December 2006
Gordon Brown
Brown prepares to raise duty on petrol
Green credentials, my foot!
Car hating soak the motorist politician is more like it.
Gordon -"I'm aright because I have a chauffeur driven Government car and I'll earn lots more money when I'm Prime Minister and we all get the whopping pay rise we're going to vote ourselves" Brown
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España) Read more
Hi I have a question which I need someones help with please.
I have a personal plate on my car bought from DVLA as a present by my parents. The MOT expires on the 28th Jan, the car is currently off road with a blown head gasket and is not viable to repair.
I am yet to find a new motor and may end up with an older one.
Therefore i am considering selling the plate. I have registered it for sale with one of the main comapanies who have offered me 400 pound once sold. this is a profit of 150 pounds. which i appreciate is pretty good however I have just checked on-line and they are offering it for sale for about 800. I realise that they are paying all the fees etc and doing the advertising but wondering on what my options are.
Has anybody sold a number on ebay ? do i need to put it on retention or offer to pay the transfer costs for the buyer ? how do i actually do this ?
I guess I need to so all of this by the 28th of Jan ?
Any advice is appreciated Read more
Will that plate still belong to me or will the number be cancelled by the DVLA after all this time?
Have you tried looking up the numberplate on the DVLA or RAC website to see what it throws up?
www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp (Click on 'Vehicle enquiry' on the LH side of the page)
or
www.rac.co.uk/web/vehiclechecks (click on Vehicle data search' )
Jim Ramsden was anything but full of Christmas spirit when he discovered a $30 parking ticket on his SUV in front of his Stouffville home early yesterday.
"I was pink fluffy diced off like anyone is," the 52-year-old said.
But his mood suddenly brightened when he discovered he could pay the fine with an unwrapped toy of equivalent value at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Town Hall.
"I am one of the world's worst grinches around Christmas, (but) it transformed me. It really did, because attached to the ticket was a second piece of paper saying you could pay your parking offence by a donation of toys. And automatically that kind of made me feel good," Ramsden said.
"I think all of us want to do something good, but we just need a little nudge and for me it was the nudge," he said, adding he immediately went out and bought $55 worth of toys and dropped them off at town hall.
"I would like to challenge other communities to do it as well. If Toronto did it for just one day, can you imagine?"
It is the first year for the Whitchurch-Stouffville toys-for-tickets program and, if Ramsden's reaction is any indication, it's shaping up to be a popular alternative to paying a fine. The City of Kingston started a similar program last year.
"My staff went out this (Monday) morning and issued just over 150 tickets (for being improperly parked overnight on snow routes) ... and we had people coming in this morning with $30 tickets but $50 toys," said Keith Saunders, Stouffville's senior bylaw enforcement officer.
"People seemed to have really taken to this ... they might not appreciate giving thirty bucks to the town but they don't mind giving a toy," Saunders said.
The toys will be turned over to the Stouffville Lions Club for distribution on Dec. 15, he said.
"It's a tremendous idea," said Russ Holder, secretary of the Lions Club.
Originally it was only going to be for just this week, but Saunders said he and others are recommending to Mayor Wayne Emmerson that it be allowed to continue for awhile longer.
"I think we could extend it for a couple of weeks to make sure we get good response," Emmerson told the Toronto Star.
Susan Winn, the cheery woman who answers the phone at town hall, for many years now has organized a North Pole Depot as a central location for toy donation.
"The parking tag thing ... is a good way to incorporate our North Pole Depot and donate the toys to that, which then are going to go locally to people in need.
"The response has been enormous. One gentleman even joked that he was going to leave his car out again just to get a parking ticket," Winn said.
"He just thought what a good way it was to show the true heart of Stouffville."
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=969483202...5
Read more
What a really simple, but nice idea!
It'll never happen here. Car parking fines are regarded as a nice little earner here, and the companies that run the 'enforcement' such as NCP will still want their pound of flesh!
Hi people, im new to the site and i am pleased to see so many helpfull people out there.
Anyway straight to the point, my misses has just purchased a mondeo turbo diesel 1994 and she's having probs starting it in the cold mornings. I went out this morning and it wouldnt start even after 10-15 attempts. I always wait fo the glow plug light to go out and yet it wont start. I lifted the bonnet and checked for any leaks etc but couldnt find any.
I used to work as a partsman at a local ford main dealer and new what the common faults were so i checked the primer pump. It took 3-4 plunges to get it hard and then it started first time. Does this mean its the primer pump for sure, if so i can get one asap but how difficult is it to fit, do i need to prime the new one etc.
Any help would be very appreciated because she keeps coming to me asking what it is and she needs it for work everyday. Many thanks. Read more
Thank you very very much, i still get staff discount so down to my local ford dealer it is.
Im sure this is the case so thanks your assistance and im going to attempt it today.
If this fails then yes glow plugs next.
Thanks again.
Hi All,
I have just puched a 53 plate yaris diesel. I went to halfords trying to get a manual for it and the haynes manual only covers the petrol engine
Does anyone have an idea if there is a manual ( haynes if possible) if not another good workshop manual for the yaris diesel and if so where i could purchase one??
Edinburgh andy
Read more
I have a diesel Yaris: no there is no manual but oil and filter changes are same as petrol..
There is a complete CD Yaris Verso manual (petrol) FOC for download on the Toyota Owners Club Yaris section.
toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=27...l
madf
Please do not laugh, but I am a Motorcaravanner.
