November 2006
Dear Backroom Regulators,
I don't know whether or not it's just me, but when i wish to post something on here, froma n existing thread, when i go to press 'post' the KIA advert on the bottom right hand corner, spreads itself out wider so that you can't post and you have to wait until it goes away...............really, really irritating.
Am i doing something wrong, can you stop it, is there a simple way for me to bypass it.....thanks
p.s I am truly backward on these things, so I need it explained as if i'm a 6 year old Read more
1996 VW Polo 1.4
5th gear seems to have gone awol
All others OK..............whats wrong?
Read more
How many miles?
104,000
mw
Have heard of it happening regularly unfortunately. I am aware of a law suit in Germany resulting in an accident for which MB paid out substantial compensation. They are also paying out for corrosion to doors, boot lids etc. This model really does represent the low point in MB quality sadly. Read more
Not sure that it was S. Africa.
The bodywork corrosion problem may have its roots in organically precoated steel that gave the MB production engineers a false sense of security, which resulted in a lower-quality paint job from the metal outwards (water-based paints not helping), plus some new assembly techniques involving the seams, I think. There may be other explanations too and I can't swear that the above is 100% correct.
A paper on this used to be here:
www.eccacoil.com
but it seems to have gone.
There's a lot more here:
www.mercedesproblems.com/
and here:
www.mercedes-benz-usa.com/
Sadly, the problems are not confined to the W210. I've seen reports of all sorts of models rotting, including recent CL and SLK.
Lud's comment elsewhere inspires me to start a thread on this motoring (ahem) topic.
Mine was in 2004 ( I was a late starter) at the Col de Vergio up in the Corsican Mountains. I emerged from my hiking endeavours onto the mountain road pretty much on the watershed of the island and therefore very remote
Went into the bar and asked when the next bus was. The guy looked up at the clock turned back and said "three weeks' time" my how I laughed. A taxi to the nearest town with a bus service was looking like ££££££££ so hiking it was.
Downed my beer and waited in the rain. 20 mins later beat up Renault van stops and asks me where I'm going I mention a couple of towns down towards the main road and tell him I'm eventually heading for Bastia airport.
"I live right next to the airport and you've given me an excuse to call it a day" - two hours of full-on mad Corsican driving later he drops me outside departures, giving me an extra day and meaning I can get home in time for my wife's birthday.
Result. Read more
About 2 months ago - passed someone in the middle of nowhere looking sadly at a pair of flat tyres on his Range Poser where he caught a rock on a country road. His phone didn't work so I gave him a lift to the nearest town.
**** This thread is now locked. Discussion carries on in vol 5:- ****
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=55786
----------------------------------------------------------------
This thread follows on from the previous ebay thread, which is now locked, ( www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=36821 ) DD.
----------------------------------------------------------------
One for retro BMW fans...
...with deep pockets. 1973 2003 with 6000 miles.
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1700...0
Andrew Read more
Must be very strange roaring about in an artwork.
I knew slightly in the sixties someone who had a Cobra with a psychedelic paint job. Three things:
It looked fabulous.
I didn't have the slightest wish to be seen in it, alive or dead.
Why?
Bars leaks solid block (crumble into radiator type) has been filling a couple of small dripping holes in the radiator for a while, but after adding 2L of antifreeze (standard petrol station 3 quid stuff) last weekend, the leak started again almost immediately.
I've now flushed the cooling system and applied a new bars leaks treatment to the radiator. The leak has gone, but now what do I use to prevent freezing? Don't have any idea about antifreeze chemistry.... Could it be an alcohol attacking the bars leaks product, and are there any alternative specialist antifreezes available that are less reactive.... Read more
I ruined an engine by using 'leak stuff', it bocked the radiator tubes and overheated , ruined the head.
The garage said that new radiators were always cheaper than new engines, it was quite worn though so not worth repairing.
perhaps ok with old motors with larger tubes
If drivers use the "I really couldn't say who was driving" ruse to try to avoid a scamera ticket,
why don't the authorities just impound the car that was caught, and say "OK, we'll keep the car, until you come forward with a name, and tot up an £x a day bill for storage, which will be added to the fine. If the storage costs reach the value of the car, it becomes our property and we sell it and put the money from the sale to good use."
