. It is liikely that a factor and offset will also be applied. Basically, unless you know what you are looking at the infor is no use at all.
In addition to this may of the controller units (ECUs) connected to the bus will have the ability to store fault codes. This is the really useful bit but in order to cet a particular unit to release this information you have to be able to send a specific message to that unit. Its software will respond by reading some numbers from its memory and transmitting this info back over CAN (protocals are KWP2000, CCP etc.)
VMs have their own tools (eg: WDS within Ford), but general purpose tools are available (www.vector-informatik.com/vi_diagnostics_toolchain...m
l)
for doing this too. But you need the CAN database and lists of commands and responses. Once again, no use unless you are in the know. Software is expensive too!!
One of these is being offered by sealed bids from one of our departments and my wife needs a car.
Car has done 14,500 miles and it up for offers around £3,500. The only query is it was registered on 1 March 03, but it's MOT runs until August 2007. The person selling is ill so I can only assume the MOT date was missed.
Car has FSH (including brakes service), clean HPI and full AA inspection.
Anything in particular to look for. Is the 1.2 too small for this car? It will be used for mainly urban work. Read more
Its definitely not just yours thats rattley BP- mines terrible when cold but is very smooth when its warmed up- in fact they whole car seems much better when its warm, however its going back to the dealer for a few warranty issues a week on weds with the steering and fan belt and general creaks and rattles that shouldn't be there in a 3 year old car.
Hi,
Have lost my key for a Renault Megane and am being told that it will cost 150 pounds and 12 day wait. Anyone know a way round this?
Thanks Read more
Browse
"Rover cars (later models) were actually very good cars spoiled by a poor engine."
With the exception of the 75 and some of the MG spin-offs, the range was pitifully outclassed by the late 1990's, demonstrated by the miserable sales figures and eventual demise of the company.