Over the last 6 years since I have been using my Ford Transit based motorcaravan (Motorhome) I have heard many anacdotal stories regarding the attitude of the Fiat-Peugeot group towards owners who have had the misfortune to make (or try to make) a claim under guarantee, or just after the expiry of the guarantee.
The concensus of these stories is that the Fiat-Peugeot group is far less sympathetic to claims than is Ford.
Do BackRoomers have any personal experiences to either confirm or refute these stories? Read more
I personaly have little direct experience of Fiat-Peugeot, but am considering
a change from a Ford based Motorhome to a Fiat-Peugeot based
model and would value any input which could help me make
up my mind.
And there's me wanting to change to a Transit, perhaps we should just swop!!!!
Fiat are struggling financially, maybe this affects their attitude to warranty claims, however Ford seem to be following suit, as per the TDCi threads. Fiat's dedicated camper dealer network has to be good news though.
You may get a better response on www.motorhomefacts.com as there are lots of folks on there who buy new motorhomes and so have to mix it with dealers, though it would appear that most of the problems are with the habitation side rather than the base vehicle. The choice of supplying dealer is therefore more important than the choice of base vehicle.
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
The wiper linkage on my 2001 Vectra has started to make a slight graunching noise. There is also a little bit of free play there. Do any Backroomers know if there is a particular bush/linkage/whatever that typically wears?
With the dark evenings, the only time I can look at it will be at the weekend. I would prefer to already have the spares to hand, rather than dismantling and then off to Vx spares dept.
Chris M Read more
Thanks for the comments.
The Vectra wipers are fairly easy to get at and I was wondering about a visit to the scrapyard. Depends largely on whether the linkage is available as individual parts or comes as a complete unit at many £££.
Hi All,
I would like to praise the peug 106. I bought a 95 model (1.1 petrol) in 2002 at 40000 and sold yesterday at 120000 and i found the car very comfortable ( i would ofter drive 4-5 hours a day) and i am 6ft 2, economical (48-50 mpg), and reliable only one non start in five years due to a flat battery.
In the time i owned the vehicle other than brakes, tyres( the rears did 80000 miles and still had 3/4 mm tread left) exhaust service items and battery the only things i had to do to the car were as follows
55k head gasket and radiator,
66k wishbones replaced due to worn bushes and ball joints
80k new gearbox / driveshaft seal
9 years old new stereo
96k front offside wheel bearing & drive shaft gaters
112 k offside wishbone due to worn bushes ( only 46k and 3years since done last)
i know peug's not everyone cup of tea - perhaps i was lucky- but i thought this was a very good car. Read more
Before the 306 I had a 1991 309 1.9D. Bought as my first car in 2000 when I was 19, had 123k on the clock when I got it and when I got rid in 2003 it had just turned 150k. In that time, all it needed above regular oil, filters and a cambelt change was a tyre, driveshaft gaiter, a battery and an exhaust rear box. Hence much more reliable than my 306 but not quite as nice due to it's lack of toys and dull looks. Would have kept it for longer if I hadn't crashed it- cheap to run, averaged high 40s mpg, spacious, comfortable and not too slow despite no turbo.
As DP says, the list of problems with my 306 isn't really bad considering age and mileage. Mine hasn't suffered electrical problems though (touch wood)- electric windows, central locking and alarm are all still functioning at nearly 13 years old and 186k. I think it's a case of running it into the ground at this stage as it's worth so little. As soon as something major goes wrong again or if it needs MOT work in excess of £300 then it's time to get rid of the old beast.
Martin
Watchdog are featuring Volvo - again Read more
I had a V70 with this problem and that's exactly why I sold it. That was nearly a year ago, which goes to show I made the right decision about getting rid - Volvo just couldn't care less.
The problem is worse that it first appears too, because the original ETMs last to around 100,000 miles or so (less in turbo models) but the replacements can fail within 10,000 miles or less!!
So, even if Volvo did a full re-call and replaced every affected ETM, it would actually make matters worse!! D'oh!
Nobody seems quite sure why the replacements are worse, although the current line of thought is that there are no brand new ETMs available for these cars, so all units being fitted are reconditioned ETMs - obviously not to original standard. You can tell the replacements apart because they have a different coloured sticker on them, which is suggestive in itself.
There's no easy way out for Volvo owners on this, if you own a petrol Volvo with the Magneti Marelli ETM built between 98 and 02, then do what I did, get rid promptly - that's my advice.
See:
www.vexedvolvo.org/
Ladies and Gents,
My 1995 Golf 1.8GL, decided to cut out the other day when I was driving through a set of roadworks and I had to get a tow to a local garage.
Whilst I was waiting for the tow truck, I took off one of the HT leads and held it close to the engine to see if I had a spark whilst my wife tried the ignition. There was no spark. I took off the distributor cap and it looked okay inside.
Am I right in saying that I am looking at one of the following being at fault :
1) Distributor 2) Coil 3) Crankshaft Position sensor ?
Any ideas / suggestions / troubleshooting tips would be most appreciated.
Read more
Is this the one with the hall effect sensor in the dizzy. Worth testing with a meter to check the impedane. was it about 1200 ohms, I'm not in the garage right now. Regards Peter
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Oh dear Roly, I am afraid you may be letting your envy (as a businessman) show a bit... Bit of an entrepreneur's dream that, only achievable in certain countries however. :o)