December 2006
Hi, I had a clicking coming from the steering wheel, sounded like something in the auto cancel mechnism was broken. The car is about a year old and the switch assembly was changed (indicator, washer etc..). Well a few months later the problem has returned, its booked in but any ideas? Why does it keep doing it? It sounds like a spring has done and some bit of plastic is catching. The auto cancel still works and its booked in again.
Thanks. Read more
Considering a new car and exploring the possibility of not purchasing outright. Lexus IS for £279.99 pcm looks OK (= about £3,400 per year). Presume at that price you get nothing in the way of insurance, servicing or anything other than depreciation and financing avoidance.
Is there any circumstance in which any of these schemes are actually better than buying? Since the companies offering the schemes are commercial enterprises and need to make a profit by hiring to you, surely not?
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Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability. Read more
I did do PCP once, thinking I had spotted the flaw in the system.
What you did isn't a flaw, it's a pretty standard thing to do & it worked out for you. However, people could find their circumstances had changed and would struggle with a big excess mileage bill if the car had to be returned.
There can be some good PCP/Lease deals around - Mercedes, for example, seems to prefer to subsidise these deals rather than drop the prices of its cars. I also saw an ad for the Peugeot 107 at £99/mth with a ridiculous final value figure of about £4500 - that's probably a pretty good deal. It's how many cars are sold in the US - heavily supported final values so the lease costs are very low.
It's a good idea to seriously consider GAP cover if you go for a PCP - if the car is written off then the settlement figure could well be a lot less then the outstanding finance. But buy it from an online supplier, not from the dealer.
Hi, I have a 1996 Mk1 Mondeo TD, The misses has got home today saying saying it's making a funny noise.
Just had a look and when you turn the wheel it makes a loud groining noise.
Also it sounds a bit rattlely under the bonnet coming from the front left side under the Air Con pump where i have the belt and pulley I'm guessing for the injector pump.
Now would i be right by guessing the Steering pump is knackered?.
If so any idea what it's like to fit or worth it?
I only paid £250 for the car a year ago but until today it's been great.
Thanks!
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Yes, probably the PS on the way out...
I have heard many a person say they would never put their loved ones in an estate car third row of seats for fear of putting them in the crumple zone. Thinking rationally about this, I thought there is probably design legislation to prevent placing occupants in a crumple zone, and in any case, even putting morals aside, the likes of Volvo, who offer such seats as an option on the V70, have too much of a safety driven reputation at stake to do it.
Sure enough, recently speaking to a dealer I learned that this is so; In the same way that in many car designs front impact forces are passed to the rear of the car to avoid crumpling the passenger cell (look at crash test photos and you often see deformed rear panels from a frontal impact) so the same is true of the rear of a V70; instead of crumpling, rear impact forces will dissipate forwards, in the process deforming the outer body shell along the flanks of the car, whilst bending the rear floorpan as a unit.
A friend here in Sweden was unlucky to be rear ended big time on the E4 motorway in his V70 and bears the dealer's belief out; although the insurer scrapped the car after assessing the damage, he had been able to drive the car home afterwards - a 150 mile drive - because the rear wheels were unfouled.
He didn't take any photos, but by chance I just found a photo that shows what happens; tinyurl.com/y7ylas
No doubt other "third row seats possible" cars have similar approaches to safety. Read more
I think it's more due to the high tensile steel and sudden impacts (?)
Hello all.
Come the new year i hope to sell my guzzler and buy an economical VW POLO that will do more than 300 miles to a tank of fuel. Which is the best performing/most reliable model to buy? It has to be petrol, manual, 3 or 5 doors, and no more than 3 yrs old.
Thanks, Mark. Read more
There may be better superminis around but the Polo still has a lot going for it for some, for example I find the driving position much more 'grown up' than other superminis. I drove a Clio the other day and thought I might need to chop 6 inches off my legs then extend my arms to reach the steering wheel.
I would avoid the SDi, it is prehistoric technology and I cannot believe VAG are still using it in passenger vehicles. The 1.4TDi is probably the best all rounder - plenty of poke and better outright economy than the SDi. Residual values should be higher too.
But still better to save your money and buy a Fabia/Ibiza with same chassis, engine etc.