Mind you, I suppose scrotes would just get/steal another scrapworthy car, and toffs would just write a cheque for a new one, so it'd only be Mr Average who'd suffer, as usual.
I'll get me lunch...
Read more
Yorkiebar - "I am not backed by anyone but am fed up with being told how speed is so dangerous when it alone is not."
I agrre with you on this but why do people keep banging on that "speed alone doesn't kill" and it's always put across so pedantically
Everyone know that speed alone doesn't kill and in the same spirit of pedantry we could all rightly claim that:
Alcohol alone doesn't kill
Not wearing your belt doesn't kill
Driving a banger doesn't kill
Driving uninsured doesn't kill
Driving poorly doesn't kill
We just don't live ALONE though
Has nobody else posted about the Bristol Fighter T ?
I thought the Bristol Fighter was expensive, but if this version does indeed produce more power and torque than the Bugatti Veyron, for much less than half the price, then it looks a relative bargain!
How come it took 'Bugatti' *so* long to develop a road car with 1000 BHP? Surely Bristol's resources must be miniscule in comparison!
Read more
As said, getting the power from the engine isn't the problem, cooling is usually more difficult.
I would be very interested in reading a technical feature on the Bristol, but due to Bristol's policy on hating motoring journalists I can't see it happening.
After watching traffic cops the other night where the young girl was killed got me thinking about if there was anything she could have done to improve her situation. At the end of the day regardless of who was at fault and why, the young girl still lost her life.
This not a discussion about the rights and wrongs of it, there's another thread for that. This is also by no means suggesting that the girl was at fault. I'm interested I what we as individuals can to do to improve our safety. I'm sure many of us have been in that situation where the traffic suddenly goes from 70mph to 0mph and you hear the screech of the tyres from the car behind. I believe this is a very common situation and there have probably been many close calls over the years.
So would any of the following possibly saved her life:
1 - If she had left a bigger gap between her and the car in front, would this have reduced the severity of the impact at all by allowing her to move further forward?
2 - Similar to number one, if the brakes (foot and hand brake) were off, would the car have moved forward more reducing the impact?
3 - If she had read the road ahead and started to brake very early would the lorry driver have maybe noticed the stopping traffic and braked?
4 - If she was aware of the potential risk of being hit from behind could she have watch the traffic behind in her rear view mirror giving enough warning to allow her time pull onto the hard shoulder?
5 - Would she have survived if she had been in a larger car?
6 - Many drivers in this situation put their hazard lights on to warn traffic behind that they are braking hard. Would this have helped?
I know it's lots of 'ifs' and 'maybes' but there could be some good safety tips to be learnt here.
Read more
Lud, apology accepted.
With the London Congestion Charge spreading in the new year, directly affecting my work, I thought I would investigate which cars are currently exempt from paying £8 per day for the pleasure of driving on roads that we motorists have already paid for many, many times over. For a car to be exempt it has to be on the Energy Saving Trust Powershift List.
This list includes cars such as certain LPG conversions, all-electric cars and all Honda, Toyota and Lexus hybrids. This got me thinking. Why are Lexus hybrids on the list? They are both large cars that emit more CO2 than many smaller cars that aren't on the list.
So I emailed EST asking them what the criteria are for making a car eligible to be listed? Maybe the word 'criteria' confused the jobsworth on the other end of my broadband because all I got was a bland repsonse saying that the car has to comply with manufacturers original specification. ?? I suspect this non-response came from trying to expain the inexplicable.
So, does anyone else out there know what makes a car eligible to be listed? I mean, I can understand this government quango wanting to encourage alternative fuel vehicles to cut down on emissions, but when the result is a large car that pollutes more than many on the market, one has to question its worth.
HJ, do you know? Read more
I understand, more than 8 seater will do......long wheel base Land Rover? Someone mentioned this before.
Browse
That happened to me too.