December 2006
I was behind a Focus yesterday which had a plate which amazed me.
In the space on the left where you often see GB or the EC stars there was the female symbol you see on toilet doors and underneath the word "bird".
Bit odd, but weirder still was that behind the numbers and letters was the Smirnoff Ice logo.
It's not a great image is it.
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Hi, I have just had new pirelli P7 tyres fitted to my Honda Civic 1.6.
Previously It ran on Dunlop 300E 195-60-15 H, what has surprised me is the difference in the ride. The ride is much smoother and seems to roll a lot easier. At first I thought I was imagining it all until my wife noticed the same effect without me prompting her. I have checked the tyre pressures and they are set at same pressure as my old tyres.
Are we imagining it is there reay a marked difference between brands?.
Regards Mal. Read more
Not disputing what you say as it does make sense, but I have changed tyres many times before in the past and never experienced such a big difference in the ride.
The car is my wife's and I have always considered it to be a harder ride than my old shape Civic Aerodeck with Pirerlli P6000 185-60-14 H but now there is very little dfference between the two.
Hi
Can anyone help????
I have a Clio and it has a starting problem. When I start the engine from fine it starts first time. If I go on a short journey it sometimes has a problem starting. The car attempts to start but doesn't fire up, it can then take upto 20 minutes for it to start, then it seems to run fine till it happens again. This seems to be an intermitant fault. The car has had a Battery check and also checks on the Starter Motor, it also had a full service last week so the spark plugs etc are all fine.
Can anyone help or advise me we what to do?
Renault want to charge £85.00 plus VAT for a diagnostic, but I am hoping someone on this site has had or knows about this problem and can tell me what it is.
Here's hoping and thanks for reading
JO Read more
Jo
Thanks for coming back with the outcome; it's always nice to know.
It was a pretty safe bet to go for the crank sensor ["TDC sensor" in Renospeak] as they're very common failures and fit the symptoms to a tee; but doing it the way you did was even better. The sensor's modified loom is intended to overcome plug corrosion issues.
The old (1989) Volvo seems to be leaking some oil. Definitely an oil leak rather than burning as the evidence is on the drive. I have checked all the obvious things such as filter and sump. Dry as a bone. I have spent most of the afternoon with the car over a pit, just can't trace it. On some Volvos the flame guard could cause problems but I don't think this engine was fitted with one.
Does anyone know if there are any weak spots on this engine that might help locate the leak? Engine is the B230ET 160K miles.
Thanks Read more
Thanks for replies, will have another look next weekend.
Thinking of buying a 1986 Austin Mini Piccadily. Car is to be used daily for a 10 mile commute to and from home to work by me (although boyfriend would technically own the car).
Has 65k and six months MOT remaining - last MOT only cost the £45 odd plus a new bulb so I'm guessing it's in pretty good nick. It has no service book but has 20 years of receipts and documentation to show that it's been looked after. It has been garaged for most of its life and although is a little lazy starting in the recent cold weather it certainly seemed to go okay once fired up.
Person selling is a Mini enthusiast and had two or three on his drive. The one he is selling was purchased last November for his daughter but as she now travels an hour a day the car is a little impractical to say the least.
What worries me is that it's 21 years old (or as good as) and obviously has started to show one or two rust bubbles in the usual places.
As it's always been my dream to own a 'proper' mini this could be my last chance but I don't want to waste the £800 they're asking (plus inevitable repairs on a car this age).
I will definatly get the car checked over by my local, trustworthy, garage before agreeing anything but should I let my heart rule my head?
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Ah the purple Mini and the death of an icon.
I even remember the reg number FOX 661L, what more would a closet art student in the late 70s early 80s listen to on his 8 track other than Ride a White Swan................ :-(
If you buy it make sure it's got proper security on it, otherwise it'll be nicked.
Car: Pug 306 2.0Hdi (90), 2000W, 85000miles.
Hi some advise please.
Background....
2-3 miles into journey home thursday the engine management light came on, car lost all power and died when I put the clutch down to roll to a stop. Car would not restart. Recovery guy suspected the fuel pump in the tank as no fuel was entering the fuel filter and a common hdi problem. Had a new in tank pump fitted friday and mechinic (pug specialist) said it has a rough idle when cold. (it generally does when cold in cold weather so thought nothing much of it). The fuel filter has been replaced also (but after the mechanic reported rough idle).
Current problems...
Car is not happy. Initially on the way home from the garage it was making a snorting sound at idle every 30 seconds or so. This would change the revs slightly up and down a couple of times. On the way home when reving it gently it would also make the snorting noise at 1500 to 2500 revs. I've experieneced Vauxhall DTi's doing this noise when you put the clutch down to change gear but my hdi has never done this. The car was significantly coughy generally when on a part open throttle to hold speed.
Have put 120 miles on the car today and the snorting noise has generally gone however it is now making a fairly distinct but not excessively loud clicking/tapping noise roughly in line with the speed the engine is turning (but I only notice it at idle) and a low drone, and only intermittmently. This is definately a new noise but strangely I only seem to be able to hear it in the car and not when outside listening under the bonnet. When its making the noise at idle it is coughing on a part open throttle again whilst driving. Even my girlfriend has commented on the noise and the coughing when I've kept quite and haven't mentioned, it so I'm not being paranoid!