Hi I stone flew up and damaged my headlight on a 1999 626 , I have got a new headlight from a breakers but am having a devil of a job to take the old headlamp off. I have undone the 3 bolts attaching it to the chassis but there doesnt seem to be enough clearance between the bumper to get it free. Can someone throw some light on this?
Also anyone know of any sites to view or download a manual for this car?
thanks
Dave Read more
been there worse than a mondeo
use a bar
I've read on another forum of a biker caught doing 142 mph who got six points and £1,000 fine, awarded today. Magistrates are in Surrey, in case you are wondering.
I was stunned, to say the least, as was the offender it seems, who was expecting a ban. He pleaded guilty, and conducted his own defence. He works as a mechanic, and offered his potential loss of job as a factor in his sentencing, it seems. Read more
I think we need to know the exact facts before we judge this case, but I wouldn't believe everything that is written on an internet forum. My gut instinct is that he may have actually been prosecuted for and convicted of exceeding the speed limit (in the opinion of a police officer), and that maybe the policeman reached 142mph in order to catch up with him. So although they didn't have a definate capture of his exact speed, they decided to prosecute him for exceeding the limit instead.
I know someone that this has happened to, in a very similar vein and he got away with 6 points and a £500 fine. The policeman was hiding adjacent to a dual carriageway as this guy zoomed past him at around 140mph. They didn't have his exact speed but they knew it was excessive and prosecuted him on that basis.
Please advise.
Nissan Almera 2002: The front fog/driving light glass has smashed, Nissan want £80 for the full unit which I'm loathed to pay, so off I went to Halfords and found a set of fog lights, 55w halogen bulbs with 2 LED's in both lights for only £30, so I'm thinking brilliant. I checked the fog light bulb on both my car and the new lights and both are 55w, so now I'm thinking I can just swap over the unit and use the existing factory fitted wiring and switch on my car, would I be correct in thinking that I can do this? I assume I would simply adjust the existing connections by using a splitter or such like therefore I would not destroy the existing connections. Now the second question, whilst studying the wiring diagram it appears that the LED's a re wired into the sidelights which I assume are a different wattage i.,e. not 55w, so I was wondering how I could wire the LED's up so that they come on with when I switch the fog lights on, I'm thinking that I cannot simply wire together the live to/from the halogen as the halogen bulb is 55w but I am sure the LED's will be less?
The NEW fog lights come with a switch but I dont want to use this as I want to keep everything tidy and use all the existing wiring and switches so to summarise, my questions are as follows.
1. Can I simply replace the units and wire up the halogen bubls still use the existing wiring as both old and new fog light bulbs are 55w?
2. How do I reduce the watts to the LED's so that the LED lights come on when the main fog lights are switched on?
Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance chaps. Read more
Many thanks to everyone. Apologies to the mods if this should be in the technical. {Now moved - obviously! DD}
I am about to exchange my 1995 Audi A6 Estate for a newer car.
Having never had 4WD or traction /stability controls I am after some advice.
Basically I am after a reliable hatchback or estate which is occupant safe, economical and comfortable to drive. Ideally automatic but not necessarily. Budget up to say £12000 or so. New/2nd hand fine.
Fiesta/Polo too small.
I do not drive fast or aggressively, but most of my driving (15000miles / year) is on B roads and country roads.
Mostly only me in the car, but has to cope with kids,dog,bikes etc on occasions.
Badge of no interest, but have an excellent independant VAG service garage locally so that would be ideal.
Currently I struggle sometimes in winter with roads, especially in snow, and I'd really like to improve on this. Having said that I use budget tyres and have no traction control etc on current vehicle.
Whilst a 4WD (eg Subaru Legacy, Mazda M6 Sport AWD, A4 Avant Quattro, Passat 4motion, Golf 4motion) appeals, very few are diesel and fewer still automatic, hence poor economy and I'd imagine higher servicing due to 4WD.
I don't need the clearance of a 4*4 but wouldn't rule out say CRV or Rav4, just probably I think not as good to drive on road as the above cars.
So I was wondering (here comes the question at last) whether a car with Traction/Stability control plus decent tyres would be markedly less effective than 4WD for my type of driving/roads, given that I'd have more choice and better economy.
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
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Isn't another advantage of 4WD the fact that you have a four-way diff, at least on some systems?
Or am I out of my depth (again)?
Browse
All switches working, its booked in next week and I've asked for an explaination of whats failed and why its happened again. Thanks for your help.