Acceleration etc is fine. The car has over the last year got significantly more smokey on hard acceleration and also in the winter it does get a little sluggish/coughy on a cold start and last winter fuel consumption rose to 35mpg (normally I get 48). However it improved in warmer weather this year and at the mo is around 45-48 still. I'm a little worried as the garage and mechnic told me scare stories of the front high pressure pump going soon after the back one and big bills to come etc etc. So much so that I've been shopping for cars today.
I plan to take the car back to the garage and get them to listen to it and get it analysed on the machine hopefully.
Any ideas what is causing the poor running as only the pump and filter have been touched.
Oh I think this is a coincidence but think the battery was low before breakdown as the morning and evening before it was slow to turn over and the speedo/rev counter went round to 110/5000rpm on starting and all the segment of the mileage display lit up - I assume because of low voltage. I'm wondering if the low voltage as reset the ECU or anything and the car needs 're programming?' which is causing the coughing/knocking noise.
Much appreicated
Mike. Read more
Having owned a 306 and now a 1.9 VAG TDI I can agree with Number Cruncher. The VW filter looks like some sort of bomb! Seems very well built.
The Peugeot housing always seemed a bit flimsy to me.
I have just had a very expensive service. I don't want to prejudice any replies by giving details of the vehicle, but I would like your views on a few items on the bill. All prices are EX VAT (INC VAT): Service £142.50 (£167.44). Oil GTX Magnatec 5W-40, 7 litres @ 8.65= £60.55 (£71.15). Emission control??? £21.90 (£25.73). Comments? Read more
If my sums are right, then this service has cost the
owner just over 2 pence a mile.
I suggest he/she doesn't calculate what the depreciation per mile has
been. If they do, then they might consider the service actually
quite cheap...
Depreciation is irrelevant. Let's divide the service cost by the number of metres the car has travelled, or the number of hours he's owned it - then it will look really cheap!
The point is that the car servicing business model is all wrong. Basic servicing is just too expensive and private customers are overpaying because they are subsidising the rest of the dealership's activities. Ask your dealer how much one of their big fleet customers are paying - it won't be £80/hour and they'll expect some discount on parts. Are you happy to subsidise the fleets?
Hi all,
I am due a new company car and have a large choice so need some help.
I need a car that is comfortable for motorway cruising, driving in London and most importantly it has to look good.
I have narrowed it down to a Mondeo ST TDCI, Titanium X 2.2, Golf GT TDI DSG, Audi A3 Quattro or a Saab 9-3 Vector Sport.
In effect I can chose any car by Vauxhall, Audi, VW, Ford, Saab, Volvo and Jaguar.
Also I am only 21 so I would like something that has "street cred".
Thanks for reading and as I said, any advice is helpful.
Aaron Read more
Buy whatever it is you like best (with an eye on your company car tax, which suggests diesel). If the Mondeo is the most fun to drive, and driving pleasure is important to you, get that. It'll have infinitely more cred than a 10-year-old with steel wheels, which is what people will expect when they hear the word Mondeo.
As for cred, my friend was an assistant manager at a bank at 21 and drove a five-year-old (M-reg) Mondeo LX. Suprprisingly the women loved it, largely because the other blokes our age were driving G-plate Fiestas at the time.
Incidentally, the people with G-reg Fiestas are now driving newish BMWs and Passats - and my mate is a penniless student on the first year of a three-year, full time undergraduate degree so it's not a happy ending.
If it's about "stret cred" (and as Mapmaker says, anything that's obviously better than a 106 with undercar neons will have it in abundance) I'd go Audi A3 S-Line, Jaguar X-Type Sport, Golf GT (too subtle to be top), Mondeo ST, Saab 9-3 Vector Sport, Passat Sport, Vectra SRi, Volvo anything, possibly even the C30 until they see it.
I'm a first time buyer of Sat Nav and would appreciate some advice please about 2 Garmin products which Halfords have currently got on offer at what appears to be incredible value.
Can anyone please offer any words of wisdom about the above products.............or should I be looking at alternative products entirely?
Apparently the C510D Deluxe is exclusive to Halfords, and is also on further special offer as Free live traffic re-routing is also included!
The only other feature I'm looking for is Safety Camera Detection as well (both fixed and mobile ones), but I guess I'll either have to buy a seperate product, or pay more for a combined model.
Ideally I don't wish to spend more than £200, which is why the C 510D Deluxe at £199-99 is so appealing!!
Many thanks in advance!!
Andy Read more
If you go to this website you can get a direct comparison of the features (not the D versions):
www.garmin.com/automotive/compare.jsp
The main benefit of the nuvi appears to be portability
Often people tell us to use genuine or oe quality parts. How can we tell what are the good parts, nobody except Ratners said one their products were of poor quality. {Sentence edited by DD to clarify only the one product}
I would like to know who makes genuine filters etc. Read more
The genuine one was trapping dust as it was meant to. Having the non-genuine filter in place was causing some problem with the engine/breather system
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You can be registered blind in the UK and still be allowed to drive.